Final arguments conclude in Chester Weger ‘mini-trial’ over 1960 Starved Rock murders case

The question of whether Chester Weger will succeed in overturning his murder conviction now rests with a La Salle County judge after final arguments were made Wednesday.

Weger, who was not present in court, spent almost six decades in prison for the murder of Lillian Oetting, one of three women fatally bludgeoned in 1960 at Starved Rock State Park. He confessed to the three killings but later recanted and has since tried to overturn his conviction.

On Wednesday, Judge Michael C. Jansz listened, took notes and questioned both sides during the almost five hours of closing arguments in Weger’s “mini-trial.”

Weger’s attorney Andy Hale used his closing arguments to again walk the courtroom through a potential timeline of Mildred Lindquist’s, Frances Murphy’s and Oetting’s final day and pointed out what he called “red flags” in the autopsy reports.

He said each woman suffered devastating injuries and their bodies were displayed in a grotesque way, outlining his theme that time and thought were put into how the women were displayed, acts showing the murders were premeditated.

Hale said Weger’s confessions made zero sense. They contradicted the physical evidence, he said, adding that if it was a robbery, as the state maintains, Weger wouldn’t have committed a triple homicide to conceal his identity and return to work with blood on him.

Hale also reiterated how his witnesses’ testimonies supported the argument that the Mafia was ultimately responsible for the deaths of the three women.

He then turned to the crux of Weger’s case: a hair discovered on Murphy, which a lab previously concluded belonged to a man whose DNA did not match Weger’s.

Hale concluded by saying that Weger had overwhelmingly met his burden, and the conviction should not stand.

Jansz asked why the court should accept the DNA as evidence for Weger’s innocence because he was only convicted of murdering Oetting, not Murphy.

Weger attorney Sally Cohen responded that the state used all three murders in its conviction and all three should be considered now.

When it was his turn for closing arguments, Special Prosecutor Mark Shliafk said the courtroom is a place for facts.

“The courtroom is not a place for fiction,” he said. “It’s a place for evidence, admissible evidence, and not conspiracy.”

Shliafk said the defense presented a theory based on hearsay, innuendo and speculation that would not survive the rules governing the courtroom, and that borders on absurdity.

“This isn’t a podcast,” he said.

He argued that hearsay is inadmissible because it’s notoriously unreliable, and the defense is asking the court to accept something as fact simply because someone said something somewhere without consequences.

Shliafk said there is no conspiracy more convenient than the Mafia; it’s an attempt to invoke confusion.

As to the DNA evidence, Shliafk broke down the importance of chain of custody and said the hair should not be allowed because no one knows where it came from. He said the hair could have been collected through a secondary transfer from the deputy coroner.

He concluded by saying that in a court of law there is another way to phrase a foundationless, speculation-only case, and that’s “no case.”

After a recess, Hale readdressed the foundations of his arguments.

“I believe we’ve met our burden just with the DNA,” he said. “I do think we have met our burden of showing the result of a retrial would be different.”

Jansz said he would try his best to have a written opinion by the next hearing.

Weger’s next hearing is at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 2, at the La Salle County Courthouse, 707 E. Etna Road in Ottawa.