A Pennsylvania man was arrested this week for shooting and killing his wife, then leaving her alone with their son for hours before he called 911.

Douglas Wayne Snyder, 56, was charged with homicide and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the Lewistown Sentinel.

Police were called to the home in Rye Township at about 10:30 a.m. on Monday, finding Samantha Fields, 38, dead on the floor with gunshot wounds.

During an interview with police, Snyder both admitted to shooting her “by accident” and denied shooting her at all.

“I honest to god did not just shoot my wife,” he said.

Later, he said that he and Fields had been arguing and that Fields “threw a book at him as he was walking away from her, hitting him in the back of the head.”

“I turned around, snapped, and I shot her,” he said.

Snyder told police after he killed Fields, he left the house for 13 hours, leaving the child alone with his mother’s body. The child told police his mother was dead when he woke up.

The child’s age was not given.

Snyder has a preliminary hearing on September 23 and is being held without bond.