30 years later, one of suburbs grisliest murders remains unsolved

A well-being check would shatter officer Ron Harper's perception of Hoffman Estates as a sleepy, suburban farm community.

The night of Jan. 11, 1979, the young cop and his partner were dispatched to an unusually still Teets farmhouse. No lights were on. No answer at the door. And perhaps most chilling: no sign of the four guard dogs.

Together with Earl Teets Jr., the concerned 36-year-old son who called police, they broke down the door. The grim finding: Teets father, mother and brother, all shot to death.

"It still haunts me," said Harper, 57, who retired a lieutenant in 2001 and now teaches criminal justice at Rockford's Rasmussen College. "And it sent shock waves through the area."

The murders of Earl Teets Sr., his wife Elizabeth, and their son Gary happened 30 years ago this week and rank among the Northwest suburbs' grisliest unsolved crimes. But with last year's formation of the Cook County Sheriff's Office Cold Case Squad, the case has been resurrected - or at least put back on detectives' radar.

Simple farm folk

The weathered, century-old farmhouse on 200 acres near Higgins and Shoe Factory roads in then-unincorporated Cook County was secluded but bustled with activity.

The elder Teets worked as a heavy equipment operator. He also farmed, raised cattle and stored towed vehicles there.

"There was a lot of traffic in and out. "You could get several people a day coming for their car or to buy a duck or turkey," said Earl Jr., who lived in Elgin at the time of the killings and now lives in Hampshire. He has rarely spoken publicly about the slayings.

Because the lot was visible from the road and a popular target for vandals, Teets Sr. set up a bell that rang inside the house whenever someone pulled in. He also kept guard dogs so scary that even friends and family would wait in their cars until Elizabeth or Earl Sr. secured them.

It was the dogs' absence that made Earl Jr.'s stomach sink.

His 35-year-old brother Gary's fiance, Marlene Manke, had called to say no one answered the door despite dinner plans. Blackie, a German shepherd, was found shot to death in the living room near Elizabeth, 60, and Gary. Earl Sr., also 60, was facedown a few feet away in the kitchen. The other dogs were locked in a shed and bedroom.

"Whoever it was knew they had to put away the dogs," said Sharon, Earl Jr.'s wife. "Mom Teets had a calming effect on them but no one else knew what they'd do."

Police at the time speculated robbery could be a motive, in part because Earl Sr. had recently sold 100 black angus cattle. The house wasn't ransacked, but Earl Sr.'s wallet was stolen and a few drawers dumped on the bed. Yet the $6,000 in cash stuffed into a sock was undisturbed, as were dozens of expensive figurines.

In 1980, now-retired Lt. Frank Braun told the Daily Herald he felt he knew who the killer was, but there was no "physical evidence, such as fingerprints, that links the suspect to the scene." When the Herald revisited the case in 1993, Braun said an unnamed man who had refused to take a lie-detector test and borrowed money from the Teets remained a suspect.

Earl Jr. said the dogs made it impossible for anyone to sneak into the house. There was no forced entry. His father owned guns, and there doesn't seem to have been a struggle.

He's sure the killer, or killers, knew the family.

"I can't see him letting in just anyone," he said.

Beyond that certainty, what happened remains a mystery.

Overshadowed

Two of the year's biggest stories hampered the Teets investigation.

Flurries began to fall shortly after the bodies were discovered. Four days later, nearly 20 inches of snow blanketed the ground, ranking the blizzard of 1979 among the biggest in Chicago history. Authorities could barely navigate the rural roads to the farm, let alone conduct a thorough search of the property.

Also at the time of the Teets murders, the nation watched in horror as John Wayne Gacy's victims were excavated from his suburban Norwood Park home. The serial killer was convicted of slaying 33 young men between 1972 and 1978. Earl Teets Jr. said he was told that the Cook County Sheriff's office, which led the probe, couldn't free up any more investigators.

By the time winter came around again, the Teets property had been leveled. Four fires in September and October destroyed the family's vacant farmhouse, barns, sheds, chicken coop and any evidence that may have been overlooked. The blazes were ruled arson. None was ever solved.

'They've gotten away with it'

Following a tireless, eight-month investigation, Earl Jr. and Sharon Teets were told hundreds of interviews and leads were exhausted and the trail had gone cold.

"It was heartbreaking to hear that," said Sharon.

She used to ask for ID when answering the door, terrified the killer would come after them. She's angry her two children grew up without their grandparents.

"Whoever it is has gotten away with it," she said. "It's not fair."

Still, the Teets family has been fortunate in other ways. In 1998, Earl and Sharon won $26 million in the lottery. They stayed in the modest ranch home they built and say they're comforted knowing their family will be secure.

They're encouraged by news of Cook County's new cold case unit, which will give the Teets murders an "extensive review," said spokeswoman Penny Mateck, though she couldn't say exactly when.

"A different detective with a fresh set of eyes always brings new ideas when they review a cold case," Sheriff Thomas Dart said, "and we never know when that one new thing will be the impetus that helps break a case wide open."

Authorities never shared with Earl Teets Jr. the name of the suspect or the evidence they collected. He doesn't believe there's anything that would benefit from today's DNA technology.

"You always hold out hope someone will be held accountable somewhere down the line," he said.

Adds his wife: "At the very least, the good Lord will judge them."

The Cook County Sheriff's Cold Case Squad

The squad was established a year ago to probe unsolved murders and manned by two tenured detectives. There are more than 100 cold cases on file in Cook County, and each are being given at minimum a cursory review. A cold case murder is one that remains unsolved after more than a year.

Since its formation, the squad's work has led to arrests in three cases, two almost as old as the Teets' slayings:

• 1980 murder of Edwin Milo Gulbransen, 11, found in Bremen Township forest preserve

• 1981 murder of Dawn Niles, 15, found in Palos Township forest preserve

• 2006 murder of Robert Falls Sr., 51, found in Calumet Township forest preserve.

To pass along tips, which can be anonymous, call (708) 786-2586.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related documents</h2> <ul class="morePdf"> <li><a href="/pdf/Jan121979.pdf">Daily Herald front page, Jan. 12, 1979</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>