JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksoinnville woman who claimed self-defense in the fatal shooting of her ex-husband in 1973 has been charged with second-degree murder for the death of her second husband, prompting local investigators to revisit the old case. In both shootings, Barbara Sue Osborne claimed she was provoked during a domestic altercation.

Barbara Sue Osborne, now 57, was 25 when police were called to the Sherwood Forest neighborhood in northwest Jacksonville in January 1973 to find Welton "Paul" Flantos lying dead in the front yard.

Osborne told police she shot Flantos in self defense and the case was closed.

Police in Cabarrus County charged Osborne Monday with second-degree murder for the fatal shooting of Ted M. Osborne, her second husband.

Ted Osborne, 58, was found dead in his Davidson, N.C. home on March 5, 2004 with two gunshot wounds to the chest. Barbara called 911 and claimed once again that she shot her husband during a domestic argument.

Investigators announced this week that there was sufficient evidence to charge Osborne in her husband's death, and the news has prompted local investigators to reopen the 31-year-old case of her first husband's murder.

Flantos and Osborne had been living together for several months after their 1972 divorce, but she had moved out because they fought constantly, a police report said.

The report said Flantos came to the house where his ex-wife was staying. Swearing profanely, he reportedly kicked in the door, then Osborne shot him in the chest with a .22-caliber Colt handgun. The couple's three sons were in a car parked outside.

Flantos' brother, Howard Flantos of Brunswick, Ga., said he was at work when he heard about the shooting.

"I went down there and identified the body," he said. "He was my best friend."

Welton Flantos is buried in North Carolina, where the brothers were from, Howard Flantos said. Welton Flantos would have been 61 on Father's Day.

Howard Flantos declined to talk more about his brother, who had been a car mechanic, but told Charlotte, N.C., television station WCNC that his brother was shot four or five times.

Sgt. Jim Parker, supervisor of Jacksonville's cold case squad, said North Carolina authorities have not asked about the 1973 shooting. At the time, police and prosecutors in Jacksonville decided the shooting was provoked by domestic violence and it was cleared, Parker said.

"We wouldn't open it to reinvestigate unless something comes up to suggest this is not what happened," he said.

Cabarrus County Sheriff's Capt. Phillip Patterson said the agency hadn't been called to the Osborne's residence for domestic disturbances or other calls in the past, though a break-in was reported after the March 5 shooting.

Barbara Osborne told WCNC television that her husband had grabbed her hair and slammed her head into a closet. She said he pulled a gun on her and that her gun went off.

Though investigators did not offer specifics in the case, Cabarrus County Sheriff Brad Riley said, "The investigation has taken a little longer than normal. We wanted to be sure that the evidence supported the charges. ... You have to let the crime scene tell the story."

Patterson said conflicts between what police were told and evidence they found drove the investigation past three months. He declined to give additional details of the investigation or discuss other evidence that led to the arrest.

Osborne is being held at the Cabarrus County Jail without bond.