Jane Reth

Case record: Jane Reth

Overview

Jane Reth was convicted of second-degree murder in the 1988 death of her husband, Scott Coville, and was sentenced to 36 years in prison on March 3, 2011. Reth had been known as Jane Limm while living in the Fox Valley.

Reth disposed of Coville’s body in trash bins after chopping him up with an ax. Coville’s body was never found.

The offence

Scott Coville disappeared in 1988 and was later identified as the victim of Reth’s murder. Reth admitted that she killed her husband and disposed of his body while the couple lived in Alaska more than 20 years before the arrest.

Reth admitted she shot Coville while he was lying in bed in their bedroom/trailer in Sitka. She said she then cut up the body on the bed with “a long-handled ax” and disposed of the remains, including putting body parts into garbage bags and taking them to disposal/incineration facilities or trash bins.

Prosecutors said Reth put the remains into garbage bags and took them to the city’s solid waste incinerator, and also said investigators found corroborating evidence in Sitka after reopening the cold case. The exact evidence recovered was not disclosed, and authorities did not suggest a motive for the killing.

The felony charge of tampering with evidence was dismissed as part of the plea deal.

Investigation

A cold case investigation began after new information became available in 2007. Alaska State Troopers Cold Case Unit investigators, prosecutor Pat Gullufsen, and detective James Gallen with the Alaska Bureau of Investigations worked to develop evidence nearly 20 years after Scott Coville made his first reports that he was missing.

Troopers reopened the cold case in June 2007 after new information became available. Prosecutors and police declined to name the state until Reth was served with the warrant and was in custody. Investigators later cited the development of more sophisticated DNA technology as enabling capabilities that had not existed before.

The case’s renewed focus followed a tip received in the spring of 2007. Prosecutors also referred to “Glass warrants,” described as court-authorized taping of phone conversations admissible as evidence. Troopers obtained evidence with the cooperation of Christopher Reth, including a tape-recorded phone conversation in which Reth admitted the murder.

Arrest and custody

Reth was known as Jane Limm while living in Oswego and in the Fox Valley.

Reth was arrested by Kendall County sheriff’s deputies in January 2010 at her Oswego apartment in the 2500 block of Light Road in Oswego. She had been in custody since last January, after the arrest, and later participated in court proceedings by telephone from Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau.

A warrant for Reth’s arrest included a bail amount of 250,000 dollars. The state had issued a warrant for the arrest of a former Sitka woman accused of killing her husband more than two decades ago. A Sitka grand jury indicted Jane Limm (also known as Jane Reth and Jane Coville) on a charge of first-degree murder and she was also charged with tampering with evidence regarding physical evidence, the body, or remains of Scott M. Coville.

Reth had been extradited from Oswego, Illinois, to Alaska, and she entered her plea by telephone from Lemon Creek Correctional Center.

Trial and plea

Jane Reth pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. She entered the plea in Sitka Superior Court on Monday while participating by telephone from Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau.

Reth admitted she killed her husband Scott Coville and disposed of his body on or about April 12, 1988, his 26th birthday. She had previously been charged with first-degree murder and a felony charge of tampering with evidence; the tampering charge was dismissed as part of the plea deal, and the first-degree murder count was reduced in exchange for her guilty plea.

Prosecuting attorney Jane Seaton said Reth told her second husband that she was responsible for Scott Coville’s death in April 1988, and that Reth told investigators in 2007 or 2008 that she shot Coville while he was in bed in the couple’s Sitka trailer and cut up his body with an ax. Seaton further said Reth put the remains into garbage bags and took them to the city’s solid waste incinerator.

Sentencing

On March 3, 2011, Jane Reth was sentenced to 36 years in prison.

Prosecutor Jean Seaton asked Judge David George to sentence Reth to 70 years, citing the seriousness of the offense, the grisly dismemberment and disposal of Coville’s body, and Reth’s continued deception of Coville’s friends and family immediately following the murder.

Judge David George sentenced Reth to 36 years in prison after several hours of testimony by an Alaska state trooper cold case investigator and three members of the victim’s family, and after arguments by attorneys for the state and the defendant.

