Michael Stone was found guilty for the second time yesterday of the murders of Lin and Megan Russell and the attempted murder of Josie Russell, months after his original conviction was quashed.
After more than 10 hours' deliberation, a jury at Nottingham Crown Court reached a 10-2 majority guilty verdict and Stone was given three life sentences.
Sentencing Stone, Mr Justice Poole told him he had been convicted of "three terrible crimes". In a statement released by his solicitors, Mr Shaun Russell said his daughter Josie had smiled and replied, "Oh, that's good," when told of the verdict.
Mr Russell said he felt relieved and hoped his family could look forward to a more settled life. Significantly, he expressed his "sorrow" for Stone and said he had sympathy for his family.
"It seems unlikely that Josie and I will ever have the consolation of an admission of guilt or a sign of remorse from the person who carried out the murders," he added. "However, nothing can bring back my wife Lin and daughter Megan, and so we must face the future with hope as they would have wanted, and not with bitterness."
The second trial turned on the truth of claims that Stone, who had a previous conviction for attacking a man with a hammer, had confessed to the killings, even though there was no forensic evidence linking him to the scene of the crime.
In 1998, Stone was convicted and given three life sentences for the murders and attempted murder, based mainly on the evidence of three witnesses who claimed he confessed in various ways to attacking the family with a hammer as they walked their dog near their home in Kent in 1996.
The conviction was quashed on appeal in February three years after a witness from the original trial, Barry Thompson, admitted telling a "pack of lies" and the prosecution's key witness, Damien Daley, retracted parts of his evidence.
Thompson's statement had supported Daley's claim that while on remand at Canterbury prison, Stone had told him "a horror story" about tying people up and smashing their heads. Instead of freeing Stone, the Appeal Court ordered a second trial to test Daley's evidence.
Outside the court, Stone's solicitor, Mr Derek Hayward, said Stone maintained his innocence and that in the event of new evidence emerging he would appeal against the conviction. Stone's sister Barbara insisted British justice had "let the family down", insisting he could never expect a fair trial because of the publicity surrounding the case. She vowed to "fight on" to secure her brother's release.