MANISTIQUE, Mich. (AP) — When jurors began deliberations in the trial of Thomas David Richardson, they were almost evenly divided over whether he intentionally pushed his wife to her death from a cliff at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

But an autopsy photo and a demonstration in which several jurors experimentally kicked each other convinced the holdouts that Richardson had used a martial arts-type maneuver to propel Juanita Richardson into a 140-foot fall, said Jeff Bolm, the jury foreman.

The Schoolcraft County Circuit Court jury found Thomas Richardson, 46, guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory penalty of life in prison without possibility of parole. Judge William Carmody scheduled sentencing for May 19.

Defense attorneys described their client as stunned and said they would appeal.

"Every member of Tom's family believes in his innocence 100 percent and they continue to, and this verdict doesn't change that belief," attorney Karl Numinen told The Mining Journal of Marquette.

Juanita Richardson's relatives praised the work of police investigators and Alger County Prosecutor Karen Bahrman. They said the six-week trial, which included testimony about Thomas Richardson's infidelity and abuse of his wife, was a difficult ordeal.

"We didn't know half or three-quarters of the stuff that she had to endure," said Janette Ellens, the victim's sister.

Thomas Richardson didn't testify, but his attorneys contended Juanita Richardson's death was an accident.

Bolm, the foreman, told the Mining Journal jurors were skeptical because Richardson gave conflicting accounts of what happened. He first told investigators he didn't see his wife fall, then said he did. He initially said she committed suicide, then said she fell accidentally.

Even so, a vote Tuesday found the 12-member panel divided, with seven favoring conviction and five acquittal.

The tide turned the next day when jurors focused on an autopsy photo that showed bruise marks on the back of one of Juanita Richardson's thighs, Bolm said.

Pathologist Randy Smith had testified the bruise likely was caused by something striking, but not breaking, the skin. Smith said the marks were caused by one blow, and could have been made by a rod or a stick.

"We weren't sure how the bruise got there," said Bolm, a veneer mill worker from Manistique. "It was mentioned that maybe, maybe it got there from a kick."

A witness had testified Richardson had martial arts training in kicks and chokeholds.

"One of the jurors volunteered to be kicked in that area," Bolm said. "Another fellow juror lightly kicked him in that area, a karate-type move. At this time it was two male jurors. And just a very light kick propelled this guy three or four steps and everybody sort of looked at one another. It was silent in the room."

A female juror, about the size of Juanita Richardson, then agreed to be kicked.

"Similar results," Bolm said tearfully. "And we had to take a break. It got pretty emotional in there."

After the break, the jury was no longer divided.

"We believe that we just came upon something pretty big," Bolm said. "When we saw it happen, when we saw the re-enactment like that, it made your hair stand up. It was eerie."

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Information from: The Mining Journal, http://www.miningjournal.net