Katherine Merry ‘Kathy’ Devine.

Katherine ‘Kathy’ Merry Devine was born on Christmas day in 1959 to William and Sallyann (nee Dayton) Devine of Seattle, Washington. Bill was born on September 14, 1935 in Yakima, WA and Mrs. Devine was born on May 15, 1935. They were wed on September 20, 1954 in Seattle and had three daughters together: Sherrie, Katherine, and Charlene. Kathy was the middle child and there is a twelve year age gap between her and Char; Sherrie is just a year older than Katherine. The couple at some point divorced, and Bill remarried a woman named Beverly (nee Clark) on Valentine’s Day in 1989. He was employed in the fire equipment sales and service business for over 35 years before retiring.

Just as a side note, this was one of the very first articles I wrote, and recently when I went back to edit it I was shocked at how incomplete it was. I’ve been writing for about two years now and I’ve gained a lot of skills and resources since then, so I’ve really been able to dig into Kathy’s case and find out more about not only her but also the man that killed her. In April 2024 I began the (long and tedious) process of editing her piece after not only finding more articles (and pictures) about her but also meeting her younger sister and mother. Earlier in the month I went to Portland and Seattle, and had the privilege of meeting both ladies, and Char was kind enough to show me her childhood home as well as the corner at the end of their street where investigators strongly suspect her sister initially hitchhiked from. From there we went to the mausoleum where the remains of her sister were kept in the north part of Seattle, and as beautiful as it looks in the pictures it’s even more stunning in person. When we were done she took me to the retirement community where Mrs. Devine lived, and we spent about an hour together, sitting and reminiscing about not only Kathy but also the hitchhiking ban the family attempted to get off the ground. Sitting there on that beautiful spring day, it was as if I’ve known both women my entire life. In fact, I found myself telling Char things that my husband doesn’t even know (sorry Charlie). I’m really finding it incredibly hard as an adult to meet new people, especially ones that I have such a strong connection with (working two jobs makes things especially difficult). Back when I was in Florida I was able to track down Sue Justis’ sister on FB and I sent her my newly finished article, and she was NOT HAPPY.  I feel very fortunate that both Charlene and Mrs. Devine were both so kind and welcoming to me. Both women are very easy to love.

In the fall of 1973 fourteen year old Kathy Devine was struggling: she had recently ended things with her boyfriend and was beginning to dabble in substance abuse. Talking to Char about it, her drug use wasn’t anything extreme, and sounded like normal teenage fun (especially in the early 1970’s). Described by those that loved her as sweet and kind, Katherine loved poetry and lined the walls of her bedroom with poems. She doted on her little sister, and I saw this with my own eyes when watching home videos of the Devine’s: Kathy was always playing with Charlene, and showing her all the love and affection a big sister should give to their little sister. The Sunday after Thanksgiving on November 25, 1973 Kathy disappeared while hitchhiking near her Seattle residence after getting into an argument with her mom about dating. Before leaving the Devine family home, she wrote her mom a note explaining that she needed to escape and was going to Rockaway Beach, Oregon to visit with her cousins. She ended it with: ‘PS. Don’t worry mom I’ll be back.’

Kathy was last seen by two girlfriends getting into a beat up old pickup truck driven by an unknown male near North 91st Street and Aurora Avenue North; investigators strongly theorized that she walked roughly a quarter mile down the corner of her street and took off from there. Devine told them she was ‘thumbing a ride’ to her cousin’s house about 200 miles away and intended to hitchhike the entire way there. After meeting Charlene she shared with me that investigators suspect she was picked up at the end of their street and was dropped off  at the Restover Truck Stop near Tumwater, and it was there that she met the man that killed her. Kathy’s parents said that she had some depression and mental health issues and reported her as missing to police after they found her note and she failed to return home. Mrs. Devine said of her daughter: ‘she was beautiful inside and out, but she was a normal troubled teenager.’… ‘I don’t think she had more troubles than anyone else her age during that time.’ At the time of her murder Devine was a sophomore at Ingraham High School, and like so many Bundy victims she was beautiful, tall, and willowy, weighing 120 pounds and standing 5’8″ tall; she had startling blue-gray eyes and light brown hair that fell mid-way down her back. I’m pulling this quote from her ‘FindAGrave’ site from an interview someone did with one of her sisters: ‘there’s a million things I could tell you about Kathy but I wouldn’t even know where to start. Since she was born on Christmas Day, she felt it was her calling to become a minister. I don’t know if she would’ve ever done it but she always talked about it. She constantly brought home both stray animals and unfortunate children. She had such a big heart and was always looking to help someone.’

Sadly, two of Devine’s girlfriends were with her when she got in the strangers truck, and were forced to watch their friend drive away with a man she didn’t know, completely unaware that they’d never see her again. Kathy was last seen wearing a white peasant blouse, navy-colored bell bottom jeans with a dragon patch on the back pocket, a mock-suede brown coat with fur trim and her black ‘waffle-stomper’ boots. She was also wearing some inexpensive ‘costume jewelry,’ including a florentine-style friendship ring, an imitation blue-green zirconia ring, and a pair of cross earrings.

