‘Absolute sense of relief’; Victim of South Hill Rapist hopes Kevin Coe found redemption before death

SPOKANE, Wash. — With the death of the South Hill Rapist, one of his victims is hopeful Kevin Coe found redemption before his last breath.

Coe died early Wednesday at a group home in Federal Way. Investigators believe he died of natural causes.

One of the women Coe attacked, Shelly Monahan-Cain, spoke with 4 News Now about her feelings upon hearing about his death.

“I’m crying, I think, because as my husband said this is 45 almost 50 years of things with so many people and so many survivors and your feeling is one of relief but also one of just sadness,” she said through tears. “This has been a very long journey for a lot of people, and I’m hoping and praying that he found Jesus before he took his last breath.”

She also said Coe’s life was sad, pathetic, and wasted but his survivors have endured.

“From everybody’s safety standpoint and everything, absolutely. There is an absolute sense of relief from that standpoint,” Monahan-Cain said.

Monahan-Cain spoke about her understanding of the different reactions people will have to Coe’s death.

“And I know that there’s gonna be people, and my phone started lighting up,” she said. “And I’m sure there’s gonna be people that are saying, you know, ‘Ding dong, the witch is dead. Great. This is great news,’ you know, but I just, I encourage everybody to look at the bigger picture and just keep, you know, keep your head on straight when it comes to situations like this.”