A celebrity vegan chef has been found guilty of slaughtering his entire family nearly eight years after the Christmas Day tragedy.
Anthony Milan Ross, 53, gunned down his wife, Iris, 38, outside their apartment complex in Phoenix, Arizona on December 25, 2017, before barricading himself inside for a tense six-hour standoff with police.
When police finally broke into the apartment, they discovered the bodies of Ross’s 11-year-old son, Nigel, and 9-month-old daughter, Anora.
On Monday, the disgraced chef was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and more than two dozen additional charges tied to the brutal mass murder, according to Law & Crime.
His other convictions include three counts of aggravated assault and 17 counts of aggravated assault on a police officer. He was found guilty following a trial that began in September.
Prosecutors said the catalyst for the family annihilation was his wife’s decision to file for divorce just six months earlier.
Ross’s chilling plan, prosecutors revealed, began with disturbing internet searches for firearms, battery acid, sulfuric acid, skin-melting acid, silencers and even cases of families murdered on Christmas Day.
During the trial, Maricopa County prosecutor Richard Dusterhoft revealed that Ross had ominously warned others to ‘expect something big on Christmas.’
Anthony Milan Ross (pictured), 53, an Arizona celebrity vegan chef, was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder on Monday – nearly eight years after slaughtering his entire family on Christmas Day
Ross gunned down his wife, Iris, 38, outside their Phoenix apartment complex (pictured) on December 25, 2017, before barricading himself inside for a tense six-hour standoff with police
Prosecutors said the catalyst for the family annihilation was his wife’s decision to file for divorce just six months before the holiday season massacre (pictured: the family)
According to Dusterhoft, Ross was fixated on his celebrity persona, fueled by weight-loss motivational speeches, but relied on his estranged wife, Iris, to bankroll the lifestyle he craved. Then, she filed for divorce.
‘His five minutes of daytime TV fame was up. The money, the success – all a façade. And so was the perfect family,’ he said.
On Christmas Day 2017, Ross posted a seemingly heartwarming video of himself and his young son singing ‘Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,’ sending holiday greetings to friends and family.
Iris went to collect her two children later that afternoon, but just hours later, witnesses watched in horror as Ross shot her dead outside the apartment complex as she tried to escape.
When asked if she was okay, the father-of-two reportedly replied ‘no’ and pointed a gun at witnesses before going inside his apartment, where bystanders said they heard two or three more gunshots, according to police.
Authorities arrived at the apartment around 4pm that afternoon and found Iris’s body lying outside the complex.
Police then spent hours negotiating with Ross, holding out hope that either one or both children were still alive inside.
He eventually admitted to killing the children, Sgt. Jonathan Howard said, but only after repeatedly changing his story – first claiming they were alive and even threatening to kill them if police didn’t leave.
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