Sunday, July 31, 2022

Chester Weger: Illinois; Starved Rock murders: Bulletin: Could hopefully be an important development for him - if, in fact, the results of DNA testing using up-to-date methods in his case proves him innocent when presented in court Monday afternoon, (August 1, 2022), WSPY (Reporter Mark Harrington), reports..."Unavailable in 1960, now DNA test results on hair samples have been completed and are expected to be announced at the LaSalle County Courthouse in Ottawa at 1 p.m. Monday. The hair samples are from Weger and from under the fingernails of the women as they fought their attacker in St. Louis Canyon during a winter walk at Starved Rock State Park. Those DNA results could assist in erasing the conviction of Weger, who was found guilty of one of the three murders in a three-week trial."


STORY: "Results of DNA testing in Chester Weger case to be presented in court Monday (August 1)" by Reporter Mark Harrington, published by WSPY, on July 30, 2022.

GIST: "After 57 years behind bars, he won his release from Illinois prison in 2020 after a 9-4 vote of the Illinois Prisoner Review Board on his 25th parole hearing.

Now the 83-year-old man may be proven innocent. 

This time Chester Weger, often referred to as  “The Starved Rock” murderer, may be able to shed that nickname. Here is his attorney Andrew Hale’s promise after the one parole attempt ended deadlock 7-7.

Unavailable in 1960, now DNA test results on hair samples have been completed and are expected to be announced at the LaSalle County Courthouse in Ottawa at 1 p.m. Monday. The hair samples are from Weger and from under the fingernails of the women as they fought their attacker in St. Louis Canyon during a winter walk at Starved Rock State Park. 

Those DNA results could assist in erasing the conviction of Weger, who was found guilty of one of the three murders in a three-week trial.

Here are the WSPY News tapes of his sister, nieces, and others during his last two parole hearings.

Weger confessed to the crimes, forced by late-night threats of the electric chair, he said. Then days later, he recanted. All three pretrial lie detector tests he passed."


The entire story can be read at:

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic"  section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com.  Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;


SEE BREAKDOWN OF  SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG,  AT THE LINK BELOW:  HL:



FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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