South Hill Rapist Kevin Coe dead just months after being released from state custody

SPOKANE, Wash. — According to the Federal Way Mayor's Office, with information from the Federal Way Police Department, the South Hill Rapist, Kevin Coe, died on Wednesday morning. The Federal Way mayor's office confirmed he was reported dead of natural causes to local law enforcement authorities.

In October, Coe was moved from Washington’s Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island to an adult family home in Federal Way.

Coe is believed to have committed around 40 rapes and sexual assaults in Spokane in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During his first trial, Coe was convicted on four counts of rape. Just three years later, the state supreme court overturned those convictions because some victims were hypnotized during the police investigation.

In the second trial in 1985, Coe was found guilty on three rape charges. Again, many of those were overturned on the hypnosis issue. Coe's single rape conviction led to a 25-year prison sentence, and in 2006, he was set to be released.

A Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) psychologist and another hired by the attorney general's office said in October that due to Coe's heart disease, limited mobility and ongoing mental health issues, he was unlikely to reoffend.

As of late October 2025, Coe had re-registered as a Level III Sex Offender in Federal Way.

Spokane County Prosecutor Preston McCollam released the following statement to KREM 2 regarding Coe's death:

"Mr. Coe's passing was as unimpressive as his life. Despite the stain he was on humanity, I’ve been encouraged to see hope and healing spring from many of the lives of those he terrorized. I pray that those who endured his crimes find some level of solace in that he no longer shares the same state of existence as the rest of us. As he now faces his ultimate judge, I am hopeful we can take steps to reform the broken system that let him see freedom in the first place. I’m thankful I will never again see his name on an appeal, a petition for leniency, or a request for clemency, however that said he was but one of many who are daily clamoring to be set loose back into the community yet again. We must stay vigilant and make sure crime victims' voices are not lost in favor of the evil doer."