Prosecutors told an Ada County jury Wednesday that Robert Hall shot Emmett Corrigan in the head and heart with a handgun from about two feet away the night of March 11, 2011 — just hours after Hall’s wife told him she saw a divorce attorney earlier that day.

Prosecutors also told a jury that Kandi Hall had been having an affair with Corrigan — a Boise-based lawyer who was her boss — for months and both had been telling people they wanted to divorce their spouses so they could be together.

That’s why prosecutors say Robert Hall got a loaded handgun, went to a Walgreens parking lot that night at McMillan and Linder roads and waited for his wife and Corrigan to come back from a drive so he could confront them.

That’s when prosecutors say Hall, who had the handgun hidden in the front pocket of his sweatshirt, got into an argument with Corrigan before shooting and killing him in front of Kandi Hall that night because of the affair.

“The evidence will show (Hall) did not shoot Emmett Corrigan in self-defense,” deputy Idaho Attorney General Jessica Lorello told the jury. “The defendant is the one who waited for Emmett Corrigan. The defendant is the one who brought a gun (to confront Corrigan with). The defendant fired those shots from 2-to-3 feet away.”

Lorello also told the jury Kandi Hall will testify about that day sometime later in the trial.

Lorello’s opening statement in Hall’s first-degree murder case was brief (10 minutes) and direct.

Defense attorneys Rob Chastain and Deb Kristal declined to do an opening statement Wednesday, reserving the right to do one later when they put on the defense for Hall.

What the jury of 10 women and five men (three will be alternates when deliberations begin) will eventually have to decide is whether the 42-year-old Hall shot and killed the 30-year-old Corrigan with premeditation and purpose that night.

Prosecutors declined to pursue the death penalty, so Hall faces up to life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder.

Five witnesses (people who lived near the Walgreens at the time of the shooting or were driving by) testified Wednesday morning they heard three shots that night around 10 p.m. Three witnesses also reported hearing some yelling, including one witness who remembered hearing a woman’s voice yelling “you shot him in the head.”

Much of the rest of the testimony Wednesday concentrated on evidence collected at the crime scene. Jurors saw several graphic photos of Corrigan’s body after the shooting. Family and friends of Corrigan left the courtroom before those photos were shown.

Hall, who was dressed in a suit jacket, remained stoic as he sat at the defense table during testimony Wednesday. A few of his family and friends filled a row in the courtroom behind him.

Court records indicate Hall’s lawyers are expected to call an expert witness who will testify that Corrigan was under the influence of steroids and amphetamines the night of the shooting — drugs that caused “negative psychiatric effects” when he confronted Hall in the parking lot.

Meridian police say it appears that Hall tried to shoot himself in the head after he shot Corrigan, but he missed, suffering a superficial wound. Hall is left-handed and the wound was to the left and rear of his head, according to court testimony.

Hall’s attorneys are expected to call an expert to testify that Hall has “retrograde amnesia” as a result of that wound and does not remember what happened.

Hall told Meridian police that he wasn’t sure how Corrigan was shot and that his gun fell during a struggle with the lawyer, according to court records.

Testimony will continue at 9 a.m. Thursday in front of 4th District Judge Michael McLaughlin. The trial is expected to last for three weeks or more.

Patrick Orr: 377-6219, Twitter: @IDS_Orr