Eleven days after she was last seen on December 6, 1973 the remains of Katherine Merry Devine were discovered roughly 80 miles away in Margaret McKenny Campground in the Capitol State Forest. Park Caretaker Barbara Saling was out with her husband picking up trash when she stumbled upon the remains at the edge of a clearing. About the incident, Saling said ‘we knew it was a murder. We knew it was not an accident.’ The couple found Devine laying face down in an overgrowth of ferns, salal, moss, and kinnickinnic in a depression in the forest floor next to Campground Space #1. Retired Thurston County Undersheriff Neil McClanhan commented that ‘it was a horrific crime, she was just dumped, left for the animals and the environment. What a shock it was to the community.’

Thurston County forensic experts were able to tell that Kathy was killed shortly after she disappeared (most likely on December 1), but unfortunately the winter of 1973 was unseasonably warm so decomposition had set in quickly making it hard for forensic experts to determine her exact cause of death. Additionally, small animals had ravaged her body, coming in at the neck; her heart, lungs, and liver were missing. Despite being found fully clothed, the young woman’s bell bottoms were cut in the back, exposing her backside from the waist to the underwear area; evidence suggested she had been sexually assaulted and sodomized. Devine had a deep wound on her neck and it was the ME’s determination that she had been strangled to death. She had deep knife wounds on both of her breasts and investigators found a piece of rope underneath her body. Kathy also had noticeable cuts on her coat,  jeans, and underwear, and neither her wallet, purse, or left boot were found with her.

When Kathy’s remains were discovered they weren’t immediately identified: Sherrie Devine was watching television several weeks after her sister disappeared and saw a news report that mentioned the discovery of a body at  a local park and recognized the embroidered dragon patch on the victims bell bottoms as belonging to Kathy. She never arrived in Oregon.

After Kathy’s remains were discovered her uncle Delmar Bennett positively identified her body (it was actually his house in Oregon that she was hitchhiking to). Devine was a frequent hitchhiker, and according to reports it was not the first time she traveled that way to Rockaway Beach. She reportedly stayed at a friend’s house the night before she disappeared along with a third girl, and on the day of the three agreed to travel to Oregon together. When someone pulled over and Kathy got in, the other two girls thought she was joking and stayed behind, fully expecting the vehicle to pull over after a few blocks and for their friend to jump out. Before she was killed Sherrie tried to educate her younger sister on multiple occasions about the dangers of hitchhiking, and Mrs. Devine had no idea she was participating in the activity until she got a ticket in the summer of 1972 for doing it ‘too close to a freeway.’ It’s worth mentioning that in 1973 you needed to be 18 to do it.

The eleven days between her disappearance and the discovery of Kathy’s body made it almost impossible to pinpoint exactly who abducted her. Former Thurston County Sheriff Don Redmond commented that: ‘it’s that damned new hitchhiking law. Kids can stick their thumbs out and get in a car with anybody.’ Devine’s murder case was one of the longest unsolved homicides in Washington state history, and for most of the 28 years after she was killed her family said they learned next to nothing about the identity of her killer.

A few weeks after Kathy’s remains were found the Thurston County Sheriff’s Department received a four page letter sent sent by an anonymous individual that purportedly named Kathy’s killer. The correspondence included a sketch of the mustachioed perp as well as a second drawing of his ‘scarred hand.’ (Retired) Thurston County Lieutenant Don Snook told the public that ‘we would like to hear more from this writer,’ and (retired) Sheriff Don Redmond commented that the letter said the slayer was ‘sick and would kill again.’ The details from the letter were investigated and two homes were looked into as the potential hideouts of Devine’s killer, one in Nisqually Valley and another on Waldrick Road. In addition to the letter, the ‘Crime Checkers’ (which is a hotline of sorts to report crime-related activity) received an anonymous phone call from a man who simply said, ‘I know who killed Katherine Devine,’ then immediately hung-up without elaborating. Nothing ever came of either incident and were eventually deemed to be hoaxes. When I asked Char why anyone would do such a thing, she simply shrugged her shoulders and said, ‘people are nuts.’

Before Kathy was killed on May 17, 1973 nineteen year-old Theresa A. Granulas out of Spokane was murdered after being stabbed in the stomach, and roughly twenty days after her remains were discovered another body was found in a nearby wooded area outside of Seattle. The ME was able to determine that the remains belonged to thirty-eight year old Jimmy Frank Hildebrand, a GI from Fort Lewis; he died from two small caliber bullet wounds to the neck. Almost immediately Sheriff’s determined that the three murders were unrelated, mostly due to the fact that they were committed in different ways and their methods of disposal greatly varied. After putting in some good detective work, it was eventually determined that two men from Tacoma murdered Hildebrand, and in July 1973 a jury of his peers found a man named Frank Chase (who also went by the alias ‘Frank White Eagle’) guilty of Granulas’ murder; he was sentenced to forty years in prison. Additionally, on Mothers Day in 1973 a Richester, WA mother named Elaine Bills killed her four year old daughter after shooting her in the temple with a .22 caliber revolver. The twenty nine year old was sentenced to twenty years in prison, and was later transferred to the Purdy Treatment Center for Women.

