( CNN ) -- Jurors heard differing stories Thursday about the final moments of a 55-year-old Florida woman , with prosecutors claiming her millionaire husband callously shot her while his lawyers characterized her death as a `` tragic '' accident . After three days of jury selection , James `` Bob '' Ward 's trial kicked off in Orlando with opening statements and testimony . Ward , 63 , is charged with second-degree murder over the September 21 , 2009 , death of his wife inside their upscale Windermere home . `` Diane Ward was killed by a single gunshot wound as she struggled with her husband over a loaded a gun , '' the defendant 's attorney Kirk Kirkconnell said . `` This entire incident happened in a blink of an eye . Her death was an unexpected and tragic accident . '' But prosecutors painted a very different picture , casting doubt on Ward 's unruffled demeanor and what they characterized as his ever-changing story of what happened . `` This case is about the fact that it was Bob Ward that shot her almost dead between the eyes , '' said Assistant State Attorney Robin Wilkinson in her opening statement . She brought up the 911 call , placed at 7:50 p.m. that night , in which Ward called and flatly said , `` I just shot my wife . '' But later in the call , according to Wilkinson , he started to change his story : `` It becomes an accident and he does n't know what happened ... Diane just ended up on the floor . '' According to the arrest affidavit from Orange County Sheriff 's Office , the victim was found in the master bedroom -- `` a large pool of blood at the top of her head ( and ) a .357 Magnum hand gun ( in ) the top drawer of a nightstand next to the bed . '' Ward told police that the couple were the only ones in the house at the time , besides their four dogs . Wilkinson also brought up how Ward acted upon arriving at the police station , during which investigators described him as `` calm , polite and not really in distress . '' In several videos from an interrogation room -- which the prosecutor promised would be played in court -- Ward offered an array of stories in phone conversations with family and friends , from `` It was a tragic accident '' to `` Diane killed herself . '' The next day , medical examiner Joshua Stephany determined preliminarily that the mother of two college-age children had been killed in a homicide . Prosecutors , in opening statements , highlighted the financial troubles facing Ward -- who , along with his wife , had been set to testify in bankruptcy proceedings related to one of his companies a few days before the shooting . Kirkconnell , though , insisted that in no way did his client benefit from his wife 's death : `` From a financial standpoint , the death of Diane Ward ruined Bob Ward financially , '' he said .
' ` ` ' '' Ward is charged with second - degree murder in wife 's death . Prosecutors say he killed Diane first , then tried to change his story . Defense says the ` ` tragic '' death came after a search for a body .