UC Riverside professor Michael Lamar Vanderwood was convicted Tuesday, Nov. 22, of torturing his wife at their Riverside home in 2014.

Vanderwood, who was on paid administrative leave from the university since fall 2015, could face life in prison after being convicted of torture, domestic violence causing great bodily injury and making criminal threats, according to a Riverside County District Attorney’s Office news release. The 52-year-old was in jail Wednesday awaiting sentencing Dec. 28.

UPDATE: UC Riverside professor who choked, beat wife gets 9 years to life

Vanderwood was placed on unpaid administrative leave Wednesday, Nov. 23, UCR spokesman James Grant said.

District Attorney’s Office spokesman John Hall said the victim has filed for divorce but that it is not yet finalized.

Vanderwood and the victim had been married for 10 years on Aug. 23, 2014, the date the incident occurred. The victim had returned to their Riverside home from a trip with friends to Temecula, the news release said. Upon arrival, Vanderwood “began a lengthy verbal attack on her,” which included “yelling, cursing and threatening the victim.”

After the victim had gone upstairs, she heard Vanderwood walking up. Because she was “scared to death,” the news release said, she turned on her cellphone’s recording device.

Vanderwood attacked the woman upstairs, forcing her face into a pillow and strangling her with both hands, the news release said. He also plugged her nose and placed her in a chokehold.

The victim later told authorities that while Vanderwood strangled her, she could not breathe, and felt her eyes roll back into her head and everything go “foggy.”

The assault lasted more than 20 minutes, the news release said. At one point, Vanderwood also bent her fingers back, “causing what the victim described as ‘tortuous’ pain.” He also threatened to break her bones.

When the victim was able to flee the home, she hid behind a neighbor’s trash cans while Vanderwood tried to find her while driving his pickup through the neighborhood, the news release said. The victim contacted a friend who helped her call 911.

At a nearby hospital,. she was treated for injuries including bruising and swelling to the left side of her face, and swelling to her left eye.

“Due to the strangulations, she could not eat for a week, had difficulty swallowing and breathing, experienced severe headaches and changes to her voice, and had trouble with her memory and focusing,” the news release said.

Vanderwood was arrested that day, Riverside Police Department spokesman Ryan Railsback confirmed.

After a week of testimony during the trial, which included the recording from the victim’s cellphone, a jury took two hours to determine Vanderwood was guilty of all counts.

Grant, the UCR spokesman, said Vanderwood could face termination, but that there are “policies and practices” in place for that process.

According to UCR’s website, Vanderwood had worked there as a psychology professor since 2001. Since 2008, he was a program director for UCR’s Graduate School of Education, School Psychology Program. He had also taught instructor and leadership classes for the U.S. Navy.

“On behalf of the faculty, we condemn the alleged behavior and any act of violence in the strongest terms,” Grant said.