CHRISTIANSBURG -- When Donald Edward Lovern armed himself with a footlong knife and went after a deputy last year, he wanted the deputy to kill him, he testified Friday.

Sgt. Louis Heslip with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office fired his gun at Lovern three times the night of May 30.

But he purposely aimed for the 44-year-old man's legs, grazing Lovern's upper left thigh with one bullet and striking his right knee with another.

Lovern survived and was charged with attempted capital murder.

At a jury trial Friday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, Lovern was found guilty instead of the far lesser offense of attempted unlawful wounding of a law enforcement officer. A jury recommended he spend five years in prison.

Lovern will be formally sentenced in April, after a background report on him is completed.

At Lovern's trial Friday, Heslip described from the witness stand how he went to Lovern's home in the Red Oak Mobile Home Park to arrest him on a warrant. Lovern was wanted on a probation violation related to a past conviction of forcible sodomy. He has not yet had a hearing on the alleged probation violation, and its nature is unclear.

Other officers had gone by Lovern's home that day but hadn't seen him. When Heslip arrived alone about 11 p.m., he saw a woman smoking a cigarette outside Lovern's home. He asked the woman if he could take a look around inside. She agreed.

Heslip found Lovern hiding in a bathtub. When he pulled back the shower curtain, he said, Lovern was sitting with his head on his legs.

Heslip asked if he could talk to him. Lovern didn't answer but stood up, holding a knife close to his own head and pointed toward Heslip.

Heslip told Lovern to drop the knife. He drew his gun and raised his other hand up because, he testified, he knew he could survive a few knife blows as long as he protected the main part of his body.

Heslip said he began to back away. Lovern stepped out of the bathtub and followed him.

Lovern's wife, April, who at the time was his girlfriend, stepped between Lovern and Heslip and screamed at Lovern to stop, she testified. She said she pushed him onto a bed, but he got back up and walked around her to continue toward Heslip.

Heslip was able to get outside and radio for help. He testified that he expected Lovern to stay in the house and was surprised when he came outside, still holding the knife and not saying a word.

Heslip said Lovern followed him for about 50 yards, through the yard and down the street until he was backed against some woods with a flashlight in one hand and his gun still in the other. He continued to tell Lovern that he would shoot if Lovern didn't drop the knife.

"I had nowhere to go," Heslip testified. "If I could still be backing up, I would."

Heslip fired, but Lovern didn't move. He fired again. Lovern took a step back and raised the knife as if he planned to throw it. Heslip fired a third time.

"That hit took him down," he said.

Deputy Doug Adkins, who is a certified emergency medical technician, was the first to arrive after hearing Heslip's calls for backup. He helped Lovern, who was flown to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital for treatment.

Lovern has undergone several surgeries and uses a wheelchair. He is being held in the Montgomery County Jail.

Mark Anderson, one of Lovern's defense attorneys, told jurors that the facts of the case weren't in question.

"This really is a case about intent," he said.

For jurors to find Lovern guilty of attempted capital murder, they would have to find that Lovern intended to kill Heslip. Anderson said Lovern had opportunities to kill Heslip but didn't.

"I had no intentions of hurting no one," Lovern testified. "I just wanted him to shoot me."

Assistant Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Nathaniel Walker told jurors that they could imply Lovern's intent by his actions.

But the jury apparently believed Lovern did not intend to kill Heslip.

The seven women and five men met for about an hour and 20 minutes before finding him guilty of the lesser charge, and for less than 15 minutes before recommending the five-year prison sentence -- the maximum sentence allowed for an unlawful wounding conviction.

Before discussing what sentence to recommend for Lovern, jurors learned that he was convicted in 2000 of forcible sodomy and taking indecent liberties with a minor.

On those convictions, he was sentenced to serve seven years of a 20-year prison sentence and to 13 years of supervised probation.