It could have been Shannon Schilpp.

The Bend woman knew for years that David Cote would likely kill himself. And she feared he might kill her first.

So news of how he died didn’t surprise her.

Cote is believed to have killed himself in an apparent murder-suicide Wednesday near West Linn. He was 34. The victim, Bethany Noelle Schuch, was 35.

Schuch was granted a restraining order against Cote last year. But the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office said it was unable to find him and never served it, records show.

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.”

That sounds familiar to Schilpp, the Bend woman. She’d been through it herself.

She and Cote met at a party sometime between 2010 and 2012. 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, she said, and the harassment continued. Cote eventually asked to meet and said he would stop threatening her if they got together. Schilpp 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, he asked for a hug. At the same time, he grabbed her, held her tight and kissed her forcefully, Schilpp said.

She said Cote 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 incident spurred her to contact Bend police.

Court records show Cote was sentenced to 45 days in jail after he pleaded guilty to stalking and menacing in the case.

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.

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

Schilpp, 35, said she kept a stalking protective order against Cote in her purse for years.

She moved. Got a new car. Changed her phone number several times.

The only time she felt completely safe was when Cote was in jail. That feeling returned when she learned he was dead.

She’s relieved. Thankful it wasn’t her.

Guilty. Wishing she’d had a way to contact Schuch to tell her to stay away.

Sad. That he had mental health problems that could have improved with proper help.

Schilpp said she “always knew it would end in a tragedy for him.”