North Idaho man may change plea

LEWISTON (AP) - A North Idaho man named a person of interest in his estranged wife's disappearance has pleaded innocent to unlawful firearms possession in a separate case - but that could change.

Charles A. Capone is set to alter his not guilty plea Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Coeur d'Alene.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Mitchell declined to discuss the hearing or say if a plea agreement had been reached.

Capone, 48, has previous felony convictions of aggravated assault, burglary and bank larceny, which make it illegal for him to carry weapons.

Earlier this year, a federal grand jury indicted Capone after police said he carried a Glock .40-caliber pistol in February, and a Remington .270-caliber rifle and a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun on Oct. 10, 2009.

In court documents, authorities say Capone told a friend he carried a gun while following his wife in February to determine whether she was seeing someone else.

Capone is the last known person to see his wife, 41-year-old Rachael Anderson, in Moscow on April 16 before she disappeared. He was arrested on the gun charges in May and has not been charged in his wife's disappearance, nor named a suspect.

Capone and Anderson married last year but, according to court records, Anderson filed for divorce in January after she said Capone choked and shoved her.

At the order of U.S. Magistrate Larry M. Boyle, Capone is being held in the Bonner County Jail in Sandpoint without bond.