A 72-year-old woman is set to go on trial for shooting dead her second husband , nearly 30 years after she was acquitted of murdering her first husband in eerily similar circumstances . Colleen Ann Harris , whose case is expected to open on Wednesday , is accused of shooting dead her estranged husband , Robert 'Bob ' Harris , in their Placerville , California home in January 2013 . Decades before , in 1985 , she shot dead her first husband and the father of her three children , 46-year-old James Batten , after claiming he had been abusive towards her . Both killings were carried out in the same home with the same type of gun , and in both cases , after pulling the trigger , she claimed she had temporary amnesia and could not remember doing it . Accused : Colleen Ann Harris , left , is about to go on trial for the 2013 death of her husband , Bob Harris , right , whom she shot dead nearly 30 years after she shot dead her first husband . 'In each case , she kills her husband in the bedroom . In each case , she uses a shotgun , ' said El Dorado County Deputy District Attorney Joe Alexander , wrote in court papers , the Sacramento Bee reported . 'In each case , she is going through marital difficulties . In each case , she delays reporting the crime ... In each case she claims a loss of memory as a defense . ' She was acquitted in her 1986 trial after claiming she had acted in self defense when her husband , whom she was divorcing , held a pistol to her head , threatened to kill her and sexually abused her . She said she could n't remember killing him and a psychiatrist testified during the trial that she suffered from limited amnesia . The prosecution told a very different tale . They claimed she had shot her husband as he read a newspaper in bed and then killed him with another shot at close range , before putting a pistol in the bed to make it look like self-defense . She waited an hour before calling the Sheriff 's Office . Scene : She allegedly shot him dead in the couple 's Placerville , California home ( pictured ) as they were going through marital problems . They had separated but he had returned to care for her after surgery . The jury ultimately said there was insufficient evidence that she intended to murder her husband and she was acquitted of murder . Then in 1990 , she married Bob Harris , who had two sons and a daughter . They divorced in 2004 but then married again a year later . Then in 2012 , as Harris took a trip to Mongolia , where he taught environmental conservation to students , he met another woman and began a relationship with her , the Bee reported . When he returned to California , he and his wife separated and he moved out . But when Colleen Harris was house-bound following hip-replacement surgery , he returned to the Placerville home to help her . 'My dad , bless his heart , was there taking care of Colleen despite whatever circumstances were going on between them , ' his son Andy Harris told the Sacramento Bee . Then on January 5 , 2013 , she overheard her husband making a call to his love interest overseas and later that night or the following morning , she shot him as he slept , prosecutors claim . She then allegedly drove to San Francisco and stashed her husband 's cellphone , a handgun - not the same one used in the murder - and his coin collection , in her son 's garage . After returning home , she called the lawyer who won her previous case and told him that she had shot her husband , prosecutors say . The lawyer then contacted the Sheriff 's Office . Harris , who married Colleen in 1990 despite her previous case , left behind two sons and a daughter , right . Beloved : He worked in the Forest Service and as an instructor with the El Dorado Sheriff 's Department . El Dorado County Deputy District Attorney Joe Alexander said that Harris claimed she had been in a 'gray fog ' but insisted she would never shoot her husband . Mr Harris ' family said they remain devastated by the loss . 'The death of your father is devastating enough , ' Andy Harris said . 'And then there is the person who is brought into your family and loved as a family member . 'There is a real sense of betrayal and wondering if this person had the capacity to love . ' His father had worked with the Forest Service for 30 years before retiring in 1997 , according to his obituary . He umpired baseball , from Little League to semi-professional teams , and worked as an instructor with the El Dorado Sheriff 's Department . A judge has ruled that prosecutors may talk about the first case in the upcoming trial . Attorney Eric Schlueter had fought the decision , saying in court papers : 'The prior incident has ZERO relevance to the current action especially in light of the fact that Mrs. Harris was ACQUITTED of the charge . '
Colleen Ann Harris is set to go on trial for murder after shooting dead her second husband , Bob Harris , in their bedroom in 46 . In 1985 , she shot her first husband , James Batten , 2013 , but was acquitted after claiming she acted in self defense and could not remember killing him . The two killings took place in the same home , with the same type of gun , during marital problems and she said she had amnesia after both . Prosecutors say she shot dead Harris , from whom she was separated , after hearing him making a call to a love interest . A judge has ruled that the jury can hear about the first death .