NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. — A prosecutor at Melanie McGuire's murder trial said Friday that she plans to argue to jurors that the nurse's husband was shot to death through a throw pillow.

Assistant Attorney General Patricia Prezioso made the statement during a discussion with a judge and lawyers about the testimony of a fiber expert. The prosecutor said the forensic analyst with the Washington, D.C., police department had concluded material on a bullet pulled from William McGuire's chest was part of a pillow.

However, the expert, Douglas Deedrick, was precluded from telling jurors about that conclusion when he testified later in the day because of a compromise between prosecutors and defense attorneys, who said they never received the expert's final report or notes, as required by law.

Prezioso told state Superior Court Judge Frederick DeVesa that she agreed not to ask about the pillow theory, but preserved her right to raise it to jurors in summations.

"They won't hear from his mouth that it's a pillow. They will hear it from mine," she said, conceding that her arguments would be "far less demonstrative to a jury than it would be coming from an expert."

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The pillow allegation was a rare insight into the prosecution's theory of the 2004 crime. In four weeks of testimony, prosecutors have used surveillance video, wiretaps, toll records and other evidence to establish the defendant's doings before and after the crime, when they allege she was engaged in a murder plot and cover-up.

But they have revealed few specifics about how the actual killing and subsequent dismemberment occurred.

In her opening statement, Prezioso said William McGuire was poisoned, shot and cut apart with a saw, but she did not offer details and said the defendant likely had an accomplice for part or all of the crime.

Adding to the mystery is a lack of forensic evidence in the McGuire home and the fact that no neighbors reported hearing gunshots or a saw. With Prezioso's statement about the pillow, she seemed to indicate prosecutors believe the victim was shot in the home.

Deedrick testified that a clump of material clinging to the bullet included white cotton fibers, green cotton fibers and polyester "fiber fill." He said the green fibers were intricately woven, suggesting velvet or corduroy.

The McGuires' living room couch and loveseat were olive green, although not the same material as the fibers on the bullet. Police found no blood or bullet holes on the furniture.

The victim, 39, a computer analyst, was last seen alive outside his home April 28, 2004. McGuire, 34, claims that he left her and their two sons early the next morning after a violent fight.

She is charged with first-degree murder and faces a possible life sentence if convicted.