Episode 1: The Enduring Mystery of Starved Rock

In the winter of 1960 three women were found brutally murdered in a cave at the Starved Rock State Park. After months of dead ends, a manhunt ensued that ultimately pinned the crime on a 21-year-old dishwasher at the Starved Rock State Park Lodge, Chester Weger. In spite of contradictory physical evidence and under immense pressure from the police, Chester confessed to the crime. He has spent the last 60 years in prison, maintaining his innocence to this day.

We kick off this series with an overview of this convoluted tale and also provide introductions to the two hosts and how they came to be involved with this case.

The team talks about the case itself and some parts that legally cause issues with the conviction, including false confessions, the Brady v. Maryland court case, and an interview with one of the convicting jurors, her thoughts on the conviction, and exactly why she didn’t vote for the death penalty for Weger.

There is a lot more to this conversation so make sure you listen to the episode and take a look at the documents and photographs provided and outlined below for more context to the discussion and the case! For our audience without the ability to listen to the audio, check out the full transcript provided!

Trial testimony from William Dummett where he denies threatening Chester Weger (Craig Armstrong impeaches him on this issue). Both the Craig Armstrong trial testimony and the William Dummett trial testimony are from February 28, 1961.