Trial Of Woman Involved In Joliet Double Murder Begins
By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 4, 2014 10:00PM
Bethany McKee (Photo via Will County Sheriff's Office)
Bethany McKee, 20, was charged along with Alisa Massaro, 20, Joshua Miner, 26, and Adam Landerman, 21, of murdering Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover, both 22, last year. McKee and Massaro are alleged to have lured the two back to Massaro’s home to party. When Rankins and Glover arrived, the women left the room for Landerman and Miner to kill the two men. When police arrived at the scene, they found three of the suspects still playing video games, the bodies of Glover and Rankins face-down with plastic bags covering their heads. Police also reported Miner and Massaro had sex on top of the dead bodies. There were also alleged plans to dismember the bodies and keep the teeth of Glover and Rankins as trophies.
Massaro pleaded guilty to lesser charges in May and will testify against the other three. She’s currently serving a 10-year sentence for concealing a homicide and robbery. Will County prosecutors, in their opening statements Monday, alleged McKee, who was living along with her 15-month-old with Massaro, helped concoct the plot because she knew Glover carried a lot of money on him.
The murder netted McKee, Massaro, Miner and Landerman $120. McKee’s attorney, Chuck Bretz, will argue during the trial that no evidence will be presented showing McKee harmed Glover or Rankins, that McKee’s statement to police falls “woefully short” of helping to dispel reasonable doubt, and that Massaro’s testimony cannot be considered reliable. A friend of McKee’s, Jennifer Ortega, read Facebook messages aloud on the witness stand Monday where McKee fretted about her need for money. Bretz objected to those, as well as messages dated Jan. 10, the date of the murder. The latter were not read in court.
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