Reth’s attorney asked for a sentence of 15 years, saying Reth was seeking “redemption” for her crime through good works in the Oswego area and mission work abroad for the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

In her remarks before sentencing, Reth said:

“I don’t know that I could say anything that would make anything better. I do know I’m very sorry for what I’ve done. I thought about it for a very, very long time, and I’ve thought about what I could say today. There isn’t a whole lot I could say ... ”

Reth said she wished she had taken opportunities to get help when she was having problems in her marriage with Coville, and cited her lack of maturity at the time.

In handing down the sentence, George said he found no evidence that domestic violence was a factor, and that the murder was among the more serious types of its kind. He said Reth showed a level of calculation and callousness by chopping up Coville’s body with an ax, putting body parts into garbage bags, and disposing of them in several bins in Sitka.

George said:

“You did nothing to relieve the anguish of friends and family,”

The judge cited Reth’s lies about Coville’s whereabouts to his family, and the fact that she sent a Mother’s Day card to Coville’s mother a few weeks after the murder, signing it “Scott and Jane.” George also took note that Reth later sent a multi-page letter to Reta Coville, blaming Scott for problems in the marriage, partly due to his use of marijuana.

Timeline

• April 12, 1988 — Scott Coville was killed while lying in bed in their Sitka bedroom/trailer; Reth later described shooting Coville and cutting up his body.
• 1988 — Scott Coville was reported missing in 1988 after family members did not hear from him following his 26th birthday.
• October 1987 — Jane Limm and Scott Coville were married in Sitka.
• February 1988 — They had a formal ceremony in San Diego in February 1988.
• 1986 — Scott Coville moved to Sitka from San Diego, Calif.
• early 1987 — Jane Limm joined Scott Coville in Sitka.
• 2000 — Jane Reth and Christopher Reth married.
• 2005 — Jane Reth and Christopher Reth divorced.
• June 2007 — Alaska authorities reopened the cold case after new information became available.
• spring 2007 — A tip was received by troopers leading to renewed investigation.
• January 2008 — Reth was in Oswego, Illinois, before her January 2010 arrest (custody and case narrative described her move from Alaska to Oswego by the time of the arrest).
• 2007 or 2008 — Prosecutor Jean Seaton said Reth told investigators she shot Coville while he was in bed in Sitka and cut up his body with an ax.
• 2007 — The cold case came to light after family reports and investigative leads connected the disappearance to Reth.
• January 2010 — Kendall County sheriff’s deputies arrested Jane Reth at her Oswego apartment in the 2500 block of Light Road in Oswego.
• 01/08/10 — A Sitka grand jury returned a true bill of indictment against Reth.
• 01/13/10 — The state issued a warrant for the arrest of a former Sitka woman accused of killing her husband more than two decades ago.
• November 2010 — Reth pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Sitka Superior Court.
• March 2011 — Reth was sentenced to 36 years in prison on March 3, 2011.

Other details

Jane Reth had family relationships that became part of the investigation and the cold case timeline. Christopher Reth was Jane Reth’s second husband. He was listed as a witness on the original indictment charging his ex-wife with Coville’s murder, and he told a church investigator that his wife had told him about murdering Scott Coville in Sitka. The church investigator notified Alaskan authorities, who opened the cold case investigation.

Reth’s mother-in-law, Reta Coville, described years of not knowing what happened to her son and later said she was thankful that cold case detectives caught Scott’s killer and brought closure after two decades of mystery.

Reth participated in a plea hearing by telephone from Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. She had been held there since her February arraignment in Sitka, and she was extradited to Alaska from Oswego.

The articles also describe that Scott Coville’s body had never been found, and that at the time disposal was by incinerator, so no trace was ever found.

Reth’s age was given as 46 at the time of her sentencing in 2011, and as 45 in connection with the 2010 warrant and arrest coverage.

Reth was reported to have worked for the Geneva School District at one time, though her position was unclear. The couple lived together in Maple Park.

In remarks before sentencing, Reth referenced problems in her marriage with Coville and her lack of maturity at the time.