Rob Hall stood upright and kept his composure Thursday when he found out he was guilty of second-degree murder. Seconds later, he held his face in his hands, as if it finally sunk in he was going to prison.

Kandi Hall — the woman in the center of the argument that ended with Emmett Corrigan dead and her husband with a head wound — was not in court Thursday for the verdict. Neither were the couple’s two daughters. Family and friends of Corrigan — including his wife, Ashlee Birk — were there for the verdict but declined comment.

Jason Spillman, a prosecutor for the Idaho attorney general’s office who handled the case, did say Corrigan’s family “wanted me to relay that justice has been done.

“It was very important to our office that Mr. Hall be found guilty of murder and not manslaughter. We felt strongly that is what this case was,” Spillman said after the verdict.

Prosecutors say the 42-year-old Hall shot and killed Corrigan, his wife’s boss March 11, 2011, because Hall suspected they were having an affair — which turned out to be true.

Spillman told the jury Wednesday that Hall’s life was “spiraling out of control” over the affair and that Hall “hunted” Kandi Hall and Corrigan in the parking lot that night — waiting for them to show up and then a few more minutes for eyewitnesses to leave before he shot Corrigan in the head and chest and tried to shoot himself in the head.

Hall’s attorneys told a different story. They say he was looking for his wife when Corrigan attacked him. They say a handgun fell out of his sweatshirt pocket during a struggle and discharged. Defense attorney Rob Chastain told a jury that whatever happened, it was self-defense and an “excusable homicide.”

The jury disagreed.

Hall was charged with first-degree murder, which requires evidence of premeditation and purpose. The jury acquitted Hall of that charge, but found that Hall did have the “malice aforethought” — not premeditation but knowledge beforehand that an act is illegal — needed for a second-degree murder conviction.

Spillman said he and Corrigan’s family are satisfied with the jury’s verdict.

“Our concern was there would be some finding of murder,” Spillman said. “It was a hard case, and premeditation is a big step for a jury to take.”

Second-degree murder is punishable by a sentence of a length of 10 years up to life in prison. Sentencing is set for Dec. 13.

The jury of seven women and five men deliberated for eight hours — spread out over two days — before arriving at their verdict just after 11:30 a.m. Thursday. The jury also found that Hall used a handgun in the commission of a felony, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The jury spent more than two weeks listening to more than 60 witnesses and examining more than 150 evidence exhibits.

The jury heard from expert witnesses about ballistics, gunpowder residue, possible steroid use and aggressive behavior by Corrigan, and the path of gunshot wounds. They heard from many of Hall’s friends and colleagues, who said he was not a violent or confrontational person. They heard from the man who taught Hall’s concealed weapons safety class.

They also heard from Kandi Hall, whose testimony about what happened the night of the shooting was at odds with what she told police after the murder.

Hall told police that the argument between her husband and Corrigan was verbal, and that when she turned her back, she heard three shots — two quick ones, then a pause, then a third shot.

But Hall then told the jury a different story — that Corrigan pushed her husband before the shooting. She testified that the sequence of shots was “pop, pause, then pop pop.”

When prosecutors confronted her with evidence or statements she made before challenging all that testimony, Kandi Hall told them she didn’t remember what she told police the night of the shooting and that “things come back to me all the time.”

She spent most of her time on the stand telling the jury that Corrigan was aggressive, often angry and obsessed with the idea that she should leave her husband to be with him. Hall said she would never leave her husband of 18 years because she still loved him, even though she said she was being “selfish” and having an affair with Corrigan.

Patrick Orr: 377-6219, Twitter: @IDS_Orr