A Stroke of Luck | 6

Summary

Felonious Florida: A Stroke of Luck | Episode 6 Summary

Introduction

In the gripping sixth episode of Felonious Florida titled "A Stroke of Luck," host David Shutes delves into one of the Sunshine State's most notorious unsolved cases—the Pillowcase Rapist. This serial predator terrorized South Florida women during the early 1980s, leaving investigators perplexed for decades. However, a breakthrough in familial DNA testing has finally brought clarity and closure to this harrowing saga.

Robert Eugene Kohler: A Troubled Past

Robert Eugene Kohler's early life was fraught with instability. Born in 1959 and adopted by Gloria and Herman Köhler, Kohler's childhood was marked by his father's abandonment when he was just nine years old. Dropping out of Rockaway Middle School, Kohler's tumultuous upbringing laid the groundwork for his later violent tendencies.

In 1980, at the age of 20, Kohler's violent nature surfaced when he was arrested for aggravated assault. After a painful breakup, he confronted his ex-girlfriend with a buck knife, threatening, "I'd just as soon kill you as to look at you" (06:03). This incident highlighted his volatile and confrontational demeanor, traits that would later complicate investigations into his criminal activities.

The Pillowcase Rapist: A Decades-Long Reign of Terror

From May 1981 to February 1986, the Pillowcase Rapist brutally assaulted over 40 women across South Florida. Operating with apparent impunity, the rapes occurred without witnesses or concrete leads, leaving detectives baffled. The last known attack was on February 11, 1986, when a survivor outsmarted her attacker by pretending to be blind, leading to a police sketch that ultimately did not capture the perpetrator.

Despite extensive investigations, including efforts by Detective Dave Simmons, the case remained unsolved, with Kohler's name never emerging as a suspect during that time.

Familial DNA: The Turning Point

The advent of familial DNA testing revolutionized cold case investigations. Christina Servideo, Technical Director at DNA Labs in Deerfield Beach, Florida, explains, "Familial searching is where a database is used. CODIS is what the government labs use, and they're looking for a close family member in that database" (21:30). This method compares DNA profiles to identify potential relatives of an unknown suspect.

In 2019, a familial DNA match linked the Pillowcase Rapist to Robert Eugene Kohler through his son. However, this initial connection required further corroboration to proceed with charges.

Arrest and DNA Confirmation

On January 16, 2020, Kohler's routine visit to a Walmart Supercenter in Palm Bay became the catalyst for his arrest. Unbeknownst to him, undercover detectives were surveilling his movements, hoping to collect DNA evidence from discarded items. When Kohler used a sanitizing wipe to clean a shopping cart handle and discarded it, investigators swiftly analyzed the sample. Two days later, Brevard County deputies apprehended Kohler, initiating a confrontation that would unravel decades-old crimes.

During interrogation, Kohler adamantly denied involvement, exclaiming, "Why the fuck would I want to rape somebody?" (28:32). However, the DNA evidence was irrefutable. The judge mandated blood and saliva samples, which conclusively matched Kohler to the 1983 rape case.

Living Next Door to a Monster

Erica Wenzel, Kohler's neighbor in Palm Bay, Florida, provides a chilling firsthand account of living beside a man she now recognizes as a predator. Initially charmed by Kohler's seemingly normal exterior, Erica's perception shifted as his true nature became evident.

"I think he was patting you on the back, he's sort of looking for the soft spot to stick the knife in. It definitely gives you pause" (38:00).

Erica recounts witnessing Kohler's erratic behavior and confrontations, further solidifying her fears about living next to him. The discovery of his dark secrets only intensified her distress.

Trial and Conviction

The courtroom drama unfolded as evidence mounted against Kohler. Victims, like Eileen Lear, shared their harrowing experiences, emphasizing the long-lasting trauma inflicted by their assaults. Despite Kohler's attempts to fabricate elaborate conspiracy theories, claiming police manipulation and government experiments, the jury remained steadfast.

Nicole Zifchak, foreperson of the jury, stated, "There wasn't one of us that, you know, thought he was innocent. Not one. There wasn't a single one of us." (41:53).

On January 26, 2023, Kohler was found guilty of sexual battery, burglary, and kidnapping related to the 1983 rape. Sentenced to 17 years in prison, this conviction marks a significant victory for justice, though charges in six additional cases remain pending.

Aftermath and Ongoing Investigations

The conviction of Robert Kohler brings closure to many victims who have lived in fear for decades. Sergeant Cammie Floyd of the Broward Sheriff's Office highlights the extensive impact of Kohler's crimes, stating, "The true extent of Kohler's crimes may never be known" (42:41).

Moreover, the case underscores the importance of advancements in forensic science, particularly familial DNA testing, in solving cold cases. As investigations continue, there is hope that more victims will come forward, and additional charges will be filed against Kohler.

Living in the Aftermath

Victims like Eileen Lear stress the significance of speaking out, not only for personal healing but also to aid in the capture of predators. Erica Wenzel echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the emotional burden carried by survivors and the necessity of community support.

"Sharing and talking certainly helps to move the emotion and the energy. It also rallies people around you to help and take care of you" (43:59).

