Convicted Murderer Bradley Cooper Granted New Trial in Wife's Death

Sept. 4, 2013— -- A North Carolina man convicted of strangling his estranged wife has been granted a retrial after his attorney argued that crucial testimony excluded from his first trial could set him free.

The decision to grant Bradley Cooper, 39, a new trial was handed down on Tuesday by the North Carolina Court of Appeals.

Nancy Cooper, 34, went for a jog on July 12, 2008 and never returned home. Her body was found two days later and an autopsy showed she had been strangled.

Prosecutors alleged that Bradley Cooper was upset over his wife's plans to divorce him and move to Canada with their two daughters. He was convicted of first degree murder in 2011 and sentenced to life in prison.

The only direct evidence that linked Cooper to his wife's murder was a Google Maps search done on his laptop the day before Nancy Cooper was killed, showing the exact spot where her body was later discovered.

In a 56-page ruling, the court found that Cooper's defense team was denied the right to present testimony from two key witnesses who could have provided evidence that the Google Maps files on his computer were tampered with.

Cooper has said he is innocent and alleged anyone who had access to his computer during the investigation could have planted that evidence.

Ann Petersen, Cooper's attorney, said she is pleased with the decision to grant her client a new trial.

"Brad's trial was so unfair," Petersen said in a statement to ABC News.

"I do not think in all my 33 years of practice have I seen a case where a defendant was so completely stymied or prevented from presenting his defense to the critical issues in his case," she said.

The Cooper family had moved from Canada to Cary, N.C., in 2001. It was not immediately known when Cooper's retrial will begin.