If you’re unfamiliar with the tale of the Starved Rock killer, gather round and listen close, because the man convicted for the murder of three women nearly 60 years ago is about to be let free. It’s best if you know the full story about what happened and how this crime got attached to Chester Weger. Scroll on for more details.
Starved Rock State Park in north-central Illinois is known as the state’s most popular state park and sees millions of visitors each year, yet few know about the horrific murders that took place here just 60 years ago.
Wikimedia Commons/Chris Light
To be fair, this state park does get its name from a gruesome history. In the 17th century, a group of Native Indians were surrounded at a rock fortress where most died of starvation and those who tried to flee were slaughtered.
Wikimedia Commons/Yinan Chen
A couple of centuries later, on March 14, 1960, the bodies of Lillian Oetting, Frances Murphy, and Mildred Lindquist were found in the St. Louis Canyon, which is one of the park’s most popular wonders that hikers love to explore.
flickr/Curtis Abert The bodies had belonged to three women from Chicago who were staying at the lodge and who had gone on a snowy hike after enjoying a meal in the dining room. They left with binoculars and a small camera to watch birds and enjoy the lovely day.
The bodies were horribly brutalized and tied up with cords or twine that were from the kitchen. Once word started to get out about the incident, tourist traffic at the lodge and park began to plummet.
flickr/Curtis Abert
It took investigators months to come up with a case to explain what might have happened to the three women between the time they left the lodge and their demise as well as who had done it. Eventually, it was determined that the Starved Rock killer was Chester Otto Weger.
pxfuel Weger worked as a dishwasher at the lodge, and when investigators questioned him, they thought his face turned pale. He was then given a series of tests, all of which he failed. Investigators looked into Weger’s past and found evidence that allowed them to convict him of attempted rape and robbery, which they used to attain a confession.
Weger was sentenced to life in prison at the age of 22. He was placed in the Statesville Penitentiary in Joliet and was later moved to Illinois River Correctional Center in Canton.
flickr/Arturo Hurtado
Weger is now 80 years old and known as the person to be serving the longest amount of time in the state of Illinois. He has been seeking parole since 1972, and after his 24th attempt, it was granted by the Illinois Prisoner Review Board by a vote of 9-4.
Google/Joe Ralphs But what does 60 years in prison do to a person? Let us hope that America’s convictions have not created that which it was trying to prevent. Though Weger was granted parole in late November, he has to wait 90 days before his release, and he will likely be evaluated as a sexual offender.
For more like this, check out the stories behind these eight famous homicides that happened in Illinois.
Wikimedia Commons/Chris Light
Wikimedia Commons/Yinan Chen
flickr/Curtis Abert
The bodies had belonged to three women from Chicago who were staying at the lodge and who had gone on a snowy hike after enjoying a meal in the dining room. They left with binoculars and a small camera to watch birds and enjoy the lovely day.
pxfuel
Weger worked as a dishwasher at the lodge, and when investigators questioned him, they thought his face turned pale. He was then given a series of tests, all of which he failed. Investigators looked into Weger’s past and found evidence that allowed them to convict him of attempted rape and robbery, which they used to attain a confession.
flickr/Arturo Hurtado
Google/Joe Ralphs
But what does 60 years in prison do to a person? Let us hope that America’s convictions have not created that which it was trying to prevent. Though Weger was granted parole in late November, he has to wait 90 days before his release, and he will likely be evaluated as a sexual offender.
Had you ever heard of the Starved Rock killer? Share your theory with us below in the comments.
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Address: Starved Rock State Park, 2678 E 875th Rd, Oglesby, IL 61348, USA
