A Salem firearms dealer sold a gun later used in a murder. Now he's going to jail.

A Salem man was sentenced to 60 days in jail and two years of probation for illegally selling a semi-automatic rifle used in a murder-suicide in March 2018.

Justin Joseph Coleman, 34, was arrested by Clackamas County Sheriff's Office deputies in his home on Dec. 12, 2018, after investigators found he transferred an SKS semi-automatic rifle to his friend, David Cote, 34.

Cote shot former girlfriend Bethany Schuch, 35, multiple times with the rifle outside a residence on the 400 block of Alderwood Drive in West Linn, before shooting himself.

"It is absolutely unfair that innocent life could be diminished in an instant," said Casey Harper, a friend of Schuch said in a victim impact statement. "The illegal sale of a gun absolutely contributed to this act of unnecessary violence."

Coleman operated a side business out of his home as a federally licensed firearms dealer until May 2018. 

Authorities said Coleman sold Cote an unregistered SKS rifle for an undisclosed amount of cash in February. Coleman did not fill out an ATF Firearms Transaction Record form or conduct a background check on Cote before the purchase.

Remembering Bethany Schuch

"The final horrifying minutes of my beautiful daughter's life were spent looking at Justin Coleman's scoped rifle, pointed at her by her killer, David Cote, who was Justin's close friend," Schuch's mother, Lesley Arle, said in court. 

She said her daughter ran from the gun, but Cote chased and shot her at close range four times.

Schuch was an office manager for eight years at Arle's psychiatric practice in Portland. She described her daughter as a "genuinely good person," who was "thoughtful, funny and smart."

She was "terrified" of being hurt by Cote who stalked her after they broke up in October 2017, Arle said. 

He texted, emailed, and left her voice messages saying his friends wanted to kill her but he told them not to. He also threatened to steal or kill her dogs, cut Arle with a knife, or ruin the business. 

"We had a small family of two people  — Beth and me — now I am not even considered to have a family anymore," she said. "And I am no longer a mother."

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'I got an SKS off the books'

Marion County deputy district attorney Katie Suver said the Deschutes County Courts entered a stalking order against David Cote connected to a different woman in December 2013, which limited Cote's ability to purchase or possess firearms.

Schuch also obtained a restraining order against Cote in November 2017, according to Suver. 

After authorities from the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office were unsuccessful in serving the order, Schuch hired an attorney to use a private investigator to serve Cote.

The private investigator contacted Cote by February 2018, but Cote refused to accept service of the restraining order. 

Cote's mother gave investigators his phone, which lead detectives to find text messages between Cote and Coleman. 

In one text in January 2018, Cote asked Coleman to let him borrow an AR-15 to get his dog back, Suver said. 

Coleman responded,  "I got an SKS off the books."

Because Coleman had a federal firearms license, he could transfer firearms for a fee, according to Suver. But Coleman neglected to conduct a background check on Cote. 

The Marion County District Attorney's Office alleges Coleman met up with Cote to give him the rifle on Feb. 4, 2018 — just over a month before Schuch was killed.

Suver added that Coleman was aware Cote could not legally buy firearms, based on a text sent in October 2017 from Cote to Coleman saying he could legally own a gun but he couldn't buy one from the store. 

On May 23, 2018, investigators executed a search warrant at Coleman's house and also found steroids and evidence via text messages that he was delivering the drugs. 

Coleman and Cote went shooting at a gun range, Coleman cleaned the weapon for Cote because it was jamming. 

Based on Coleman's history and character, Suver asked Judge Susan Tripp to uphold the Class C felony charge. 

"He had that license for years," she said. "He knew what the law was but he didn't comply and obviously the consequence of not doing so was significant because it resulted in a young woman being murdered."

Coleman's attorney, Paul Ferder, argued Cote "was going to do what he was going to do regardless of what the law said....regardless of whether my client gave him a gun or he got a gun from somebody else."

Ferder added that Cote was diagnosed with cancer and his "concern was leaving this world and leaving Beth in the community for somebody else to see, date and have."

He argued the statements made by Schuch's family and friends should have been directed at Cote. 

"These comments are emotionally charged, making it almost like he's the one responsible for her death and that's just not the case," he said. 

Ferder said Coleman and Cote were casual friends and Coleman was not aware of Cote's stalking history. Coleman also never sold the gun to Cote and asked Cote to return it. 

Ferder contended that Judge Tripp drop the felony charge, stating that he is a law-abiding citizen, with no criminal history and has worked as an electrician for PGE for nine years.

Could 30 minutes make a difference?

Tripp sentenced Coleman to 60 days at the Marion County Jail, two years of supervised probation and a $300 fine. Based on the felony conviction, Coleman will no longer be able to possess firearms. 

She also ordered Coleman to participate in substance abuse evaluation and complete treatment. 

"The person who did the horrible act is not here," Tripp said. "It is not within my power to sentence that person or to turn back time.

"It doesn't stop the obligation of a gun dealer to do what they supposed to do," she said. 

Addressing the defendant, she said, "It would have taken you 30 minutes under the statute to...get you an answer on whether or not this person, Mr. Cote, was qualified or disqualified to have that weapon. 30 minutes."

Tripp ruled the event involved a violation of public trust. 

"Your days of firearms are over," she said. 

Virginia Barreda is the Breaking News Reporter with the Statesman Journal. Se can be reached at 503-399-667 or at vbarreda@statesmanjournal.com.