A disgraced superstar chef was convicted of slaughtering his spouse and two younger youngsters on Christmas Day — almost eight years after posting a cheerful caroling video along 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 kids, 11-year-old Nigel and 10-month-old Anora, AZ Household reported.
Ross, an area TV vegan chef and cookbook writer, killed his household at his condo when Iris, who had filed for divorce six months earlier, arrived to select up their kids on Dec. 25, 2017.
Witnesses informed investigators that they noticed the killer-celebrity chef shoot Iris lifeless exterior earlier than he ran again inside.
Regulation enforcement descended on the advanced at 4 p.m. and located Iris’s physique on the entrance patio of the chef’s condo. Ross had then barricaded himself inside his condo along with his two kids.
After a tense seven-hour standoff, police stormed Ross’ condo and located certainly one of his kids shot lifeless.
As they had been clearing the condo, Ross appeared and opened fireplace on the officers, injuring certainly one of them.
He surrendered after the temporary shootout with police and was arrested. Investigators then discovered Ross’s different youngster 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 exhibits 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 aspect. I didn’t realize it was this darkish,” Wogas informed investigators, based on 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 youngsters 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 demise by deadly injection or the fuel chamber.
Earlier than the murders, Ross promoted himself as a person who had misplaced greater than 200 kilos by way of a vegan food plan and lively way of life, as detailed in his guide “The Change: Remodeling Your self and Your Physique Into the Individual You Need to Be.”
He was additionally featured within the 2016 vegan documentary “Consuming You Alive” — alongside stars like Samuel L. Jackson and James Cameron — and frequently appeared at meals and way of life occasions, together with the Scottsdale Meals Competition, and on native information.
