For the second day in a row, defense counsel pointed out Kissel's apparent exploration of Web sites for such items as ''hardcore gay bondage sex.'' The subject was first broached Thursday when it was learned that the family computer had been used to search for ''gay sex in Taiwan'' at a time when the deceased was the only member of the family in Hong Kong just a few days before he took a trip to Taiwan.

The defense also presented the court with computer evidence of domestic tensions in the Kissel household, as a snippet of a recovered file from a Sony Vaio computer belonging to his wife Nancy Kissel, who is accused of his murder, was shown on which a message accused Robert Kissel of ``harsh actions'' and ``blaming it all on me.''

The court heard and saw Friday how deleted files from the deceased's personal IBM laptop computer could be recovered to show how thoroughly the computer was used to search for gay sex sites, sexual services and escort agencies.

Cheung Chun-kit, a forensic scientist from the Technology Crimes Bureau, verified that computer print-outs listing the pornographic Web sites were genuine.

Nancy Kissel, 41, is accused of drugging her husband with a milkshake laced with sedatives then beating him to death on the night of Sunday, November 2, 2003.

The accused said at the time that her drunken husband assaulted her after she refused him sex and then disappeared.

She denies the charge and is out on bail.

The banker's decomposing body was found in a storeroom in the Parkview residential complex, Tai Tam, in the early hours of November 7.

Cheung received four Kissel family computers for examination on November 24, 2003, but he said he never searched for gay or pornographic Web sites.

Faced under cross-examination with the large amount of data presented by the defense team relating to the steamy Web sites, Cheung expressed ``doubt'' over the defense's claim that the computer was used to search gay sites.

Cheung said it was possible that the machine had been used to search for sites that merely contained the letters, ``g'' ``a'' and ``y.''

These letters could be in the middle of a word, Cheung said.

Defense counsel Alexander King alerted him to a list of Web sites, which included ``www.boysgaypicnude.com, free black gay porn, black gay male pictures, gay black men, black males, ebony men.''

``These are all pages, are they not, that have been visited by the user of this computer?'' King asked.

``This was the result of searching,'' Cheung replied.

Calling up one such Web site on a computer, King invited Cheung to look at the bottom right-hand corner of the Web page.

``Do the boxes on that site appear to cater to a number of different tastes?'' King asked.

``Yes,'' Cheung replied.

``Including gay males?'' King asked.

``Yes.''

In addition, King earlier directed Cheung's attention to the message from Nancy Kissel's Sony Vaio: ``You see Rob, at the end of the day it seems like I'm the only one making the effort but because of this fight and how uncontrollable you got in the car. A fight and you give out an ultimatum.

``Who should be in therapy? What ever happened to `we'?''

Deleted files, Cheung explained at King's urging, can be recovered from a computer as ``unallocated clusters'' and can be converted back into Web pages using EnCase software. But EnCase cannot determine what dates the pages were viewed from ``unallocated clusters,'' Cheung said.

Using the deceased's IBM laptop, King presented Cheung with more data on words searched and Web sites viewed. Html code containing the words ``gay ultra,'' became a Web site, without the pictures - but with plenty of graphic language - that was recreated on screens around the courtroom.

Cheung said there would have been pictures when the page was viewed. The page was ``last updated'' on June 14, 2003. ``We move to Europe now, and can you see a search for `Paris girls for hire?''' King asked.

``Yes,'' Cheung said, and confirmed he could see searches were made for ``Paris at home masseuse,'' ``Massage in Paris France,'' ``Paris Gay'' ``Paris Gay Massage.''

albert.wong@singtaonewscorp.com