Convictions upheld for man guilty of killing 5 in family

BEASON, Ill. (AP) - An appellate court has upheld the convictions of a man for fatally beating five members of his ex-wife's family in their central Illinois home

The Fourth District Appellate Court last week denied the appeal of 35-year-old Christopher Harris. He's serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for killing Ruth and Rick Gee and three of their children in Beason on Sept. 21, 2009.

The State Journal-Register reports (http://bit.ly/1T1aLvA0 ) Harris argued the trial court erred in refusing to admit 2007 statements from the Gees saying they worried about violent outbursts by a son, 14-year-old Dillen Constant. Constant also as beaten to death.

The ruling found the trial court was within its discretion to exclude the statements since they occurred long before the killings and weren't against any specific people.

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Information from: The State Journal-Register, http://www.sj-r.com