RALEIGH -- Police say Nancy Lynn Cooper was seeking a divorce from her husband Brad after he admitted to an affair and that the couple had viewed a "draft" of a separation agreement days before her body was found dumped in a storm drain in an unfinished subdivision near their home.
Police charged Brad Cooper with his wife's death after a three-month investigation, and a search warrant application made public late Friday afternoon indicated that investigators are looking for more evidence of "marital discord" between the couple.
Investigators obtained the search warrant this week because they wanted to review computer software seized nearly two years ago from Bradley Cooper's office at Cisco Systems Inc., in Morrisville.
The software includes four Sony CD-R discs and one Sony DVR disc that Cary investigators recovered from Brad Cooper's office on July 21, 2008.
The police seized the software from Brad Cooper's office exactly one week after a resident discovered his wife's body on July 14, 2008, according to the court affidavit.
Two days before, on July 12, police began looking for Nancy Cooper after her friends filed a missing person report.
During the investigation of her death, which was determined to be a homicide by the state medical examiner's office, Cary police investigators learned that Nancy Cooper wanted a divorce. The couple were also enduring financial difficulties, police reported.
A Wake County grand jury issued an indictment on Oct. 27, 2008 charging Brad Cooper with his wife's death. Cary police took him into custody that same day.
Brad Cooper has been in custody at the Wake County jail since his arrest and the trial will be heard by Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Gessner. A jury will decide his fate. Charged with first-degree murder --- Cooper could be sentenced to life in prison without parole if he is convicted.
Homicide investigators applied for the search warrant on Monday. They obtained it on Wednesday and searched the discs and Dell computer software they seized from the couple's former home at 104 Wallsburg Court in Cary, court records show.
Det. J.A. Young stated in the search warrant application that the police are searching for evidence related to Nancy Cooper's death and signs of marital strife.