Conclusion

"A Stroke of Luck" poignantly illustrates the intersection of persistence, technological advancement, and the resilience of victims in the pursuit of justice. The fall of Robert Eugene Kohler as the Pillowcase Rapist serves as a testament to the enduring quest to bring closure to those affected by unspeakable crimes. As Felonious Florida Season 5 continues, it promises to explore further depths of Florida's darkest narratives, shedding light on the shadows that once seemed impenetrable.

Notable Quotes:

• Erica Wenzel: "We called the police just as many times as he called the police." (02:20)

• Erica Wenzel: "We truly did live next to the devil." (03:22)

• David Shutes: "It was an unexpected stroke of luck that led to the incredible conclusion of this case." (04:05)

• Erica Wenzel: "If I was going to spend the time to risk my life to do something stupid and heinous like that, you think I would spend only five minutes with a woman?" (37:23)

• Nicole Zifchak: "There wasn't one of us that, you know, thought he was innocent. Not one. There wasn't a single one of us." (41:53)

Key Takeaways:

• Familial DNA Testing: A pivotal tool in solving cold cases, enabling connections between familial DNA matches and unidentified perpetrators.

• Victim Support: Emphasizes the importance of survivors coming forward and the role of community in supporting them.

• Technological Advancements: Highlights how advancements in forensic science can bring long-awaited justice.

• Psychological Impact: Explores the profound and lasting trauma experienced by victims of serial crimes.

For More Information:

To delve deeper into this case and other chilling true crime stories from Florida, listen to Felonious Florida Season 5 on the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.

Transcript

[David Shutes]

Wondery subscribers can binge all episodes of Felonious Florida Season four early and ad free right now. Join Wondery in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. This episode contains graphic language and descriptions of sexual violence that some listeners may find disturbing. There's a saying that good fences make make good neighbors. Well, tell that to Erica Wenzel. She had a good fence, but the kind of neighbor nobody would ever want. From the day she moved onto Rostock Circle in Palm Bay, Florida, she knew something was off about the man who lived next door.

[Erica Wenzel]

This guy goes, this is next level creep. This is next level. And it was definitely a okay, I don't, I don't like this feeling. I need to kind of get out of this house.

[David Shutes]

This was Erica's dream house when she and her husband bought it in 2019. It's in a neighborhood of single family homes with tidy yards, safe and peaceful.

[Erica Wenzel]

Literally. This house was exactly what we were looking for when we were envisioning buying a house, which is why we ultimately decided to buy it, even notwithstanding the him next door.

[David Shutes]

Next door was the eyesore of the street, overgrown, cluttered, neglected. Her neighbor was Robert Eugene Kohler, an imposing older man, over 6ft tall and 220 pounds. Erica says that from the start, her family was unnerved by Kohler's behavior. He was volatile, erica says, confrontational and paranoid. He had cameras mounted all over his property.

[Erica Wenzel]

That was one thing that really did bother me, was that he had so many cameras and that they all seemed to be pointed at our house, which was unnerving.

[David Shutes]

Erica says her testy neighbor obsessed over minor disputes. Once he complained that a light on her property was too bright because it interfered with his cameras. Some of their confrontations got heated. The cops had been called a lot.

[Erica Wenzel]

We called the police just as many times as he called the police.

[David Shutes]

But when cops showed up on Rostock Circle on the morning of January 18, 2020, it wasn't because Erica called them. Their arrival was sudden and overwhelming. Within minutes, they were swarming Kohler's house.

[Erica Wenzel]

And I remember coming from the bedroom to the front window and looking out and just littered the entire street, just littered with every cop car you can think of.

[David Shutes]

Erica's husband and father had both been cops, so when she saw Kohler escorted from his house in handcuffs, she knew that whatever her neighbor had done was bad. A couple of days later, she learned what it was. From a stunning report on the news, police announced that they believe Robert Kohler had done terrible things to dozens of women nearly four decades earlier, who knew.

[Erica Wenzel]

That we lived next to the devil? I mean, we truly did for the two years that we were here. While he was here, he was the absolute devil in disguise.

[David Shutes]

Business wars gives you a front row seat to the biggest moments in business and how they shape our world. From boardroom blow ups to strategies gone wrong, these are the stories behind the headlines. Listen to Business wars on the Wondery.

[Erica Wenzel]

App or wherever you get your podcasts. Foreign.

[David Shutes]

From the South Florida Sun Sentinel, this is Felonious Florida, the podcast that leads you into the dark side of the Sunshine State. I'm David Shutes. This is part six, the final episode of in the Darkness. The hunt for Florida's Pillowcase Rapist. It was an unexpected stroke of luck that led to the incredible conclusion of this case. The serial rapist who'd struck fear in so many South Florida women and frustrated some of the area's best detectives, had vanished after his last suspected attack in early 1986. The intense investigation had sputtered, then completely stalled. But 34 years later, it unexpectedly sprang into overdrive. And this time, there would be no escape for the Pillowcase Rapist. Erica Wenzel's nightmare neighbor, as she calls him, had lived in Palm Bay since 2003. But Robert Kroler's early years were spent 180 miles south in Miami. He was born in 1959 and adopted as the only child of Gloria and Herman Koehler. They lived in Coral Gables, southwest of the city of Miami. There isn't a lot known about that part of Kohler's life. Much of what we do know comes from statements made by his childhood friend, Eddie Leyva. We met in school, we went to the same school, elementary school together, and we lived. Our parents lived around the corner from.

