Chapter Eighteen:Kathy Kohm:The Civil Trial

 

   Chapter 18

   On January 1st 1983 the number one song was “Maneater” by Hall and Oates. “Mickey” by Toni Basil was number two.  The number four song jumps out at me though. “Dirty Laundry” by Don Henley is all about the television news and ratings. 

   Some critics of the Kohm family felt that the civil suit was an attention grab or an unfair smearing of the good name of an innocent man.  But for Bill and Rosemary it was a desperate attempt to get the facts of the case presented all together in a very public and official way.  They hoped the civil case would prompt criminal charges to finally be filed. 

    Stanton Gash’s father, Charles M. Gash, died of a heart attack in Evansville in January of 1983.  He had been working as a security guard at Eastland Mall after retiring from the Evansville Police Force in 1981. His obituary mentioned the names of all of his children and step children.  

    The Civil trial got underway just before Thanksgiving in 1983. Everyone was eager to hear what Gash would say on the stand.  More than what he would say, people were eager to see how he might say it. 

    Keep in mind that the bar for “guilt” or liability is lower in a civil court than in a criminal court.  A  defendant does not have to be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a civil trial. 

    Gash was called to the stand.  Kathy’s family and her lawyers would finally get a chance to get some answers.  And then, surprising everyone, Gash pled the 5th.  He refused to answer any questions on the grounds that his testimony might incriminate him.  Keep in mind they weren’t going to be asking about traffic tickets or shoplifting or tax evasion.  He pled the 5th so that he might not incriminate himself for the abduction, rape and murder of a child and the abuse of her corpse when he tossed her in the woods to rot. The silence in that courtroom must have been deafening.

    The jury found Stanton Gash liable for the death of Kathy Kohms.  It was as simple as that. 

    ABC’s 20/20 was there covering the trial. It made the New York Times, the Chicago Tribune, and all three national television news broadcasts. The “Dirty Laundry” was there for all to see.