"Readily available poisons" and "Can you buy arsenic?" were among the Internet searches found on the hard drive of a laptop belonging to a former Waltham man accused of murdering his wife, a computer forensic analyst testified yesterday.
James Keown, a former Missouri radio host, is accused of slowly poisoning his wife to death with antifreeze after the couple moved to Waltham in 2004.
Julie Keown, 31, died on Sept. 8, 2004, after slipping into a coma at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. An autopsy showed she had ingested ethylene glycol, a substance commonly found in antifreeze.
Andrew Winrow, an analyst who previously worked for the Middlesex County District Attorney's Office, read for the court a long list of Google searches for how to buy and make poisons that were performed on James Keown's Sony Vaio laptop from late July 2004 to August 2004 - just weeks before his wife's death.
The laptop was one of several computers seized by detectives at both the Keowns' home in Waltham on 52 School Ave. and at his former places of employment in Missouri.
Winrow said the hard drive also showed a search had been performed for "The Anarchist Cookbook" by William Powell, which includes recipes for both explosives and poisons. A Web page dealing with forensic toxicology as well as searches for how to make or buy ricin were found, too.
Winrow is scheduled to continue his testimony when the trial resumes today.
In other testimony, Theodore Willmore, a Missouri physician and former friend of the Keowns, recalled a November 2004 dinner conversation in which he asked Keown whether he was worried about being charged with his wife's murder.
Willmore said Keown replied that while he might be indicted, he didn't believe a jury would ever be able to find him guilty.
"(Keown) stated he was not worried about being convicted because the case would be circumstantial," Willmore said.
During cross examination, Keown's attorney Matthew Kamholtz alleged that Willmore had presumed that Keown was guilty early on into the investigation of Julie's death, and said Willmore once called James Keown a "red-headed bastard" during a phone conversation with Julie Keown's mom, Nancy Oldag.
Willmore said he didn't remember calling Keown that name, but as the investigation progressed, and following the dinner conversation, he said he came to believe that Keown had murdered his wife.
"Prior to that we were supporting him as our friend," Willmore said. Willmore also testified that he and his wife rented a house in Sunset Beach, N.C., with the Keowns and another couple in August 2004. He said at that time Julie Keown had complained of "a lot of stomach upset and nausea."
Prosecutors claim that Keown killed his wife to cash in on her $250,000 life insurance policy.
Authorities say that Keown also faked his admission to Harvard Business School to escape an increasing financial quandary.
In early 2004, Keown even presented to his former boss in Missouri a letter of acceptance supposedly from Britt Dewey, director of admissions at Harvard Business School. Keown had asked to telecommute so he could attend Harvard.
However, Dewey testified yesterday that a signature on the letter did not belong to her.
Richard Conn can be contacted at 781-398-8004 or rconn@cnc.com.
