OTTAWA — The 86-year-old man known as the Starved Rock killer won’t get a new trial.
On Wednesday, Chester Weger lost his bid to have his conviction overturned in the bludgeoning death of one of three women killed in 1960 in Starved Rock State Park.
“Every witness that testified about how the murders occurred did so based on hearsay, and none of the hearsay came from an eyewitness to the murders,” Judge Michael Jansz said in denying Weger’s request.
In March 1960, the bodies of Riverside friends Lillian Oetting, 50, Frances Murphy, 47, and Mildred Linquist, 50, were found outside a cave at Starved Rock State Park after they went on a hike at the popular getaway for Chicagoans about 90 miles southwest of Chicago.
In a sensational trial in 1961, Weger, a dishwasher at a lodge at the park, was found guilty of killing Oetting. Prosecutors said he acted alone.
Weger was paroled in 2020 for good behavior in prison but his conviction wasn’t overturned at the time. He had spent more than 60 years in prison. After his release, his attorneys sought to overturn his conviction with DNA evidence and new witness testimony.
At a hearing in May, Weger’s attorneys presented DNA evidence that a hair found on one of the victims’ gloves belonged to one of three brothers from the area — and not to Weger. They also developed a theory that the women were killed by attackers affiliated with the Chicago Outfit.
The evidence included testimony from Melissa Smith, who said her grandfather, Roy Grizzi, told her that Weger was innocent and he had “registered” the “hits.” She said Grizzi was a mobster, which his daughter disputes. The sister of another man, Harold “Smokey” Wrona, testified that he told her he was paid $25,000 to get friends to help kill the women. Grizzi and Wrona are dead.
On Wednesday, Jansz went point by point through the evidence presented by Weger’s attorneys Andrew Hale and Celeste Stack — and knocked all of it down.
“The testimony by Smith is not reliable because it is based solely on a hearsay statement made by her grandfather that they got the wrong guy,” Jansz said, adding that the details of the Wrona story “don’t make sense” and are hearsay that wouldn’t be admitted at a new trial.
Jansz also discredited the DNA evidence, saying there were “chain of evidence” questions surrounding the tested hair from victim Frances Murphy’s glove because it wasn’t properly stored by the state over the decades.
Recent testing showed the hair was a genetic match to three brothers, one of whom died on March 16, 1960 — the same day the women’s bodies were discovered at Starved Rock State Park, the judge said. He said a deputy coroner could have contaminated Murphy’s glove with a hair from that 60-year-old deceased man, Edward Bray.
“The court finds that this DNA evidence is not sufficiently conclusive for the court to lose confidence in the guilty verdict,” Jansz said.
Almost from the time he confessed to the killings in 1960, Weger has maintained his innocence, saying he was coerced into saying he committed the brutal crimes.
After the ruling, Hale said he believes his client is innocent and will appeal Jansz’ decision.
“The fat lady hasn’t sung yet,” Hale said. “I think we will still ultimately prevail.”
Weger wasn’t able to attend the hearing because he’s unwell but his sister Mary Pruett was there. She says she knows her brother was beaten by law enforcement officials in 1960 because she has a photo of him with a broken nose and bruised lip taken after he was arrested.
“All of these people aren’t liars who came forward,” she said. “It’s LaSalle County that lies and covers up.”
The infamous killings had received renewed national attention because they were subject of an HBO Max documentary that came out in 2021.