Mother Treated for Overdose After Son’s Conviction

Two days after her son was convicted of three rapes, Ruth Coe, who had served time for trying to arrange the killing of two court officials, was taken to a hospital for treatment of a drug overdose, police said Friday night.

Authorities said they did not know what drug was involved or if the overdose was accidental.

Coe, 64, was convicted of attempting to hire someone to kill the Spokane judge and prosecutor in the first trial of her son, Kevin, a 38-year-old former real estate agent. She served more than a year in a work release program.

Her son’s convictions in 1981 were overturned by the state Supreme Court last summer. His second trial was moved to Seattle because of extensive publicity in Spokane.