FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The wife of a former Weld County investigator is on trial in the ambush slaying of the wife of a Greeley police officer. Prosecutors say it was because of a love triangle. Shawna Nelson was having an affair with the victim's husband.

7NEWS Reporter Lance Hernandez is in the courtroom and blogging from the trial.

---

Posted at 4:23 p.m.

Jurors sent home for the day.

Prosecutors say they have four more witnesses to put on the stand. One of them is a DNA expert. Prosecution may wrap up tomorrow.

Posted at 3:32 p.m.

Michelle Bush is now on the stand.

Bush is a paramedic with the Weld County Ambulance Service. She was called to the scene of the shooting on Jan. 23, 2007. She said she and a fellow paramedic trainee saw Heather on the ground and determined there was nothing that could be done for her.

She said parts of the victim's brain were on the pavement next to her head.

She also recalls a retirement party in Sept. 2004.

She was reluctant to go back in, but did after being told that Shawna was not there. Ignacio had told her Shawna would be mad at her for taking Ignacio home. She remembered Shawna walking up to her and calling her a "f***** whore."

Posted at 3:03 p.m.

Sgt. Steve Black is called to testify.

He recalls seeing the defendant at a party at a restaurant. Ignacio Garraus was there with Michelle Bush.

When Shawna saw Bush she became angry. Black said Shawna yelled, "You f****** bi***, you f****** whore." He said she was pointing at Michelle Bush, gesturing and began moving toward Bush.

Black said several other guests had to restrain Shawna, then told her she had to leave.

Under cross examination, Black said the party was three and a half years ago. It was Ken Warren's retirement party. Most guests were male friends from the department.

Posted at 2:58 p.m.

Caia Berning takes the stand. She was a customer at the credit union.

Caia testified that she called the credit union earlier to inquire about her loan application. She was told her car was too old to be used as collateral.

She said she was not angry about it. She was asked point-blank how old she was and she said 70. She was asked how much she weighed. She said 150 pounds. And she was asked if she shot and killed Heather. She said no.

Shawna is 5 feet 7 inches and weighs 200 pounds.

Posted at 2:52 p.m.

Wendy Jones, Heather Garraus' sister, is called to testify.

Jones said Heather called her the Sunday before Christmas and was very distraught. (She'd just learned about the affair.) She said Heather wanted her sister to come pick her up.

Jones and her husband drove to Greeley, got Heather and took her to their home. She stayed overnight then wanted to go back to Greeley to talk to Ignacio.

Posted at 2:48 p.m.

Dr. Peter Maxwell takes the stand.

Maxwell is an Emergency Medical Physician at North Colorado Medical Center in Greeley. He said he's the one who stopped Ignacio Garraus from entering the trauma center the night of the shooting, and he's the one who told him Heather was dead.

Posted at 2:32 p.m.

Carole Rose is called to testify.

She is the Manager of the credit union where Heather worked. She said Heather's title was supervisor, but she was Rose's assistant.

She said she was aware of the affair between Ignacio Garraus and Shawna Nelson. She said Heather showed her some text messages on her phone.

One of those text messages said, "Heather, if you're reading this U R a psycho bi***. It was dated Jan. 8 at 2:15 p.m. Call back # 970-590-2012.

She said after Heather learned about the affair she was so upset she took the whole day off.

Posted at 1:46 p.m.

Donna Tuma, Shawna's friend, is called to the stand.

She testified that Shawna showed her pictures of Ignacio taken on her cell phone. One of them showed Ignacio from the stomach up, naked in bed. She said Shawna didn't like Heather and called her a fat cow, bi*** and hag.

She said Shawna was upset when Ignacio broke of their relationship. "I just recall her (Shawna) saying she was going to make his life hell, and she was going to make him pay for this," Tuma said.

Posted at 1:36 p.m.

Jurors heard from a juvenile witness: Paige Walker.

Paige's mother is/was a friend of Shawna's. Paige was dropped off at the Nelson house about a week before the shooting, while her mother went to work.

Paige testified that Mrs. Nelson called Ignacio's father and told him she was upset that Ignacio wasn't talking to her. She was going to send pictures of Christian to Ignacio's dad.

Paige said she remembers a phone call between Ken and Shawna, with Shawna telling him she didn't love him anymore.

