JEFFERSON COUNTY — A Jefferson County jury deliberated approximately four hours Tuesday before finding a 27-year-old Chicago man guilty on all counts involved in the 2015 murder of a Mt. Vernon woman and the arson of her home.

Steven Murphy didn’t take the stand in his own defense, with the jury being handed the case just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, after more than a week of testimony from both the defense and prosecution.

Murphy was convicted of strangling Tamara Malin to death in June 2015, before setting her house on fire with her body inside. The defense admitted he was guilty of residential arson, but argued Malin was already dead at the time of the fire and blamed Malin’s death on one of Murphy’s friends.

Prosecutors delivered evidence placing Murphy at the Malin home at the time of the murder and fire, as well as placing him in contact with Malin’s body, and a jailhouse confession testified to by a former inmate.

The trial faced one hurdle, when a juror was dismissed for allegedly speaking with a family member of Malin.

Murphy was initially charged in 2015 with aggravated arson and residential arson for the June 28, 2015 fire at Malin’s 301 Harrison Street home before being charged with her murder. He is scheduled to be sentenced October 18 for Class X felony aggravated arson, Class 1 felony residential arson, and two counts first-degree murder.