EDMONTON – The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Friday to allow a retrial for Brad Cooper, who was found guilty of first-degree murder in the death of his Edmonton-born wife Nancy in May 2011.
A previous ruling determined Cooper would get a new murder trial. The Attorney General’s Office appealed that decision. However, on Friday, the NCSC ruled against that appeal.
Last September, the appeals court ruled the trial judge who oversaw Cooper’s 2011 conviction erred by not allowing two defense witnesses to testify about computer evidence that may have affected the jury’s verdict.
Thirty-nine-year-old Cooper is serving a sentence of life in prison. He is now entitled to a bail hearing, which could happen as early as next week.
During the trial, prosecutors said Brad killed Nancy because he was upset that she was planning to divorce him and take their two daughters to Canada.
Cooper claimed his wife went for a jog on July 12, 2008 and never came back.
Her body was later found in a drainage ditch near the couple’s home in Cary, North Carolina.
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