Police Have Person Of Interest In Joliet's Triple Murder Says Police Chief

JOLIET, IL - Joliet's Police Department is making strides in the Great Falls Drive triple murder probe, police chief Brian Benton said. On Friday, Benton told Joliet Patch that investigators have developed a "person of interest" related to the September 7 triple homicide in Joliet's Cumberland subdivision near County Line Road. But Benton emphasized the investigation still needs to make more progress before an arrest is made.

"We still continue to actively investigate that, and we have identified a person of interest," Benton said. "We are making progress albeit not as quickly as we would like ... we don't have enough probable cause at this point to make an arrest. Right now we need to solidify that lead. We need more evidence."

In all likelihood, the Great Falls Drive killer had roughly a half-day's lead time before the Joliet Police Department first learned about the triple murders in the 2000 block of Great Falls Drive. Police were called to the scene around 3 p.m. that Thursday afternoon. Police discovered there had been a party at the home that previous night. The weekday murders happened during the middle of the night while the rest of the neighborhood slept. The killings occurred inside the family home of murder victim Anthony McGee, 22, the ex-con who just got out of the Illinois Department of Corrections months earlier. The two other murder victims were Gabriella M. Rueda, 22, of West Chicago, and Manny Hernandez, 22, of Plainfield.

All three homicide victims died from multiple gunshots.

From the Joliet chief's perspective, the last thing his police department wants to do is make a hasty arrest and then have the case fall apart at the Will County Courthouse. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

"You have to be confident that the charges will stand," Benton said. "We are working with the State's Attorney's Office to make sure that all of the work lends itself to making an arrest ... At this point, we don't have enough, and we need more evidence."

Benton said that Joliet's detectives are still piecing together information related to the circumstances and events that unfolded in the McGee residence.

"We feel people are out there that know more, and we'd like them to share more information with us. "Obviously, if people have information, please call us," the chief said.

As far as whether authorities have located the murder weapon, Benton isn't ready to divulge that at this stage. "I'm not going to talk about any of the evidence at this point," he said.

Benton stopped short of calling the person a suspect, adding that his agency is continuing to examine all of the forensic evidence.

"That's why I am not willing to say he's a suspect at this point," the police chief said.

The Joliet Police Department spent several days processing the murder scene and recovering clues from around the McGee family's yard and inside the home.

"A lot of forensic evidence still needs to be examined and processed," Benton said. "We are processing forensic evidence and that's part of the investigation.

"We do not have a suspect," the chief stressed. "We have a person of interest because I'm not ready to consider him a suspect as of yet."

Related:

• Three Murdered Inside Joliet Home
• Coroner IDs 3 Gunshot Victims
• Funeral GoFundMe For Murder Victim Manny Hernandez
• Triple Murder Probe Still Hasn't Interviewed All Party Guests

Images via Joliet Patch Editor John Ferak