Cooper search warrant released, testimony likely next week

RALEIGH Brad Cooper is charged in the death of his wife, Nancy Cooper. He has pleaded not guilty and previously told authorities that his wife went for a jog in July 2008 and never returned.

The warrant, served by Cary police on October 19, 2010, was for a Samsung Blackjack cell phone that belonged to Brad Cooper.

The document said Cooper told investigators he received a call from Nancy on the day she disappeared. Cell phone records indicated that he did receive a call from their home phone.

Investigators, however, suggest in the search warrant that Cooper might have been able to make the call himself due to his knowledge of Voice over Internet Protocol from his job as an engineer for Cisco Systems. He also had the ability to connect to the internet on his cell phone.

Meanwhile, jury selection is going slowly in the case.

Testimony in his trial is expected to begin next week.

Lawyers on both sides are still probing potential jurors, but at least a third of the original 75-member jury pool has been excused.

Among the questions they are being asked is if they'll be influenced by pre-trial publicity and their experience and thoughts towards domestic violence.

Before jury selection could begin Monday morning, Cooper's attorneys argued up to the last minute that they still haven't been given information they've asked for and feel they deserve.

His attorneys said they felt two-and-a-half years was plenty of time for the SBI to round up and hand over e-mails and other communication with the Cary Police Department related to the investigation.

"They're able to do it at lightning speed when they want to," Defense Attorney Howard Kurtz said. "In respect to the SBI they've been in the media supposed to be a new chapter all about transparency."

The prosecution said it has nothing to hide, but the judge decided it was too late to ask for the information.

The massive search for Nancy Cooper made national news. A few days after first being reported missing, she was found strangled near a drainage ditch in a neighborhood under construction not far from the couple's Cary home.

Friends later revealed Brad Cooper was extremely controlling and had admitted to having an affair and that Nancy Cooper was in the process of getting a divorce.

Her parents have custody of the couple's two children.

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