Police seek more evidence in Nancy Cooper murder case

Raleigh, N.C. — Authorities investigating the July 2008 slaying of a Cary woman found dead in an undeveloped subdivision have obtained a new search warrant to obtain data from a computer belonging to her husband.

In a June 3 search warrant that was returned Monday, Cary police investigators asked to obtain information from a Cisco CompactFlash Card that they believe Brad Cooper used with a computer he bought after police seized other computers at his home shortly after the death of his wife, Nancy Cooper.

Her body was found July 14 in an undeveloped subdivision about three miles from the couple's home. An autopsy found the 34-year-old mother of two she was likely strangled.

Brad Cooper was arrested in October and charged with murder.

Since then, investigators have requested to search numerous other items seized from the couple's home at 104 Wallsburg Court, including cameras and cell phones.

Detectives are looking for evidence of marital discord, financial transactions and instructions associated with ways to commit murder and dispose of a human body, according to search warrant affidavits.

Brad Cooper, 35, is in the Wake County jail, where he is being held under a $2 million bond. Prosecutors have said they will not seek the death penalty in the case.

He has denied any involvement in his wife's death. He has said he last saw her on July 12 before she went jogging. When she did not return, he has said, he went looking for her.

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If I were the prosecutor for this case or any other, I would want all the evidence I could find, no matter if I thought I had sufficient evidence already or not. You do not know all situations you may encounter at the trial and you usually have only one shot at it (hung jury, retrials), so be as thorough as you can possibly be, gather as much evidence as is discoverable, no matter the timing. Public perceptions do not matter; we may draw conclusions from the timing of this warrant, but it only matters what is presented at the trial.

valleyGirl
June 26, 2009 1:22 p.m.

Looks like the Cary PD is still looking for the smoking gun in this case. Their case is entirely circumstantial, with a bunch of hearsay on the side.

Nancy Cooper's friends and family have done their best to convict Brad Cooper in the minds of potential jurors. It will be interesting to see what evidence the police has that the public has not seen, because what is publicly known is not nearly enough for a conviction.

hp277
June 16, 2009 4:19 p.m.

Innocent until proven guilty.

grenlyn1
June 16, 2009 3:31 p.m.

WRAL, what is "martial" discord? Is that anything like "marital" discord?

I guess I will just type this
June 16, 2009 3:27 p.m.

Bond is also set based on the charges levied, and in the case of drugs bond is set high in order to coerce a defendant into squealing on a colleague to get a lower bond. Bond can also be arbitrary - different people can get different bonds for the same crime, even if neither has any resources for flight. I have seen, on this sight, bond for rape of an 8 year old child be $10K and bonds for drug offenses be upwards of $1M. Go figure?