[Erica Wenzel]

Each other in the same neighborhood.

[David Shutes]

Kohler's childhood was rocky. His adopted father, Herman, abandoned his wife and son when Kohler was nine. A few years later, Kohler dropped out of Rockaway Middle School.

[Erica Wenzel]

That time, my parents had moved us.

[David Shutes]

To a different neighborhood, which would have been Sweetwater.

[Erica Wenzel]

I believe that he had moved with his mother.

[David Shutes]

I think it was South Miami. Eddie stayed in school, but he and Cola remained friends through their teens and early 20s. We had a place that we would gather a group of friends that was.

[Erica Wenzel]

It's now called the Indian Hammocks Park.

[David Shutes]

It was like just a wooded area back then. And we would gather there at night.

[Erica Wenzel]

And do bonfires and, you know, just.

[David Shutes]

Drink beer, that type of stuff. But there were also indications that Kohler had a volatile side. In 1980, the year before the first suspected attacks of the pillowcase rapist, Kohler was arrested after a violent incident. He was 20 years old at the time and just broke up with a girlfriend. According to the police report from the incident, Koehler was angry about the breakup and confronted his ex in the back of the restaurant where she worked. He pointed a buck knife at her and said, I'd just as soon kill you as to look at you. The restaurant manager told the police she witnessed the whole thing. Kohler left the scene after a warning from officers, but returned less than two hours later. Officers wrote that Kohler was extremely irate and threatening. This time, he was arrested for aggravated assault. After his arrest, Kohler got an apartment in a building called the Carlisle. Today the complex is called the Groves on Sunset. It's less than two miles northwest of the Dadeland Mall. Most of the pillowcase rapes took place within eight miles of the Carlisle and some within a mile. Kohler's friend Eddie Leyva said that it was around that time that Kohler began working as a tow truck driver. He was on call, so he pretty much whenever he got a call, he had to go to Detective Dave Simmons, who led the pillowcase rapist investigation. All those years ago, a tow truck driver was the type of job that would have provided an ideal cover for a predator.

[Erica Wenzel]

With all those cases back then, we never looked at tow truck drivers. I wish we had. We thought about every other profession but that. But if you think about it, tow truck drivers drive around all hours of the day and night with impunity because police call them to tow cars away. Or people ask tow truck drivers to come and get their car from the parking lot to bring it to a shop. They would just drive by us, and we would never think that possibly a driver of a tow truck might be a rapist.

[David Shutes]

And it wouldn't be unusual to see.

[Erica Wenzel]

1 or 2 or 3 in the morning drive by or parked in a parking lot.

[David Shutes]

Nobody can be sure that's how the pillowcase rapist operated. In all of the dozens of suspected cases, detectives could never find a single witness who'd seen the attacker coming or going from a crime scene. And Robert Kohler's name never surfaced in the investigation. Then, in 1986, a coincidence, one that wouldn't have been noticed all those years ago, but that today may answer a lot of questions. Early in the year, a woman was ambushed and raped in her apartment in the city of Aventura. By pretending to be blind without her glasses, the survivor had tricked the attacker in allowing her to see his face, and a police artist made a sketch of the suspect. That sketch triggered a massive publicity effort by the police to identify the rapist. But at the height of the publicity, the attacks stopped. Investigators speculated that one possible explanation was that the attention had caused the rapist to flee the area. The rape on February 11, 1986, became the last known attack of the pillowcase rapist. And it was shortly after that rape that Robert Koehler abruptly packed up his apartment and left Miami for good. He moved more than 60 miles north to Palm beach county and began a new life. He got married. He had kids. He got divorced. But old habits, it would seem, die hard. It was 2002, and across the country in California, Elizabeth Stone was also looking for a new start in life. She was the single mom of a teenage girl and fresh out of a relationship with a man who was violent and abusive. But Elizabeth soon found what she thought was a better man. She met Robert Koehler on the dating website Matt. At first, it was casual messaging, but even though he lived far away in Florida, their relationship quickly turned into something more.

[Erica Wenzel]

He was, you know, just a normal kind of guy with kids.

[David Shutes]

Elizabeth said that Kohler seemed charming and generous.

[Erica Wenzel]

It was kind of like a pen pal kind of thing, you know, right back and forth, emails. And then finally it went to the phone. And then he offered, about six months in, he offered buy me a plane ticket and bring me to Florida, and we would go to Disney World, which we did with his kids. He put me in a hotel. He paid for everything. And I was there for, I think, four days. And it was. Everything was fine. So at last I went back to California. We continued this pen pal type, you know, long distance thing. And then he came to Cal. He had never been to California. He came to California.

[David Shutes]

And it was there, in California, just months after meeting online, that Kohler asked Elizabeth to marry him and move to Florida.

[Erica Wenzel]

I think at the time, because I was in this kind of weird place, I had come out of a relationship that was very violent. So I was scared for a long time that that man was gonna hurt me, that I kind of just went for it, you know, and moved all my stuff. He was like a. Kind of like a fatherly to his kids. And we had a great time, you know, just having fun. Nothing seemed unusual until after I moved to Florida.

[David Shutes]

Elizabeth had been in the Sunshine State for barely a week when she began to see the true Robert Kohler.

