The fatal shooting of a Kirkland man and his mother's arrest in an alleged murder-for-hire plot last weekend had nothing to do with each other, police said yesterday.

But together, police said, they made up the latest sad chapter in a family with a history of running afoul of the law.

"It's unfortunate coincidence," said Kirkland police Lt. Gene Markle.

Nicholas Coan, 28, was shot Friday night by his 27-year-old girlfriend during the latest of the couple's many arguments, police and witnesses said. The girlfriend was apparently angry that Coan had brought home a .40-caliber pistol and hadn't told her where he had been.

So, police said, Coan cocked the pistol and handed it to her. She took it and fired, perhaps not knowing it was loaded, police and court documents say.

Coan "looked at me and said, 'I can't believe she shot me,' " said Coan's roommate, Mathew Mitchell, who called 911 and used a towel to try to stop the bleeding.

Meanwhile, Coan's mother, Elizabeth Coan, 45, was arrested Sunday in a separate case and charged yesterday with solicitation of first-degree murder, solicitation of first-degree assault and solicitation of malicious placement of an explosive. She was also charged with two counts of solicitation of witness tampering, a gross misdemeanor.

According to King County prosecutors, Elizabeth Coan had asked Nicholas Coan to arrange the killing or intimidation of five witnesses in her pending identity-theft case. Nicholas Coan had agreed to become a police informant against his mother after he was arrested on suspicion of theft in an unrelated case last month, court documents say.

Elizabeth Coan's attorney, Jon Zulauf of Seattle, declined to comment on the charges yesterday.

Elizabeth Coan's weekend arrest was only her latest run-in with police, court records show.

Prosecutors allege that Elizabeth Coan, who ran a mortgage company in Kirkland, obtained a Mercedes-Benz in 2002 through her company by working with the company's vice president, James Cunningham, to lease the $58,000 car using an elderly customer's identity. Coan and Cunningham had been scheduled to go to trial on the charges this week.

According to charging documents filed yesterday, Coan had told her son that she wanted to intimidate Cunningham by putting a gun to his head. Prosecutors also say she asked her son to arrange the killing of another witness, former employee Tim Kelly, with a car bomb. And prosecutors allege that she asked that another witness, the dealer who leased her the Mercedes, be beaten so badly he would forget his testimony.

The other two witnesses who were to be intimidated were the elderly man and his daughter, prosecutors allege.

But Nicholas Coan, working with police, recorded several conversations with his mother. He allegedly told her he had lined up a "thug" to take care of the witnesses for $1,000 cash and the deed to Elizabeth Coan's home.

Kelly, who lives in Bothell, had worked at Elizabeth Coan's mortgage company in 2002 after being released from prison on a drug charge, prosecutors said. He left the company in 2003 but was set to be a key witness against Coan and Cunningham.

Yesterday, Kelly said it was hard to accept the allegation that his former boss had plotted to kill him. He said he wasn't surprised by the plot, "but the reality of it ... is what's so shocking."

Elizabeth Coan was in King County Jail yesterday with bail set at $1 million. She was to be arraigned on the latest charges Feb. 1.

She and her son both have long criminal records.

"We've known this family from back in the '80s," Kirkland police Lt. Markle said.

Elizabeth Coan has felony convictions dating at least 25 years, including first-degree theft and forgery convictions in 1980 and grand larceny in 1983. She also was convicted of making false statements in 1991, according to charging papers filed yesterday.

Nicholas Coan had juvenile convictions for possessing stolen property, malicious mischief and violating federal firearms laws. In 1993, court records say, he was caught with a semi-automatic pistol, which he was not allowed to carry because he was underage and had a second-degree burglary conviction in Snohomish County.

That same year, Coan was convicted in Snohomish County of first-degree robbery for stealing a man's wallet. In September 1993, he stole guns, stereo equipment and jewelry from the home of a friend's mother and was later convicted of first-degree theft.

He was sentenced to at least two years in prison for the wallet and gun thefts.

Nicholas Coan's family and friends were mourning his death yesterday. Mitchell, who said he had known Coan for seven years, said his friend led a turbulent life but that didn't warrant his fate.

"Nick wasn't a saint, but he was a good friend and a good person," Mitchell said. "Nobody deserves to die the way he did."

Nicholas and his girlfriend, who had not been charged in the shooting as of yesterday, had been dating for about two years, Mitchell said. She had moved in with Coan about a week ago after her parents kicked her out of her home in Camano Island, Mitchell said.

When Coan came home with the gun last weekend, court documents allege, the girlfriend commented that "I should shoot you with it," so Coan passed it to her as a challenge. After the gunshot, Nicholas' girlfriend was "hysterical" and screamed that she hadn't known the pistol was loaded, the documents say.

She was arrested early Saturday morning on suspicion of first-degree manslaughter. She remained in the King County Jail yesterday with bail set at $250,000. Prosecutors said charges might be filed today.

Reporters Christine Clarridge and Jennifer Sullivan contributed to this report.

Ashley Bach: 206-464-2567 or abach@seattletimes.com