1960 Starved Rock killer free after nearly 60 years in prison
When Chester Weger went to prison for the infamous 1960 Starved Rock State Park murders, he was a young, wiry backwoodsman with two small children and had accused detectives of framing him.
On Friday morning, he emerged from the prison gates a balding grandfather with dentures and a list of ailments that include asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, still maintaining his innocence.
“They ruined my life,” the 80-year-old Weger said from the front passenger seat of a family minivan. “They locked me up for 60 years for something I’ve never done.”
Though navigating his freedom in today’s world will likely be baffling, Weger said he is excited about what lies ahead.
“It’s been a good day. I’m just glad to be out and to be able to walk around,” he said.
By day’s end, he was expected to be reunited with his children in the Chicago area and then check in at St. Leonard’s Ministries on the Near West Side.
Celeste Stack, one of Weger’s attorneys, described the scene as he walked out of prison.
“It was very emotional and everybody had tears in their eyes. You can tell Chester is tired. He’s been worried the last few days,” said Ms. Stack, who worked on Weger’s case with Andrew Hale. “Rumors had been floating around that things were going to be delayed. I don’t think even Chester believed it until he stepped outside in this cold sunshine this morning.”
Several granddaughters of Weger’s victims have spoken out against his release. But there were no protests or demonstrations outside the prison Friday. Only a few reporters waited to capture the moment.
The scene was far less chaotic than that described in old newspaper clippings the morning after his confession in November 1960 when he re-enacted the crime inside the park before a gaggle of reporters and photographers.
Weger described how eight months earlier, he had bludgeoned three Riverside housewives with a frozen tree branch during a botched robbery attempt after attacking the women during a daytime hike.
Weger was charged with the fatal beatings of Lillian Oetting, 50; Mildred Lindquist, 50; and Frances Murphy, 47. Prosecutors said each woman suffered more than 100 blows. Their brutalized remains were found in a canyon that remains a popular park attraction, framed by a scenic waterfall and 100-foot wall.
The murders made national headlines and the case was considered Illinois’ crime of the century.
Investigators had focused on Weger early on after lodge employees reported seeing scratches on his face, but he passed several lie-detector tests. Authorities believed twine used to bind the women came from the lodge kitchen, where Weger worked as a dishwasher.
Weger, who hiked Starved Rock’s trails as a boy, also fit the description of a young man who bound and raped a teenage girl in a nearby park in 1959.
For months, police followed Weger. Investigators also interviewed him several times, including during an all-night interrogation. He confessed early on Nov. 17, 1960.