Kevin Coe timeline

Here is a chronology of events surrounding Kevin Coe and the South Hill rapist case:

1978-81: Spokane police investigate a string of rapes attributed to a South Hill rapist who sometimes jogs, follows buses and jams a gloved hand down the throats of his victims.

Oct. 23, 1980: Julie Harmia, 27, is raped while walking home from a bus stop after work.

March 10, 1981: Kevin Coe is arrested. He is charged with five counts of first-degree rape and one count of second-degree rape.

July 29, 1981: Coe is convicted in Spokane of four counts of first-degree rape and acquitted of two counts. He is sentenced to life plus 75 years. The state Supreme Court reverses his convictions and orders a new trial.

November 1981: Ruth Coe is charged with soliciting the murders of the judge and prosecutor in her son's case. She is convicted in May 1982 and serves a year in jail and work-release.

November 1983: The book "Son: A Psychopath and His Victims," by Jack Olsen, is released.

Feb. 12, 1985: In a second trial, in Seattle, Coe is convicted of three counts of first-degree rape; the jury is hung on the fourth count. Coe is sentenced to life plus 55 years. The parole board later sets a minimum 40-year term.

October 1986: Coe marries Shawn O'Brien in a prison ceremony. Their marriage ends in October 1988.

January 1988: The state Supreme Court overturns two counts, leaving a single conviction, for the attack against Harmia. Coe is resentenced to 25 years, including time already served, with a September 2006 release date.

February 1991: CBS airs a made-for-television movie, "Sins of the Mother," based on Olsen's book. (Olsen died in 2002.)

April 1994: A fellow inmate slashes Coe across the throat with a homemade knife while Coe talks on the phone at the state penitentiary.

March 1996: Ruth Coe dies at 75.

January 1999: Coe's father, retired Spokane newspaperman Gordon Coe, dies in Seattle.

Aug. 30, 2006: The state attorney general files a petition to commit Coe to the state's sexually-violentpredator treatment program on McNeil Island. Coe is transferred the following day from the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla to the Spokane County jail, where he awaits a commitment trial.

The Associated Press and Seattle Times archives