GREELEY, Colo.-
A woman accused of killing her ex-lover’s wife was ordered to stand trial on a first-degree murder charge Thursday.
Shawna Louise Nelson, 35, is accused of shooting Heather Garraus, 37, to death on Jan. 23. Authorities said Nelson ordered Garraus to her knees outside the credit union where Garraus worked and fired two bullets into her head and back.
Weld County District Court Judge Roger Klein told prosecutors they had to decide within 60 days whether to seek the death penalty.
Nelson’s family has said she had a three-year affair with Garraus’ husband, Ignacio Garraus, a Greeley police officer at the time. Nelson gave birth to Ignacio Garraus’ son, her family said.
After the affair ended, Nelson told co-workers she wished Heather Garraus would die and imagined her face was on the target when she went to a firing range, police Detective Greg Tharp testified at a preliminary hearing Thursday.
Garraus also told a co-worker that Garraus was ruining her life and her relationship with Ignacio Garraus, Tharp testified.
Nelson is being held without bail.
She was married to a Weld County sheriff’s investigator at the time of the affair but it was not immediately clear if they were still married.
Ignacio Garraus has resigned from the police department.
