Coe arrives in Spokane

When he dropped Kevin Coe off in King County in 1981, then-Spokane sheriff’s Deputy Jerry Brady never thought he’d see the South Hill rapist again.

But Brady, now a captain and serving as the Spokane County Jail’s commander, was ready Thursday when Coe arrived about 2:25 p.m. at his facility.

Security was tight, accommodations were arranged and jailers briefed.

As Brady waited outside the jail for Coe’s arrival, he recalled the last time he encountered the South Hill rapist.

“We left here at 0-dark-30 hours and took him over to King County for his appeal,” Brady said of the drive 25 years ago. “He was much like he is today, very quiet.”

Coe’s return was prompted by state Attorney General Rob McKenna’s decision to try holding the 59-year-old indefinitely under the state’s civil commitment program for sex predators, which means Coe could spend the rest of his life locked in an institution.

A Sept. 6 probable cause hearing is scheduled in Spokane County Superior Court.The announcement to pursue Coe’s civil commitment came Wednesday, just nine days before he was due to be released from Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla after serving a 25-year sentence for a first-degree rape conviction.

Washington’s Department of Corrections decided against delaying Coe’s transfer to Spokane County, and two sheriff’s deputies picked him up Thursday morning.

Spokane County officials were told to expect Coe to stay in the jail for several weeks, and possibly up to six months, said Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich.

Coe will be kept in the maximum-security wing of the jail. He will bunk alone, eat meals in his cell and be allowed out for no more than an hour per day to read the newspaper and make a phone call, Brady said.

Coe appeared passive and reserved Thursday as he was helped out of a patrol car and into the county jail’s booking area.

He declined a telephone interview with The Spokesman-Review a day earlier while still at the state prison in Walla Walla but told The Seattle Times that McKenna’s decision was “just awful news.”

“Isn’t this like throwing Christians to the lions?” Coe said of facing a new jury in Spokane. “It’s an extreme, extreme injustice, an absolute extreme injustice. It’s bad enough that I’ve done 25 years for a crime I didn’t do, and all the evidence says so.”

Back in Spokane, whenever jailers are taking Coe to and from court, “We will make sure there’s extra security,” Brady said.

When the jail commander briefed his staff, he advised them to “use caution and care,” he said. “We won’t treat him any different than any other high security prisoner.”

But corrections deputies waiting for Coe’s arrival couldn’t help but be intrigued by the infamous criminal.

Just prior to the South Hill rapist’s arrival, a deputy wandered out the jail intake door: “Is he here yet?” he asked the five other corrections deputies who were waiting for Coe.

Knezovich acknowledged the circumstances surrounding Coe’s arrival were unusual.

“Let’s be honest,” Knezovich said. “This is different.”