[Erica Wenzel]

The town of Agda in France is famous for sun, sand, sea and sex.

[David Shutes]

But Lately, life on the coast has taken a strange turn. The town's mayor, a respected pillar of the community, has been arrested for corruption. His wife claims he's been bewitched by a beautiful clairvoyant. Then there's the mysterious phone calls that local people have been getting. I am the Archangel Michael. The whole town has been thrown into.

[Erica Wenzel]

Chaos as the mayor is unable to carry out his duties. I would like to address you all. Legal proceedings have been initiated.

[David Shutes]

Join me, Anna Richardson and journalist Leo Chic for the mystic and the Mayor as we investigate a story of power, corruption and magic. Binge all episodes of the mystic and the Mayor exclusively and ad free right now on Wondery. Start your free trial in Apple Podcasts.

[Erica Wenzel]

Spotify or the Wondery App.

[David Shutes]

Hey, I'm Mike Corey, the host of Wondery's podcast Against the Odds. In each episode we share thrilling true stories of survival, putting you in the shoes of the people who live to tell the tale. And sometimes we get to hear from survivors themselves in their own words. On our next season, it's May 2023. Competitive swimmer Allie Truitt has just graduated from Yale and completed her first marathon. But a few days after graduation, Allie is snorkeling in the Caribbean when suddenly she's attacked by a shark and finds herself in a fight for her life. Ally's epic journey to reclaim her love of the water pushes her further than she could have ever imagined. All the way to the Paris Paralympics. Follow against the odds on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Binge the entire season ad free right now only on Wondery. Plus. Start your free trial in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify today. At the time of the budding relationship between Robert Kohler and Elizabeth Stone, Kohler lived in Lake Worth, a city in central Palm Beach County. He had custody of his 12 year old son and 11 year old daughter. They shared a small house, far too small. Once Elizabeth and her 15 year old daughter moved in, so Koehler decided they'd find a bigger place to live in. They were on a house hunting drive one morning when Elizabeth's cell phone rang. It was her daughter who was back at Kohler's house.

[Erica Wenzel]

Mom, there's a man at the front door and he says he's a police officer, but he's not wearing a police uniform. He has a gun strapped to his thigh.

[David Shutes]

The officer said he was there to do a quote, annual offender check on on Robert Kohler. Elizabeth was stunned and confused.

[Erica Wenzel]

So I suddenly got really scared and I Started screaming the car, pull the car over, pull the car over. And Robert's going, calm down, just calm down. We'll talk about it later. I'm like, no, we won't. You're going to tell me right now.

[David Shutes]

So he did, and what he told her was terrifying. And Elizabeth threatened to leave. That sent Kohler into a violent rage. He grabbed her by the throat, pinned her to a wall and threatened her.

[Erica Wenzel]

I think he was aware that my daughter was on the phone with the police, you know, so he might have ended up hurting me. He turned, he turns to another person quickly, kind of, you know, I think it's a kind of sort of a weird split personality where someone can be so nice and kind and then all of a sudden they're just ugly, you know what I mean?

[David Shutes]

Within weeks, Elizabeth packed up and drove back to California. After all, who would have trusted Kohler after what he revealed in the car that day? He's a registered sex offender, he told Elizabeth, because a decade earlier he'd been convicted of rape. It happened in 1990, 12 years before Kohler met Elizabeth. He had just moved to Lake Worth and was working as an electrician. He started dating a woman named Laurie, and in January of that year, she gave birth to their son Robert. They married months after Robert's birth when Laurie got pregnant with their second child. But in the fall of 1990, everything changed. In an apartment in the small, tony village of Palm beach that October, a woman was attacked and raped in her apartment. And some of the details of what happened are going to sound very familiar. The records for the incident were difficult to obtain. It turns out they were on microfilm in the county clerk's office and hadn't been properly recorded. But when I got them, this is what they revealed. It was about 1:30 in the morning on Sunday, October 14, 1990, a 41 year old woman had gone to bed after a Saturday night out. At about 3am she awoke to a man standing next to her bed. The room was dark and the man said he wouldn't hurt her as long as she didn't struggle or make a sound. He removed her nightclothes, pinned her hands above her head and covered her face, maybe with a piece of clothing, she told the police, or maybe a pillowcase. The man raped her and then fled her apartment. She called 911 but wasn't able to give a description of her attacker. But at 3:30am an officer was scouring the area and stopped a white Camaro after it made an illegal turn in a direction away from the scene. The driver was Robert Koehler. The officer noted in his report that Kohler was extremely nervous and sweating profusely. He was asked about the attack up the street, but Kohler said he was just out for a drive. It was an odd time of night for a casual drive, and Kohler was miles from home. But the officer had no reason to hold him, so he wrote a traffic ticket and let Kohler leave. Then two days later, Kohler walked into the Palm Beach Police Department on the advice of his lawyer and made a stunning admission. It was him who was at that woman's apartment that night, and he did have sex with her. But he said they'd been on a date and the sex was consensual. The woman insisted that was not true. Kohler eventually pleaded guilty to felony sexual battery. He has claimed that he was talked into the plea deal by his lawyer and his elderly mother, Gloria, to avoid potentially years in prison. He was sentenced to six months of house arrest and six and a half years of probation. For decades, the last known attack of the Pillowcase Rapist was believed to have been on February 11, 1986. But now, now it seems that that part of the story has to be rewritten. The thing is, in that 1990 rape case, a sample of Robert Kohler's DNA was never taken. It wasn't required yet in Florida. Perhaps if it had, the case of the Pillowcase Rapist could have been solved decades earlier. By 2019, Robert Kohler had bought his house on Rostock Circle in Palm Bay, southeast of Orlando. By then, law enforcement agencies were starting to use a relatively new tool known as familial DNA testing to crack unsolved cases. It had been somewhat of a controversial issue, but Florida was one of the states that allowed law enforcement to use it. One company at the forefront of forensic science is DNA Labs in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Christina Servideo is the technical director there, and we asked her to explain how familial DNA works.

