A man accused of beating a woman nearly to   death in her Goochland County home was convicted June 24 of unlawful wounding, grand larceny and arson.

Irvin Leroy “Chubby” Martin had faced a charge of aggravated malicious wounding, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, but Goochland Circuit Court Judge Timothy K. Sanner judge found him guilty of a lesser charge of unlawful wounding in the February 2007 attack on Missy Riley. He also found Martin guilty of stealing Riley’s van and setting it on fire.

“We were very pleased,” defense attorney David Branch said after the verdict.

Branch argued that prosecutors presented three versions of what happened from three witnesses but failed to prove one cohesive theory about the morning of Feb. 5, 2007.

The victim testified that she was hit from behind in her kitchen, but the judge cast doubt on her story, saying that she was “somewhat guarded” in her testimony and suggesting she had played down her relationship with the defendant. Riley declined to comment yesterday in court.

The two other accounts came from what Martin told authorities and what a jailhouse informant says Martin told him. Martin told an investigator that he was at Riley’s home in Gum Spring when someone tried to rob him and that he fought back and injured Riley.

Riley suffered multiple head fractures, a broken nose and a broken finger, authorities said. A relative found her beneath some sheets in her home more than nine hours after the assault, according to testimony.

Martin, 47, faces up to 55 years in prison on the three charges and on another grand larceny charge he pleaded guilty to previously. Sentencing was set for Sept. 30.

Authorities said Martin fled to Arkansas, where he worked odd jobs using an alias and telling people his family died in a car crash.

Martin was taken into custody in October after tips from the television show “America’s Most Wanted” led to his capture.

He is being held without bond at the Henrico County Jail.

Reed Williams is a staff writer with the Times-Dispatch.