RADFORD - A former Radford Police detective posed online as a wealthy pornography connoisseur in 2003 to gather evidence against Bob Shell after the well-known photographer's teenage girlfriend and model was found dead in his studio.

On Tuesday, Shell's lawyer argued that all evidence gained after the first e-mail in what became known as the "Jeff Tate sting" should be thrown out. The legal wrangling, which resulted in no ruling on Tuesday, is the latest step in the long-running, high-profile prosecution of Shell, who is charged with supplying the morphine that killed 19-year-old Marion Franklin. Shell also is charged with defiling Franklin's corpse, sexual penetration with an animate object and other charges. A jury trial is set to begin Oct. 24.

During Tuesday's hearing, Gary Fields, now an officer with the Christiansburg Police Department, said that while investigating the case against Shell, he used the false name of Jeff Tate to send e-mail messages to Shell for more than 2 1/2 months after Franklin died.

To gain Shell's trust, Fields said he posed as an admirer of his bondage photography. He also offered to make a six-figure donation to Shell's defense fund if the photographer would agree to take bondage pictures of Fields' fictitious wife and discuss the events that led to Franklin's death.

The former detective said he first e-mailed Shell on June 6, one day before Shell was arrested, and continued to send messages until late August of 2003.

In court, Fields said the idea for the sting was his, but that others in the police department knew about it. He said that he stopped e-mailing Shell only after former Commonwealth's Attorney Randal Duncan told him to quit.

Gil Davis, the Northern Virginia lawyer defending Shell, said the sting violated Shell's rights because police circumvented his lawyer during the investigation.

According to Radford Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Rehak, who has admitted that Fields was wrong to continue e-mailing Shell after he was arraigned, the correspondence did not lead to any evidence that can be used against Shell.

"They are blather, unimportant chit-chat between two strangers," he said of the messages.

But Davis argued that Shell's e-mail responses to Fields tipped off police that Shell had another computer in addition to the two that police already had seized from his studio and Franklin's apartment.

That third computer was seized later when police searched Shell's home.

What was on that computer was not discussed Tuesday. But Tod Burke, a professor of criminal justice at Radford University, said that Davis must believe the computer contains something important to the prosecution's case against Shell.

"The reason he is concerned is there might be something on the computer that might incriminate his client," Burke said.

Previously, Circuit Judge Brett Geisler suppressed the contents of Fields' and Shell's e-mail messages themselves. But Davis has asked the judge to also suppress all evidence gained after the e-mail began, which includes the third computer police seized.

Geisler on Tuesday said he would rule on the motion after considering briefs filed by Davis and Rehak.

In addition to the "Jeff Tate sting" testimony on Tuesday, the hearing also brought out other evidence likely to appear during the trial.

Rehak several times referred to Sue and Lew Rubens, a Seattle couple who he said were present in Shell's studio on the day Franklin died. Rehak said that the Rubenses are bondage experts who traveled to Radford to teach Shell and Franklin about knots and other bondage techniques.

The Rubenses also took part in the photo shoot on the day Franklin died, which included bondage, sex toys and video, Rehak said.

Rehak, who in addition to prosecuting his highest-profile case to date faces a re-election battle against Radford attorney John Dalton in November, admitted that Fields should not have continued to e-mail Shell after he was arraigned.

But he defended Fields' initial online approach to the Shell investigation.

"This is how predators on the Internet are apprehended every single day," he said.