FORT COLLINS- On Monday, jurors watched a taped interview with Shawna Nelson where she cried and repeatedly said she didn't know what had happened during an interview with police about an hour after Heather Garraus was shot twice in the back of the head as she left work.
Nelson, a former police dispatcher in Weld County, is on trial for allegedly shooting Garraus twice in the back of the head Jan. 23, 2007, as Garraus left a Greeley credit union where she worked.
"I don't know, I'm so confused," she told Greeley Police investigator Greg Tharp during the videotaped interview, which was shown to jurors late Monday morning.
Nelson and Garraus' husband, then-Greeley Police officer Ignacio Garraus, engaged in a three-year affair that resulted in two pregnancies and the birth of a son in March 2006. Ignacio Garraus paid for Nelson to abort the first pregnancy.
That boy Nelson had with Ignacio Garraus happened while the Nelsons were separated, but they reunited shortly thereafter and Ken Nelson agreed to raise the child as his own. The child remains with Ken Nelson. The Nelsons' divorce is pending.
Prosecutors have said that Nelson viewed Heather Garraus as the obstacle standing between her and living happily as a family with Ignacio Garraus and their child.
Nelson cried during the interview as she recounted taking her two older kids to school, doing housework, picking the kids up from school, getting them dinner and going grocery shopping.
"I don't know, Greg," she said during the interview. "That was my day."
At the time of the shooting, Nelson said she was across town at a liquor store. Nelson said she decided to pick up some alcohol before getting in the bath, but returned home when she reached the store after realizing she'd forgotten her purse.
Her purse was found in the kitchen when police searched her house, Tharp, the lead investigator in the case, testified.
Crime scene investigator
Testimony on Monday morning started with one of Greeley Police's crime scene investigators, Rusty Keller. Keller collected the spent bullet shell casings from the scene. He also recovered one spent bullet - all of which were .40 caliber.
Keller also tried to take casts of the tire tracks in the snow. However, he said the process of taking a cast from the snow was very difficult. The cast broke apart, but Keller says he was able to recover some material that could be used as evidence.
Tharp testimony
Tharp took the stand after Keller and in one exchange Monday morning, Tharp was asked by the prosecution to describe Nelson's skills in her job.
"How would you rate the defendant when she was a dispatcher?" asked the prosecution. "Was she a good dispatcher?"
"She was a great dispatcher," replied Tharp.
"Calm in a crisis?" asked the prosecutor.
"Very calm," replied Tharp.
When asked about whether Tharp had heard about a possible affair between Garraus and Nelson, he answered:
"There had been rumors throughout our police department for, what I was aware of, at least six months to a year beforehand of a relationship between Shawna Nelson and Ignacio Garraus, who was a police officer with our department at the time," said Tharp.
Before a midday recess the jury watched the taped interview Tharp conducted with Nelson.
"I know this is a bad spot and this is a horrible spot for you, but what I absolutely need from you Shawna and what you've always given me, is honesty. You've always been a good friend and you've always been honest with me," Tharp said to Nelson.
He continued on saying, "This isn't you. I know you well enough to not think twice about putting my kids in your care and not putting my life in your care on the streets. I've had a trusting relationship with you and I know who you are and what you're about and whatever happened tonight is not the Shawna Nelson that I know."
Nelson denied involvement saying at the time of the shooting she had been on her way to a liquor store, but had turned around because she had forgotten her purse. Tharp did find Nelson's purse during a search of her home.
During the interview Nelson said: "I'm so confused . . . I wasn't there . . . Can I just give you a hug?" The two then embraced.
Witnesses this week
Other witnesses expected to testify this week include Michelle Moore, Nelson's best friend who allegedly knew of her plan and told her how to not get caught; and Ken Nelson, a former Weld County sheriff's investigator accused of taking the murder weapon from his wife's truck minutes after the shooting.
Ken Nelson, whose gun matches the two .40-caliber shell cases found at the scene, faces one count of tampering with physical evidence. He was the first person to contact his wife after the shooting, although testimony Friday suggested he was only there for a short period of time.
9NEWS legal analyst Scott Robinson says Ken Nelson will not be able to avoid testifying, even though he's Shawna Nelson's husband.
"The marital or spousal privilege does not apply by law to murder or other serious felony cases," said Robinson.
Robinson says Ken Nelson can testify without pleading the 5th Amendment as long as prosecutors promise that his testimony won't be used against him later.
"Ken Nelson can be forced to testify against his wife, Shawna, if the prosecutors give him 'use immunity.' And if he then refuses to testify, he could be put in jail for contempt of court," said Robinson.
Moore is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder.
Jurors also are likely to hear testimony from Colorado Bureau of Investigation agents regarding DNA evidence and ballistics testing, as well as testimony from other Greeley police officers, investigators and medical examiners.
