WOOD RIVER - Prosecutors Friday accused a Wood River man of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife Wednesday night. Vernon L. Coates III, 54, is charged in the death of his wife, Audrey Coates, 45.

He was being held Friday in lieu of a $1-million bail at the Madison County Jail.

Vernon Coates called police at 10:23 p.m. Wednesday from his home in the 200 block of South Central Avenue and said he had shot his wife in the mistaken belief that she was an intruder.

Audrey Coates was taken to Alton Memorial Hospital where she was pronounced dead in the emergency room at 10:53 p.m.

She may have been shot in the back.