But officer, that was years ago.

Two decades ago, Brenda Kirkelie (now Duran) apparently decided that she would rather shoot her husband than divorce him. She convinced the police that an East Indian intruder had killed her husband while robbing the store. In fact, she was apparently so convincing that one of the police officers involved with her case spent a considerable amount of time consoling the distraught widow by sleeping with her.

For 23 years, she continued living her life, marrying again and moving to Oklahoma. She probably would've escaped arrest entirely, except she angered a second husband (divorced this one instead of killing him, though) enough so that he brought in some of Ms. Duran's shotgun shells, which were exactly the same type used to kill Greg Kirkelie.

Corvallis police officers flew out to Oklahoma this past October and met with Ms. Duran for a little chat. The nature of this chat is now up for serious debate. The cops, in all their wisdom, did not bother to read Ms. Duran her Miranda rights. They claim this was an informal interview and that she was not in custody. But during this interview, Ms. Duran confessed to the murder, and it is unclear whether this will now be permitted as evidence in court. Under federal law, Miranda rights aren't invoked until there is some sort of official custody status. However, under Oregon's more stringent laws, it looks like the cops erred by not reading her the Miranda rights before they started asking questions.

However, her lawyers are much more bold than simply challenging the legality of a confession they claim was obtained under coercion and false promises. They have filed a motion asking that the case be dismissed entirely because prosecutors were "too slow" in bringing charges against their client. Say what now? There is no statute of limitations on murder charges in Oregon. That's just plain silly.