VISTA (CBS 8) - More revealing testimony Tuesday in the trial against a Carlsbad mother accused of murdering her husband.
Julie Harper first took the stand Monday, describing a troubled marriage filled with verbal abuse. On Tuesday, it was the prosecution's turn to challenge evidence and testimony given by Harper.
Prosecutors say Julie Harper shot her husband in cold blood in 2012 while their three children watched TV, but she says the shooting was self-defense.
According to Harper, the morning Jason Harper was shot and killed, she told him she had filed for divorce. She said he responded by flying into a rage and attempting to rape her.
"I grabbed my gun that was under my pillow," she said.
She testifed she pulled the trigger in self-defense, shooting her husband once.
"He froze, completely, and just like a tree in the forest, he just fell forward at me," she said.
Harper said she checked for a pulse, and concluded her husband was dead. Worried her children would see the body, she said she covered it with a blanket. She then proceeded to take them out for pastries and play dates.
"I just wanted to make the day as normal as possible for them," Harper said.
Also in court Tuesday, Harper admitted to forging her husband's signature on two checks made out to her for a total of $9,000.
