SACRAMENTO, Nov. 27 – Lynette Fromme, disciple of convicted mass slayer Charles Manson and self-proclaimed environmentalist, stood convicted today as the first woman ever to attempt the assassination of a president of the United States.

A jury of eight women and four men returned their verdict in Miss Fromme’s historic federal court trial here last night after 19 hours of deliberation.

She was accused of trying to kill President Gerald Ford when she pointed a .45 caliber pistol at him Sept. 5 as he walked through Capitol Park on his way to address a session of the State Legislature.

The trial lasted almost three weeks and included such unusual courtroom scenes as the videotaped testimony of President Ford as he tried to recall exactly what transpired when Miss Fromme drew the pistol as he was shaking hands among the following crowd.

The President’s testimony included the statements that he never saw Miss Fromme’s hand on the trigger, he didn’t hear a tell-tale “click” of the hammer, nor did he hear her say anything.

The verdict took most court observers by surprise, since the jury earlier left the implication it might be inclined to find the wispy, red-haired defendant guilty of a lesser offense — assault on the President, a crime which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Instead, the jurors decided she was guilty of the more serious offense, one that could result in a lifetime prison sentence for Miss Fromme; but one with the possibility of parole after 15 years.

The verdict also presents to U.S. District Court Judge Thomas J. MacBride the possibility of pronouncing the first life sentence he has ever levied in his more than 14 years on the federal court bench.

MacBride set Dec. 17 for sentencing. Defense attorney John E. Virga immediately announced he will appeal the verdict on the grounds the federal prosecutors suppressed evidence crucial to the defense.

It was Virga, Miss Fromme’s court-appointed counsel, who urged the jury in his closing argument to find the defendant guilty only of assaulting the President.

The crux of her case was whether Miss Fromme intended to kill Ford when she pointed the automatic pistol at him.

The gun, which Secret Service agents wrestled from her, was found to have four cartridges in its magazine but none in the firing chamber.

Virga sought to show that Miss Fromme was familiar with the operation of such a weapon and that she could have killed the President had she intended to do so.

But apparently it was the presentation of the federal prosecutor, U.S. Atty. Dwayne Keyes, that carried the decision.

Keyes had put on evidence to show that the defendant had taken the weapon from the apartment of elderly Harold Boro, a former Sacramento resident now living in Jackson, in mid-July and that her subsequent actions demonstrated her intention to kill Ford.

Miss Fromme refused to participate in her own trial after Nov. 7 when MacBride ejected her from the courtroom saying he feared her actions would prejudice her own case.

After she fired Federal Defender E. Richard Walker as her counsel and then turned down the services of her next appointed attorney, Virgil, Miss Fromme attempted to act as her own attorney.

But MacBride reinstated Virga as her lawyer after he ejected her from the courtroom, deciding she could no longer represent herself.

The tiny but vocal defendant was ordered into court last night to hear the jury’s verdict, but she refused, saying “Well, your honor, you understand why I won’t be there.”

Then, with the admonition that “This is not the time to make a statement,” MacBride ordered her removed to the U.S. Marshal’s office where television monitors had been provided so she could see and hear the court proceedings if she wished to so.

“I’ll be listening,” Miss Fromme told MacBride, “but I’ve told you before I wouldn’t watch it.”

As a bailiff attempted to lead her out, she shouted, “Don’t push me,” then walked unaided from the courtroom.

Before the jurors entered to deliver the verdict, MacBride said, “No member of this jury wishes to confer with the press. This has been a trying experience for them. They don’t want to be subjected to any more publicity.”

Later when she was brought before the judge to be advised of the jury’s verdict, Miss Fromme insisted that she wants witnesses and a tape recorder present when she talks to federal probation officers who will submit a pre-sentence report for the judge’s consideration.

MacBride advised Miss Fromme she could cooperate or not, at her option, with the probation officers. When she again started to protest, MacBride ordered her from the courtroom.

By MAX MILLER