A Pittsburgh  neurosurgeon  and professor was sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment without parole, Friday, by the jury after he was found guilty of first degree murder in killing his wife, Autumn Klein, 41, by lacing her drink with cyanide..

The jury, composed of eight men and four women, rendered its verdict in the trial of Dr. Robert Ferrante, 66,  after 15 hours over two days of  deliberations, said Mike Manko of the Alleghany County District Attorney's Office.

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Ferrante was accused of lacing his wife's supplemental drink with cyanide which was purchased through his laboratory in the University.

Records showed that Ferrante's wife, Dr. Autumn Klein, 41,  fell ill on April 17,2013. Ferrante, immediately called 911 and she was taken to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian where she worked as chief of women's neurology. She died three days later.

Medical tests showed that she had lethal levels of cyanide in her blood. The blood was drawn within the three days that she was in the hospital.

The results were later revealed after her cremation prompting a police investigation.

The prosecutors said, Ferrante was a "master manipulator," who concocted the plan to kill Klein out of jealousy, believing that she was having an affair and was about to leave him..

The prosecutors also said that Klein wanted to have a second baby but that Ferrante did not want anymore children.

Prosecutor Lisa Pellegrini said in the trial which began on October 23 that, the doctor's marriage was in trouble and he acted out of fear that his wife was going to leave him.

In her closing arguments on Thursday, Pellegrini said, Ferrante wanted her wife "dead, dead, dead." She argued that if Ferrante cannot have her, then "no one will."

Ferrante's lawyers said, his client did not murder his wife and that the cyanide was part of his research on stem cell therapy. Police said, Ferrante bought another supply of cyanide using his university credit card two days before Klein fell ill.

Ferrante has been in jail since July 2013, since his arrest for the death of his wife and faces a mandatory life sentence without parole. His lawyers said they will file an appeal.

TagsRobert Ferrante, Autumn Klein