A jury convicted former Florida sheriff's officer Roy Kipp Thursday of murdering his wife and her lover.

The panel of six men and six women deliberated less than three hours before finding Kipp guilty of two counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. The jury will reconvene March 14 to decide whether to sentence Kipp, 44, to death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

As the court clerk read the verdict, Kipp sat at the defense table with his hands in his lap. He showed no emotion. Afterwards, the victims' families stood in the Punta Gorda courthouse lobby hugging and crying.

Sandy Kipp

Sandy Kipp, 35, and her boyfriend, sheriff's deputy Jeff Klein, also 35, were slain in her new apartment May 20, 2000. Roy Kipp testified he was shocked when he discovered the lovers in a compromising position and fired at Klein after the deputy pulled a gun. His wife, Kipp testified, was killed accidentally when she ran in front of him.

No gun was recovered from Klein's body, but the defense suggested officers removed Klein's weapon to make Kipp look more culpable.

But with their verdict, jurors seemed to reject that conspiracy theory and endorse prosecutor's claim that the murders were plotted and the motive was jealousy. Prosecutor Marshall Bower told the panel in his closing argument Thursday morning that Kipp was "a controlling, obsessive husband" who turned violent when he realized his wife was leaving him for another man.

"He couldn't stand it," Bower said.

Bower

The prosecution drew heavily on the testimony of Kipp's friend and co-worker, Peter Lewkowicz, who said Kipp confessed to him hours after the shooting.

"He said, 'I waxed 'em,'" Lewkowicz testified. He said Kipp had suspected his wife of cheating with Klein, his friend and former co-worker, for months and pledged to "(screw) him up" if he ever got confirmation of the affair. The week before the shootings, Lewkowicz said, Sandy Kipp told her husband she was moving out.

Lewkowicz

In Lewkowicz's account, Kipp tracked his wife to her new apartment, peered through a window and saw the pair together. Lewkowicz said he "lost it" and shot Klein repeatedly before turning the gun on his wife who was screaming and threatening to call police. A portable phone in dial mode was recovered just inches from Sandy Kipp's body.

The defense called a string of neighbors and acquaintances who said the Kipps doted on each other and their 8-year-old daughter, Danielle. But Kipp served as his most important witness. On direct examination, he portrayed himself as a loving husband who had no idea his wife was being unfaithful until he stumbled upon her with a lover. He said he fired his gun only after Klein pointed a weapon at him.

"As soon as I saw the gun, I reacted immediately ... and I shot him." Klein never fired, he said.

On cross-examination, however, he appeared to stumble. He said he could not remember talking to Lewkowicz after the shootings, nor other incriminating conversations with his brother, his sister-in law, nor his wife's best friend.

"Let me get this straight, you can remember the traumatic events of what happened in that apartment, but you can't remember a conversation several hours hours later," Bowers said.

"That's correct," Kipp answered.

Bower ridiculed that account as "preposterous."

"Sandy and Jeff are both gone because of that selfish man," Bower said.

The case is being tried in Charlotte County because of extensive media coverage in Collier County.