[Erica Wenzel]

Familial searching is where a database is used. CODIS is what the government labs use, and they're looking for a close family member in that database. So that's the same database that convicted offender profiles get uploaded to, or deceased victims or crime scene profiles, where you have an unknown profile and you have no idea who that person is. They're looking for potential family members within that database that already exists. So, for example, if there was a cold case where they wanted familial searching done, we would receive the actual evidence. So, especially for things like cold cases, we would receive the evidence in and we would test it and obtain a DNA profile and then we would send it to the government laboratory, that profile, and they would review it and see if it meets the criteria to be uploaded into codis. If it is uploaded into codis, on their end, they would decide, does it meet the criteria to have familial searching done? The familial searching is looking directly at the DNA to see who may be similar in that database and investigate those individuals further.

[David Shutes]

And that's what happened in the case of Robert Kohler's son. In the last episode, we told you of the fight that younger Robert had with his girlfriend in 2019. After attempting to kick in her door, he was charged with attempted burglary, a felony. The DNA sample taken after his 2019 arrest returned a hit tied to one of the pillowcase rapes that happened decades earlier. Back on December 28, 1983, the younger Robert's DNA came back as a familial match to the unknown perpetrator that led investigators to his father, Robert Eugene Kohler. But a familial hit isn't strong enough evidence to make an arrest.

[Erica Wenzel]

And at that point, you could kind of investigate that a little further, obtain DNA profiles from those individuals, and kind of do comparisons to the crime scene sample. I at that point.

[David Shutes]

So even though Kohler was a likely suspect, detectives needed something more solid. They needed a better DNA sample. Think about the most shocking true crime.

[Erica Wenzel]

Stories you've ever heard.

[David Shutes]

Now imagine discovering that behind them lies a medical mystery so disturbing, the government tried to keep it hidden for decades. On Medical Mysteries, we dive deep into unexplained medical cases that will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about the human body. And in our episode called A Redacted Medical Mystery, we teamed up with Declassified Mysteries to expose how one patient's symptoms led to the discovery of dangerous government experiments and suspicious deaths. From hospital rooms to classified files, this story reveals dark secrets that powerful institutions.

[Erica Wenzel]

Never wanted you to find.

[David Shutes]

The episode is available now on both Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries and Redacted Podcast feeds. Listen to A Redacted Medical Mystery on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget, you can listen to this episode and more of your favorite Wondery podcasts ad free by joining Wondery. Before the Internet ruled our lives, AOL brought America Online. With email and instant messenger, you got mail. By 2000, AOL was so powerful it bought media giant Time Warner. This was a deal that was supposed to Bring us into the future, revolutionize media. But instead, it became one of the messiest corporate disasters in history. So what went wrong?

[Erica Wenzel]

The dot com crash?

[David Shutes]

Culture clashes? Or something deeper? Business wars gives you a front row seat to the biggest moments in business and how they shape our world.

[Erica Wenzel]

Because when you're flying, flight perks disappear, your favorite restaurant chain goes bankrupt, or new tech threatens to reshape everything overnight.

[David Shutes]

You can bet there's a deeper story behind the headlines. Make sure to follow Business wars on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. And you can binge all episodes of Business the AOL Time Warner disaster early and ad free right now on wondery. It's January 16, 2020, a few months after the familial DNA hit that led to Robert Eugene Kohler. In the early morning, Kohler leaves his house in Palm Bay in his white work van. He drives to a Walmart Supercenter and parks in the lot. At the front entrance, he grabs a shopping cart and comments to a couple standing nearby about how dirty the carts are. Kohler takes a sanitizing wipe from a dispenser and cleans the handle of the shopping cart. He tosses the wipe into a trash bin, then heads into the store. As soon as Kohler's out of sight, the couple walks to the trash bin and digs out the wipe he used. What Koehler doesn't know is that these two people are not there to shop. They're among several undercover cops from Miami Dade county who drove 180 miles north and have been trailing Kohler all day. Lead detective Humberto Tabarras was at the Walmart, too. The whole idea was for the surveillance center to get what's called DNA. We were hoping that he would, you know, you know, flick out a cigarette butt, something to that effect, or throw something, a cup that he was drinking or something that we could collect. So we see if we can get.

[Erica Wenzel]

You know, we can get his DNA.

[David Shutes]

You know, secretively, with him tossing stuff out. After Kohler discarded that wipe at Walmart, investigators rushed it to a crime lab for testing. Two days after Kohler's trip to Walmart, Brevard county deputies swarmed his house and took him into custody. Now he's at a table facing detectives from Miami Dade county for the first time. All right, we're here to talk to you about something that happened a long time ago.

