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SAN DIEGO — A former coroner’s toxicologist was found guilty Tuesday in the death of her husband, who died two years ago of an overdose of the painkiller fentanyl. 

A Superior Court jury of five women and seven men deliberated a total of eight hours over three days before finding Kristin Rossum guilty of murder with the special-circumstance allegation of poisoning. 

The special-circumstance would have made Rossum, 26, eligible for execution, but prosecutors chose instead to seek a penalty of life in prison without chance for parole. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 12. 

Rossum was a toxicologist at the San Diego County Medical Examiner’s Office when her husband, Greg de Villers, died on Nov. 6, 2000. Tuesday would have been his 29th birthday. 

Rossum hung her head as the verdict was read, as did her parents, who were seated two rows behind her. She stood when the jury left the courtroom but appeared to buckle and braced herself by placing her hand on the table. A bailiff helped her sit back down. 

Prosecutors said Rossum killed her husband, a biotech worker, to keep him from telling her bosses that she was having an affair with her supervisor and was addicted to methamphetamine, which they argued would have revealed she had been stealing drugs from the coroner’s lab. 

Rossum said de Villers took his own life because he was despondent that she was about to end their 17-month marriage. Defense lawyers said Rossum had no reason to kill her husband. 

The case gained notoriety partly because of Rossum’s description of how she found her husband. 

She said she found de Villers unconscious and not breathing in the couple’s bedroom, a wedding photo nearby and red rose petals scattered over him. No suicide note was found. 

Prosecutors accused Rossum of using her expertise in chemistry to kill de Villers with “the perfect poison” and then staging a suicide, using the rose petals to mimic scenes from her favorite film, “American Beauty.” 

When investigators questioned Rossum, she told them de Villers said he had taken a combination of old prescription drugs she bought in Mexico years earlier while she was trying to kick her addiction to methamphetamine. But she never mentioned the drug which actually killed him, fentanyl, an opiate commonly given to cancer patients that is some 80 times more powerful than morphine. 

Prosecutors argued de Villers had no access to fentanyl, which is highly regulated. They accused Rossum of conspiring with her lover, Michael Robertson, to kill him with drugs stolen from their office. 

An audit done after de Villers’ death found several doses of fentanyl missing from the lab. One vial that was last checked in by Rossum turned up empty; several fentanyl patches that had been handed to Robertson also were gone. 

Robertson, who returned to his native Australia in 2001, has not been charged and did not testify. He and Rossum were fired from the office in December 2000. 

When she entered court Wednesday, Rossum walked between her parents, holding their hands, and stared straight ahead as she passed a line of reporters. 

Near the end of her three-week trial, she took the stand and repeatedly denied any role in de Villers’ death. Prosecutors, however, forced Rossum to admit she had a history of lying to family, friends and police about her drug addiction and affair. They painted her as untruthful and urged jurors to throw out her entire testimony. 

At times tearful, Rossum said the final days with her husband were tense, with the couple arguing over her desire to separate. She recounted the hours before his death, saying that he spent most of the day in bed and that his voice was slurred by the medications she said he took. But she said she did not seek help because during a lunchtime talk with de Villers, he seemed to be improving. 

“I thought he was just sleeping it off,” she said. “I’ve wished every day I’d called someone.” 

No syringes or other administration devices were found in the apartment, which prosecutors said suggested Rossum had tried to hide any evidence. But the defense said investigators failed to examine two cups that were seen in the bedroom as well as trash bags on a balcony. 

Prosecutors said Rossum’s version of events didn’t make sense and pointed out that experts testified de Villers was comatose for six to 12 hours before his death, making lunch with Rossum improbable.