TV anchorwoman testifies in Coe case

SPOKANE — Television newswoman Shelly Monahan testified about her 1979 rape during the civil commitment trial of Kevin Coe, saying her assailant beat and strangled her before sexually assaulting her.

"He also threatened to kill me," Monahan said Monday to the Spokane County Superior Court jury that will decide whether Coe remains in a special commitment center indefinitely as a sexual predator who is a danger to the community.

Monahan is the best-known victim of the so-called South Hill Rapist, who terrorized the Spokane community with more than 40 sexual assaults from the 1960s until Coe's arrest in 1981.

Although Coe only served time for one rape conviction, the Washington attorney general's office is seeking to link him to many other rapes in an effort to keep him locked up even though he has already served his 25-year prison sentence.

Monahan was a radio disc jockey known as "Sunshine Shelly" at the time of her assault. She went on to a television career in a number of major markets, including Sacramento, Calif., and Chicago, before returning to Spokane to raise her family. She is a morning news anchor on KHQ in Spokane.

Monahan earlier this year appeared on a national news program to describe her assault. She was named repeatedly during jury selection for Coe's trial as the South Hill rape victim jurors remember most.

Monahan had never testified in court before because she couldn't identify Coe as her rapist and her case never led to charges.

The state contends her assault fits a pattern of violent rapes that Coe committed.

Coe's trial continued today and is expected to last for six weeks.