Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
LaSalle County Deputy Sheriff William Dummett, sitting, and Sheriff Ray Eutsey, right, look at a film taken by the Rev. Aubrey W. Heflin, left, as he describes the film March 29, 1960. Heflin had been sightseeing at the park on the day the three women were killed.
![Sgt. W. T. Hall and a trooper walk on a...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
Sgt. W. T. Hall and a trooper walk on a path that leads to St. Louis Canyon at Starved Rock State Park on March 17, 1960.
![Boots and broken eye glasses were found in the snow...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
Boots and broken eye glasses were found in the snow just outside a cave at the base of St. Louis Canyon where three bodies were found on March 16, 1960, at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois.
![Men carry a body through a snowy path from a...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
Men carry a body through a snowy path from a cave in St. Louis Canyon where three bodies were found on March 16, 1960, at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois.
![Nicholas Spiros, 64, center, manager of Starved Rock, put up...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
Nicholas Spiros, 64, center, manager of Starved Rock, put up a $5,000 reward for clues in the murder of three women in the state park. William H. Morris, the chief of Illinois State Police, is second from right, and the others are reporters at the lodge on March 18, 1960.
![Defense attorney John A. McNamara, left, talks to his client...]()
Arnold Tolchin / Chicago Tribune
Defense attorney John A. McNamara, left, talks to his client Chester Weger, center, during a recess in the murder trial Jan. 30, 1961, in Ottawa, Ill. Sheriff Ray Eutsey is walking behind them.
![Chester Weger, center, visits with his daughter Becky, 3, and...]()
Arnold Tolchin/Chicago Tribune
Chester Weger, center, visits with his daughter Becky, 3, and wife, Jo Ann, during a noon recess at his trial for the murder of three women at Starved Rock State Park, Jan. 30, 1961.
![Chester Weger is photographed by prison guard W.E. Woodward as...]()
Steve Marino / Chicago Tribune
Chester Weger is photographed by prison guard W.E. Woodward as Weger enters the Joliet Prison on April 4, 1961.
![Robert W. Lindquist, whose wife Mildred was killed in Starved...]()
Ed Wagner Sr. / Chicago Tribune
Robert W. Lindquist, whose wife Mildred was killed in Starved Rock State Park, sits with their daugthers Gloria Daily, left, and Nancy Temple, right, holding her daughter Patricia Temple, 6 months, on March 26, 1960. This photo was taken at the family's home in Riverside.
![The scene near a cave in St. Louis Canyon at...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
The scene near a cave in St. Louis Canyon at Starved Rock State Park where the bodies of three women were found on March 16, 1960. The women had been missing for two days.
![Chester Weger takes questions from the media on Feb. 21,...]()
Isaac Smith / Chicago Tribune
Chester Weger takes questions from the media on Feb. 21, 2020 immediately after being released from the Pinckneyville Correctional Center in Pinckneyville, Ill. He spent about six decades in prison for the murder of three women in Starved Rock State Park in 1960.
![A foot-by-foot search is conducted of St. Louis Canyon by...]()
Tom Kinahan / Chicago Tribune
A foot-by-foot search is conducted of St. Louis Canyon by state police and conservation workers on April 2, 1960. The team was looking for more clues in the triple murder that occurred the month before.
![Sgt. W. T. Hall of the state police shows the...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
Sgt. W. T. Hall of the state police shows the twine that was wrapped around the wrists of two of the three Riverside women slain in Starved Rock State Park in March 1960.
![On a map of Starved Rock State Park, LaSalle County...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
On a map of Starved Rock State Park, LaSalle County Sheriff Ray Eutsey points to St. Louis Canyon, where the bodies of the three women were found. Behind Eutsey on March 29, 1960, is the Rev. Aubrey Heflin, a traveling minister from Des Moines, Iowa, who was sightseeing at the park the day the murders occurred about a week earlier.
![The lodge in which the three women were staying at...]()
Chicago Tribune historical photo
The lodge in which the three women were staying at Starved Rock State Park is seen March 16, 1960.
![Broken binoculars and a camera case belonging to one of...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
Broken binoculars and a camera case belonging to one of the slain women is held by Craig Armstrong, assistant LaSalle County prosecutor, in March 1960.
![Men carry a body through a snowy path from the...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
Men carry a body through a snowy path from the cave in St. Louis Canyon where the bodies of three women were found on March 16, 1960, at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois.
![Chester Weger, center, sits next to his defense attorney, John...]()
Arnold Tolchin / Chicago Tribune
Chester Weger, center, sits next to his defense attorney, John A. McNamara, right, during the murder trial Jan. 30, 1961, in Ottawa, Ill. Behind Weger is Deputy Sheriff George Novotney.
![A search is conducted of St. Louis Canyon by state...]()
Tom Kinahan / Chicago Tribune
A search is conducted of St. Louis Canyon by state police and conservation workers April 2, 1960. On the left, in the background, is a waterfall and pond. To the right is the cave where the murder victims were found.
