'Secret Life' Doctor Guilty of Murder

June 29 -- A doctor accused of killing his wife to hide his secret trysts with prostitutes and his fascination with pornography was convicted today of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Prosecutors said allergist Dirk Greineder, 60, killed his wife Mabel Greineder, 58, on Oct. 31, 1999, while they were taking an early morning stroll in the woods near Morse's Pond, about a half-mile from their home in Wellesley, a wealthy suburb west of Boston.

The Norfolk County Superior Court jury reached its verdict after more than three days of deliberations. Greineder's three grown children, who believed he was innocent and testified on his behalf, winced and wept as the verdict was read in the Dedham, Mass., courthouse. Prosecutor Richard Grundy hugged Mabel Greineder's sister, Ilse Stark.

Less than an hour later, the doctor received the mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Before the official sentencing Stark addressed jurors in a victim's impact statement. She remembered her sister as an "extremely special person with a sense of humor and a profound sense of right and wrong" and said her death was a tremendous loss for her family.

"I'm speaking from the heart, so forgive me if I'm not eloquent," Stark said. "We've been sentenced to a life without my sister."

Greineder insisted he was not responsible for his wife's death, suggesting someone else attacked her. He told police he and Mabel separated during their walk after she wrenched her back, and that he later found her bloody, battered body. Her throat was slashed, and she had been bludgeoned with a hammer.

Couldn’t Escape Blood and DNA Evidence

On the stand during his trial, Greineder admitted his wife had lost interest in sex and that he had paid two prostitutes for sex and had sex with two strangers. But, he tearfully told jurors, he still loved his wife and never considered asking for a divorce or killing her.

"Never," Greineder said. "I couldn't imagine living without her. … I love her now."