A week before police contend that Cecelia Marie Battaglia hired a Baltimore man to kill her estranged husband, Rocco J. Battaglia, the Glen Burnie home where she lived was sold in foreclosure in part because her husband, who had moved to an Arbutus apartment, stopped paying the mortgage, according to court papers.

Police said Battaglia, 45, tried to have her husband killed last week because she wanted to collect his life insurance. This fall, Battaglia had asked without success for an emergency hearing to get money from her husband of 29 years, saying she was about to lose her home, according to court papers.

Battaglia, who was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder during the weekend, was denied bail yesterday in Baltimore County District Court.

Her lawyer, Samuel A. Seidler, acknowledged that Battaglia was in danger of losing her home, and said she had been working with the bank to try to reclaim her house.

But he and others who know Battaglia said the crime she is charged with is totally out of character.

"She is a person that has, literally, an impeccable record," said Seidler, a longtime family lawyer. "I mean, no traffic record, no criminal record, she was helping raise her granddaughter. ... This woman has never done a drug in her life, she does not drink. She was married one time. She's not what the papers seem to be making her out to be."

Police reported that on Nov. 26, a 17-year-old girl, Cecelia Battaglia and Julius L. "Jay" Jackson, 29, of Baltimore drove to Rocco Battaglia's Colony Hill Court apartment, with the intent of killing him during what was supposed to look like an armed robbery.

As Rocco Battaglia walked to his car about 5 a.m., apparently to go to work, police said Jackson approached him with a short-barrel shotgun.

Police said the two struggled, the shotgun misfired and Jackson fled.

Jackson also has been charged with attempted first-degree murder and is being held without bail.

"He's always been a nice guy, everybody has always loved Jay," said Cassandra Delzangle, his live-in girlfriend of seven years. "I'm just hoping this is a mistaken-identity thing."

Delzangle said she went to bed with Jackson the evening of Nov. 26 and woke up with him the next day. She said they spent the Thanksgiving holiday at her mother's house. They came back to their Baltimore apartment Saturday, the day police officers came to arrest Jackson.

Police said they were tipped to the murder-for-hire plot Thanksgiving Day, when a "confidential source" told Maryland State Police that Battaglia had hired a gunman to kill her husband, and that an unsuccessful attempt had taken place.

The investigation led Baltimore County detectives to the alleged teen-age driver. The girl allowed investigators to tape a telephone conversation between her and Cecelia Battaglia, police said.

During that conversation, police said, Battaglia said she was going to pay "Jay" $1,000 to $2,000 for the attempted attack, and that "due to the unsuccessful attempt she would have to do it herself."

Delzangle, who said she is a friend of Cecilia Battaglia, said the charges don't make any sense. She said Battaglia - known as "Ceil" to her friends - lived for her 4-year-old granddaughter, for whom she helped care.

"She was a nice person," Delzangle said.

But Battaglia's estranged husband, who suffered a broken nose in the robbery attempt, has a different view. He told a television reporter that his wife was "vindictive," and that the charges did not surprise him.

Their divorce file says the Battaglias separated in April 2000. Cecelia Battaglia said her husband abandoned her; he denied it, the court papers said. She also accused him of emotional abuse, which he also denied, according to court papers.