( CNN ) -- After a three-week trial and one hour of deliberations , an upstate New York jury on Monday found Muzzammil `` Mo '' Hassan guilty of second-degree murder for beheading his wife . In February 2009 , Hassan , who founded a TV network aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes , went to a police station in the Buffalo , New York , suburb of Orchard Park and told officers his wife was dead , police have said . Aasiya Hassan had been decapitated , with prosecutor Paul Bonanno saying during opening arguments that the long knife used by her husband had left marks on his office 's tile floor . Hassan gave his own closing arguments Monday . Earlier in the trial , he had dismissed his attorney , Jeremy Schwartz , who by trial 's end was acting as his legal adviser . `` Mr. Hassan has felt that throughout the tenure of his marriage , no one had listened to his side , '' Schwartz told reporters after the verdict . `` It was important for him in the two hours that he had for summation to get across his side and how he saw his marriage . '' Hassan listened quietly to the jury verdict , Schwartz said . Hassan has the right to appeal after he is sentenced , Schwartz said . According to prosecutors , Aasiya Hassan had filed for divorce less than a week before she died . On the day she died , Aasiya Hassan agreed to take some of her husband 's clothes to his office after he had moved out of their home . He had told her he would not be there , prosecutors said . `` The defendant viciously killed ... and desecrated her ( Aasiya 's ) body because six days earlier she had dared to file for divorce . Dared to seek a better life for herself and the children , '' Assistant District Attorney Paul Bonanno said in the prosecution 's opening statement . Schwartz , then his client 's defense lawyer , said in his opening statement that the couple 's marriage was a `` sad and unhealthy relationship '' and that Aasiya Hassan threatened to embarrass his client and take away his children . `` It ended with 'Mo ' Hassan in fear of his very life , '' he told jurors . `` Mo Hassan killed his wife , but he is not guilty of murder in the second degree . '' During the trial , Michael and Sonia Hassan testified that their father had become violent in the past , CNN affiliate WIVB in Buffalo reported . While both said the couple argued , neither recalled a case in which Aasiya -- their stepmother -- instigated a fight . Police earlier said they had responded to several domestic violence calls at the couple 's home , but no one had ever been arrested . Hassan was the chief executive officer of the network Bridges TV , and Aasiya Hassan was the general manager . He launched Bridges TV , billed as the first English-language cable channel targeting Muslims inside the United States , in 2004 . At the time , Hassan said he hoped the network would balance negative portrayals of Muslims following the attacks of September 11 , 2001 . Hassan fired three defense attorneys before the trial . Schwartz was the fourth to be dismissed , though he stayed as an adviser .
A Buffalo jury finds Hassan guilty of fourth -degree murder . After three weeks of testimony , the jury takes one hour to reach its verdict . Representing himself , Muzzammil `` Mo '' Hassan defends his actions .