![On his 22nd birthday, Chester Weger, is convicted of the...]()
Jack Mulcahy / Chicago Tribune
On his 22nd birthday, Chester Weger, is convicted of the murder of Lillian Oetting in a LaSalle County courtroom on March 3, 1961. "You never know what Chester is thinking," said his attorney, John A. McNamara. "It's hard to get through to him."
![An Ottawa civilian defense worker uses a weed burner (blow...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
An Ottawa civilian defense worker uses a weed burner (blow torch) to bring out the blood stains in the cave where three bodies were found in St. Louis Canyon at Starved Rock State Park in March 1960.
![Chester Weger's wife, Jo Ann, second from right, sits with...]()
Howard Borvig/Chicago Tribune
Chester Weger's wife, Jo Ann, second from right, sits with relatives, including the sister of Chester Weger, Mary Ann Weger, right, as Jo Ann waits to visit her husband in the LaSalle County Jail on Nov. 16, 1960. Chester has confessed to the Starved Rock killings of three Riverside women last March 14.
![Frances Murphy, from left, Mildred Lindquist and Lillian Oetting, were...]()
Chicago Tribune
Frances Murphy, from left, Mildred Lindquist and Lillian Oetting, were killed at Starved Rock State Park in March 1960.
![The path leading to St. Louis Canyon at Starved Rock...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
The path leading to St. Louis Canyon at Starved Rock State Park in March 1960.
![Chester Weger, 77, during an interview at the Pinkckneyville Correctional...]()
Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune
Chester Weger, 77, during an interview at the Pinkckneyville Correctional Center on Dec. 6, 2016. He was convicted in the 1960 triple homicide of three Riverside women at Starved Rock State Park.
![William Morris, the chief of Illinois State Police, and Sgt....]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
William Morris, the chief of Illinois State Police, and Sgt. W.T. Hall investigate near a cave where three bodies were found in March 1960. "Because of the small amount of blood inside the cave and the large amount outside the cavern, state police theorized the killer may have left the women in the clearing and fled the canyon, returning later to drag the bodies into the cave," the Tribune reported in March 1960.
![A foot by foot search is conducted of St. Louis...]()
Tom Kinahan / Chicago Tribune
A foot by foot search is conducted of St. Louis Canyon and its pond by State Police and conservation workers on April 2, 1960. The team was looking for additional clues in the unsolved murder case of three women from Riverside, Ill.
![Sheriff Ray Eutsey, second from right, leads Chester Weger to...]()
Steve Lasker/Chicago Tribune
Sheriff Ray Eutsey, second from right, leads Chester Weger to the LaSalle County building courtroom as Deputies Wayne Hess, left, and William Dummett, right, accompany him in Ottawa on Nov. 17, 1960.
![Chester Weger, right, shows how he tied the wrists of...]()
Val Mazzenga/Chicago Tribune
Chester Weger, right, shows how he tied the wrists of Lillian Oetting and Mildred Lindquist, enacted by state troopers, during a re-enactment of the triple murder at Starved Rock State Park on Nov. 17, 1960.
![Illinois State Police Superintendent William Morris, left, and LaSalle County State's...]()
Jim Mescall / Chicago Tribune
Illinois State Police Superintendent William Morris, left, and LaSalle County State's Attorney Harland Warren hold a heavy tree branch believed to have been used by the killer of the three Riverside women. The bludgeon, found near the murder scene in St. Louis Canyon, bore stains described as blood. "All three were beaten on the head and face, apparently by savage blows with the tree limb," said John F. Schaich, of the state police crime laboratory.
![Chester Weger, in white jacket, explains during a reenactment how...]()
Joe Mastruzzo/Chicago Tribune
Chester Weger, in white jacket, explains during a reenactment how he murdered the three women and then dragged their bodies into a cave at the bottom of St. Louis Canyon at Starved Rock State Park in November 1960. The murders occurred on March 14, 1960.
LaSalle County Deputy Sheriff William Dummett, sitting, and Sheriff Ray Eutsey, right, look at a film taken by the Rev. Aubrey W. Heflin, left, as he describes the film March 29, 1960. Heflin had been sightseeing at the park on the day the three women were killed.
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Chester Weger wants to clear his name.
He’s the man convicted of the 1960 murders of three women who were found beaten to death in Starved Rock State Park in LaSalle County. Weger spent nearly 60 years in prison and was paroled in February at the age of 80. The court has granted his lawyers the right to have several items from the crime scene tested using DNA technology that was not available at the time of the crime.
An HBO documentary will premiere Tuesday, entitled “The Murders at Starved Rock.” Tribune Critic Nina Metz reviewed the documentary last week.
Read an exhaustive look into Weger’s efforts to clear his name from Jake Malooley published Tuesday in Chicago magazine. Malooley grew up in the area of the murders and has been reporting the story for years.
Take a look back at the Tribune’s coverage of the Starved Rock murders below.
The infamous 1960 Starved Rock killer is free after nearly 60 years in prison
Commentary: What the parole of Chester Weger meant to my family
