OTTAWA -- A couple of days after hearing investigators found his semen inside his murdered sister-in-law, Allen Tehrankari provided his wife with an explanation, a jury heard yesterday.

Susan Pearce said her husband told her the reason medical examiners found his semen inside Barbara Galway after her death was because two men who had broken into his house and sexually assaulted him on the day Galway disappeared also managed to collect some of his sperm against his will by massaging his prostate during the attack.

"You'll agree with me that's very far-fetched," said assistant Crown attorney David Elhadad.

"Well, it may seem like that to you," said Pearce, "but that is a procedure that is followed medically as well as a sexual practice that people engage in."

"And Allen says, 'That's how my sperm got into your sister's vagina'?" asked Elhadad.

"That seemed to be a possibility," said Pearce.

Tehrankari is representing himself on a charge of first-degree murder in Galway's death. Prosecutors have alleged Tehrankari bound and raped the 46-year-old mother of three on the afternoon of Jan. 5, 2005, before killing her, transporting her body to an east-end walking trail, dumping it at the base of a tree, dousing it with gasoline, setting it on fire and driving away.

Pearce said she believes the two men who sexually assaulted her husband and collected a sample of his sperm in the process are likely the same people who murdered her sister. She also said she didn't tell authorities for several months after hearing it from her husband in the fall of 2005 because the couple weren't certain if they wanted to tell anyone out of fear of reprisal from the two men.

Pearce said she also found nothing out of the ordinary in the fact her husband broke down into uncontrollable sobs while speaking with police officers the night Galway disappeared, suggesting he was concerned for the welfare of her sister.

"And it's not because there's a love interest?" said Elhadad.

"No," said Pearce.

"And it's not because he's feeling remorse for what he did to your sister?" asked Elhadad. "No," said Pearce.

Two days later, Pearce decided to approach police about the situation. On the morning of Friday, Jan. 7, 2005, Pearce phoned police from her workplace and asked them to return her call but asked them to only call her at work and not at home.

Pearce met with an officer.

"I said, 'I hope to God I'm wrong, but I have a little concern that my husband might be involved in my sister's disappearance,' " Pearce said.

"And now, you're going to (say) you were wrong," said Elhadad, "and you were way off base."

"Yes," said Pearce.

"And you weren't going there to lead the police somewhere (such as) to the discovery of your sister?" said Elhadad.

"No," said Pearce.

TERRI.SAUNDERS@SUNMEDIA.CA