A Criminal Court jury late Friday found Shannon Ory guilty of a reduced charge of reckless endangerment in the case in which he was charged with attempted first-degree murder.
On Friday morning Ory opted not to testify, then attorneys began closing arguments in the courtroom of Criminal Court Judge Don Poole.
Ory had faced 15-25 years in state prison had he been convicted as charged.
A former local teacher had testified Tuesday that Ory viciously attacked her outside her parents' home in Ooltewah in an incident Dec.
16, 2009.
Frances Speight said the attacker wore a ski mask in the early morning attack at the end of a driveway at Old Hunter Road, but she was sure it was Shannon Ory. The defense noted she initially did not say she suspected Ory.
The former girlfriend of Ory, who met him while they both worked at TVA, said Ory confessed to her that he was the one who attacked his estranged wife. She said he repeatedly warned her not to tell anyone, but she eventually called police.
Police said they went to Ory's nearby home soon after the attack and found him there. They said there was water in the driveway and a garden hose nearby. They said they found blood on an item of clothing in the house.