On January 2, 1974 the skeletal remains of a waitress named Debbie Poller was found in a shallow grave in Tacoma. The nineteen year old was identified through dental records and her autopsy showed that she was strangled and suffered a blow to the head; she was found wrapped in a red bedspread. Strangely enough, while researching I learned about two more young women that disappeared from the greater Seattle area in 1974: eighteen year old Melody Logan and seventeen year old Linda Hamilton. All I could find about Linda was that she was last seen at a restaurant called ‘The Frontier Cafe’ (this is most likely due to her fairly common name), and looking into Logan it turns out she eloped in Carson City, Nevada with her bf.

Just two days after Kathy’s remains were discovered, sixteen year old Sherrie came up with the idea to organize a petition to ban hitchhiking across the state of Washington, titled ‘Initiative-283.’ In an interview with The Longview Daily News published on December 18, 1973, she said that ‘we don’t want anything to happen to anyone else. We’re not against hitchhikers. We just want to prevent hitchhiking.’ In addition to collecting thousands of signatures, the Devine family also testified before the WA state legislature in hopes to help make the act illegal. Just some general background on hitchhiking in Washington state: in 1972 it had been legalized amid the ongoing gas crisis and the carefree days of the early 70’s when it was considered ‘cool’ (I know I said it in past articles, but my own mother spoke of doing it very casually with her friends). Unfortunately, the 86,000 signatures that the family obtained just wasn’t enough and the bill stalled in Olympia. In an interview with a reporter in July 1974, Mr. Devine commented that: ‘because it was legal, she thought it was safe.’ … ‘My oldest daughter thought she had failed. I told her, ‘look how many people became aware of the problem. You didn’t fail.’’

At the time of Kathy Devine’s disappearance in November 1973 Ted Bundy was living at the Rogers Rooming house on 12th Ave in Seattle’s University District. He was in an established, long term relationship with Liz Kloepfer (and was dating multiple other women as well) and was taking his first crack at law school at the nearby University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. He had been unemployed since September (when he was the assistant to the WA State Republican chairman) and remained so until May 3 of 1974, when he started work at the Department of Emergency Services in Olympia. He did have his infamous tan VW in November 1973 as he purchased it earlier that spring, and according to the ‘TB MultiAgency Investigative Team Report 1992,’ on the day Kathy disappeared Bundy ‘had a beard’ and ‘bought gas on the Washington IBH-521 in Seattle.’

For the first 28 years after Kathy’s murder the Devine’s strongly felt it was Ted Bundy that brutally took her life, as she fit the physical description of (most of) his victims and the way she was murdered was similar to the technique he was known to use. When Ms. Devine disappeared in 1973 Ted was living only two miles from where she was last seen, and where everyone knows he drove a light cream colored Beetle for a couple years before his Utah arrest few are aware that he also owned a pick-up briefly to help with his move from WA to SLC (although this was in 1975); his brother Glenn owned a (white) pick-up truck at some point as well. During his death row confessions Bundy told LE that he picked up a hitchhiker in 1973, killed her, then left her body close to where Kathy’s remains were found in Olympia (although he couldn’t remember the exact location), but he specifically denied having any involvement with her murder. Even crime author and Bundy bff Ann Rule (kidding) brought up the possibility that Ted killed her in her crime classic ‘The Stranger Beside Me.’ Oddly enough, as I sit writing this I have the movie adaptation playing in the background and right away I recognized the Devine case as it was being discussed (even though they used a fake name I still recognized the details). Just my own personal observation: both Brenda Baker and Kathy Devine are both frequently included as TB victims in early articles about him (before he was caught).

On March 7, 2002 the Thurston County Sheriff’s office announced that they finally solved the murder of Kathy Devine: using DNA that was collected at the original crime scene in 1973, forensic experts were able to determine that a Vietnam vet named William E. Cosden Jr. killed Devine, who was already in prison serving a sentence for rape. In 1967 he was found ‘not guilty by reason of insanity’ for the sexual assault and murder of a young woman in Maryland (law enforcement commented that there were a lot of parallels between the two cases) and he was sentenced to reside in a psychiatric facility until he was ‘deemed to no longer be a threat to society.’ Unfortunately the former Marine wasn’t locked away for very long, and in 1973 he was released from the mental institution and moved across the country to live with his parents in Washington state.

At the time of Devine’s murder, William Cosden Jr. was 26 years old and resided with his family on Scott Lake in Thurston County. Just a few years after he was released from prison in late 1975 ‘Billy’ raped a young woman in Thurston County named Beverly Pearson. According to the Washington State Department of Corrections, he was sentenced to just over 32 years in prison in 1976 for that crime and was sent to McNeil Island in Pierce County, WA to serve out his sentence. Cosden was sent to two different ‘pre-release’ facilities in late 1989, however eventually returned to prison because of ‘disciplinary problems’ of some sort, according to Corrections Department spokeswoman Mary Christensen. He came up for parole multiple occasions (the last time in May 1999) but thankfully his requests were denied largely due to the fact that he wrote ‘some kind of rambling, pornographic discourse’ while he was in custody proving that he may not be completely rehabilitated, according to one time parole board Chairman John Austin.

