YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - A verdict is reached in the triple murder trial of James Ferrara, a case some people once wondered would ever be solved.

At 1:15 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the jury informed the court that after four hours of deliberations a verdict had been reached.

Ferrara was brought into court to hear the decision. Guilty on all three counts of aggravated murder for the 1974 killings of Ben Marsh, his wife Marilyn and their four-year old daughter Heather in their Turner Road home in Canfield Township.

The case hinged on fingerprints taken from the crime scene 39 years ago that matched Ferrara when they were resubmitted to a computerized database in 2009. Prosecutors say it was stronger evidence than DNA

"Three clear fingerprints on that back door that could have come from no one else but him and it's on the door that was broken into at the house, so that is the best evidence," said Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa

Patrick Mondora, one of the detectives who reopened the case in 2009, feels there's no disputing the matching prints.  "That's specific to one person and one person only that fingerprint," Mondora said.

Frank Boyle, who was the best friend of Ben Marsh, traveled from Atlanta to testify at the trial about finding the victims bodies in 1974. He was in court for the verdict.

Boyle said, "It's been a long time, I was always praying that this day would come."

Several members of the Marsh family attended the trial and say they are grateful for all the work and support of the prosecutors and the detectives who made this day possible.

"We never gave up and neither have these special men of the cold case or whatever they call them nowadays, have never given up on us," said Joan Marsh.

Ferrara, who already is serving a prison sentence for a double-murder in 1983, is facing a possible life sentence for his conviction in the Marsh slayings.