Christopher Leclair was convicted on all charges including first-degree murder in the shooting death of his wife on Lake Erie.

Leclair was also found guilty of aggravated assault, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, possession of a instrument of crime, firearms not to be carried with a license and false reports.

The jury, composed of seven women and five men, reached the verdict Friday after a little more than 1.5 hours of deliberations.

Leclair, 49, who is a commercial fisherman, claimed in prison letters that he found his wife's body in Lake Erie but said he was forced to leave her in the water after he was called off of the lake by police.

Investigators said Leclair shot his wife Karen, 51, in the head, tied her to an anchor, then threw her body into Lake Erie from their fishing vessel the Doris-M.

Both the prosecution and defense agree Leclair was having an affair with a woman named Tracy Butler at the time of his wife's death.

Butler took the stand to testify Thursday, where she said she had been pushing Leclair to divorce his wife, so the two could start their own family.

"There was talk about marriage," said Butler. "If we are pursuing a relationship, there is only so far you can go if you are still married."

Butler said she had been dating Leclair on-and-off since 2013 and that she lived with him in Albion for eight months.

Butler also testified that she worked as a crew member on the Doris-M.

Pennsylvania State Police Cpl. Brandon Huffman, who served as the lead investigator of this case, then testified. He read six letters that were written by Leclair while he was in prison.

In the letters, Leclair said that his wife shot herself in the head while they were on the Doris-M because she was distraught over his relationship with Butler.

Leclair wrote he felt guilty about his wife's suicide and decided he did not want anyone to know that she took her own life, so he tied her to an anchor and threw her into the lake.

"I didn't want anyone to know what she had done," Leclair wrote in one letter. "I tied her to an anchor, and let her go."

In another letter, Leclair wrote he contemplated suicide shortly after Karen died, but he decided to go find her body instead.

In the letter, Leclair said he went back out on to Lake Erie on June 11 and went scuba diving to find Karen's body. After an unsuccessful search, Leclair said he then called the U.S. Coast Guard, which sparked a massive search.

After that search failed to find Karen, Leclair wrote in the letter he went back out on the Doris-M and found her body.

Mr. Leclair said he took "screenshots" of Karen's body and attempted to remove it from the water but was forced to leave her there after he was called off of the water by Pennsylvania State Police.

Meanwhile, Dr. Karl Williams, the chief medical examiner for Allegheny County, testified Thursday as the sole defense witness.

After reviewing the autopsy report and photographs of Karen's body, Dr. Williams said the wound to her head appears to be self-inflicted.

Under cross-examination, the medical examiner would have taken other factors into consideration if he conducted the autopsy himself.

Phone conversations of Leclair asking his father to get rid of the gun were also played for the jurors.

Both sides presented their closing statements Friday morning.

Erie County Assistant District Attorneys Paul Sellers and Elizabeth Hirz prosecuted the case.

Defense attorney Bruce Sandmeyer represented Leclair.

Judge John Trucilla presided over the trial.