[Erica Wenzel]

1983, down in Miami Dade.

[David Shutes]

The wipe from the Walmart had returned a preliminary DNA match with Kohler and the unknown suspect in the 1983 rape. But detectives still needed a direct DNA sample from Kohler to charge him.

[Erica Wenzel]

This is. Well, the case is a burglary with the sexual assault. Really. And you got the wrong person. That's, you know.

[David Shutes]

But nonetheless, a case came up and.

[Erica Wenzel]

We'D like to talk to you and get your side of the story, man, this is where. This is at the side of what story?

[David Shutes]

To get your version of what happened. We have what happened where?

[Erica Wenzel]

Person that made allegations against 1983 case, you know, this rape that down there? No. There's been no other issues? No, no. You obviously got me mixed with somebody else or a duplicate or something.

[David Shutes]

Well, Mr. Kohler, science, you know, doesn't lie.

[Erica Wenzel]

Okay. Scientists proves. Oh, that's. That's a big mistake.

[David Shutes]

Well, it proves that you were on.

[Erica Wenzel]

The scene at least. No, there's a big mistake with DNA. So many problems with it. No, I'm sorry. All right. What do you know about DNA problems? Seeing it all over the news. Every time I go to my buddy's house and I watch the dogs for me when they leave, I see all this crap on it and this shit that pops up on the Internet over and over and over with mistakes here, mistakes there. Contamination, people planting things, this shit.

[David Shutes]

The interrogation lasted 26 minutes. Kohler demanded a lawyer and stopped talking. But it didn't matter. The judge ordered blood and saliva samples to be taken from Kohler, willing or not, and the results were conclusive.

[Erica Wenzel]

It has been 40 years in the making. But authorities now say they may finally have the Pillowcase Rapist in their custody. Robert Kohler is accused of assaulting more than 40 women in the 80s.

[David Shutes]

This case goes way back.

[Erica Wenzel]

Investigate.

[David Shutes]

The state attorney for Miami Dade county announced that Kohler was officially charged with with the December 28, 1983 rape, but also that he was likely responsible for many more.

[Erica Wenzel]

Formal analysis of Kohler DNA only confirmed a match to that crime. Today, however, we are announcing that the DNA also matches additional DNA samples left behind by the individual who became known as the Pillowcase Reaper. Between May of 1981 and February of 1986, he terrorized, literally terrorized women from South Miami all the way up to Deerfield Beach. And he was able to elude detection for all these decades.

[David Shutes]

Exactly how many of the suspected attacks of the Pillowcase Rapist can be linked by DNA is. Is unclear. Prosecutors have been tight lipped. Except in those cases in which charges have actually been brought. The possibility remains that somebody other than Robert Koehler was responsible for at least some of the attacks and they include the five earliest rapes in the file, those committed at the Elysian Lakes Apartments in 1981. As of March 2024, Kohler has not officially been ruled in or out as a suspect in those cases. Still charging him as the Pillowcase Rapist resolves one of the most notorious crimes in Florida, the one Detective Dave Simmons had spent years trying to crack. When SIMMONS Retired in 2005, this was the most significant case he ever left unsolved. He was stunned when the news of Kohler's capture reached him.

[Erica Wenzel]

Suddenly, I get a call from the Miami Herald reporter that I knew from years ago. I was at a wedding up in Connecticut. He called me on the phone and said, sorry to bother you. Whatever you're doing, sounds like you're having fun wherever you are. Is it a reception? He says, but I think you'd want to know they caught the Pillowcase rapist. I said, another false alarm. Why do they think it's him this time? Because we've had so many false alarms in the past. He said, no, no, no, no. This is for real. They've matched his DNA on several of your cases. It's him.

[David Shutes]

They finally got him up in Broward County. This was the news Sergeant Kami Floyd had been hoping for. She's the cold case detective with the Broward Sheriff's Office who'd cracked open the Pillowcase rapist files in 2017 on a hunch. She and her team spent months scouring through reports and looking for frozen DNA samples, but they'd been unable to find a match with anyone in state or federal databases until Kohler's arrest.

[Erica Wenzel]

I believe my captain ran into my office and said the Pillowcase Rapist was just arrested. And we watched the newscast on it. I was excited that we had a name, that we could now start working backwards and ensure that we could get this prosecuted and close these cases for.

[David Shutes]

The victims of the Broward rapes. Sergeant Floyd had investigated, DNA, linked six of them to Robert Kohler.

[Erica Wenzel]

I had victims identified, and I didn't want to give them a false sense of hope. So I was waiting until I had enough information that I believed I could move forward with an arrest or move forward with a prosecution. And I was waiting. And once I found out he was arrested, I made that phone call to the very first victim. She had never shared what had happened to her with her current husband, children, so she was having to relive it not only for herself, but with her family who never knew what had happened to her. It was difficult for me to actually Go home and think. I was thinking about her. So I would go home and talk to my husband. But I'm thinking about this poor victim who spent years of her life with her significant other. And he, he never knew her deepest, darkest secret. And that was very emotional for me. I just can't even imagine what she had gone through all these years. And it felt good. It felt good to know that hopefully this was what was going to bring her closure.

