Husband's Computer Searched in Nancy Cooper Case

Sept. 3, 2008— -- The husband of a slain North Carolina woman told police he did the laundry and vacuumed and scrubbed the floors on the morning his wife disappeared, according to recently released court documents, which also revealed that he had unexplained red marks or scratches on his neck.

Nancy Cooper was reported missing July 12, and her body was found two days later in a drainage pond in an undeveloped subdivision a few miles from her Cary, N.C., home. Her husband, Brad Cooper, has told police that his wife went jogging and never returned.

No charges have been filed in the case, and Cooper has not been named as a suspect. Cooper's lawyers have denied that Cooper was involved in his wife's death. The warrants "contain nothing new and shed no light on who killed Nancy Cooper," his lawyers, Howard Kurtz and Seth Blum, said in a statement.

"Had substantial, credible evidence pointed to Brad Cooper, he would be in custody," they said.

Cary Police Chief Pat Bazemore downplayed the importance of the documents.

"When the details of search warrants do become public, everyone must remember that investigations are as much about ruling things out as ruling things in, and that it's the evidence that comes from a search warrant -- not the warrant itself -- that makes a difference in a case," she said in a statement.

But in the affidavits, filed in July and made public Tuesday, police appear suspicious of Cooper.

Police searched Cooper's computer, looking for documents that may have contained information on how to kill someone or dispose of a body. Police also apparently found Cooper's cleaning the morning his wife disappeared unusual.

"The information provided by Brad Cooper regarding the extensive cleaning of the residence ... is not consistent with information gathered from multiple interviews with individuals who knew Brad and Nancy extensively during their marriage," according to the police affidavit.

Although they were still living together, friends told police that the couple was planning to divorce and that Brad Cooper had admitted in an affidavit unsealed in July to having had an affair. Nancy Cooper wanted to return to Canada with the couple's two children, although Brad Cooper opposed her plan, the affidavit says.

Brad Cooper agreed to give Nancy Cooper's parents temporary custody of the couple's two young children after her death.

When police questioned Cooper on the day of his wife's disappearance, they noticed small red marks or scratches on the back of his neck, the affidavit says, but were unable to determine what caused them and Cooper "did not provide an explanation."

Police said Nancy Cooper's cell phone and keys were inside the house, although her friends told police she always carried them with her.

Police also said Brad Cooper had cleaned the trunk of his wife's car but not the interior. Cooper told police he had spilled gasoline in the trunk, but police didn't smell gas or cleaning fluid, according to the affidavit.

In a statement Tuesday, Nancy Cooper's father, Garry Rentz, said, "Our family continues to have great confidence in the Cary Police Department and applaud their efforts on behalf of one of us."