In 1986, Thurston County detectives interviewed Cosden in prison about his possible involvement in the murder of Kathy Devine, and he denied having anything to do with her death. At that time they took blood, hair, and saliva from him (thanks to a warrant), and in 2001 those samples were sent to a Washington state crime lab where they were compared to a vaginal swab taken from Devine during her autopsy in December 1973. William Cosden Jr.’s DNA was a match to the semen found inside of Devine. Later that year Detectives David Haller and Tim Rudolf went to McNeil Island to share their findings with the incarcerated man, who still insisted that he had nothing to do with Kathy’s murder. It wasn’t until a few days later when they returned for a second time that he admitted to having sex with the teen, but he still denied killing her. Strangely enough, despite the hard DNA evidence against him Cosden still seemed genuinely shocked when he was arrested for Devine’s murder: Thurston County Sheriff Gary Edward said that he was not happy about being blamed for the crime and was actually angry at the news.

Cosden was 55 years old in March of 2002 when he was booked for the murder of Katherine Merry Devine at the Thurston County Jail in Olympia. He pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned on first-degree murder charges in front of Superior Court Judge Richard Hicks and didn’t say a single word during the arraignment. Because Cosden faced the murder charge under the law as it was written in 1973, the case was not eligible to be tried with death-penalty laws (they were eventually deemed constitutional in the late 1970’s). To the arraignment he wore the standard white jailhouse uniform and his hands and feet were shackled. At the time, Sheriff Gary Edward said of Cosden: ‘my main purpose today is to let those criminals out there, who think they got away with something, know that we’re coming.’ … ‘I hope they all get ulcers.’ Bail was set at $500,000 with a trial scheduled to begin May 6, 2002.

After finally seeing the man who killed her little sister after so many years, Sherrie Devine said: ‘it was very creepy.’ Sally commented that she felt anxious about seeing Cosden for the first time but was happy he wasn’t facing them: ‘It would have been worse if we would have had to look directly at him.’ Immediately following his arrest, William’s attorney John Sinclair said he didn’t know how critical the alleged DNA evidence would be to the case, and that: ‘with a case this old, I don’t know to what extent the prosecution can put together a case.’… ‘It’s surprising they even still had evidence going back 30 years.’ Philip Harju was Thurston County’s Chief Criminal Prosecutor at the time of the arrest and admitted that where the case did present some challenges he was confident it was solid, and: ‘we’re trying to find witnesses from 28 years ago.’ … ‘but I believe we have enough evidence. There is other evidence, circumstantial evidence.’

William Cosden Jr.’s father owned the Restover Truck Stop and in the 1970’s, and it was a popular hangout for hitchhikers. A gas station attendant that was present the night Devine disappeared named Carl Clark testified that he saw drops of blood on Cosden’s shirt as he was fueling up his pick-up truck in the early morning hours of November 26, 1973. Another individual named David Perschon also testified that he saw blood in the back of his truck with Williams’ brother Tim when looking for ‘tire rims’ late in the evening on November 25. Cosden told them that the blood was from a deer he had recently killed and shooed both of them away from the vehicle, and Tim later testified that he didn’t remember looking in his older brother’s truck that night.

During the trial the prosecution called to the stand Gail Amster of Florida, who was Kathy’s childhood best friend and one of the two girls that was with her the night she disappeared. She said that her friend was upset because she had just gotten into a fight with her bf and really wanted to see her cousin in Rockaway Beach. Amster (who knew Kathy since the two were four!) testified that Devine had gotten into a green pick up and that ‘we just waved goodbye. She looked back at us, and we went home.’ When questioned again about the type of vehicle that Kathy had gotten into, Amster repeated her answer about the pick-up truck, and the prosecutor showed her the original statement she made in 1973, that said she saw Devine get into a ‘faded blue hippie-type van.’ This might make sense when you go back to the theory that Kathy may have initially caught a ride to the truck stop from someone else, so she wouldn’t have gotten into a vehicle that was different from William Cosden Jr.’s pick-up truck.

A little after midnight on November 26, 1973 William Cosden Jr.’s pick-up truck caught fire about three miles from the Restover Truck Stop, which is just a few miles away from the campground where Devine’s remains were found. According to police reports: ‘witnesses saw Cosden come in the night of the murder with stains on his clothing. / The witnesses called police. / After leaving the truck stop, Cosden’s truck caught fire and was destroyed three miles from the truck stop. / During initial interviews with police, Cosden denied ever seeing Kathy Devine.’

At the time Devine’s case was solved in 2001 it was the oldest open murder case in the history of Washington state to have been solved usingDNA fingerprinting.’ Thisis a lab technique used to determine the probable identity of a person based on the nucleotide sequences of certain parts of DNA that are unique to an individual. About Cosden being caught after so many years, (retired) Thurston County Sheriff Edward said that, ‘this case came about through a lot of hard work by a lot of individuals for a long period of time.’ … ‘it has been continually investigated. Let those criminals know who thinks they’ve ‘gotten away with it’ that we’re coming.’ 