She said Shawna told her that she didn't have a sexual relationship with Ken anymore. That when Ken came home, she didn't talk to him, she went to bed. She recalls Shawna talking about Ignacio Garraus and how much she loved him, and how much they were meant to be together.

She also recalls Shawna talking about Heather.

"She didn't like Heather at all," Paige said.

Shawna blamed Heather for her and Ignacio breaking up, Paige said.

Paige's mom Sonja Walker also testifed. She was friends with Shawna and worked as a dispatcher for three and a half years. She said Shawna called Heather "a hag" and said Shawna had a strong dislike of Heather.

Posted at 1:01 p.m.

Anne Mioduski is called to testify.

She is a friend of Shawna's who worked with her at the dispatch center. Mioduski told jurors that Shawna Nelson told her she was upset and didn't know what she had to live for after Ignacio Garraus ended their relationship.

She said Shawna told her Ignacio had mentioned several times that he didn't have enough money. Shawna, who was angry, had told Mioduski that she "was going to take Garraus to court and make him pay child support, then he really wouldn't have enough money."

She also relayed that the night Ignacio had to leave the bar after getting a phone call from his wife, Shawna texted him on his cell phone and Heather intercepted it, and called Shawna on it. She said Shawna texted Heather, "anytime, anywhere bi***."

Posted at 12:50 p.m.

Tamara Orton-Felipic is on the stand.

She's a bartender at Jackson's Hole restaurant. She said she met Ignacio Garraus while doing ride alongs with Greeley police. She said she knows Shawna and said Shawna told her that Ignacio was trying to end their relationship. She said Shawna was upset and crying.

She said Shawna told her she was so angry at Heather that she said she "was going to beat her up or kick her ass."

Under cross examination, Orton-Felipic said she remembers seeing Shawna and Ignacio together kissing in the bar. Also said that she heard Shawna say she would kick Heather's ass or exchange words with her.

Posted at 12:39 p.m.

Officer Novar Garcia has been called to the stand.

He's with the Greeley Police Dept. and said he has known Shawna for quite some time.

He said he got a phone call from Shawna Nelson on Dec. 19, 2006. He said Shawna was crying, and told him she was sorry she had lied to others about who the father of her son was.

She said the real father was Ignacio Garraus. She was upset, saying that Ignacio had chosen to stay with Heather.

"She said he chose a woman over blood," Garcia quoted Nelson as saying.

He told jurors that Shawna said she planned to take Ignacio Garraus to court and have him pay child support.

"She said he was going to pay," Garcia said.

Posted at 11:16 a.m.

Jennifer Morrison takes the stand.

She was a dispatcher who worked under Shawna Nelson until 2005. She testified that Nelson had talked to her, Ignacio and Heather. Morrison told jurors that Nelson told her she would vent her frustration by going to the shooting range and pretending her target was Heather.

Posted at 10:46 a.m.

Det. Matt Walsh of Greeley P.D. is called to the stand.

When task force members took the gun to the police department, Walsh was given the glock and placed it in an evidence box. He said it came in a paddle holster.

Walsh looked at the gun in a box placed in front of him on the stand and identified it as the weapon he took possession of.

Posted at 10:42 a.m.

Lt. Steve Nelson is called to the stand.

He was the commander of the drug task force on Jan. 23, 2007

He said Ken Nelson was very emotional after the shooting and that Ken was crying. He said when other officers gave him Ken Nelson's Glock, he put it in a safe, then later turned it over to investigators with Greeley police.

Under cross examination, he said it was fully unloaded when it was put in the safe.

Posted at 9:57 a.m.

Jon Trahan, and Evans police offer, is called to the stand.

He was with the Weld County Drug Task Force in January 2007. He said Ken's face was devoid of all emotion that afternoon, then saw Ken and Sgt. Hulsey leave the task force office.

Afterwards, someone got a call from Hulsey asking them to bring his vehicle to stop location. Trahan took it, then returned to the task force site.

Later at the task force site he saw Ken sitting in his truck. He walked over, opened the passenger side door and saw a Glock-22 on the passenger seat. He said he picked it up so he wouldn't sit on it and got in the truck so Ken wouldn't be alone.

He said Ken was visibly upset. He said Ken said, "What the f*** was she thinking. She left the kids alone."

Trahan said as he was leaving, he still had Nelson's Glock and took it and handed it to Sgt. Nelson.

Under cross, he said he picked up the Glock in a black holster.

