<p>A jury convicted businessman Michael Blagg of first-degree murder Friday for gunning down his wife as she slept and dumping her body in the trash three years ago.</p><p>The jury began its work Thursday and reached its decision after less than 12 hours following a monthlong trial that included more than 100 witnesses.</p><p>Blagg was also convicted of abusing a corpse and other charges. Prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in the high-profile case.</p><p>Blagg reported his wife, Jennifer, and daughter, Abby, 6, missing in November 2001 and later went on television to plea for help in finding them. Jennifer Blagg, 34, was found in the Mesa County landfill seven months after she vanished, a bullet in her skull. Abby is missing and presumed dead.</p><p>Defense attorneys argued that an intruder broke in the back door of the family's home and killed Jennifer Blagg after her husband left for work. They pointed to unidentified fingerprints, blood and other evidence found in the home.</p><p>In his closing argument, defense attorney David Eisner labeled the prosecution's case "a shifting sand castle with a crumbling foundation."</p><p>Blagg, 41, said he came home from work at his $110,000-a-year job as operations director at gauge maker Ametek Dixson to find a pool of blood near the bed and the back door open.</p><p>Prosecutors, however, say the couple had a fight four days before Jennifer Blagg disappeared. They also say Blagg used a local escort service, viewed Internet pornography and abused his wife to the point where she was seeking a divorce.</p><p>Prosecutor Frank Daniels argued that Blagg shot his wife while she slept, wrapped her body in a tent and placed it in a giant trash bin outside his office.</p><p>Three months after the mother and daughter disappeared, Blagg was found naked in his bathtub with his wrists slit. An investigator attempted to elicit a dying confession, but Blagg said he was innocent.</p><p>He was arrested at his mother's home in Warner Robins, Ga., shortly after his wife's remains were found.</p>
