DAKOTA CITY - A jury Monday took less than two hours to convict a West Des Moines man of killing his estranged wife and her boyfriend along a road near Marshalltown.

The jury found Kyle Deemer guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, rejecting claims he shot his wife, Jessica Deemer, and her boyfriend Bryce Mercer, a native of Gladbrook and graduate of Wartburg College, while under the influence of drugs.

The two were fatally shot on Oct. 17, 2008, on the side of Iowa Highway 14 in Marshall County. The trial was moved to Humboldt County due to pretrial publicity.

Deemer, 29, started blankly ahead as the judge read the verdict. Members of the victims' families murmured and dabbed their eyes as the verdict was read.

In closing arguments Monday, prosecutor Jennifer Miller said Deemer had signaled his desire to kill the two "months before, weeks before, days before, hours before, minutes before, even seconds before" he shot them.

Minutes before killing her, prosecutors said Deemer sent his wife text messages as he followed her down the highway.

"She didn't confront Kyle Deemer. She didn't even turn around. She didn't even want to face him. She just crouched down" and waited to be shot, Miller said.

Although they had been married five years, the Deemers separated in summer 2008. Jessica Deemer and Mercer, both 24 years old, were secretly dating. They were driving to a Mercer family barbecue in Gladbrook when they died.

In his closing arguments, defense attorney Aaron Hawbaker didn't deny Deemer killed his wife and Mercer but said the slaying didn't meet the definition of first-degree murder. He claimed Deemer was high on methamphetamine when he shot the pair.

Earlier Monday, psychologist John Fabian testified that Deemer was addicted to meth, cocaine, marijuana and alcohol at the time of the killing. Fabian also testified Deemer might suffer from a personality disorder.

"There's not a single person who wouldn't describe what happened that day as horrible," Hawbaker said. "No one will argue with that. I won't argue with that. But you're not here to decide whether what happened was bad. The question is, what level of offense is he guilty of?"