Investigators played close to the vest with Cosden’s possible involvement with Kathy’s murder, and despite the fact he was a chief suspect from the beginning they didn’t even share their suspicions of him with her family. It wasn’t until the DNA fingerprinting came back a match that law enforcement finally told the Devine’s they had a suspect, as they wanted to be certain and didn’t have enough evidence to charge and take him to trial until then.

The Olympian reported that Thurston County Sheriff’s Captain Dan Kimball never closed the case files on Kathy’s murder even after Bundy was executed. When detectives came to her family after so many years and told them they had a suspect, they were never told who it was, so logically Mr. Devine’s mind always went to Ted Bundy: ‘Everyone deals with this in their own way.’ … ‘I have to admit I clinged to that belief.’ When detectives came back to the family about a month later to tell them the DNA pointed to William Cosden Jr., Bill admitted that he felt oddly disappointed, mostly because his gut instinct told him it was the infamous mass serial killer who killed his daughter: ‘Then all of a sudden, it came to me that maybe we’re right this time, and if we’re right this time, that’s all that matters.’ … ‘what can I say to (Cosden) that’s going to make him feel any worse? He’s already got his little cell to live in. Let him rot where he’s at.’ Regarding Bundy being ruled out as a suspect, Mr. Devine said: ‘He was my, if you will, my quasi-closure.’… ‘He seemed to be the most logical person. All of these years, I had wanted to believe it.’ Both Bill and Sallyann were shocked and relieved at the announcement that their daughters case was finally solved after so many years. Of the development, Mr. Devine said ‘we’re feeling a great sense of relief’ … ‘it’s truly amazing’ and Mrs. Devine commented that she was ‘just so flabbergasted.’

After Cosden was convicted of Kathy’s murder, Mr. Devine said: ‘it’s finished. There’s a justice system, and it works.″ … ‘It doesn’t bring Kathy back, but it sure does help.’ … ‘They said time heals all wounds, but I’m here to say they just scab over a little. It’s been a long time. But at this point what we’re seeing is a light at the end of the tunnel.’ Sallyann shared that she frequently thinks of her daughter, even after all these years: ‘She was just a sweetheart.’…. ‘It is nice to know that this has finally been solved. We’ve been wondering for 28 years. I still feel like it’s a dream and I’m going to wake up and it’ll all be over.’ … ‘I thought she was beautiful.’ … ‘But she was beautiful inside and out. She was softhearted, and she loved poetry. She wanted to be a preacher.’ Regarding the conviction of William Cosden Jr. for the murder of Katherine Devine, former Sheriff Gary Edward said that: ‘DNA made the case.’ … ‘This came about as a result of technology and a lot of hard work.’

It’s strongly speculated among Thurston County LE that William Cosden was responsible for the murder of Brenda Joy Baker as well as Kathy Devine. The 14 year old from Maple Valley had a bit of a rebellious streak and was known to frequently hitchhike, and on May 27, 1974 she ran away from home for a second time. Brenda was last seen near Puyallup, Washington getting into a blue pickup truck, and her remains were found on June 17, 1974 in a corner of Millersylvania State Park stuffed underneath two logs. Her cause of death is usually listed as a slit throat, but initial reports also suggest that she was strangled. According to Charlene, most of the detectives that worked her sister’s case also felt that Cosden was responsible for Bakers murder, not Bundy. When I asked if there was any hope of one day linking her death to Cosden she sadly shook her head no while looking at her feet: apparently investigators never took any DNA samples from the crime scene so they have nothing to compare it to. I mean… in 2024 it sounds like such a normal, almost routine concept, but in the early 1970’s that was something most investigators didn’t do, and Char even said the fact that they took samples from her sister’s murder scene is a small miracle in itself. Although Bundy is still considered a suspect, as of April 2024 William Cosden Jr. is the prime suspect in Bakers murder.

Katherine Merry Devine was cremated, and her final resting place is at the Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park in Northern Seattle. William Earl Cosden Jr. maintained his innocence until he took his final breath in June of 2015, when he passed away after having a heart attack in prison. He died without serving a single day for the murder of Kathy due to the fact he never was paroled for his prior rape charge. At least he died away from the general public in prison and no other women were attacked.

William Devine passed away at the age of 77 on June 7, 2013 in Seattle. His obituary says that he ‘loved and lived life to the fullest, never met a stranger and always had a kind word and corny joke to share with his innumerable friends and customers, to keep everyone around him smiling.’ Sallyann Devine is a real firecracker, and currently (as of April 2024) resides in a wonderful retirement community in Everett, WA. Kathy’s older sister Sherrie lives in Everett as well, but currently prefers to stay out of the public eye regarding her sister’s brutal murder. Charlene Devine-Gonzales resides in Marysille just outside of Seattle and has two beautiful daughters, Amanda and Christina (who now have children of their own). Sadly her husband Greg passed away in 2022 after battling a plethora of health issues, something that most likely could have been prevented had he been under the care of competent medical providers.

