Brad Cooper considering plea deal in death of his wife in 2008: Reports

There are reports that Brad Cooper is considering a plea deal, as he awaits re-trial into the death of his wife, Nancy, in 2008.

Cooper is preparing to head to court later this month, about a year after the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled the trial judge who oversaw his 2011 conviction for first degree murder should have allowed expert witnesses called by the defense to testify.

The decision was upheld by the Supreme Court in that state in January.

Back on July 12, 2008, Nancy Cooper, 34, disappeared in Cary, North Carolina. At the time, her husband said she had gone for a jog and never returned.

Her body was found in a drainage ditch at the end of a cul-de-sac in an unfinished subdivision near the couple’s home – she was wearing only a sports bra.

During the trial, prosecutors claimed Brad strangled his wife, because he was angry she planned to divorce him and move with their two daughters to Canada – in court, witnesses said the pair had argued the night before she disappeared, and both had had affairs.

Cooper was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

His appeal claims the trail judge wrongly denied two witnesses who would have said someone could have remotely tampered with Cooper’s computer; his lawyers also said someone planted a map on Cooper’s computer, showing where his wife’s body was found.

Prosecutors declined to comment, but Cooper’s father-in-law told ABC News Monday that a plea deal could allow Cooper to plead guilty to second-degree murder.

If the judge agrees, Cooper would be sentenced to 13 to 16 years behind bars, with credit for time served – he would be eligible for release in less than 10 years.

With files from ABC WTVD News