They ruled that he fabricated false evidence, set fire to the building where the bodies were found, and that he conspired with his fiancee, Sonja Abitz, and her mother, Mary Abitz, to commit the murders. Both women live near the scene of the crime, but are now in Latah County Jail charged as co-conspirators in the murders and arson.

Forensic experts determined that Fontaine, 45, a Missouri lawyer, and Palahniuk, 59, a retired Newman Lake man, died of bullet and shotgun wounds at the wooded Latah County site where Fontaine and her family were building a house. Firefighters and sheriff's deputies found their charred bodies in the ashes of the garage-dwelling on the property.

Sharing their disappointment at the verdict, Shackelford's attorneys said the trial was difficult.

"Time, distance and volume of information" made it complicated, said D. Ray Barker. The eight-week trial involved two states (Missouri and Idaho), 64 witnesses and hundreds of pieces of evidence.

The prosecution also listed 250 potential witnesses and filed more than 16,000 pages of material, further complicating their jobs as defense attorneys, said Steve Mahaffy.

Shackelford's lawyers had argued that at the time of the murders, their client was miles away in Lewiston checking on his long-haul truck. The attorneys also suggested that the deaths were a murder-suicide performed by the couple or an accidental shooting involving Brian Abitz, Sonja's teenage brother.

The prosecution contended that Shackelford killed Fontaine to escape a 30-year-to-life sentence on rape charges she had filed against him in Missouri.

They argued that Shackelford hid his presence in Idaho from Fontaine, ambushed her and Palahniuk and killed them with her shotgun and her .32-caliber handgun.

Though there was little to tie the defendant directly to the crime scene, the prosecution presented a load of circumstantial evidence, including threats Shackelford made to his ex-wife and the testimony of two different lovers that, at his bidding, they tried to kill Donna Fontaine.

While they were deliberating, the jury didn't know that Shackelford was several hundred feet away in a jail cell awaiting their decision.

His attorney Mahaffy carefully concealed Shackelford's incarceration by bringing him clean dress shirts each day and helping him choose from among a few simple suits.

On the day of the verdict, Shackelford wore a loose gray jacket and black pants.

In court, a deputy in plain clothes always sat behind Shackelford, who was wearing a leg brace that would lock up if he tried to run.

Most of the jurors, alert but weary, watched the judge while their verdict was read, occasionally glancing over at Shackelford. But one woman never looked away from him.

At the end, Second District Court Judge John Stegner told the jury, "You have fulfilled an important obligation and I can't thank you enough."

This is Stegner's first murder trial. He will decide Shackelford's sentence in June.

Lead prosecutor Robin Eckmann said she was pleased with the verdict. "I was very confident in the evidence," she said. Though she has been working on the case since November 1999, she said the verdict didn't bring much relief. The sentencing process promises to be lengthy.

And Eckmann and co-counsel Rich Christensen will start their case against Mary and Sonja Abitz in early January.

Both women are charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree, conspiracy to commit arson in the first degree and preparing false evidence.

The Latah County Sheriff's office is holding them in separate cells at the jail.

Both prosecuting attorneys accepted pats on the back and handshakes from deputies and courthouse workers.

"This is by far the most complex and compelling trial I've ever been involved in," Christensen said. "But there's no real congratulations to be had because two people are dead."