Cold case rape solved after 30 years, rapist identified and charged
More than 30 years after a young Hillsborough County, Florida, mother was violently raped in her own home, her attacker has finally been identified, tried and convicted of that heinous crime.
On November 15, 1988, the young mom fell asleep on her couch. She was awoken in the middle of the night by an unknown male who was holding a knife to her throat.
The male suspect threatened to stab her son if she screamed or fought back.
The victim was sexually battered twice; and the suspect fled from the residence undetected.
Deputies arrived at the scene and found a knife outside the front door of the victim’s home. The knife was taken from the victim’s kitchen knife block and used by the suspect to threaten her. A sexual battery examination of the victim was done at that time.
After some time, and with no new leads, the case went cold. But in 2017, as part of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s backlog purge, the sexual battery examination kit was analyzed, and a DNA profile of the suspect was identified.
The investigation was re-activated and Phillip Coward, now 60-years-old, was arrested on June 11, 2018 for the rape.
The victim did not know her attacker.
On December 18, a jury convicted Coward on two counts of sexual battery with a weapon for this incident. Coward’s sentencing is scheduled for February 13, 2020. For more on the story, see the video accompanying this article.
(Source: Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office
~ Posted by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
