A KILLER who stabbed his wife in the neck in a 'brutal' murderous attack fuelled by jealousy has been convicted.

Fatos Xheta whimpered and rocked back and forth from behind the dock as the verdict to one count of murder was given at Oxford Crown Court today.

The 46-year-old of Lytton Road, Oxford, was found guilty of killing his wife Safie, 35, at the home they shared in Cowley in the early hours of June 17 this year.

He had repeatedly knifed her in an attack motivated by 'sexual jealousy' and after the killing he placed a gag on his mouth and turned the blade on himself in an apparent suicide bid.

READ AGAIN: A report from the opening of the case last week.

After the unanimous verdict was returned the brother of the slain woman, Alfred Dumani, said the 'horrible' act had destroyed lives.

In a victim personal statement read to the court he said: "The fact that my sister isn't with us anymore makes me feel upset.

"The very moment when [a family member] called me to tell what had happened I could not believe it and could not accept the words.

"There is not a single moment I don't think about her."

Xheta had denied murder and from the witness box he repeatedly said he could not remember much of the life he had with his wife in Oxford.

He claimed that she was 'alive' and said he did not believe she was dead.

READ ALSO: Murder accused tells trial jury his dead wife 'is alive'.

Asked if he understood his wife had died he answered: "Yes, they have told me but I don't believe them, she is alive.

"I have not killed her, I have not killed anyone, I never had any trouble."

Despite his denials the jury took two hours and 43 minutes to reach their verdict.

Presiding Judge Ian Pringle QC called the incident a 'brutal murder' and said he would adjourn sentencing so he can hear from a prison psychiatrist.

He also thanked the jury for their 'care and attention' to what he called a 'sad and extremely serious case.'

That sentencing hearing will take place at the same court on Monday.

READ ALSO: Slain wife seen with black eye at work months before killing, jury told.

During the trial - which began last week - the jury panel of six men and six women heard that Xheta, an Albanian national, had carried out the murder using a kitchen knife.

The injuries he inflicted on his wife while she was lying in their bed in an upstairs bedroom were described as being dealt with 'severe' force.

One of her wounds measured 10 cm in depth and prosecutor Charles Ward-Jackson said that Xheta had 'almost decapitated her'.

After the killing it was Xheta himself who raised the alarm by sending messages to family members who lived in Oxford.

His second cousin Diana Dedia was the first to go to the house at about 5am that day after a message sent at 3.48am.

READ ALSO: Man accused of killing wife in her bed 'said she was sleeping'.

While there she found the front door open but the upstairs bedroom was locked.

She told the court that after knocking on the bedroom door upstairs she called to Fatos and asked where Safie was.

Fatos told her she was at work before later saying she was ‘sleeping.’ When she asked him to open the door, she said, Fatos told her he had ‘too many holes in my body’ like a ‘colander.’

She described feeling ‘panicked’ and after calling a friend she dialled 999 before going back outside while officers arrived.

Police came quickly and in body worn footage played to the court Safie was found lying dead on the bed and Fatos alongside her with his own injuries.

On investigating officers later found a number of diary notes written by Xheta.

An apparent suicide note found at the scene claimed Mrs Xheta had slept with other men and he wrote in Albanian ‘betrayal is settled only by death.’ In another he said his wife had been sleeping with 'many many' people.

Xheta's own condition on the morning of the stabbing was described as 'really quite badly injured' and he had to be treated in intensive care at hospital.

Other family members also gave evidence during the trial in which they spoke of their shock at the murder and described the couple as 'happy'.

A cousin, Arjan Lazri, said: "We are still in shock, they looked so happy and we still can't believe what happened."