Man Helped Girlfriend, 12, Slay Family

A jury convicted Canadian man Friday of helping his 12-year-old girlfriend kill her mother, father and younger brother, after her parents expressed disapproval over their relationship.

The panel deliberated about 11 hours before finding Jeremy Steinke, 25, guilty on three counts of first-degree murder.

The girlfriend, now 15, was earlier convicted on the same charges, making her the youngest Canadian ever to be found guilty in a multiple killing.

The girl, who is currently serving a 10-year sentence, cannot be named under Canada's youth criminal laws.

According to testimony, Steinke helped the girl stab to death her parents because they disapproved of the 10-year age gap between the couple's ages. Her 8-year-old brother was also killed.

Friends testified that in the days before the crime in April 2006, the 23-year-old Steinke was worried his girlfriend would leave him if he didn't help get rid of them. Prosecutors said love letters exchanged online provided evidence of the pact.

Prosecutor Ramona Robins suggested the crimes were loosely based on Steinke's favorite movie "Natural Born Killers," a twisted love story about a pair of young serial killers.