William Cosden

Serving 48-year sentence for rape

Katherine Devine

14-year-old hitchhiker from Seattle

Cosden

1975 mug from Thurston County Sheriff's Office

DNA evidence points finger in 28-year-old murder case

JIM CARLILE THE OLYMPIAN

THURSTON COUNTY -- Friends last saw Katherine M. Devine on Nov. 25, 1973, as she hitchhiked south from Seattle.

A few days later in Thurs-ton County, the dead body of a girl was found in a picnic area northwest of Littlerock.

At about the same time, William E. Cosden Jr., a South Sound resident, was seen leaving a truck stop with fresh blood on his clothing.

After more than 28 years, DNA evidence has linked the two, Thurston County Sheriff Gary Edwards said Friday.

"It's just wonderful to have closure after 28 years," said Sally Ann Devine, Katherine Devine's mother.

At the time

In late 1973, Washington, D.C., was mired in the Watergate scandal, the Boston Strangler was murdered in his prison cell in Massachusetts and Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five" was being burned in North Dakota.

In Thurston County, law enforcement officials were trying to identify the murdered girl.

The victim was identified as the 14-year-old hitchhiker from Seattle after The Olympian ran a picture of the girl taken at the morgue.

After that, the complex task of finding her killer began.

The Thurston County Sheriff's Office claimed Friday that, after 28 years, the case has been solved using old evidence.

Cosden was arrested Friday on suspicion of first-degree murder.

Cosden, 55, has been in prison since 1976, serving a 48-year sentence for first-degree rape. He was arrested at the Washington Correction Center in Shelton on Friday on a warrant for first-degree murder.

"This came about as a result of technology and a lot of hard work," Edwards said.

Officers believe DNA evidence recently processed by the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab links Cosden to the teen-ager's death.

Person of interest

Sheriff's Capt. Dan Kimball said law enforcement always has an interest in cold cases, but what set this case apart was that they had a "person of interest."

And that was Cosden. He was living in Scott Lake at the time of the murder.

Cosden initially became a person of interest after detectives got tips from citizens during the early stages of the investigation.

"There have been 85 homicide cases in Thurston County since 1970," Edwards said. Fifteen are unsolved.

"We're letting those criminals know, who thought they were going to get away with something, we're coming."

Criminals who have yet to be caught should be nervous, he said. "I hope they get ulcers."

Katherine Devine

Friends said Devine was hitchhiking from Seattle to visit relatives in Oregon, but her family had reported her as a runaway.

"She was beautiful inside and out, but she was a normal troubled teen-ager," her mother said. "I don't think she had more troubles than anyone else her age during that time."

At 10 a.m. on Dec. 6, 1973, Devine's body was discovered by Dale and Barbara Saling of Tumwater.

They were caretakers of the Margaret McKinney Camp and Picnic Area north of Littlerock. The camp is operated by the state Department of Natural Resources.

Barbara Saling was picking up litter when she found Devine's partially clothed body in the Oregon grape and salal.

"It would be nice to know that this has finally been solved," Sally Ann Devine said. "We've been wondering for 28 years."

The teen's death was classified as either a strangulation or caused by a sharp-edged instrument.

At the time, local police could not identify the body, so The Olympian took pictures of the victim in the morgue and ran one on the front page.

At about the same time, the Devine family, living in Seattle, saw a report on television about a body in Thurston County.

The news showed pictures of what the victim was wearing at the time, including an embroidered dragon patch on the left-rear pocket of a pair of jeans.

"I saw that and said, 'Mom, those are Kathy's clothes,' " said Devine's sister, Sherrie, who was 16 at the time.

William Cosden Jr.

In 1973, Cosden worked for his father at the Restover Truck Stop off Interstate 5 in Tumwater, according to a report filed in Thurston County Superior Court.

The report also says the truck stop was a focal point for hitchhikers in the 1970s.

According to police reports:

- Witnesses saw Cosden come in the night of the murder with blood stains on his clothing. The witnesses called police.

- After leaving the truck stop, Cosden's truck caught on fire and was destroyed three miles from the truck stop.

- During initial interviews with police, Cosden denied ever seeing Devine.

- In 1986, based on additional investigative information, a search warrant was obtained for Cosden's blood, hair and saliva.

Thurston County detectives went to the McNeil Island Penitentiary, where Cosden was then serving the prison term for rape.

The materials collected were placed within the Sheriff's Office evidence system.

In 2001, the Sheriff's Office submitted the items -- and evidence collected from the victim's body -- to the Washington State Patrol Crime Lab for possible DNA analysis.

The DNA evidence linked Cosden to Devine, Edwards said.

"DNA made the case, I would say," Edwards said.

After detectives confronted Cosden with the evidence, he still denied having had contact with the girl.

During the second interview, he admitted to having sexual contact, but denied killing her.

"We believe that it's the oldest case to be solved using DNA evidence in the state of Washington," Edwards said.

All agreed that the man who showed the most tenacity in the case was sheriff's Capt. Mark Curtis. Curtis, a 31-year veteran, originally worked on the case.

On Friday, Edwards credited Curtis with keeping Cosden from being paroled.

Closure

Officers said they could not reveal some details of the case because the investigation is still going on -- and the case is not yet in a courtroom.

"We have to watch what we say so not to contaminate the jury pool," Edwards said.

Cosden is also a person of interest in other unsolved cases, but Edwards said he can't talk about them.

For years, the Devine family believed Katherine had been murdered by Ted Bundy. They learned Friday that Cosden had been arrested on suspicion of killing her.

Her father, Bill Devine, said he was shocked.

"They say that time heals all wounds. They don't (heal). Sometimes they scab over a little but open up again on birthdays," he said.

"I was just thrilled," Sally Ann Devine said.

"I still feel like it's a dream and I'm going to wake up and it'll all be over."

Jim Carlile covers crime and public health for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5465 or jcarlile@olympia. gannett.com.

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