Killer in prison for fatal beatings of three women in Illinois state park to be released next week

‘Starved Rock Killer’, 80, is set to be released from prison next week after spending SIXTY years behind bars for beating three grandmothers to death while they were on vacation in an Illinois state park

  • Chester Weger, 80, is known as the Starved Rock Killer, after he accused of beating to death three women vacationing in an Illinois state park in March 1960
  • Weger was convicted and sentenced to life for the beating death of Lillian Oetting, 50, whose remains were found in Starved Rock’s St. Louis Canyon 
  • Also recovered were the bodies of Frances Murphy, 47, and Mildred Lindquist, 50. Weger was not prosecuted for their deaths because of his life sentence 
  • He was finally granted parole in November after making 24 requests for his release, but was held over to ensure that he would not commit an act of sexual
  • His evaluated under the state’s Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act cleared Weger to leave prison on Feb. 21

The man known as the Starved Rock Killer, who was jailed in 1960 for life for beating to death three grandmothers and brutalizing their bodies in the Illinois state park, will be released from prison next week aged 80 after serving 60 years behind bars.  

Chester Weger was 22 when he was arrested for the deaths of Lillian Oetting, 50, Frances Murphy, 47 and Mildred Lindquist, 50.

The women had gone on a winter vacation and were hiking in the Starved Rock State Park when they were attacked. 

Weger was a dishwasher at a nearby lodge at the time. Police connected twine that was found at the crime scene to the same type used at the lodge.  

Initially, he confessed, telling police he killed the women after robbing them.  

Chester Weger, 80, known as the Starved Rock Killer, who was accused of beating to death three women who were vacationing in an Illinois state park in March of 1960, is set to be released on Feb. 21 after serving nearly 60 years of a life sentence

He later recanted his confession, claiming it was coerced, and to this day maintains that he is innocent.

He was convicted of Lilian’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors did not bother charging him with the other two women’s deaths because he was already serving life for Lilian’s murder.   

Weger would have been released sooner after he was granted parole in November, had been held over while he was being evaluated to ensure that he would not commit an act of sexual violence upon his release from prison. 

An evaluation ordered by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul under the state’s Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act cleared Weger and he is now expected to be released on Feb. 21.  

Weger, who suffers from asthma and rheumatoid arthritis, had been the second-longest serving inmate within the Illinois state prisons, the Chicago Tribune reports.  

The body of a victim is carried out of St. Louis Canyon in Starved Rock in March 1960

The body of a victim is carried out of St. Louis Canyon in Starved Rock in March 1960

The bodies of the three Riverside women were found in March 1960. Shaw Media Illinois reports the case confounded investigators until they determined that the cord used to bind the women´s hands matched twine from a spool in the kitchen of the Starved Rock Lodge

The bodies of the three Riverside women were found in March 1960. Shaw Media Illinois reports the case confounded investigators until they determined that the cord used to bind the women´s hands matched twine from a spool in the kitchen of the Starved Rock Lodge

The brutalized bodies of the three victims were found in a cave at the state park after they went on a daytime hike.

The case confounded investigators until they determined that the cord used to bind the women’s hands matched twine from a spool in the kitchen of the Starved Rock Lodge.

The 21-year-old Weger was a dishwasher at the lodge and had a juvenile record.

Weger, pictured after the triple killings, had sought parole since 1972. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board had voted 9-4 to approve Weger's 24th request for release in November.

Weger, pictured after the triple killings, had sought parole since 1972. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board had voted 9-4 to approve Weger’s 24th request for release in November.

Jurors convicted him on March 3, 1961, his 22nd birthday, but only in the Oetting case. The panel declined to sentence him to death, opting for life in prison.

Granddaughters of the slain women have spoken out publicly against his release along with the LaSalle County state’s attorney, reports the Tribune.

However, his supporters insist he poses no threat to public safety. 

Guards at the Pinckneyville Correctional Center where he is serving his life sentence report Weger keeps to himself and doesn’t cause trouble, said parole board officials.

The Illinois Prisoner Review Board had voted 9-4 to approve Weger’s 24th request for release in November.

He had sought parole since 1972.  

 

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