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The Starved Rock Murders with Andy Hale — True Crime
The Starved Rock Murders with Andy Hale

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.
Join Andy Hale, a civil rights attorney who specializes in investigating wrongful convictions, as he dives deep into parts of the case that have been left out of previous coverage. As Chester Weger’s attorney, he is actively investigating the case and has won the right to test DNA from the crime scene for the first time in 60 years. If Chester is innocent, this will become the longest wrongful conviction case in United States history. This limited series podcast will re-examine the story you think you know, provide real-time case updates, including DNA testing, and access to documents and photos previously unreleased to the public, to uncover the truth of what really happened in Starved Rock State Park over half a century ago.

Copyright: © Andy Hale

Latest Episodes:

EP 6: False Confessions (and the truth about how a person confesses to a crime they did not commit) Mar 31, 2022

Show notes

A common response from those who subscribe to the belief that Chester Weger is guilty is simply: "he confessed...why would an innocent man confess? Surely no innocent person would ever confess to attacking three women and bashing their faces in before dragging them to a cave in the woods." In 1960 a confession was a one-way ticket to life in prison or the electric chair, and to most people a false confession was as improbable as the existence of Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster. But in the six decades that Chester Weger sat behind bars, the concept of the false confession began to make its way into the public consciousness. Patterns began to emerge that created profiles for who was likely to succumb to the pressure of interrogation and falsely confess to a crime. Science and particularly DNA also made it common to disprove people's confessions. In this episode we discuss what makes an innocent person confess to a crime, what factors lead to a person reaching their mental breaking point, and then apply these learnings to Chester's case. Additionally, the team highlights some high-profile cases where average people confessed to gruesome crimes, only to be disproven later by DNA and other evidence. A common theme in many people's statements who have falsely confessed is that they had reached their breaking point in that moment but planned to prove their innocence when they got their day in court. As we look at the treatment Chester received at the hands of law enforcement, you should ask yourself…would you be able to withstand that same pressure? For more information, documents, photos, and other assets associated with and referenced in episode 6’s coverage of the case, visit andyhalepodcast.com.

EP 5: Andy's Case for Premeditation (and why the law student turned FBI agent on the case thought so too) Mar 24, 2022

Show notes

In the days following the murders law enforcement and the public seemed to gravitate towards the belief that only a depraved lunatic could have perpetrated such a heinous and depraved crime. Because who else but a madman would have reason to harm three lovely church-going ladies with no enemies? But did these women truly have no enemies? How much do we really know about the motive for the murders? When Chester Weger was ultimately charged with the murders his supposed motive was robbery, and yet curiously nothing was missing. Random robberies don't typically result in the complete and utter destruction of the faces of the victims and their bodies being dragged to a cave and displayed like macabre snow angels. In today's episode we explore the clues left behind at the crime scene that not only suggests that at least one of these women had an enemy and might have been targeted specifically, but also that many of the clues do indeed point to this being a premeditated crime. We also correct the notion that nothing was taken, because we do know that Frances Murphy’s fingertip is gone. Is that missing fingertip more evidence of premeditation? For more information, documents, photos, and other assets associated with and referenced in episode 5’s coverage of the case, visit andyhalepodcast.com.

EP 4: Two Key Suspects: Gerald + George (one of which bludgeoned a girl to death a month later) Mar 17, 2022

Show notes

Handwritten police notes, dating to the weeks and months, following the triple homicide at Starved Rock State Park indicate that hundreds of people were questioned. A spectrum of characters ranging from the women's restroom attendant at the lodge, to known sex offenders from as far away as Chicago, and interstate truck drivers, were all pressed as to their whereabouts on the afternoon of Monday, March 14th. Most interviews consisted of a few pages of notes or in some cases, a couple of paragraphs, but two suspects in particular, stand out from the pack for the sheer bizarreness of their statements and actions, George Spiros and Gerald Nemke. In this episode we explore a these two most compelling suspects, their circumstances at the time of the murder and how their backstories make them undeniably plausible perpetrators. For more information, documents, photos, and other assets associated with and referenced in episode 3’s coverage of the case, visit andyhalepodcast.com.

EP 3: The Crime Scene (and why the evidence doesn’t point to Chester) Mar 10, 2022

Show notes

Imagine being any one of the members of law enforcement standing in St. Louis Canyon on March 16th, 1960. These were small town cops who had spent most of their careers dealing with domestic disputes, bar brawls and livestock theft. Suddenly, they were responsible for investigating the most high profile murder in the state’s history. All three women seemed to have been left posed. Their arms and legs were extended and spread out as if they were making snow angels, but their undergarments were pulled down, their wrists bound and their faces had been beaten so badly that they were unrecognizable. The crime scene provided more questions than answers but there was a tantalizing bit of evidence. In the clenched hand of Lillian Oetting were two strands of hair that didn’t belong to the victims. One hair was fine and light brown. The other strand was coarse and dark. Who did these hairs belong to? In this episode we explore the crime scene, key evidence collected, and how a closer look suggests Chester could not have committed this crime. For more information, documents, photos, and other assets associated with and referenced in episode 3’s coverage of the case, visit andyhalepodcast.com.

EP 2: Why the State’s Narrative Can’t Be Right (and where’s the missing finger?) Mar 04, 2022

Show notes

Around 10:00 in the morning of Monday, March 14th, 1960 50-year-old Lillian Oetting, 50-year-old Mildred Lindquist and 47-year-old Frances Murphy, the wives of prominent businessmen from the affluent Chicago suburb of Riverside, Illinois packed their suitcases into the back of Lillian Oetting’s Cadillac station wagon and drove out of town. Their destination - the Starved Rock Lodge. What happens next is where the mystery begins. In this episode, we explore the timeline of events leading up to the crime, the crime scene itself, how the victims were killed, when they were killed, and highlight some critical details missed in the initial investigation. For more information, documents, photos, and other assets associated with and referenced in episode 2’s coverage of the case, visit andyhalepodcast.com.

EP 1: The Enduring Mystery of Starved Rock Mar 03, 2022

Show notes

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 the team talks about the parts of the case that cause issues with the integrity of the conviction. For more information, documents, photos, and other assets associated with and referenced in episode 1’s coverage of the case, visit andyhalepodcast.com.

Trailer: The Starved Rock Murders with Andy Hale Feb 17, 2022

Show notes

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. Join Andy Hale, a civil rights attorney who specializes in investigating wrongful convictions, as he dives deep into parts of the case that have been left out of previous coverage. As Chester Weger’s attorney, he is actively investigating the case and has won the right to test DNA from the crime scene for the first time in 60 years. If Chester is innocent, this will become the longest wrongful conviction case in United States history. This limited series podcast will re-examine the story you think you know, provide real-time case updates, including DNA testing, and access to documents and photos previously unreleased to the public, to uncover the truth of what really happened in Starved Rock State Park over half a century ago. Follow along at AndyHalePodcast.com

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