Friday, May 10, 2013
The mother of Adam Landerman's baby daughter sobbed as she left a court hearing establishing the alleged killer's paternity.
Three months before Adam Landerman and three of his pals were charged with a grisly, nightmarish double murder on Hickory Street, a young woman from Lockport accused him of fathering her child. On Friday morning, Landerman, 19, learned he is the father of a 1-year-old. Judge Brian Barrett said a DNA test performed on Landerman in the Will County jail "came back 99.9 percent you're the father." Landerman was taken in chains from the jail so he could attend the hearing. The child's mother, Tiffany A. Rachal, sobbed as she left the courtroom after finding out Landerman is the father of her child. A woman embraced Rachal in the courthouse hallway but declined to discuss the revelation. "We're not interested in commenting today," said the woman…
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Lawyers argued about whether to unseal the files for the four young people charged with the Nightmare on Hickory Street double murder.
The lawyer for one of the four young people charged with the Nightmare on Hickory Street double murder urged the judge presiding over the case to keep court files sealed and out of the public eye. "No right ranks higher than the right of the accused to a fair trial," attorney Joel Murphy told Judge Gerald Kinney during a Tuesday morning hearing at the Will County Courthouse. Murphy represents Bethany McKee, 18, of Shorewood, who was charged with the murders of Eric Glover and Terrance Rankins, both 22, in January. Along with McKee, prosecutors charged three of her friends—Joshua Miner, 24, Adam Landerman, 19, and Alisa Massaro, also 19. Judge Kinney sealed the case files shortly after Patch ran a series of stories on the killings. The …
Thursday, May 2, 2013
The Department of Children and Family Services wants to subject the 18-month-old daughter of alleged Hickory Street killer Bethany McKee to a naked examination to see if she has been abused.
The parents of one of the four alleged Hickory Street killers have refused to let the Department of Children and Family Services strip their granddaughter naked for an examination, and the agency now wants a Will County judge to order them to hand the child over. But Judge Paula Gomora wouldn't go along with the DCFS bid to strip-check the 18-month-old daughter of Bethany McKee. Gomora said DCFS failed to provide any information about the abuse allegations they are investigating. "Maybe that's what I'm supposed to be, the rubber stamp so you can gain entry, but I'm not convinced from what's been provided that that's what I'm supposed to be," the judge told DCFS attorney Cynthia Gonzalez. "You have to give me at least something to hang my …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
A man charged with battering the pregnant ex-girlfriend of alleged Hickory Street killer Joshua Miner is supposed to stay away from her while he is on probation.
Ivon Walsh claimed she lost three unborn babies while enduring abuse at the hands alleged Hickory Street killer Joshua Miner, but Miner was never charged with harming her. Walsh then said a later boyfriend, 22-year-old Brandon Haggerty, "made (her) miscarry" a fourth time when he beat her in July, and for that Haggerty was sentenced to a year's probation. Haggerty, a Plainfield resident, pleaded guilty just before he was to stand trial Thursday on charges of aggravated battery to a pregnant woman and domestic battery. As part of his probation, Haggerty was ordered to stay away from Walsh. While the indictment and complaint against Haggerty mention nothing of Walsh having a miscarriage after the attack, and he did not admit to it in his …
Friday, April 19, 2013
The former girlfriend of one of the alleged Hickory Street killers says she has suffered abuse at the hands of another man.
Court papers with claims of torture and intimidation filed against one of the four alleged Hickory Street killers by a former girlfriend read like a horror story. Now the same woman who told of escaping with her life from a relationship with a "serial killer" says she has been viciously abused again, this time by another lover. Ivon Walsh, 26, filed a petition for an order of protection against the man she identified as her current boyfriend, 22-year-old Brandon Haggerty of Plainfield. "Brandon made me miscarry," Walsh wrote in her petition, which includes allegations that Haggerty threw away her coffee, choked her, banged her head off a wall, threatened to have her family's house in Joliet blown up, and held a knife to her throat. Walsh …
Saturday, April 13, 2013
One of the four charged in the Nightmare on Hickory Street double murder case is getting $5,000 from the county for an expert witness.
