Shotgun Weddings: The Saga of Grandma Cokey, California's Serial Husband Killer - Paperback

by Lloyd Billingsley (Author)

Double-Barreled Death in the Sierra Foothills "I think I shot my husband," said the voice on the 911 call. "Is he dead?" The date was July 27, 1985. The caller was Colleen Batten of Placerville, California. Colleen had shot her husband Jim Batten. She shot him twice with a shotgun, and he was dead. Colleen Batten claims her husband was a violent predator, and that she has no memory of shooting him. A jury believes her, and Colleen Batten walks free. Colleen marries Bob Harris of the U.S. Forest Service. They live happily for more than 20 years, but when things start to go south, Bob becomes wary. On January 6, 2013, a 911 call reports a homicide at the residence of Bob and Colleen Harris. "He looks so beautiful," Colleen tells police. In the bedroom officers find Bob Harris dead from a shotgun blast to the head. Colleen taps the same lawyer from 1985 and stands trial for murder in the same courthouse. Again she claims to have no memory of shooting her husband, but this time will the jury believe her? Will she again walk free? Author Lloyd Billingsley attended the trial and probed every corner of the cases. Shotgun Weddings tells the whole story.