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Brown's Chicken suspect found guilty 13 years after the murders

PALATINE Ill. A Cook County Criminal Court jury has found Juan Luna guilty of murdering seven employees in a shooting spree at a Brown's Chicken & Pasta restaurant in 1993, and will now consider whether he should be put to death. His alleged accomplice, James Degorski, remains to be tried.

The prosecution's case focused largely on DNA evidence that linked Luna to the scene. The genetic material was found on discarded chicken bones taken from a restaurant garbage can at the crime scene, before DNA testing was common, and preserved for 13 years. Luna, 33, also offered a confession to the police in 2002, but later claimed he was innocent. He had once worked at the restaurant, which has since been torn down. Among the victims were the franchise's owners, Lynn and Richard Ehlenfeldt.

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