Prosecutor: Ill. double murder victims killed for cash

JOLIET, Ill. - The 2013 slayings of two men in Joliet, Ill., were carried out as part of a plot to steal money, alcohol and cigarettes, a prosecutor told jurors in the trial of one of the suspects on Monday.

In her opening statement for the trial of the first of four suspects in the case, Will County Assistant State's Attorney Tricia McKenna said that while the killers believed one of the victims was known to carry large amounts of cash, when the two were strangled and the killers checked their pockets, they found just $120.

Meanwhile, the attorney for Bethany McKee, Chuck Bretz, said there was no evidence that McKee injured either victim and that the 20-year-old woman should not have been charged with murder, according to the station.

CBS Chicago reports 20-year-old Alisa Massaro has already pleaded guilty to robbery and concealment of a homicidal death and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Joshua Minor, 26, and Adam Landerman, 21, has also been charged and are both awaiting trial.

McKee was one of four people charged in the January 2013 slayings of Terrance Rankins and Eric Glover, both 22. She is the first one to stand trial. Massaro is expected to testify.

"I never been through this before... I don't know what to expect. My son is gone," said Nicole Jones, Eric Glover's mother, reports CBS Chicago.

Prosecutors played a tape of a 911 call that McKee's father made to police after he talked to his daughter. In the tape, according to the newspaper, the father can be heard saying that he asked his daughter if she was involved in the deaths of the two men "and she said yes."

The trial is expected to continue Tuesday. McKee waived her right to a trial by jury, so Will County Judge Gerald Kinney will decide her case.