One of the four young people charged with the brutal Nightmare on Hickory Street double murder case has been represented by no less than three private attorneys since she was arrested, but is now getting $5,000 to hire an expert witness. One of the three lawyers working for 18-year-old Bethany McKee of Shorewood convinced Judge Gerald Kinney that the county should cover the cost of a doctor to observe DNA testing. Prosecutors argued that McKee is being represented by private attorneys, but one of her lawyers, Neil Patel, countered that no one has established that he or his colleagues are actually getting paid. Kinney capped the county's payout at $5,000, and if McKee's lawyers want more money, they will have to appear before him and make …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
One of the four jailed in connection with the Nightmare on Hickory Street double murders is getting $5,000 from the county to hire an expert witness.
One of the four young people charged with brutal murdering two men from Joliet is getting $5,000 to hire an expert witness—courtesy of the county. Bethany McKee, 18, of Shorewood, got the go-ahead from Judge Gerald Kinney to pay a doctor to observe DNA testing when it is conducted at the Illinois State Police crime lab. McKee is represented by a team of private attorneys—two of whom were on hand for the Wednesday morning hearing before Judge Kinney. Will County Assistant State's Attorney Marie Czech argued that if McKee can afford all those lawyers she should have to pay for her expert witnesses as well. "She is paying for private counsel and asking the state to pay for an expert, as if she is an indigent," Czech said. But one of McKee's …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
A defense attorney in the Nightmare on Hickory Street double murder wanted a special prosecuctor appointed and a hearing convened to ferret out a leak, but for now he won't get either one of those things.
A series of stories about the Nightmare on Hickory Street double murder published exclusively by Patch revealed so many disturbing details that a defense attorney wants a special prosecutor appointed and a special hearing held to "determine who the culprit is here." But defense lawyer Chuck Bretz is getting neither of those things—at least for now. Will County Judge Gerald Kinney said Wednesday that he may revisit the issue of a special evidentiary hearing but that he isn't going to order one yet. Bretz and the other attorneys representing two young men and two young women charged with brutal murders of Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover, both 22, backed off on their request for a special prosecutor. The defense attorneys for Adam Landerman…
Monday, March 18, 2013
The toxicology tests performed on the two men found slain in a Hickory Street house showed marijuana in one man's system and nothing illegal in the body of the other man.
The four young people charged in the double murder on Hickory Street reportedly told police they binged on drugs and alcohol the night of the killings and into the next day. But the two murdered men—targeted because one was supposedly a drug dealer known to carry lots of cash—were almost clean on postmortem drug tests. Murder victim Eric Glover, 22, had no illegal drugs of any kind in his system, according to a toxicology report obtained by Patch. Testing performed on his close friend and fellow victim, Terrance Rankins, also 22, showed signs of marijuana, said the toxicology report. Rankins positive result "derives from a presumptive test," the toxicological report stated. A confirmatory test was recommended. One of the two women charged…
Saturday, March 16, 2013
A young man charged with stabbing his mother and dumping her in a ditch was sent to jail on a $2 million bond—and more! On this week's Court Supervision.
You only have one mother, and no matter what, you shouldn't strangle her, stuff her in the back of your car, stab her and leave her in a ditch in Crete. But that's exactly what the police say a man did a couple weeks ago. Blake Springsteen, 22, was charged with attempted murder in connection with an alleged March 4 attack on his 46-year-old mother, Jennifer Springsteen, in their home outside Flossmoor. On Wednesday, Cook County Judge Brian Flaherty set Blake Springsteen's bond at $2 million. That was interesting, but far from the only thing going on in court last week. In Joliet, we had the judge in the Nightmare on Hickory Street double murder case continuing to keep the court file sealed not once, but twice. Over in Bridgeview, a Burr …
Ruby
11:53 pm on Sunday, May 19, 2013
People Who Talk Shit About A Baby Your Life Must B Real Shitting Or There Something Wrong With U Stupid Ass's more ›