Second Defendant Convicted In Joliet Double Murder
CHICAGO (STMW) -- A Will County judge has found a second defendant guilty of both deaths in a grisly double-murder in Joliet last year.
Joshua Miner, 26, was charged with the murders of Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover, both 22, whose bodies were found by police Jan. 10, 2013 on the second floor of a home at 1121 N. Hickory St.
His sentencing is set for Nov. 12. He faces a mandatory term of life in prison.
When police found the bodies, they also found Miner, who was sitting on a couch and smoking a cigarette, police testified. They said he confessed to killing Rankins, who had been strangled to death along with Glover.
Miner waived his right to a jury trial, so his guilt was decided by Will County Judge Gerald Kinney.
In issuing his verdict, Kinney said the evidence in the case, "viewed as a whole" adequately corroborates the robbery plot, which was crucial to convicting Miner for both murders
After the verdict, Miner's attorney said his client "saw the writing on the wall" and wasn't surprised by the judge's decision.
Also arrested was Adam Landerman, 21, and Bethany McKee and Alisa Massaro, both 20. All four were charged with both murders under the legal theory of accountability.
Prosecutors said the group plotted to rob Rankins and lured both men to Massaro's home on Hickory Street. The plan turned fatal when prosecutors said Miner and Landerman killed Rankins and Glover.
Miner's defense attorneys acknowledged he killed Rankins but said he shouldn't be held accountable for Glover's murder. They argued prosecutors failed to offer any evidence to corroborate Miner's admission to police that the four had planned a robbery.
Avoiding a conviction for both deaths would help Miner escape a life sentence. And the existence of a robbery plot is crucial to holding Miner responsible for two murders. The judge also noted at the end of closing arguments in Miner's trial that "corroboration has become more and more significant over my career."
Such corroborating evidence might have come from Massaro, who avoided a murder conviction by pleading guilty to robbery and to concealing a homicide in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence. She'll be eligible for release in 2018, but she agreed to testify against her friends.
Nonetheless, prosecutors did not call Massaro to testify against Miner. She did testify against McKee, who was convicted by Kinney in August of both murders — even though she wasn't in the room when the men died. She faces a mandatory term of life in prison at her sentencing hearing Oct. 16.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2014. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
