Pianist guilty of killing ex-girlfriend, her mom

A Cook County jury has convicted a former cruise ship pianist of brutally stabbing his former girlfriend to death and fatally shooting her mother at a suburban Chicago home.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Steven Zirko in the deaths of 38-year-old Mary Lacey and her mother, 60-year-old Margaret Ballog.

Relatives of the victims cheered and cried as the verdict was announced Wednesday, and one woman was escorted from the courtroom as she yelled, "Yes! Yes!"

The women were found dead in Lacey's Glenview home on Dec. 13, 2004. Lacey had been shot and stabbed more than 40 times, and her mother was shot several times.

Prosecutors alleged the 47-year-old Zirko blamed Lacey for his problems and was looking to cash in on insurance policies on the women.