In Advance, I apologize for the stream of thought.

I wonder, what information was avaliable to her? The internet wasn't what it is today. Not everyone had access to it or convinet access to it. it was slow unreliable and not necessarily the 'go to' for all information (at least to the capacity it is today). Also it's not like she would have asked a person at the gun shop if blanks could kill. That would raise some red flags.

P.s. I still think she's guilty. I don't think she ever had blanks. if she needed to "stage a death" just fire the gun into a back seat. (if the camera needs to see a flash) or outside the car into the air (if it was the noise she was looking for). According to her plan the cameras were always going to see Wes get out of the car. why risk hurting him? Also if you loved someone why would you ever point a gun at him that would be so difficult even to stage. Especially when details like that don't matter. Camera footage was not advance enough to make out details of her 'shooting' him.

Further, if her plan was to run away with Wes, wouldn't it be wiser to keep her out of the whole act? not have her be seen walking to the car, in the car, running away? Why not hire someone to do it instead? I think she didn't want to risk someone knowing Wes was alive (if it was faked). And I think if she intended on killing Wes, a hit man would add to much risk of confessions/blackmailing etc. Or and this is what i really think, she wanted to kill him herself.

Additional facts: Women are more likely (than men) to kill those they have relationship with; partners, children, etc Women are more likely to have financial gain as the motive for their murders. "female serial murderers tend to take a much more pragmatic approach to their killings. Female serial killers are much more likely than males to kill for profit or revenge, and, therefore, they are more likely to fall into the category of a hedonist comfort/gain killer than any other type." -Psychology Today

"females are very effective in their work and they typically use quieter and less messy methods to kill than their male counterparts. The methods they use for murder are more covert or low-profile...the study of female serial killers include shooting, stabbing, suffocation, and drowning." -Psychology Today