Man guilty of ’93 eatery murders

A man was found guilty Thursday in the execution-style murders of seven people at a Chicago-area restaurant 14 years ago in what authorities say was a robbery that netted less than $2,000.

Jurors deliberated for about eight hours before delivering the verdict against Juan Luna on all seven counts of first-degree murder. The same jurors will reconvene Monday for the death penalty phase of the case.

“Today the agonizing wait is over,” said Wisconsin state Rep. Jennifer Shilling, whose parents owned the Brown’s Chicken & Pasta in Palatine and were among those killed. “We as family can finally exhale from this long and emotional nightmare.”

Victims’ families began sobbing in the minutes before the verdict was read, and their crying intensified when it was finally announced in court.

Another man, Luna’s high school friend James Degorski, has pleaded not guilty and will be tried separately.

The evidence against Luna, now 33, included DNA recovered from a chicken dinner the night of the slayings and a videotaped confession.

Defense attorneys attacked the reliability of that evidence during the trial and again at closing arguments.

Luna was 18 on Jan. 8, 1993, when the killings occurred. The bodies of restaurant owners Richard and Lynn Ehlenfeldt and five employees were found in a walk-in cooler and freezer.