San Diego police said the woman who was found dead inside a Bay Park home on Monday had a temporary restraining order against her husband, the man who had crashed a pick-up truck into their residence moments before her body was discovered.
According to the San Diego Police Department, Monica Coates, 61, had called 911 to report that her husband, Stephen Coates, 62, had crashed his pick-up truck into their home. The incident happened in the 4300 block of Dakota Drive around 7:40 a.m.
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Police also received calls from neighbors in the area reporting the collision. One neighbor told police they reported screams from inside the home after the crash occurred, SDPD stated.
When police arrived, they saw a small fire and smoke coming from inside the residence. Monica Coates was found dead inside the master bathroom with severe burn injuries, police said.
Her husband Stephen was also found inside the bathroom with burn injuries on his body. He was detained by officers and provided with aid at the scene before he was transported for medical care.
Firefighters from the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department arrived to extinguish the fire and shut off utilities, SDPD said. Meanwhile, homicide detectives were called to investigate.
Detectives learned Stephen drove the Toyota Tacoma that crashed into the home and was responsible for starting the fire that followed.
Monica was the only person inside the home at the time of the crash and had a temporary restraining order against her husband. According to court documents, she said on Nov. 8, her husband demanded that she “remove her clothes so he could inspect her body for evidence to support his accusations.”
Court documents also said she “left her home to seek safety with a friend.” The following day, when she returned home, her husband had “booby trapped the interior of the home with fishing line and had bolted the front door mail slot with a metal plate.”
Monica then wrote a letter for court, saying she called the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team — also known as PERT — who met her at her house and took her husband. He was admitted to a hospital, but was “released earlier than the doctor recommended,” Monica wrote in her letter.
San Diego police have arrested Stephen for murder. Meanwhile, the fire remains under investigation by San Diego’s Metro Arson Strike Team
