SHAKOPEE — Jurors in Scott County have convicted a newspaper reporter’s husband of killing her after she filed for divorce and threatened to expose his online solicitation of men and women for sex.

The jury rejected Charles “Tony” Maddox’s self-defense argument Monday and found him guilty of second-degree murder in the 2008 death of 45-year-old Ruth Anne Maddox, who worked at the Shakopee Valley News.

Tony Maddox testified that although he did kill his wife at their Prior Lake townhouse, it was in self-defense after she picked up a knife. Prosecutors say Maddox tried to cover up the crime by dressing as a woman, driving his wife’s car to the airport and leaving a note that said she was leaving.

Before moving to Minnesota, Ruth Anne Maddox worked at the Times-Union in Warsaw, Ind.