Woman Dies After Her Husband Allegedly Crashed Truck into Their Home on Purpose and Ignited a Fire Inside By Charlotte Phillipp

A San Diego man is facing a murder charge for the death of his wife after he allegedly drove his truck into their home on purpose.

Stephen Coates, 62, was arrested and is accused of crashing the truck and starting a fire inside the home in the city’s Bay Park neighborhood on Dec. 29, according to the San Diego Police Department (SDPD).

His wife, 61-year-old Monica Coates, called 911 just after 7:30 a.m. local time that day to report that her husband had crashed his pickup into their home, police said. Neighbors had also called to report the collision, and one reported hearing screams coming from inside the house after the crash.

Police arrived within 10 minutes and “attempted to call out the residents, but there was no response,” the SDPD said in a release sent to PEOPLE.

“Officers could see a small fire and smoke coming from inside the home, prompting officers to enter the house and check the welfare of those inside,” police continued.

Once inside, police found Monica dead inside the primary bedroom “with severe injuries consistent with being burned.”

“Her husband, Stephen Coates, was also inside the bathroom with burn injuries on his body,” police said. He was given first aid at the scene and later taken to a local hospital for medical care.

San Diego Fire Rescue officials were also called to the scene to put out the fire and shut off the utilities to the house. 

Homicide detectives later took over the investigation and determined that Stephen was driving the truck when it crashed into the house and was responsible for starting the fire inside the home. San Diego’s Metro Arson Strike Team is also investigating the fire portion of this incident.

According to police, Monica had a temporary restraining order against Stephen at the time of her death.

Court records obtained by NBC San Diego reportedly show that Monica first filed the restraining order in November. In her request, she wrote that her husband had become paranoid and believed she was “conspiring with others to kill him and his paranoia has made him erratic and makes me fear for my safety because he perceives me as someone he needs to protect himself from.”

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Stephen allegedly demanded to search her phone and other online accounts for apparent evidence of the conspiracy, per NBC San Diego, and she also wrote that her husband asked a friend of his if he should arm himself with a shotgun for protection.

Monica eventually “fled” her house, but came home after receiving a phone call from one of their neighbors who stated things had “escalated,” the court records state. Stephen had allegedly “booby trapped” the house, and Psychiatric Emergency Response Team officers eventually removed Stephen from the home involuntarily and put a psychiatric hold in place.

Monica then wrote, per the outlet, that she was seeking protection from the court “because I’ve been told Steve still believes I am a threat,” and that she was concerned he might “do more in [his] current mental state.”

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Online jail records show that Stephen was booked on Dec. 31 on a first-degree murder charge.

A criminal complaint obtained by NBC alleges that the murder involved special circumstances of arson and mayhem, and claims that the killing of was intentional and involved torture.

If convicted, Stephen could face the death penalty or 25 years to life in state prison, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office told NBC.

Anyone with information about the case was urged to call the SDPD’s Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.