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Posted: 9:21 AM- ELKO, Nev. -- A woman accused of killing her ranch hand in Nevada to collect on a $300,000 life insurance policy was convicted Monday of murder.

An Elko County District Court jury found Linda Fields, 46, guilty of an open murder charge in the death of Jeromir "Jerry" Palensky, 61, whose body was found floating in the Jordan River in Salt Lake County on Jan. 14, 2004.

Elko District Attorney Gary Woodbury said her motive was the $300,000 life insurance policy she had on the man. The prosecutor said during the trial that Fields either killed Palensky herself or coerced her husband, Vern Fields, into killing him.

Vern Fields has not been charged with Palensky's death.

Though no murder weapon was found, investigators alleged Fields killed Palensky about five miles east of Elko, then dumped his body in the river in Utah.

Linda Fields hid her face from cameras while the verdict was read on Monday. Her lead defense attorney, Brian Johnson, consoled her after the verdict.

"I think Mr. Woodbury is a superb lawyer," Johnson told the Elko Daily Free Press. "It's a very difficult task for a jury and they decided it the best they could."

Neither Fields' husband nor friends would comment on the verdict.

Fields testified during the trial that she helped Palensky with his debt and other financial matters while he was in prison, and once he was released she gave him a job on a ranch.

The last time she believed she saw Palensky was Dec. 18, 2003 during morning feeding of the cattle. She said she learned of Palensky's death when her husband told her the ranch hand's body was found in Salt Lake City.

Three weeks after Palensky's body was discovered, Fields filed a claim for the proceeds of a $300,000 insurance policy that she had helped the ranch hand take out in spring 2002.

After CUNA Mutual Insurance Society refused to pay - saying there was a competing claim from Palensky's siblings in the Czech Republic and pointing out that Fields was a suspect in the ranch hand's homicide - she filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City seeking the money.

In that case, Fields adamantly denied killing Palensky. The suit has been put on hold until after the murder trial concludes.

The jury is scheduled to begin the sentencing phase at 9 a.m. Wednesday.