AUGUSTA – A Waterville man accused of shooting his estranged wife in front of their two sons last January pleaded not guilty this week.

Richard Reynolds, 41, was supposed to be arraigned in March but the hearing was delayed until Wednesday in Kennebec County Superior Court because the judge wanted a court-ordered psychiatric evaluation to be completed.

“There’s no issue at this point as to his competence,” Assistant Attorney General William Stokes said after Wednesday’s hearing.

Reynolds was accused of shooting Rhonda Wakefield-Reynolds on Jan. 12 when she was staying with her brother in Fairfield.

The shooting happened on the same day she planned to file for divorce, according to court records. Police found Wakefield-Reynolds alive, despite a gunshot wound to her head, but she died the next day at a hospital.

Her family claims Reynolds learned her address when she said it aloud at a custody hearing a day before the shooting.

Reynolds told police he got a handgun from an older son on Jan. 11 and left work the next day to drive to his wife’s residence, according to a Maine State Police affidavit. He hid the gun inside his sweat shirt and shot his wife in the head as she sat on her bed, the affidavit said.

Reynolds left a note saying he shot Wakefield-Reynolds to protect his 6- and 4-year-old boys. He dropped off the boys at day care before turning himself in. Both Reynolds and Wakefield-Reynolds had court orders banning them from going near each other.