[David Shutes]

Survivors like Eileen Lear had carried on with their lives year after year, never knowing the identity of the man who had caused so much trauma. Eileen was raped a week before Thanksgiving, 1983, in her apartment south of Miami. 37 years later, she was at a birthday celebration with family and friends when detectives called her.

[Erica Wenzel]

Oh, it was just pure shock, you know, just because the wonderment of who this person was, that's, that's, I think, the thing that I thought about most over the years, like who on earth is he? You know, and why? And then when I found out who he was and that he was in his 20s at the time, and I, I still to this day think, my God, how, how could you get so off track so young?

[David Shutes]

In early 2023, Robert Kohler was brought to trial for the December 1983 rape. His defense had an uphill battle in the face of solid DNA evidence. Kohler's denials in that first police interrogation had turned into a sprawling, far fetched conspiracy claim, which he told when he took the stand in his own defense. He talked about being kidnapped by police officers around the time of the pillowcase rapes, of being strapped to a chair, threatened and beaten.

[Erica Wenzel]

The gun was put to my head.

[David Shutes]

And then he.

[Erica Wenzel]

I heard, I felt the cocking of the mechanism with the gun right here to my temple. And he said, now shut your effing mouth or I'll blow your effing head off.

[David Shutes]

Kohler claimed he was forced to ejaculate repeatedly so police could scare the public about a serial rapist and get more resources. They were outrageous stories, but they weren't just courtroom theatrics. When I talked to the court, Coler by phone from jail, he had the same incredible tales to tell. In fact, they're just about all he would talk about.

[Erica Wenzel]

The people that kidnapped me in 81, it changed my whole life. And I could prove the kidnapping. I could prove everything, okay? All of it. I had to abide by everything they said or my family members would die. With my mother, starting with my mother, and I'd be blamed for their own murders. I was Brainwashed that night. Beaten, raped, electroshocked all fucking night. Drugged and put a transmitter chip in my arm for 12 years until 92.

[David Shutes]

Kohler is impatient and arrogant. He's consumed by his paranoia. My conversation with him is really best described as rambling from one conspiracy theory to another.

[Erica Wenzel]

I have what's called a non standardized mind. None of us belong in school. School's a prison. I know most everything about everything. Soros controls immigration throughout the country. Jenny's assassination, I have such power. I can shut down the lower 48. I was contacted and kept informed. With everything going on at world events, I have everything in my head. Dude, it seems like you're not getting this or you don't understand what's going on.

[David Shutes]

You get the idea. And when I did get Kohler to answer me directly about the pillowcase rapes, he was defiant.

[Erica Wenzel]

Why the fuck would I want to rape somebody? And let me tell you something to your ear, since I'm not in your face. If I was going to spend the time to risk my life to do something stupid and heinous like that, you think I would spend only five minutes with a woman? I would have her for the night, baby, and do everything I want to do to somebody. That is classic. Classic Robert Kohler, from what I knew of him.

[David Shutes]

Erica Wentzel lived next door to Kohler in Palm Bay for more than a year before his arrest.

[Erica Wenzel]

I mean, just the, the talking in circles and the nonsensical things that came out of his mouth at any given point. He always wanted everyone to think that he was smarter than them. That was the kind of person that he was like. No matter what you said your accomplishments were, his were always one step greater. And I always thought he was just so much smarter than everybody. My dad would always call somebody like that, like, fly like a fox. Like you never want to turn your back because you're not real sure what they're planning. Or if he is patting you on the back, he's sort of looking for the soft spot to stick the knife in. It definitely gives you pause. Like it gives you a certain sense of, am I really as safe as I think I am living next to this person?

[David Shutes]

If Erica had known what was found inside Kohler's house, she would have had more reason to worry. Beyond the wall to wall clutter and filth, investigators made alarming discoveries. Assistant State Attorney Laura Adams described it.

[Erica Wenzel]

The police found a number of safes within his house. The search warrant gave them the authorization to crack open those safes. And found within one of Those safes were a number of items of women's jewelry, things that looked like trinkets, possibly souvenirs, if you will, of his prior offenses. In addition, what was found in one of those safes was a metal nail file that. That was wrapped in a protective covering, which seemed like a strange object to hide away in a safe, unless, of course, it was the weapon that the offender had used, because many of the victims described the weapon as being a sharp, pointy object, something like an ice pick, which a nail file certainly would fit the bill. And so it appeared as though that may also have been a souvenir, if you will, that this man had. In addition, the police found what appeared to be, for lack of a better term, a dungeon in progress. He had excavated a little room underneath the floor of his house that was very disturbing for the investigators to see. We feared very much that had we not gotten him into custody, that he may have had other plans even worse than what he executed on all of these women from these cases.

[David Shutes]

Kohler's first trial in Miami Dade county lasted for more than a week. Nicole Zifchak was the foreperson of the six member jury. They listened as a survivor from the 1983 rape testified about her attack.

[Erica Wenzel]

Oh, it was terrible. She's obviously older now and she's gone on with her life. And, I mean, you can only hope that for somebody to live your life and 40 years later still have to live with not even knowing who attacked you when you were young and had your own apartment and were just, you know, doing your daily life, going to work and coming home. So she had to go through her entire life not even knowing if the guy next door did this to her. There was nobody in the courtroom that didn't feel her emotion and her just overall fear and sadness. And I can't even imagine how hard it was for her to actually be there.

