An 80-year-old man is accused of fatally shooting his wife of 55 years two weeks after she filed for a separation.

Helen McClure, 79, was shot nine times with a semiautomatic rifle in a grocery store parking lot Wednesday. Tom McClure was arrested at the couple's home shortly after the shooting and arraigned on murder charges.Court documents said that on July 17 McClure locked his wife

out of their house when she "refused to have sexual relations with him."

On Aug. 20, Mrs. McClure's attorney filed papers seeking a legal separation and a temporary restraining order to keep her husband away from her.

McClure followed his wife from their home and opened fire when she parked in front of a grocery store, Fairfield County Sheriff Gary Demastry said. She was pronounced dead at a medical center.

Witnesses said McClure got back into his truck after the shooting and drove home.

Bail was set at $550,000. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for Sept. 13.

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