FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Authorities say a daughter confronted her 83-year-old father last year, and he admitted fatally shooting her mother 30 years ago.
Palm Beach County sheriff's detectives charged James O'Neil with manslaughter Thursday in the 1987 death of his wife, Verna.
Detectives said O'Neil initially told investigators after his wife died that the gun accidentally discharged as he wrested it from her as she threatened suicide.
But his daughter Sharon McGee never believed her father and confronted him in October. Detectives said O'Neil told his daughter that Verna McGee had threatened to kill herself but handed him the gun. Court documents say O'Neil told his daughter he was holding the gun when he accidentally shot her mother.
She went to detectives earlier this year.
O'Neil's attorney did not return a call Friday.