E-mails from Julie Keown read in court yesterday expressed love and support for her husband - the former Waltham man accused of murdering her - and detailed her deteriorating health just days before her death.
James Keown, 34, is charged with first-degree murder. Authorities say that the former Missouri radio host slowly poisoned his wife Julie Keown, 31, with ethylene glycol, a substance most commonly found in antifreeze, after the couple moved to Waltham in 2004. Julie Keown died on Sept. 8, 2004.
Several e-mails, mainly from 2003 and 2004, retrieved from Julie Keown's laptop computer were read into the record by Matthew Kamholtz, James Keown's defense attorney.
In one of the e-mails, from December 2001, Julie Keown tells a friend while the couple has had its ups and downs, she loved "being married to James."
In a batch of e-mails from 2003, Julie Keown told friends of the couple's impending move to the Boston area so James could supposedly attend Harvard Business School. She said in one of the e-mails that James had been offered a scholarship by Harvard.
Prosecutors, however, claim that James Keown faked his admission into Harvard to escape mounting financial troubles.
Seven days before her death, Julie detailed her failing health in an e-mail to a friend on Sept. 1, 2004. In the e-mail, she said she had been sick to her stomach for months and was easily fatigued.
Julie Keown had a pre-existing kidney condition that may have eventually required a transplant. Assistant District Attorney Nat Yeager said in his opening statement to the jury last week that James Keown attacked his wife's already weakened kidneys by poisoning her.
In the Sept. 1, 2004 e-mail, Julie told a friend that she would eventually need a transplant.
"But basically at some point in time, I will have to have a kidney transplant to live," she said in the e-mail. Julie said that she and James were "scared and nervous" about the state of her health.
"All we can do now is wait and think positive," Julie wrote.
In his opening statement, James Keown's attorney, Matthew Feinberg, suggested that Julie could have committed suicide by ingesting ethylene glycol.
But Massachusetts State Trooper David McSweeney, a computer forensics analyst, testified on Tuesday that Web pages searched on Julie Keown's computer just days before her death included pages concerning how to deal and live with kidney ailments.
One of the Internet searches found on Julie Keown's computer suggested her desire to have a baby despite her illness. McSweeney testified yesterday the Web search was titled "Pregnancy with 55 percent kidney function."
Another computer forensics analyst testified on Monday that a laptop computer belonging to James Keown showed Internet searches for how to buy and make poisons.
Under questioning from Yeager, McSweeney told jurors Julie Keown's computer contained no searches on how to purchase or make poisons.
Prosecutors say Keown killed his wife to collect her life insurance policy. Deborah Jordan, an official with The Hartford insurance company, testified yesterday that Julie Keown did have a $50,000 basic life policy, $150,000 supplemental insurance policy and $50,000 accidental death and dismemberment policy - for a total $250,000.
James Keown's murder trial is now expected to stretch into its third week. Judge Sandra Hamlin told jurors that the case would not be heard on Friday. She did not explain why, but said the reason is unrelated to the Keown trial.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
