SKOWHEGAN – Speculation that Richard Reynolds, 42, accused of shooting his estranged wife in January 2007, would plead guilty this week and avoid a trial has proved untrue.

Reynolds’ trial is set to begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4, according to Assistant Attorney General Leane Zainea, and is expected to last three to four days.

Reynolds has opted for a jury-waived trial in Somerset County Superior Court that will be heard by Justice Andrew Horton.

Reynolds is accused of shooting Rhonda Wakefield-Reynolds, 37, with a 40-caliber firearm while the couple’s two sons, Jacob, then 6, and Matthew, 4, looked on. Family members have said that Wakefield-Reynolds was due to file for divorce from her husband on the day she was shot.

After the shooting, Reynolds turned himself in at the Waterville Police Department and later admitted his guilt in police interviews, court affidavits say. Earlier this year, his attorney, Peter Barnett of Skowhegan, withdrew a motion he submitted last fall to suppress Reynolds’ statements.

During the interview, according to court documents, Reynolds “confirmed that he voluntarily arrived at the Waterville Police Department because he wanted to tell law enforcement about his wife, that he was not forced or coerced by law enforcement to speak, that no promises were made by law enforcement and that his statements were the product of his own free choice.” The interview was videotaped and audiotaped.

At the time of her death, Wakefield-Reynolds had an active protection from abuse order in effect against her estranged husband. The day before the shooting, the couple attended a custody hearing in Skowhegan District Court during which Reynolds was required to reveal her then-current address.

The next morning, according to court documents, Reynolds arrived at that address, a home on Bunker Avenue in Fairfield owned by Wakefield-Reynolds’ brother, and shot Wakefield-Reynolds in the head.

She died the next day.

bdnpittsfield@verizon.net

487-3187