Chester Weger lawyers seek ‘original case materials’ in Starved Rock murders

Lawyers for Chester Weger think there are “original case materials” from the Starved Rock murders and have filed a motion to retrieve and inspect them.

According to a court filing, the one who holds the documents in question is author Steve Stout, who interviewed the paroled murderer and published a book on the 1960 murders.

Weger and his legal team will next appear Oct. 28 in La Salle County Circuit Court. There, they will ask Judge Michael C. Jansz to subpoena Stout and to inspect the unspecified records in question.

In the motion filed last week, Weger attorney Andy Hale said the state has a continuing obligation to furnish all materials pertinent to the case.

“Here, a civilian was personally given original case materials and the civilian is the only source known, at this time, who possesses such case materials,” Hale wrote.

Stout and Hale traded statements when reached for comment Tuesday.

“I would have shared any collected materials I have from this sad case with Mr. Hale as I have done with other researchers in the past,” Stout said. “He could have asked me instead of preparing a stark and surprising court motion. Why didn’t he just ask? Is he trying to intimidate me again?”

“Asked?” Hale replied. “I don’t trust a person who was caught trying to hide key original case files by secretly and anonymously dropping them off at the La Salle (County) Historical Society. Seeking a subpoena and protective order is the proper legal mechanism to address this serious issue.”

Stout denied “hiding” any documents – “Ever,” he emphasized – and said he donated materials to the society to ensure researchers of this “solved” crime would have access for review.

Weger was convicted of the murder of Lillian Oetting — he also confessed to killing Oettng’s two companions — and sentenced to life in prison. He recanted the confession and was paroled in 2019 after serving six decades in prison.

Weger, now 83, continues to maintain his innocence and has lawyers trying to overturn or vacate his conviction. His team did succeed in getting Jansz’s permission to send multiple pieces of evidence to the lab and one of them — a glove worn by victim Frances Murphy — bore a hair that was negative for Weger’s DNA.

One issue to be resolved, possibly at the Oct. 28 hearing, is whether the hair DNA will be crosschecked against the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to see if the source of the hair can be identified.