[David Shutes]

And what about when Kohler took the stand to weave his bizarre story?

[Erica Wenzel]

It was absolutely insane. I mean, you go in there thinking, yes, anything can happen. It's Miami. You hear crazy stories. You know, the cocaine Cowboys in the 80s. And, you know, I know there were issues with the police departments and whatnot, but you also have to be like a logical human being as well.

[David Shutes]

The jury deliberated for just two hours.

[Erica Wenzel]

There wasn't one of us that, you know, thought he was innocent. Not one. There wasn't a single one of us.

[David Shutes]

On January 26, 2023, at age 64, Robert Kohler was found guilty of sexual battery, burglary and kidnapping for the attack he committed when he was 24 years old. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison, but that was just the first trial he'll likely face. He's been formally charged in seven other attacks, and prosecutors say there's DNA evidence linking him to dozens more. Sergeant Cammie Floyd says the true extent of Kohler's crimes may never be known.

[Erica Wenzel]

I believe there's more out there, and maybe they haven't gotten word that Robert Kohler has been arrested or they've moved. It could be anything. We can't locate them. We don't know who they are. But I do believe there's definitely more victims out there.

[David Shutes]

Catherine was a victim of one of the Broward county attacks that Sergeant Floyd linked to Kohler.

[Erica Wenzel]

I wouldn't be surprised if there were 85 women that had been attacked by this bastard. You know, I mean, really, he was active down here, but he kept moving up the coast. And you can't tell me that this monster just said, oh, I think I'll stop raping people at knife point. It's been so easy at this point, and I've gotten away with it for so long, and, oh, gee, I think I'll even start digging a little dungeon in my basement. You know, it's been 40 years. He didn't just turn a leaf because he got married and had kids.

[David Shutes]

Eileen Lear has some advice for those women who have survived a sexual assault and not come forward.

[Erica Wenzel]

Aside from the obvious of helping to capture a predator, I think it's a tremendous burden for a woman to carry the knowledge of being assaulted on her own. You know, that's just. That's a lot to hold on to. And so sharing and talking certainly helps to move the. The emotion and the energy. It also rallies people around you to help and take care of you and watch out for you and so on, that if people don't know, you know, then no one knows. You're terrified to be alone in the dark when someone comes in and violates you that way. It's traumatizing on so many levels, you know, and I was lucky in that I wasn't beaten, I wasn't shot, I wasn't stabbed. And so I know people have gone through so much worse, you know, so much worse. I'm glad he'll never. Hopefully, he'll never be on the streets again. But I still really feel strongly that the scope of his victimization should be known and that the more people hear about this stuff, the more they will feel about that it's okay to come out and tell people what happened to you and see if they can find the perpetrator. And that'll save all kinds of other people.

[David Shutes]

As of March 2024, Robert Kohler was in the Miami Dade County Jail awaiting his next trial for a rape that happened on September 6, 1984. His six rape charges in Broward county are still pending. If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual violence, you can find help from the National Sexual assault [e-mail] that's R A I N N.org or by calling 800-656-HOPE. That's 800-656-HOP. Thank you for listening to season four of Felonious Florida. If you'd like to go deeper into the dark side of this Sunshine State, we have three more seasons available now to listen to. From a killer Clown to Christmas Kidnappings and a Triple murder caught on tape. We cover some of Florida's most infamous true crime stories in more than 30 chilling episodes available in the Wondery app on apple [e-mail] or wherever you listen to podcasts. And remember, Wondry members can follow every twist and turn with an ad Free Listening Experience. Please support the show by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and following us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. This season was reported, written and produced by me, David Schutz, editing by Robin Webb and and Gretchen Day Bryant sound design and production by Sean Pitts. Julie Anderson is our Editor in Chief. Web design by Carbell Multimedia with illustrations by John DeLuca soundtrack by DeWolf Music audio clips courtesy of the Miami Dade Police Department and the Wolfson Archives at Miami Dade College. Special thanks to retired Detective Sergeant Dave Simmons for his assistance with our reporting. This show is a production of the South Florida Sun Sentinel, a division of Tribune Publishing. Felonious Florida was created by Lisa Arthur and Juan Ortega. Follow Felonious Florida Season 4 in the Wondery app. You can binge the entire series early and ad free right now by joining Wondery and the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

[Erica Wenzel]

It's all a light hearted nightmare on our podcast Morbid. We're your hosts. I'm Alina Urquhart. And I'm Ash Kelly. And our show is part true crime, part spooky and part comedy. The stories we cover are well researched. Of the 880 men who survived the attack, around 400 would eventually find their way to one another and merge into one larger group with a touch of humor. Shout out to her. Shout out to all my therapists out the years of there's been like eight of them. A dash of sarcasm and just garnished a bit with a little bit of cursing. That mother is not real. And if you're a weirdo like us and love to cozy up to a creepy tale of the paranormal, or you.

[David Shutes]

Love to hop in the Wayback Machine and dissect the details of some of.

[Erica Wenzel]

History'S most notorious crimes, you should tune in to our podcast Morbid. Follow Morbid on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to episodes early and ad free by joining Wondery and the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.