Works Cited:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7643386/katherine-merry-devine
https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/DNA-match-leads-to-arrest-in-girl-s-1973-slaying-1082515.php
https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20020309&slug=oldmurder09m
http://www.murders.ru/Ann_Ru_stran_vnytre.pd

Kathy Devine as a baby. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Kathy as a young child. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Kathy sitting with Santa. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Kathy riding her bike. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Kathy as a child.
Kathy Devine as a child.
Kathy Devine.
Beautiful Kathy Devine.
Kathy Devine.
Kathy Devine.
Kathy Devine.
Kathy Devine.
It looks like she’s eating a bowl of cereal here, it’s a screen grab from a home movie from the Devine family archives.
A still from an old family video from the Devine family archives, it looks like Kathy is opening up roller skates on Christmas morning.
Kathy in a screen shot from a family video holding Char on her shoulders, photo courtesy of Charlene Devine-Gonzales.
Kathy having fun with her little sister Charlene in a screen shot from an old family video.
Another shot of Kathy and Char having fun in a screen shot from an old Devine family video.
OK last one, I promise… Kathy in a screen shot from a family video with her little sister, photo courtesy of Charlene Devine-Gonzales. These were so cute, I had to include them all. I mean look at their faces! Precious.
Kathy and Charlene on Christmas morning. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
A still from an old family video, from the Devine family archives.
A still from an old family video from the Devine family archives.
Another still of Kathy and baby Char from an old family video, courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Another still from an old family video from the Devine family archives (Kathy is on the far left).
Kathy in her childhood bedroom. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
A b&w shot of Devine. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
A b&w shot of Devine. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
A b&w shot of Devine at what I’m deducing is her birthday party, as that appears to be a birthday cake with a figure of Santa Claus on it. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Another b&w shot of Devine. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Another b&w shot of Devine. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
A picture of Kathy in a poncho. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Kathy playing in the snow with Char. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Kathy playing in the snow. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Beautiful Kathy. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
A blurry shot of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
My favorite picture of Kathy and Char. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
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The remains of Katherine Merry Devine. What a lovely set-up.
A picture taken in April 2024 of Kathy’s ashes at Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park in Seattle, WA.
A picture of Kathy Devine’s diary, courtesy of Charlene Devine-Gonzales.
A picture of a page from Kathy Devine’s diary, courtesy of Charlene Devine-Gonzales.
A card from Kathy with a hand-written signature, notice the name is spelled wrong. Char pondered why it was like this and we deduced she was doing it to be different, or ‘edgy’ (for example, my sister is named Carly, and in high school she spelled it Karly).
The busy corner at the end of Kathy’s street where detectives suspect she initially hitchhiked from as it looked in the early 1970’s.
TB’s whereabouts on November 25th, 1973 according to the ‘Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992.’
A still from an original broadcast about the murder of Kathy Devine.
A still from an original broadcast about the murder of Kathy Devine.
The mock-suede coat with fur trim that Kathy Devine was wearing when her remains were recovered.
The shirt Kathy was wearing when she was murdered. Photo courtesy of A&E.
The bell bottom blue jeans with a dragon patch on the pocket that Kathy was wearing when her remains were recovered.
A more detailed image of the top of Kathy’s bell bottoms.
The dragon patch found on Kathy’s pants.
The one ‘waffle-stomper’ boot that was found with Kathy when her remains were discovered.
Kathy’s clothes, laid out.
A noticeable rip in Devine’s coat. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A second rip on the other pocket of Devine’s coat. Photo courtesy of A&E.
Devine’s coat, wrapped up in it’s evidence bag. Photo courtesy of A&E.
The earrings Kathy was wearing when she was murdered. Photo courtesy of A&E.
Some evidence related to Devine’s case. Photo courtesy of A&E.
More evidence related to Devine’s case. Photo courtesy of A&E.
Some notes related to Kathy’s disappearance. Photo courtesy of A&E.
The Devine family home where Kathy lived at the time of her murder located at 743 N 92nd Street in Seattle.
The parking lot at the end of the Devine’s street where investigators think Kathy was standing near when she was abducted as it looked in the 70’s. Photo courtesy of A&E.
Another shot of the corner where Kathy was abducted. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A restaurant from the Restover truck stop. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A sign at the entrance of Margaret McKenny Park.
A sign for the picnic area at Margaret McKenny Park.
Detective Haller walking through where Kathy’s remains were discovered at Margaret McKenny Park.
A possible route from where Kathy was last seen to her cousins house in Oregon.
Temperatures in 1973 Seattle according to ‘Weatherspark;’ it was an unseasonable warm winter when Kathy was murdered which sped up the rate of decomp.
A newspaper clipping about the funeral service of Kathy Devine The Olympian on December 13, 1973.
Kathy’s death certificate.
An article on the remains of Kathy Devine being identified published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on December 11, 1973.
An article on the murder of Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on December 12, 1973.
An article on the murder of Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on December 15, 1973.
A newspaper blurb mentioning the murders of Kathy Devine, Debbie Potter, and Pat Garrison published by The Olympian on December 16, 1973. Patricia Garrison was killed in 1970.
