A woman whose attorneys admit she fatally shot her husband in 1991 took the stand in her own defense Tuesday and painted a picture of an intense, stormy relationship with the victim, an executive officer at a Carlsbad-based medical firm.

Patricia Joellen Johnson, now 62, described Peter Johnson as a charismatic man with a "powerful personality."

Time ran out Tuesday afternoon before the defendant, who goes by her middle name of Joellen, went into details of the night of the Feb. 25 shooting. She is set to continue testifying this morning.

This is Johnson's second trial facing murder charges in the death of her third husband, Peter Johnson. Fifteen years ago, a jury convicted Joellen Johnson of first-degree murder, and she was sentenced to 29 years to life. While incarcerated, Johnson won her bid for a new trial so she could present evidence that severe psychological abuse at the hands of 57-year-old Peter Johnson led her to pull the trigger during an argument Feb. 25, 1991.

The two began their off-and-on relationship in early 1988. Joellen Johnson testified that she first got up the courage to break off her relationship with Peter Johnson in late 1988, a few months after she hired a private investigator and caught him cheating.

She hired the detective after she'd suspected him of cheating numerous times, but he denied it. Johnson said that after she discovered his tryst -- which he tried to deny at first -- he later made her sign a contract that she would never accuse him of cheating again without proof -- and if she did, she'd have to fork over $10,000 to him.

Joellen Johnson testified that she moved to Florida for a fresh start, but Peter Johnson later called her and began a campaign to woo her back.

"It was incredible," she said of his efforts to win her back and his treatment of her. "It was everything I wanted him to be before."

Joellen Johnson also took the stand in her own defense in her first trial, but at that time was not able to go into much detail about her prior marriages. On Tuesday, she gave jurors the history of her first two marriages: one that lasted 21 years in a primarily normal, middle-class life, and that ended when they grew apart. It was her brief, second marriage in which she alleges severe physical abuse.

On Monday, the jury also heard a day and a half of testimony from an expert on the effects of domestic violence.

Linda Barnard, a key witness for the defense, testified that the emotional abuse of Joellen Johnson by Peter Johnson was extreme and that he "gained psychological control (over the defendant) by creating chaos in her life." She also said his actions -- including making Joellen Johnson sign bizarre contracts that controlled her behavior -- led to a "dramatic downward spiral" for his wife.

Barnard also testified that Joellen Johnson's second marriage primed her to be more willing to get involved with a man who was emotionally abusive.

Contact staff writer Teri Figueroa at (760) 631-6624 or tfigueroa@nctimes.com.