Bear hunt woman cleared of husband's murder

An American woman who shot dead her husband after mistaking him for a bear while hunting was found not guilty of criminal negligence by a court in Canad.

Mary Beth Harshbarger said she mistook her 42-year-old husband for a bear while the two were hunting in central Newfoundland in 2006.

She had pleaded not guilty in a trial at the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The prosecution said Harshbarger showed disregard for safety when she fired her rifle at her husband.

The defence portrayed the death as an accident.

Harshbarger, of Meshoppen, Pennsylvania, would have faced a sentence of four years to life in prison if she had been convicted.

Justice Richard LeBlanc blamed the shooting on "a constellation of unfortunate facts that reasonably caused Mrs Harshbarger to believe she was shooting at a bear."

The prosecution argued that Harshbarger, 45, showed disregard for safety when she fired her rifle at her 42-year-old husband, Mark, who wasn't wearing an orange safety vest or hat at the time.

Harshbarger has always said she thought she was shooting at a bear when she pulled the trigger on September 14, 2006, as her husband emerged from the bush in central Newfoundland.

Harshbarger left the court without commenting.

She had been in jail since her extradition in May.

The Harshbargers' two children - a young son and daughter - were with their mother in a pickup truck parked about 60 yeards from where their father was killed.

During the nine-day trial, a hunting guide told the court that she became "hysterical" when she was told she had killed her husband.

In her closing arguments, prosecutor Karen O'Reilly said Harshbarger showed "heedless" disregard for the "huge risk" she created when she fired her rifle after sunset.

Defence lawyer Karl Inder agreed hunters must know what they're shooting at before pulling the trigger, but added "it's also true that accidents happen."