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Robert Koehler’s 1980s Rape Spree Goes Undetected

Robert Koehler was convicted of sexual battery in Palm Beach County in the early 1990s.

He was forced to register as a sex offender, but it’s unclear how much time, if any, he served for the conviction.

What the police didn’t know at that time was that Koehler was the Pillowcase rapist and had a long list of victims. He had violated at least 25 women in South Florida during the 1980s.

Back then, there were no doorbell cameras, and DNA testing was in its infancy. He was never connected to the cases.

The Investigation Progresses Decades Later

Investigators started putting the pieces together in 2020 when Koehler’s son had legal issues and had to give a DNA sample.

That DNA sample linked Koehler to cases in Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

He was accused of entering a woman’s Miami home in 1983 and stabbing her after she screamed. He then covered her head and violated her multiple times.

He was arrested on January 22nd, 2020.

Legal Proceedings

He was convicted in that 1983 Miami rape case, and in 2023, he was sentenced to 17 years in prison, but prosecutors were not done.

Earlier in 2025, they took him to trial for a similar incident that occurred in 1984.

The victim, who was 25 at the time of the crime, said she opened her eyes and saw a strange man in her bedroom holding a weapon. He then covered her head with a piece of fabric and took her to another room.

The prosecutor claimed he made a vile statement to the victim before he violated her.

The trial lasted 4 days, and the jury deliberated for 90 minutes before convicting Koehler of sexual battery, kidnapping, and two other offenses.

At his sentencing on November 24th, 2025, he lashed out, claiming he was railroaded.

He was eventually removed from the courtroom.

The judge addressed the court in his absence, sentencing the 66-year-old to four consecutive life sentences.