A few weeks after she was discovered the family had some hope that Kathy's killer tried to correspond with LE about her death: former Thursston County Sheriff Don Redmond said that he recieved a four page letter sent anonymously that named the killer of Kathy. In
An article about the Devine’s hitchhiking ban mentioning Kathy published in The Longview Daily News on December 18, 1973.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on December 21, 1973.
An article about the anonymous phone call and letter related to the murder of Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Herald on December 22, 1973.
A clipping about possible leads related to Kathy’s killer published in The Olympian on December 23, 1973.
A clipping about the two incidents of hoaxes related to Kathy’s killer published in The Olympian on December 24, 1973.
An article about the hitchhiking ban and the murder of Kathy Devine published in The Spokane Chronicle on December 25, 1973, which would have been her 15th birthday. I noticed a mistake at the end of the article: Kathy has no brother.
An article titled ‘Teen’s death spurs anti-hitchhiking campaign’ published in The Daily Herald on December 31, 1973. Another error: in the second column, third full paragraph it says Sherrie instead of Kathy.
An pro-hitchhiking article published in The Daily Herald on December 31, 1973.
A review of 1973 mentioning the murder of Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on December 31, 1973.
An article mentioning Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on January 2, 1974.
An article on the hitchhiking ban organized by Sherrie Devine published in The Longview Daily News on January 8, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Ellensburg Daily Record on January 8, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on January 8, 1974.
An article about the murder of Jimmie Hildebrand that mentions Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on January 9, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on January 22, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on January 29, 1974.
An opinion piece on the hitchhiking ban published in The News Tribune on February 9, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Port Angeles Daily News on March 5, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The News Tribune on March 12, 1974.
An article on the hitchhiking ban that was organized by Sherrie Devine published in The Columbian on May 9, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Walla Walla Union Bulletin on June 1, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Walla Walla Union Bulletin on June 2, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on June 14, 1974.
An article mentioning Kathy Devine published in The News Tribune on June 18, 1974. The body was eventually determined to be Brenda Joy Baker.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Spokane Chronicle on June 19, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The News Tribune on June 19, 1974.
An article on Kathy Devine published in The Spokane Chronicle on July 8, 1974.
An article mentioning Kathy Devine published in The Spokane Chronicle on July 2, 1974.
Part one of an article on Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on July 5, 1974.
Part two of an article on Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on July 5, 1974.
A newspaper article bout the hitchhiking ban published by The Daily Herald on July 6, 1974.
Part one of an article on Kathy Devine published in The Vancouver Sun on July 25, 1974.
Part two of an article on Kathy Devine published in The Vancouver Sun on July 25, 1974.
An article about Bundy that mentions Devine multiple times published in The News Tribune on July 28, 1974.
An article mentioning Kathy Devine published in The Centralia Daily Chronicle on September 13, 1974.
An article mentioning Kathy Devine published in The Reading Eagle on December 1, 1974.
An article mentioning Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on November 8, 1981.
Part one of an article about serial killers mentioning Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on July 6, 1986.
Part two of an article about serial killers mentioning Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on July 6, 1986.
Devine is mentioned in an article (part one) after Bundy was executed, published by The Olympian on February 4, 1989.
Devine is mentioned in an article (part two) after Bundy was executed, published by The Olympian on February 4, 1989.
An article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Tri-City Herald on March 9, 2002.
Part one of an article about William Cosden Jr. published in The News Tribune on March 9, 2002.
Part two of an article about William Cosden Jr. published in The News Tribune on March 9, 2002.
Part one of an article about Cosden killing Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on March 9, 2002.
Part two of an article about Cosden killing Kathy Devine published in The Olympian on March 9, 2002.
Part one of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on March 14, 2002.
Part two of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on March 14, 2002.
Part one of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 24, 2002.
Part two of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 24, 2002.
Part one of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 25, 2002.
Part two of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 25, 2002.
Part one of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 26, 2002.
Part two of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 26, 2002.
Part one of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 30, 2002.
Part two of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 30, 2002.
An article about Kathy Devine’s murder finally being solved published in The News Tribune on July 30, 2002.
Part one of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 31, 2002.
Part two of an article about William Cosden Jr. serving time for a previous murder published in The Olympian on July 31, 2002.
An article about Kathy Devine’s murder finally being solved published in The Olympian on August 4, 2002.
A police sketch related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine.
Kathy’s dental chart. Courtesy of A&E.
A sketch of Kathy’s shoe with a picture of her actual waffle-stomper. Photo courtesy of A&E.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of A&E.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of A&E.
