RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — Daniel Pelosi swallowed hard and buried his head in his hands when a jury delivered its verdict Monday: guilty of the second-degree murder of millionaire financier Ted Ammon.

A jury of nine women and three men deliberated for 23 hours over three days before deciding unanimously that Pelosi was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of beating Ammon to death in the bedroom of his expansive East Hampton beach on Oct. 21, 2001.

Jurors rejected Pelosi's own testimony that he was driving around looking for a gas station to sell him beer at the time of the murder.

Although prosecutors presented several witnesses who said Pelosi confessed to killing Ammon, the case against the 42-year-old electrician was largely circumstantial. Pelosi married Ammon's widow three months after the murder, and quickly embarked on a freespending lifestyle.

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"This has to be the most difficult day of his life. He is crestfallen," lead defense attorney Gerald Shargel told reporters after speaking with Pelosi privately. "Did he expect this? No. He is an optimist. He was optimistic up until the last moment."

Prosecutor Janet Albertson contends that Pelosi, who crossed himself just before the jury forewoman announced the verdict, was optimistic that he was going to get away with murder and then challenge the will of Ammon's widow. Generosa Ammon cut Pelosi out of her will just before she died of cancer in 2003.

Prosecutor Janet Albertson, seen here in October, said Daniel Pelosi's testimony helped the prosecution.

Alberton said jurors saw through Pelosi's testimony last week.

"The jurors were not only comfortable with the verdict, they were comfortable with our case," Albertson said. "They did exactly what they were supposed to do. They carefully examined the evidence."

According to Albertson, jurors told her privately that her closing argument Friday helped them focus on the evidence against Pelosi during deliberations, including the testimony of three people who said Pelosi had told them that he had killed Ammon or that he was going to.

"I think it certainly helped them to put the pieces together," said Albertson, adding that Pelosi turned out to be one of the best witnesses for the prosecution.

Jurors, who have been sequestered since Friday, declined as a group to speak to the horde of media. Court officers escorted jurors to their vehicles, but scores of cameras and microphones were thrust in each one's face as the panel members loaded luggage into trunks.

"It is a very emotional time for us. Can you let us be for now?" pleaded one unidentified woman on the jury. "We want to go be with our families."

Shargel, the defense lawyer, said an appeal is certain. He sidestepped questions about whether it was wise for Pelosi to have testified, given the tremendous ammunition that move gave the prosecutor, who had argued that everything Pelosi did was for his own benefit.

"We are profoundly disappointed. We worked very hard on this case," said Shargel, whose closing argument stressed the lack of physical or eyewitness evidence. "We put up our best defense. We tried the case to the best of our ability."

Pelosi, who remains jailed without bail, faces 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced Jan. 25. He is also awaiting trial on a new indictment alleging that he tried to hire other inmates to influence jurors and harm the prosecutor's children.