JOLIET, Ill. — An Illinois man convicted of killing his wife and three children is asking for a new trial, but not solely because of anything that happened in his courtroom — he's blaming the high-profile trial next door.

Christopher Vaughn was convicted of fatally shooting his family so he could start a new life in the Canadian wilderness. His September trial overlapped with the trial of Drew Peterson, the former suburban Chicago police officer convicted of killing his third wife and whose case had been made into a TV movie.

Vaughn's attorney, George Lenard, argues that part of the reason his client didn't get a fair trial was because the press conferences held by Peterson's lawyers outside the courthouse damaged his own credibility as a defense attorney.