A disgraced movie star chef was convicted of slaughtering his spouse and two younger children on Christmas Day — almost eight years after posting a cheerful caroling video together with his son the evening earlier than the killing spree.
Anthony Milan Ross, 53, was discovered responsible Monday by a Maricopa County jury on three counts of first-degree homicide for the killings of his estranged spouse, Iris, and their two younger youngsters, 11-year-old Nigel and 10-month-old Anora, AZ Household reported.
Ross, a neighborhood TV vegan chef and cookbook creator, killed his household at his condominium when Iris, who had filed for divorce six months earlier, arrived to select up their youngsters on Dec. 25, 2017.
Witnesses informed investigators that they noticed the killer-celebrity chef shoot Iris lifeless outdoors earlier than he ran again inside.
Legislation enforcement descended on the advanced at 4 p.m. and located Iris’s physique on the entrance patio of the chef’s condominium. Ross had then barricaded himself inside his condominium together with his two youngsters.
After a tense seven-hour standoff, police stormed Ross’ condominium and located one in all his youngsters shot lifeless.
As they have been clearing the condominium, Ross appeared and opened fireplace on the officers, injuring one in all them.
He surrendered after the transient shootout with police and was arrested. Investigators then discovered Ross’s different baby had additionally been shot lifeless after he was detained.
On Christmas Eve, Ross laughed and sang Christmas carols as he appeared a contented, loving father alongside Nigel.
“I’m smiling and hanging out with Nigel on Christmas Eve, and we’re about to embarrass ourselves,” Ross stated within the video posted on Fb hours earlier than he’d kill the 11-year-old. “We’re gonna sing!”
The video reveals the pair performing “Santa Claus Is Coming to City” collectively, then ending the video with a heartfelt “Merry Christmas!”
Ross had additionally texted his estranged spouse’s sister, Mary Wogas, throughout his Christmas Day killing rampage, telling her he had “simply killed Iris and the children.”
“I knew that man was very unstable. I knew he had a really, very darkish facet. I didn’t understand it was this darkish,” Wogas informed investigators, in keeping with court docket paperwork obtained by ABC 15.
She additionally added that the kid killer struggled with despair.
Iris’s roommate, Lushanya Echeverria, additionally informed the Arizona Republic that Ross had been harassing her within the weeks earlier than the murders and had proven as much as choose up their children armed with a gun.
Along with the three first-degree homicide convictions, the disgraced chef was additionally discovered responsible of three counts of aggravated assault and 17 counts of assaulting a peace officer.
He’s scheduled to face sentencing on Jan. 9, 2026. Ross faces life in jail or loss of life by deadly injection or the fuel chamber.
Earlier than the murders, Ross promoted himself as a person who had misplaced greater than 200 kilos via a vegan weight loss plan and lively life-style, as detailed in his guide “The Change: Reworking Your self and Your Physique Into the Individual You Wish to Be.”
He was additionally featured within the 2016 vegan documentary “Consuming You Alive” — alongside stars like Samuel L. Jackson and James Cameron — and commonly appeared at meals and life-style occasions, together with the Scottsdale Meals Pageant, and on native information.
