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Detective Testifies To Sheehan's Computer Use At Murder Trial

NEW YORK (WCBS 880/AP) -- A detective's testimony at the trial of a Queens woman accused of murdering her ex-cop husband brought out some new evidence on Wednesday.

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reports

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Detective Joseph Garcia said he had examined Barbara Sheehan's computer activity on the day she shot and killed her husband.

Sheehan admitted killing her husband in their Howard Beach home in 2008 and claims she was the victim of years of abuse.

Garcia said most of her computer use on the day her husband was killed fits her description of what she said happened.

The morning of the shooting, Feb. 18, 2008, Sheehan said her husband wouldn't let her back in the house until she agreed to go with him to Florida and had pointed the gun at her head.

Garcia testified she did go online to change an airline reservation for the Florida trip and that there was a break in the computer use that fit the time she said she went running to a friend's house, allegedly fearing for her life.

But prosecutors have said Sheehan wasn't afraid of her husband and have said that instead of trying to flee their Howard Beach home on the day of shooting, Sheehan went about her day as normal.

On the day when Sheehan swore she was making plans to leave, Garcia said she went back on the computer, searched out a celebrity couple's website and then worked on a religion paper for her son.

But Sheehan had earlier testified that she tried to pretend she was going about her day as usual. She said she did proofread her son's school paper, drank coffee and made arrangements for the trip.

She said she planned to tell her husband she was going to get dog food but never come back.

Instead, she saw a revolver in the bedroom, took it and walked toward her husband who was in the bathroom and shot him.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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