‘Pillowcase Rapist’ on trial after sexual assault of Miami-Dade woman four decades ago
The man who police identified by DNA as the Pillowcase Rapist sexually assaulted a woman — after restraining her with a telephone cord and gagging her with a wad of fabric — at her southwest Miami-Dade town home four decades ago, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Robert Koehler, 66, is accused of terrorizing and sexually assaulting the 22-year-old woman in 1984. His trial began Tuesday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court; he has been convicted in another rape case from 1983 and through DNA, is facing charges in a string of sexual assaults across South Florida from the 1980s.
Turning to the jury, state prosecutor Laura Adams said the victim was “violated in the most horrific way imaginable.” The victim was taking a nap after returning home from her accounting job when the assailant broke into her home.
The victim, Adams said, woke up to the shadow of a man in her doorway. The man told her to “shut up” and covered her face with a cloth. She could feel something sharp on her neck as he moved her downstairs.
He then tied the victim’s hands with a telephone cord, gagged her with fabric and sexually assaulted her twice, Adams said. When the attack ended, he tied the cord around her ankles and said, “I’m going to be watching you. Don’t you move, don’t you call for help.”
The victim had her whole future ahead of her, but “someone smashed that into pieces for her,” Adams said, glancing at Koehler.
Adams showed jurors a photo of the victim today, telling them that over the decades, she got married, had children and is now a grandmother. The sexual assault, however, has followed her.
“The shadow has lurked behind her all these years, wondering ‘Who did this to me?’” Adams said. “...But just because time passes, doesn’t mean the victim forgets, that law enforcement forgets, and that the courts forget either.”
The victim was not in court and has not been identified by name in court records.
DNA evidence
Koehler, who in the ‘80s was a tow truck driver living in Miami, was convinced that he was smarter than the victim and law enforcement, Adams said.
However, science eventually caught up to him. Adams flashed a photo of a sexual assault kit swab, detailing to jurors what investigators did to preserve the evidence for decades — hoping for a match.
Back then, Koehler was known only as the “Pillowcase Rapist” because he typically shielded his face with a pillowcase or shirt. The Pillowcase Rapist was one of the most notorious serial rapists in Florida history.
The hunt for the Pillowcase Rapist was cold until a DNA hit in 2020, following the arrest of Koehler’s son. His son’s domestic battery arrest led police to Koehler, a registered sex offender who had settled in Palm Bay in Central Florida.
After the hit, undercover investigators tailed Koehler to a Walmart and collected a wipe he used to clean a shopping cart, Adams said. The DNA from the wipe was a match to the semen collected after the 1984 sexual assault.
Koehler was arrested next day at his Palm Bay home. Police then obtained a warrant for a direct DNA sample, which matched what they found on the victim.
“The physical evidence, the circumstantial evidence... all of it points in one direction, at this defendant,” Adams said.
In a brief opening argument, defense attorney Alex Shear said Koehler was an innocent man. The attacker’s sperm was nonmotile, meaning that he couldn’t have children, making it “highly unlikely” that it’s Koehler’s because he has three biological children.
“The DNA in this case is not a smoking gun, it’s another question mark,” Shear said.
Koehler also didn’t match the description of the assailant, Shear said. The victim described the rapist as a man of medium build with brown hair. Koehler, the attorney pointed out, had jet black hair at the time and stood at over 6 feet.
Victim tormented by assailant
On the stand, Rosemary Bodell, the victim’s roommate, recalled returning home to the sight of her friend struggling to free herself from the telephone cord.
Bodell teared up as she detailed how she helped her friend untie the cord. Bodell said her friend was acting strangely — and appeared to be calm before she said, “He might still be here.”
Bodell’s then-boyfriend searched the house for the intruder, but didn’t find anyone.
The victim, Bodell added, told her she wanted to take a shower. She teared up when Bodell advised her not to, so she could get swabbed at the Rape Treatment Center.
In 2023, Koehler was found guilty of sexually assaulting a 25-year-old woman in northwest Miami-Dade in 1983. He was sentenced to 17 years for armed kidnapping and 17 years for armed burglary with assault or battery.
This story was originally published October 28, 2025 at 2:08 PM.
