Evil Lives Here on ID: Where is William Cosden Jr. now?

The cold-blooded murder of Katherine Devine in 1973 led to the arrest of William Cosden Jr. in 2002. Devine was suspected to be another of Ted Bundy's victims till the investigation and evidence led to Cosden.

The murder of Katherine Devine confused Thurston County Sheriff’s Office authorities for decades before witness statements and evidence led to the convicted rapist, William Cosden Jr. He has been serving a 48-year-sentence at the McNeil Island Penitentiary and continues presently to serve his life sentence for Katherine Devine's murder.

The Evil Lives Here episode titled Sisters in Silence showcases the harrowing murder of Katherine Devine as it airs on June 21, 2024, at 7 p.m. EST on Investigation Discovery. The official synopsis reads,

"William Cosden Jr. coerced his much younger sisters, Karen and Susan, into keeping secrets about what he did; now the girls are adults, and with one facing death, they reunite to try to repair the trauma keeping those secrets caused them."

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How was William Cosden Jr. arrested?

Katherine Devine had left her home to visit her cousins and her uncle Delmar Bennett in Rockaway, Oregon, on November 25, 1973. As Katherine's parents reported her as a runaway case, she remained missing for the next few days to come, until remains found at the Margaret McKenny Campground were identified to belong to her.

The caretaker of the park, Barbara Saling, had found decomposed human remains that had been ravaged by animals. The authorities at the crime scene found a rope under her body and inferred that she had been strangled to death, per court documents.

The portion of her jeans at the back had been cut through to expose her buttocks. Her autopsy report reported that her throat and her breasts had been slit using a sharp object. Moreover, forensic reports prepared in the years to follow suggested she had been sexually assaulted and sodomized as well.

As Katherine Devine's murder case turned cold for the following decades, authorities and her family assumed that she had been the victim of the infamous American serial killer, Ted Bundy, based on the manner of the murder. However, authorities came by witness statements and evidence to suspect William E. Cosden Jr. as well.

William Cosden Jr. (Image via Amazon Prime Video)

Cosden had been on an early morning shift at his workplace at the Restover Truck Stop in Tumwater. Witnesses reportedly stated seeing bloodstains in his 1971 Dodge International pickup truck the day of Devine's disappearance and had blood on his shirt as well. His truck had allegedly caught on fire the same day adding to suspicion, according to court documents.

Additionally, William Cosden Jr. was found to have been subjected to four years at a mental institution after he pled guilty to the murder of a woman in 1967 on the grounds of insanity, according to Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

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Where is William Cosden Jr. now?

William Cosden Jr. was arrested in March 2002 for the murder of 14-year-old Katherine Devine. Already a convicted rapist who had been serving a 48-year sentence at the McNeil Island Penitentiary, Cosden Jr. was charged with first-degree murder charge.

He reportedly pleaded not guilty to the charges and was scheduled for a trial on May 6, 2002. His bail was set at $500,000. According to Everett Herald, Sherrie Devine shared,

"It was very creepy. It would have been worse if we would have had to look directly at him."

William Cosden Jr. was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole in June 2002, per the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. He continues to serve his sentence consecutively at present.

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Watch all the details of Katherine Devine's murder on the Evil Lives Here episode airing on Investigation Discovery on Friday.