"Ken was quiet, tense, I would assume, in shock," Trahan said.

When he got out of the Jeep, Ken said, "Take that with you."

Trahan said he took the gun with him. He said he was later involved in searching the Jeep. He collected a rifle, but no other hand guns. He said he considered himself a friend, but wouldn't lie for Ken.

Posted at 9:35 a.m.

Fred Brown has been called to the stand.

He is the Commercial Fleet Division Manager for the Spradley-Barr Auto Group. Prior to that he was with Garnsey-Wheeler Ford. He has helped several law enforcement agencies identify vehicles and the differences in vehicles.

There were questions about the differences between an F-150 and an F-250.

Prosecutors played video from the crime scene and asked if there was anything of significance to him in the video. The video apparently came from an ATM machine camera in front of the credit union.

The video shows a picture of pickup driving by. He said the light pattern is consistent with a Ford F-250. Also the side marker light is consistent with a Ford F-250. Given the rise, it's older than a 2002 model, he said.

The reflected chrome wheels are not steel. The truck cab light pattern is indicative of Ford F-250. Trailer tow mirrors indicative of a super duty model. It appears to be an extended cab, short box truck with 8 holes in the wheels and a 156-inch wheelbase.

He was asked if he formed any opinion about what kind of truck it was. He said yes. He felt it was a Ford F-250 Super Cab, Super Duty XLT 4-wheel drive gas engine, because there was no badging for a diesel.

When asked about the year, he said he felt it was a 2001. He then looked at a still picture of the pickup tied to this case and identified it as a Ford F-250.

Under cross examination, he was asked if Ford trucks are a popular brand. He responded, it's No. 1. He said there could be thousands in Northern Colorado. He said Ford and the county would have number of Fords that were registered.

Posted at 9:15 a.m.

Alan Hammond is still on the stand.

He said the Glock appeared to have been cleaned and not fired since the cleaning when it arrived at CBI. He said the live rounds that accompanied the gun were different from the casings and bullet that were recovered at the murder scene.

Under cross examination, he said the gun holds 16 rounds and that he can't tell when the bullet was fired, or when the casings were fired. Nor can he tell the last time the Glock was fired.

Posted at 8:49 a.m.

Prosecutors have called Agent Alan Hammond to the stand.

He is a forensic expert with Aurora Police Department, assigned to CBI. Prior to APD he worked at CBI. He test fired some shells from Ken Nelson's Glock 22, .40-caliber semi-automatic, serial number KDN 907.

He said in his opinion, the evidence cases were fired by the same gun that he tested. He based that on unique firing pin impressions. He was asked if he felt that to the exclusion of all other Glocks, and he said, "Yes, in my opinion."

But Hammond said he couldn't say that the bullet recovered from the homicide scene was definitely fired by that same Glock, or any Glock. He said in his opinion, the bullet recovered from the scene was not fired from a revolver.

Earlier, Michelle Moore had testified that Shawna said she would leave evidence to confuse investigators.

Posted at 8:33 a.m.

Michelle Moore is called back to the stand.

The prosecutor asked her about Shawna's feelings about Heather Garraus.

Moore said Shawna felt it was Heather who had the power in her marriage, and that Heather was forcing Ignacio to stay in the marriage.

The prosecutor asked Moore why she didn't go to police earlier.

She said, "In some ways I was being loyal, because I didn't want to believe that it had happened."

The prosecutor then asked, "Do you believe you could have prevented what happened had you gone to police earlier?"

"I don't know," Moore said.

She was asked, "Are you facing 9 years in prison?" She said, "Yes."

Under cross examination, the public defender asked Moore if before she was facing 9 years (with a plea deal) she was facing 48 years. She said yes. He asked her about her five or six interviews with police and how her story changed with each interview. He said, "You want us to take your word that you're telling the truth?"

She responded, "You can take my word and evidence."

Under redirect, Moore was asked if she had access to or was driving Ken Nelson's pickup truck the night of the shooting, she said no. He asked if she shot Heather Garraus, she said no.

Read Lance's Blogs:

• February 26, 2008: Blog Day 4: Husband, Best Friend Testify
• February 25, 2008: Blog Day 3: Nelson’s Interrogation Tape Shown
• February 22, 2008: Blog Day 2: Suspect’s Lover Testifies
• February 21, 2008: Blog Day 1: 911 Tapes Played