An evidence photo related to the disappearance of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A picture of Devine as she was found in the campground. Photo courtesy of A&E.
The remains of Kathy Devine. Photo courtesy of A&E.
The remains of Kathy Devine; notice she is missing her left shoe. Photo courtesy of A&E.
Kathy’s remains as they were found in Margaret McKenny Park. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A (blurred) photo of Kathy as she was found at Margaret McKenny Park in December 1973. Picture courtesy of A&E.
A photo of the top of Kathy’s head. Picture courtesy of A&E.
A photo of Kathy after her remains were discovered in Margaret McKenny Park outside of Seattle, WA. Picture courtesy of A&E.
A photo of Kathy as she was found at Margaret McKenny Park in December 1973. Picture courtesy of A&E.
A colored photo of Kathy as she was found at Margaret McKenny Park in December 1973. Picture courtesy of A&E.
A photo of the back of Kathy’s head. Picture courtesy of A&E.
A post-mortem picture of Kathy taken at Margaret McKenny Park. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A shot of Kathy taken during her autopsy. Photo courtesy of A&E.
Another shot of Kathy during her autopsy. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A shot of the ME standing over Kathy during her autopsy. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A shot of the ME pointing out a mark on Kathy ‘s back during her autopsy. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A photo of one of Kathy’s hands from her autopsy. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A photo of Kathy’s foot from her autopsy. Photo courtesy of A&E.
A rope found at the scene of Kathy Devine’s murder. Photo courtesy of A&E.
Kinnickinnic plant. I had no idea what it looked like.
Law enforcement studying the items and clothes found on Kathy Devine’s body.
A photo related to the case of Kathy Devine.
A screenshot of an article on Cosden murdering his first victim in Maryland, Helen Pilkerton; I apologize for the poor quality, the fact that I was even able to find this is a miracle. Photo courtesy of A&E.
An article about Cosden getting arrested for the murder of a woman named Helen Pilkerton published in The Morning Herald on April 17, 1967.
A photo of William Cosden Jr.’s burnt truck.
A photo of the back of William Cosden Jr.’s burnt truck.
A photo of the inside of William Cosden Jr.’s burnt truck.
I’m wondering if Cosden frequently used the ‘ditch and burn’ method with disposing of his trucks, as this news clipping is almost two years after Devine’s murder and is more likely related to the rape of Beverly Pearson. Published in The Olympian on August 11, 1975.
William E. Cosden Jr. with his mother, Janet.
A mugshot of William Cosden Jr. in his earlier days.
A 2002 mugshot of William Cosden Jr. when he was arrested for the 1973 murder of Katherine Devine.
William Cosden Jr. at his arraignment for the murder of Katherine Merry Devine.
A still from William Cosden Jr.’s court arraignment for the murder of Kathy Devine. Above is Kathy’s family, her mom Sally and sister Charlene.
A photo of an article discussing the trial of William Cosden Jr. for the murder of Kathy Devine, photo courtesy of Charlene Devine-Gonzales.
A photo of an article discussing the trial of William Cosden Jr. for the murder of Kathy Devine, photo courtesy of Charlene Devine-Gonzales.
Detective Mark Curtis. Kathy Devine was his first murdered child case and he stuck with it to the very end.
Retired Detective Dave Haller, who questioned Cosden in 2001 and gave him the results of the one in 71 trillion DNA match against him.
The ‘tenacious prosecutor’ the helped get justice for Kathy Devine, Phillip Harju. Thank you to Charlene Gonzales for her help in getting me this important information.
A newspaper blurb that mentions Phil Harju retiring, published by The Olympian on February 26, 2008.
A young Mr. Devine with his sisters.
Bill Devine from the 1952 Lincoln High School yearbook.
Sallyann Dayton-Devine from the 1952 Lincoln High School yearbook.
Sallyann Dayton-Devine senior picture from the 1953 Lincoln High School yearbook.
Mr. and Mrs. Devine’s marriage certificate.
Sherrie Devine from the 1972 Ingraham High School yearbook.
Sherrie Devine from the 1974 Ingraham High School yearbook.
A B&W picture of Sherrie Devine from an article about the hitchhiking ban published in The Daily Herald on December 31, 1973.
A black and white shot of Sherrie Devine; at this time she was working on the hitchhiking ban.
Another picture of Sherrie. Lol if you look closely you can see my shadow taking the picture.
Some members of Kathy’s family after she disappeared. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Mrs. Devine.
Bill and my beautiful friend Charlene Devine-Gonzales, photo courtesy of Legacy.
Bill and Charlene on her wedding day. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
A more recent picture of Sherrie Devine.
I love this picture of Mr. Devine. The laughter goes up to his eyes, he seemed like a genuinely kind person.
William Devine and his wife, Beverly.
Mr. Devine, with his cute puppy Murphy in his lap. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Mr. Devine’s grave stone.
Charlene Devine-Gonzales and Phil Harju.
A more updated picture of Sherrie Devine.
A picture of (most of) the Devine’s. Photo courtesy of the Devine family archives.
Bill Devine with all five of his grandchildren.
The Devine girls.
A picture of Mrs. Devine with her two beautiful granddaughters, Amanda and Christina.
Mr. Devine’s second wife, Beverly. This is her photo from the 1964 West Seattle High School yearbook.
A comment on Bill Devine’s Legacy page from Charlene that mentions Kathy.
A comment on Mr. Devine’s ‘FindAGrave’ page from Charlene that mentions Kathy.
An article about the trials of Elaine Bills and Frank White Eagle published in The Olympian on May 30, 1973.
An article about the murder of Theresa Ganulas published in The Olympian on July 26, 1973.
Brenda Joy Baker, who was 14 when she was abducted and murdered while hitchhiking. Her body was found in Millersylvania State Park located outside of Olympia, WA. Ted Bundy and William Cosden Jr. were both investigated for her murder; her case remains unsolved.
A picture of me, Charlene, and Mrs. Devine from April 2024. I can’t explain it, but sitting with both of these beautiful, strong women it was somehow as if I’ve known them my entire life. I’ve always dreamed of meeting a friend from the internet, and to meet one that I have such a strong connection with has been an amazing experience.

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