For veteran Joliet Police Officer Richard Goepper, the murder of Minooka 18-year-old Danielle McTee was a case that never left him-day or night.
“I used to wake up at night thinking about her,” said Goepper. “Even when I was working on other cases, I always came back to this one. I have two teenaged daughters. This case was always very close to me.”
McTee, who had just graduated from the Illinois Math and Science Academy in Aurora and was getting ready to go to the posh Williams College in Massachusetts, was shot to death last Aug. 10 while on a lunch break from her summer job at a Joliet bank.
Police say that McTee was robbed of between $10 to $15.
Now, more than six months after the killing, a Joliet man with an extensive criminal and gang record has been charged with McTee’s murder.
Jason Feltus, 20, was being held Wednesday on a $2.4 million bond after being indicted by a Will County grand jury in the murder.
Feltus, who also is charged with armed robbery, could be sentenced to death if convicted.
Feltus was in jail on an unrelated charge when a fellow inmate told police that he was in a waiting car and saw Feltus kill the woman.
Police say that McTee probably never met the man accused of her murder.
“It was just a crime of opportunity,” Sgt. Robert Kelly said.
Her body, with a bullet wound to the back of the head, was found in the basement stairwell of St. Edward the Martyr Episcopal Church across the street from the bank. Friends say she often ate her lunch on the shady lawn on the north side of the church.
“This was the kind of crime that the average citizen does not believe can happen,” said Will County State’s Atty. James Glasgow. The murder took place in broad daylight in a relatively crime-free area on Joliet’s west side.
This was the first time Goepper, a 14-year veteran, had been put in charge of a murder case after coming over from the narcotics division.
“We must have talked to thousands of people and generated more than 1,000 pages of investigation reports,” said Goepper. “At one time we had what we thought were 11 to 12 good suspects and we had to investigate them all.”
Immediately after the killing, the Police Department was swamped with calls and every tip, no matter how unusual, had to be checked out. The case file, which never left Goepper’s desk, began to grow.
One week after the killing, police set up a roadblock at Midland and Campbell Avenues, the location of both the bank and the church.
“We stopped everyone and asked about 800 people over a three-hour span if they drove past that area on Aug. 10 and, if so, what they recalled,” said Kelly.
But nothing came of it.
Later, the bank offered a $25,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of McTee’s killer. But no one called, said Kelly.
After a week on the case, Goepper was given other investigations. However, he said, he never wanted to let go of the McTee file.
Meanwhile, Feltus, an admitted gang member, was involved in a series of crimes. Already on probation for a shooting, Feltus was arrested early Feb. 15 after he allegedly held a gun to his girlfriend’s head during a domestic quarrel.
That day he was charged with aggravated unlawful entry and unlawful use of a weapon by a felon. He also was accused of armed robbery by allegedly stealing a radio. His bond was set at $40,000.
Goepper was told the same day that another inmate knew something about the McTee killing.
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“We knew Feltus was in jail,” said Goepper. “We now had to find the evidence against him. “
There were search warrants executed and statements taken. The dominoes were tumbling quickly now.
According to Glasgow, who insisted the crime was gang-related because the defendant and his friends were all gang members, there are now two witnesses who can place Feltus at the scene of the crime.
Just before noon, Feltus and three other alleged gang members were in a car near the bank entrance. Police speculate that they may have been looking for someone to rob.
The McTee family, silent since the death of their daughter, was not available for comment Wednesday.