Chester Weger: Murders at Starved Rock, Illinois: Bulletin: WLPO starvedrock.media reports that an attempt to discredit a Chester Weger "witness" has been shut down by the judge, noting that: The prosecution claims the potential witness would've testified that her daughter, Melissa Smith, was lying on the stand last week when she said her grandfather was part of the Chicago mob and involved in the 1960 murders at Starved Rock. Smith claimed her grandfather told her that he knew Weger was innocent because he ordered the “hits” and that he asked her to do what she could to prove his innocence."

NOTA BENE: Closing statements expected to be delivered on May 28;

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BACKGROUND: From a previous post ) May 18) of this Blog:  "Chester Wager: Illinois: The Starved Rock murders: Starve Rock Media reports that testimony has wrapped up in a mini-trial evidentiary hearing described as featuring "three days of highly scientific testimony to go along with plenty of hearsay," in which, "The 86-year-old is trying to get his murder conviction overturned, with his defense offering what they say is new evidence that if presented to a jury now, would lead to a not guilty verdict."…"Colby Lasyone, chief of staff at Othram, Inc. says his Texas-based lab looked for a DNA profile on a hair found on the glove of Starved Rock murder victim Frances Murphy. His lab’s conclusion was that the hair was most likely linked to brothers Leo, Charles, and Edward Bray of Utica. To further their conclusion, the lab suggested exhuming the bodies of the brothers. That never happened."

https://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2025/05/chester-wager-illinois-starved-rock.html

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STORY: "Attempt To Discredit A Chester Weger "Witness" Shut Down By Judge, WLPO starvedrock.media (no attribution) reports, on May 22, 2024.

GIST: "A request to call a last-second witness to the stand was denied as part of the “mini trial” to decide whether Chester Weger's murder charge is vacated.

Special prosecutors wanted to call the mother of Melissa Smith of Norridge to testify before lawyers give their closing arguments on Wednesday. Judge Michael Jansz though denied the motion to “reopen proofs” as it's called in legal terms. He's expected to give his ruling soon on possible exoneration of the 86-year-old Weger.

The prosecution claims the potential witness would've testified that her daughter, Melissa Smith, was lying on the stand last week when she said her grandfather was part of the Chicago mob and involved in the 1960 murders at Starved Rock. Smith claimed her grandfather told her that he knew Weger was innocent because he ordered the “hits” and that he asked her to do what she could to prove his innocenc

After serving nearly 60 years in prison for murder, Weger was paroled from prison in early 2021. Soon after, the case began to have his murder charge vacated.

The entire story ca be read at:

https://www.starvedrock.media/wlpo/attempt-to-discredit-a-chester-weger-witness-shut-down-by-judge/article_956beea5-1bf1-4e26-832c-173c1d20e379.html

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;