Update - Accused killer's small-town pals are in disbelief - Raffi Kodikian
Jason...@virgin.net
Accused killer's small-town pals are in disbelief
by Jose Martinez and Maggie Mulvihill
Sunday, August 15, 1999
DOYLESTOWN, PA. - Friends and neighbors of Raffi Kodikian, the lone
suspect in a chilling New Mexico murder mystery, yesterday described him
as a levelheaded young man without a trace of malice or violence.
``Over time, it will emerge that Mr. Kodikian is a fine young man and
one of the most sensible people that I know,'' said Michael Swan, whose
daughter, Kirsten Swan, was Kodikian's girlfriend for the past several
years.
``I can only vouch for his character, which I find to be exemplary,''
Swan said during a telephone interview from his New Jersey home.
Kodikian, of West Roxbury, was charged with an open count of murder by
New Mexico authorities last week in the fatal stabbing of his close
friend David Coughlin in a remote section of the Carlsbad Caverns
National Park known as Rattlesnake Canyon.
He claims Coughlin, 26, of Millis begged him to kill him after the pair
became lost in the 47,000-acre national park and ran out of water. He
says his friend was dying of thirst; an autopsy showed that Coughlin did
suffer from dehydration, but was not in grave danger of dying.
Kodikian pleaded innocent to the murder charge and was released on
$50,000 bail by Eddy County Magistrate Judge Monte L. Lyons. His father,
Harold Kodikian, who operates a successful Pennsylvania rental services
firm, traveled to New Mexico last week to post the bail and accompany
his son back East, authorities said.
Neither Kodikian, a 1992 graduate of Central Bucks East High School, nor
his parents could be reached for comment yesterday. It was unclear
whether he had traveled back to West Roxbury, where Kodikian has been
living since his graduation from Northeastern University in 1997, or to
Pennsylvania, where he grew up.
But those close to Kodikian and his family told the Herald the young man
they knew was no coldblooded killer.
Milo Johnston, a neighbor of Kodikian's family on Dogwood Lane in
Buckingham Township, said he was a gentle young man who babysat for his
children before heading off to Boston several years ago.
``I can't remember any trouble with Raffi. It seems like he was a really
nice kid,'' Johnston said. He and others in the area expressed
particular surprise anyone from their neighborhood would be involved in
a murder.
``I was really shocked when I saw it on the news - I mean it was
Raffi!'' Johnston said. ``You try to do some role-playing and figure out
what happened in a case like this, but no matter how I figure it there
is just something whacked that is missing. I just can't imagine how
anyone could get into that sort of situation - especially coming from
here.''
Kodikian grew up on the outskirts of Doylestown, a small Pennsylvania
town just north of Philadelphia that still has a thriving Main Street
and boasts the modern James A. Michener art museum.
It's the sort of community where parking meters still accept nickels and
dimes, and boutiques tucked into century old brick-buildings hock
everything from antiques to comic books to gourmet coffee.
The marquee of the old-style County movie house House advertises James
Dean's ``Rebel Without a Cause,'' right next to some of Hollywood's
latest offerings and an art film or two.
The Rev. Dr. William Barger, pastor of the Doylestown Presbyterian
Church, said he is in close touch with Kodikian's mother, Doris, as more
details of the bizarre crime unfold.
The family has worshiped at the church for years, he said.
``We talk each day briefly. She is holding up quite well under the
circumstances,'' Barger said, adding that both Raffi Kodikian and his
younger sister, Melani, 23, have been active in the church's youth
ministry programs.
Coughlin, a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, was
a native of Wellesley and had worked for that town as a management
analyst before embarking on a cross-country trip with Kodikian. Coughlin
had planned to end his journey in California, where he was going to
attend graduate school.