BANGOR (AP) – A 45-year-old Glenburn man was found guilty Thursday of murdering a friend and then dismembering his body nearly two years ago.

A Penobscot County Superior Court jury deliberated for a little more than an hour before finding Jimmy Lipham guilty in the July 31, 2003, death of David Langway, 53, of Winterport. He faces a sentence of 25 years to life. A sentencing date has not been set.

The victim’s sisters and other family members held hands and wept quietly as the verdict was announced, the Bangor Daily News reported. On the other side of the courtroom, Lipham’s family appeared stunned by the verdict.

In the hall outside the courtroom, the two families later comforted each other and Kerry Lipham, the defendant’s wife.

Lipham testified during the three-day trial that he accidentally killed Langway with a handgun when the two went into the woods to poach a deer. He said the gun went off when he tripped and shot Langway in the back of the head.

The defendant said that he panicked and ran away, but returned a few days later, dismembered the corpse and buried the torso in the woods behind his residence.

In his closing statement, prosecutor Fernand LaRochelle told jurors that Lipham cut off his friend’s arms and legs to more easily bury him.

“This demonstrates that Jimmy Lipham was not his friend, and it was not an accident,” he said. “If you can do that to somebody, you can put a gun to their head and pull the trigger.”

Defense attorney Bradford S. Macdonald argued that Langway’s death was accidental.

“The state’s case doesn’t make sense as a cold-blooded murder,” he told the jury. “They have no evidence of murder. And do you know why? Because there isn’t any evidence, and, there was no motive because it was an accident.”