A registered sex offender in Florida who was arrested on Saturday in connection with a series of unsolved rapes from the 1980s reportedly kept a secret dungeon in his home.
Robert Koehler, 60, was accused of sexually assaulting at least 44 women from South Miami to Deerfield Beach between May 1981 and February 1986. Since his arrest, investigators alleged that he had a room buried under his Palm Bay home where he hid safes containing women’s possessions, according to WFTV.
One of the items discovered in the safes was reportedly a metal nail file encased in a protective cover.
“Possible souvenirs, if you will, of his prior offenses,” prosecutor Laura Adams said, referring to the trinkets reportedly found on Koehler’s property.
The then-unidentified suspect was dubbed the “Pillowcase Rapist” because he allegedly used a pillowcase, shirt or towel to conceal his identity during the attacks. Koehler allegedly gained entry to the victims’ homes through unlocked sliding doors or windows. Authorities said he threatened the victims with a knife and sometimes stole money during the assaults.
On Thursday, police revealed that DNA samples from as many as 25 sexual assault cases from the 80s were linked to Koehler. Detectives reportedly zeroed-in on him after his son’s DNA was acquired in an unrelated case.
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez said they obtained Koehler’s DNA by following him and swabbing grocery carts and door handles that he came into contact with, according to WFTV.
Koehler was in his early twenties at the time of the serial sexual assaults. Public records state that he is a registered sex offender with a 1991 conviction for sexual battery in Palm Beach County.
Koehler is charged with sexual battery with a deadly weapon from a single 1983 rape case in Miami-Dade County. Though he was arrested in Palm Bay, he was extradited to Miami-Dade County on Thursday.
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[Featured image: Robert Koehler/Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE); Composite sketch/Miami-Dade Police Department]
