A woman killed in an apparent murder-suicide Wednesday near West Linn was granted a restraining order last year against the man suspected of shooting her, but the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said it was unable to find him and never served it, records show.

David Cote

David Cote had "moved to an unknown location."

Bethany Noelle Schuch and Cote were found dead outside a home in the 400 block of Southwest Alderwood Drive. Schuch had lived in the area, records show, but it's unclear if she had been living at that address.

The restraining order petition, obtained Friday by The Oregonian/OregonLive, paints a picture of a relationship gone bad. Schuch reports she was fearful of imminent bodily injury, details threats and refers to Cote as mentally unstable.

He had access to a gun and "fixated on my life, family (and) business," Schuch wrote. "He knows where I live and work."

Cote was also previously convicted for stalking and menacing in Deschutes County, court records show. That case involved a different woman.

Schuch, who was 35 at the time of her death, wrote in the mid-November restraining order petition that Cote told her some of his friends "had gotten out of control" and wanted to kill her. Cote said he "couldn't stop them" because he was also mad at her, she wrote.

He told her that her house was unsafe, especially her bedroom.

"He stated I should move to California because Oregon was ruined for me now (and) I would not be safe living here," she wrote.

Schuch also wrote that Cote said people "would come to my first date with a new guy (and) blow his head off."

Records indicate Schuch and Cote had been in a relationship that spanned more than a year and had lived with one another for some amount of time. They don't detail the extent to which the pair associated with one another after the restraining order petition was filed, but the records indicate they had broken up before the petition being filed.

A judge granted the restraining order in mid-November. A document was filed later that month stating that the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office wasn't able to find Cote within the county despite "due and diligent search and inquiry."

Neither the county sheriff nor a spokesman immediately responded to requests for comment.

Court records show Cote in 2014 was sentenced to 45 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to stalking and menacing a woman in Deschutes County.

Shannon Schilpp, the victim in the case, recounted a pattern of harassment that began after a few months of a friendship that consisted mostly of text messaging.

They met at a party, and she thought he was a nice, funny person with an outgoing personality. She moved from Beaverton to Bend shortly thereafter and eventually rebuffed his interest in dating.

She said his demeanor took a turn when she told him she was interested in dating someone else: He called her nasty names, threatened her and told her she was a terrible person and mother.

A few months passed, and the harassment continued, she said. He eventually asked to meet and said he would stop threatening her if they got together. She agreed to meet at a Portland-area golf course while she was visiting her brother in the city.

He told her he just wanted to be friends and didn't want to hurt her. And when they went to part, she said, he asked for a hug. At the same time, he grabbed onto her, held her tight and kissed her forcefully.

She said he told her there was a gun in his SUV and that he'd thought about killing himself, her or both of them.

Then a security guard arrived.

"I believe if it were not for that security guard pulling up that I would be dead," Schilpp said. "Absolutely that I would be dead."

She said the Portland incident spurred her to contact Bend police.

Cote was ordered to not contact her or her family or post things about them on the internet, records show. A judge also ordered him to attend a drug and alcohol treatment program.

Cote was later accused of violating the terms of probation, according to court documents.

Cote had cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system. It coats the person's lungs with thick, sticky mucus and limits their ability to breathe over time. According to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the median predicted survival age is close to 40.

In 2012 and 2013, Cote was one of the faces of the Battle for the Bridge football game, an annual cystic fibrosis fundraiser between West Linn High School and Oregon City High School alums.

Cote told The Oregonian/OregonLive in 2012 that he hadn't played football since seventh grade but felt compelled to participate in the charity game to inspire others with cystic fibrosis to still be active. He said in 2013 that he played baseball at West Linn High School until his junior year but was forced to stop because of his disease.

David Nelson, co-chairman for the Battle for the Bridge, said the group's board cut ties with Cote after his arrest in Deschutes County in 2014.

Nelson said he graduated from West Linn High School with Cote and Schuch in 2001 but didn't know either of them very well.

"Dave was passionate about the game, very passionate about the event, but obviously his actions this week erased any help and good he did," Nelson said. "What he did was absolutely terrible and we all feel absolutely terrible for the families affected."

Janet Cote, Cote's mother, said she'd be putting out a news release in the next few days. "More than anything I want Beth's family to know we are so devastated for them," she wrote to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "There are no words but we are so very sorry for their loss! The only thing more devastating than losing a child, is knowing that your child took an innocent life."

In a public post of her Facebook page early Thursday, she wrote:



"The wrath of mental illness has struck our family and another family once again. We are devastated and broken hearted. We are praying for all of those that this tragedy has touched. Thank you to our family and friends that came to hold us in our grief."



As of 10 p.m. Friday, the post had received scores of comments.

The Sheriff's Office urges anyone who has information about Cote or events before the shooting to contact the agency by calling 503-723-4949 or using an online form. Tipsters should reference case No. 18-006507.

-- Jim Ryan

jryan@oregonian.com

503-221-8005; @Jimryan015

Shane Dixon Kavanaugh and Everton Bailey Jr. of The Oregonian/OregonLive staff contributed to this report