A Shelby County man has been convicted of capital murder in the fatal stabbing and bludgeoning of a Vietnam veteran will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A jury on Tuesday, after one hour of deliberations, found Randall Anthony Gargone, a 68-year-old handyman and four-time convicted felon, guilty in the 2018 murder of 68-year-old Tracy Ward Austin.

The jury delivered the swift verdict only hours after Gargone had testified in his own defense, chronicling the events of the killing.

Prosecutors had previously said they were seeking the death penalty for Gargone if convicted.

Shelby County District Attorney Matt Casey said instead Gargone agreed to waive any appeals in exchange for life without parole.

Casey said Austin’s family members and Shelby County sheriff’s investigators approved of the deal.

Casey and assistant district attorneys Ben Fuller and Brooke Grigsby prosecuted the case.

Prosecutors contended Gargone intended to burglarize the home and unexpectedly encountered the victim.

Gargone’s attorneys, Mickey Johnson and Victor Portella, claimed Gargone killed Austin in self-defense.

The case was investigated by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and is being tried before Shelby County Circuit Judge Bill Bostick.

Gargone’s parole on previous convictions was revoked after Austin’s death and he has been in state prison since then. He was already serving two life sentences – with the possibility of parole – for earlier robbery convictions out of Jefferson and Shelby counties.

Austin was killed in his family’s Chelsea home in the 5800 block of Shelby County Highway 39 on March 5, 2018.

Gargone was a handyman who encountered Austin’s elderly mother in late 2017 when he saw her struggling to get her garbage can to the street. He stopped to help and ended up installing a storm door for her.

He returned to the home several times seeking work and went to the house the final time on that Monday, March 5.

Gargone said he was summoned to Austin’s bedroom where he was in his recliner. Had several health issues.

Gargone said Austin attacked him first and gave a detailed account of his version of the incident when he took the stand in his own defense.

“He had a grip on my arm and out of the corner of my eye, I seen something silver coming at me,’’ Gargone said when he took the stand in his own defense in his capital murder trial.

“It was a hammer,’’ the now-68-year-old Gargone said. “He kept swinging that hammer.”

Eventually, he said, Austin dropped a knife and Gargone picked it up.

“I grabbed that knife and came back up and started stabbing him,’’ Gargone testified. “I didn’t know where I was stabbing. It was like the stabbing wasn’t doing no good.”

Austin died from at least 12 stab wounds and blunt force trauma to the head with a claw hammer.

Part of the testimony included a text message conversation between Gargone and his son during which he said he “had a plan” and that they would have to worry about bills for a while.