The seals on three warrants related to the Nancy Cooper murder investigation have expired.

Full Coverage and Timeline: Nancy Cooper Murder Investigation

Read the Search Warrants [.pdf]

Kurtz & Blum Comments On The Release Of The Search Warrants [.pdf]

Police have not named Brad Cooper a suspect or person of interest, but the warrant applications show that they certainly took a close look at him.

Investigators said in the first filing that they noticed red scratches on the back of Brad Cooper's neck, for which he had no explanation.

A detective looking through the Coopers' house noted cleaning supplies in the bathroom attached to Nancy's bedroom, and an unidentified "dried stain" on one of her bed sheets.

Brad Cooper has maintained from the beginning of the investigation that he believed his wife had gone running on the morning of July 12, but police found several reasons to believe Nancy did not go running.

According to the warrant information, friends told police that Nancy Cooper had always taken her cell phone and car keys when she went for a jog, yet detectives found both her phone and keys inside the house.

Nancy's father apparently told police she always ran with her keys between her fingers to use as weapons in case she was attacked.

Police also thoroughly checked Brad's car, a 2001 BMW 325i, taking hair samples from the trunk, back bumper and the left front tire wheel well; they also took the entire floor of the trunk as evidence.

In the warrant application, investigators said the trunk looked freshly vacuumed, while the rest of the car seemed to be messy; Brad's explanation was that he had spilled gasoline a few weeks earlier, but police said they did not smell gasoline or cleaning supplies.

A long list of computer equipment was also taken from the Cooper household as evidence.

Detectives also checked Brad Cooper's office at Cisco Systems, Inc. in Morrisville, where they took an external hard drive, a telephone, documents, a thumb drive, CD-R discs and a DVD-RW disc.

The third warrant was asking for permission to access the electronic data stored in the confiscated computers and storage devices.

Investigators said in the application that they were looking for "files relating to instructions, methods or means of committing the crime of homicide...or means of disposing of a human body."

What detectives actually found in their search is still part of their ongoing investigation and is not public record.

The District Attorney's office had no comment on the warrant information.

Late Tuesday afternoon, attorneys for Brad Cooper released a statement saying, "The release of these search warrants makes public the state of the police investigation as it was six weeks ago...Had substantial, credible, evidence pointed to Brad Cooper, he would be in custody."

Police are cautioning people not to read too much into the warrant applications.

They're reiterating that Brad Cooper has not been named a suspect, and Chief Pat Bazemore released the following statement:

"Given their extreme consequences, homicide cases call for extraordinary care in protecting the integrity of the investigation and the rights of those members of our community that may be part of it, which is why we've supported and appreciated the Court's decision to protect search warrants and related documents. When the details of search warrants do become public, everyone must remember that investigations are as much about ruling things out as ruling things in and that it's the evidence that comes from a search warrant - not the warrant itself - that makes a difference in a case. We work closely with the Wake County District Attorney's Office and other agencies in gathering and evaluating evidence as we seek the truth in every crime, and it's only when we are absolutely sure and can prove it according to the letter of the law that we make the arrest(s). While we all want every case to be resolved right away, certainty under the law must be our timetable."

Nancy Cooper's father, Garry Rentz, also released a statement through the town of Cary:

"[My wife] Donna and I have spoken with our family today on the eve of the first release of information in this case in several weeks. Our family continues to have great confidence in the Cary Police Department and applaud their efforts on behalf of one of us. We echo the comments Chief Bazemore made on Nancy's recent birthday; a resolution of this case would indeed be a wonderful gift to all of us. We implore all the agencies engaged in this case to expedite a resolution."