BACKGROUND: Chester Otto Weger (born March 3, 1939)] is an American man who was convicted in 1961 of the murder of one of three women found slain at Starved Rock State Park the previous year. He was held at Pinckneyville Correctional Center and at one time was the longest serving inmate incarcerated by the State of Illinois as well as the third longest in state history before his release on February 21, 2020. On November 21, 2019, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board granted parole to Weger by a vote of 9–4.[ He was released on parole February 21, 2020.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_Weger
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Monday's court hearing comes a week before the start of a “mini trial”, or evidentiary hearing that's sure to draw a crowd to the Etna Road government complex in Ottawa. Weger was paroled and released from prison in 2020. The 86-year-old's attorney Andy Hale believes several things like DNA testing not available during Weger's 1960 murder trial proves someone else murdered three women at Starved Rock State Park. Weger's team has also presented an angle where the Chicago mob was responsible for the murders."
STORY: "Monday Morning Brings Latest Hearing In Chester Weger Exoneration Pursuit, published by WLPO on May 4, 2025.
GIST: "The ongoing court case dealing with the possible exoneration of Chester Weger is back on the docket Monday morning in La Salle County.
Judge Michael Jansz will take up a motion filed by Weger's defense team to introduce what they believe is new evidence helping their case to prove Weger is innocent despite his prior confession to killing a woman at Starved Rock State Park in 1960.
Monday's court hearing comes a week before the start of a “mini trial”, or evidentiary hearing that's sure to draw a crowd to the Etna Road government complex in Ottawa.
Weger was paroled and released from prison in 2020. The 86-year-old's attorney Andy Hale believes several things like DNA testing not available during Weger's 1960 murder trial proves someone else murdered three women at Starved Rock State Park.
Weger's team has also presented an angle where the Chicago mob was responsible for the murders.
The case to get Weger exonerated started in the summer of 2020."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. 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:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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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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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:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
———————————————————————————————
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;
—————————————————————————————————
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;
