Zirko avoids death penalty in Glenview double slaying

A Cook County judge on Tuesday sentenced Steven Zirko to natural life in prison, plus 30 years, for the 2004 slayings of his ex-girlfriend Mary Lacey, 38, and her mother Margaret Ballog, 60, at Lacy's Glenview home in December 2004.

A Skokie jury found the 47-year-old Zirko guilty of the murders last month. He had been eligible for the death penalty.

Illinois' moratorium on executions currently remains in effect. However, a judge or jury may still impose a death sentence on a defendant.

Lacey, the mother of Zirko's two children, was shot and stabbed more than 40 times. Ballog was shot several times. At the time of her death, Lacey had an order of protection against Zirko, a former cruise ship pianist, who killed the women in part so that he could cash in on their life insurance policies, authorities said.

Judge Timothy Chambers sentenced Zirko to 30 years for his conviction of solicitation to commit murder. Authorities say Zirko tried to hire several people, including a Palatine chiropractor, to hurt or kill Lacey.