Cops Stopped Hickory St Vic & Naked Alleged Killers: Letter

By Joseph Hosey

One of the two men slain in the Nightmare on Hickory Street double murder partied the night before his death with three of his alleged killers—including two who cavorted naked in the back of a van they rode in around town, according to a jailhouse letter penned by one of the accused.

“On January 9, 2013 I Bethany McKee was hanging out drinking alcohol & smoking weed with Alisa Massaro, Adam Landerman, Michael Chobin & Terrance ([I’m] not sure [of] his last name),” begins the letter sent to McKee’s father, Bill McKee, who provided it to Patch.

Bethany McKee, 19, Landerman, 20, and Massaro, 19, along with 25-year-old Joshua Miner, have been jailed on charges of murdering Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover, both 22, on Jan. 10.

After luring Rankins and Glover to Massaro’s home on Hickory Street, Miner and Landerman strangled the two men to death, according to police reports obtained exclusively by Patch. After the killings, Massaro and Miner had sex atop the dead men’s bodies, the reports said. The four then concocted a plan to dismember the corpses of their victims and began procuring supplies, including a blowtorch, to carry out the plan. Miner reportedly intended to keep the dead men’s teeth as trophies.

But the night before that, Bethany McKee said in the letter, Rankins was getting along fine with three of the four who would later be charged with killing him. She wrote about stopping at a liquor store on Larkin Avenue and picking up Landerman at his grandparents’ home on Glenwood Avenue before starting the party at Massaro’s place.

“When we all go to Alisa's house we drank (the) alcohol & smoked (the) marijuana,” said the letter, which detailed how the party continued after the group piled into Bethany McKee’s van to drive Chobin home.

“Aro(und) 12:15 or so we all got in my (mom’)s van me in (the) driver's seat, Terrance in (the) passenger & Alisa, Chobin & Adam naked in (the) back,” the letter said.

On the way back from Chobin’s home, Bethany McKee said the police pulled her over for speeding on Plainfield Road.

“I was speed(ing), going 60 in a 30 & at (the) last minute I took a different turn & (the) police stopped me. I believe there were 3 cop cars in all, no more than 5 but no less than 3,” the letter said.

“When (the) cop first came to my window he asked me why everyone in (the) back was playing hopscotch, then told me he pulled me over for speeding (60 in 30) & asked why I made an illegal turn,” it said. “He then asked for my license & insurance, also (the) others (identification). By this time Alisa had slipped on a pair of my sweat pants and some top I had in (the) back. Another officer came to (the) passenger side back door & opened it. I don't remember for sure if Adam had his I.D. but Alisa didn’t & Terrance did.”

The police had grown suspicious that Bethany McKee, who had been smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol, might be intoxicated, the letter said.

“By this time (the) officer in my window had already asked me 2 times if I was OK & why I was slurring my words which I responded saying that I was nervous,” the letter said. “Me & Terrance spent about 5 minutes going through envelopes trying to find (the) insurance papers which I had found 2 expired ones. He asked me one more time if I’m sure I’m OK to drive, which I answered yes & he told me no more speeding, handed me my ticket & my license back with all our IDs & we left. During (the) time (the) cop was at (the) back passenger door Adam was still naked, mayb(e) had something covering part of his groin area, but there was no reason (I had looked back) why (the) cop could not tell he was naked.”

Joliet Police Officer Arthur Arellano ticketed Bethany McKee for going 63 in a 30 mph zone on Plainfield Road approaching Schriber Avenue at 2:03 a.m. on Jan. 9, according to court records. The ticket includes the notation, “Going 2 Dad’s House.” It makes no mention of anyone naked in the back of the van or anything about passengers at all.

Joliet Police Chief Mike Trafton declined to discuss the traffic stop or the claims in the letter. He cited a gag order issued in response to Patch’s coverage of the case.

Chobin has failed to respond to attempts to contact him about the case.

Rankins’ mother, Jamille Kent, said she called her son early Jan. 9 and he told her he was with a woman named Bethany and that they had been pulled over by the police.

“I called him and asked him where he was at,” Kent said. “He said, ‘I’m with a friend.’ I said, ‘What’s the friend’s name?’ and he just said, ‘Bethany.’”

Kent also said her son explained that he was so late getting home because of the traffic stop.

“He said, ‘I’m on my way. She got stopped by the police,’” Kent recalled.

That’s all Kent knows of any connection between her son and the four charged with killing him.

“I only heard of Bethany the night before,” she said.

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