# Starved Rock killer's family seeks posthumous pardon

> Nearly 66 years after his conviction, Chester Weger's family is fighting to clear his name through a rare posthumous clemency hearing.
- Title: Starved Rock killer's family seeks posthumous pardon
- Summary: Nearly 66 years after his conviction, Chester Weger's family is fighting to clear his name through a rare posthumous clemency hearing. Chester Weger spent 60…
- Keywords: chester weger, starved rock state park, starved rock murders, posthumous pardon, jb pritzker, illinois prisoner review board, wrongful conviction, mildred lindquist, lillian oetting, frances murphy, 1960 murders, dna evidence
- Source: Chicago Sun-Times — https://chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdogs/2026/09/17/starved-rock-killer-chester-weger-posthumous-pardon-pritzker
- Published: 2026-09-17T10:30:00+00:00
- Read time: 3 min
- Topics: chester weger, starved rock state park, starved rock murders, posthumous pardon, jb pritzker, illinois prisoner review board, wrongful conviction, mildred lindquist, lillian oetting, frances murphy, 1960 murders, dna evidence
## The Starved Rock murders
Three suburban Chicago women were found battered near a cave at Starved Rock State Park in March 1960. Mildred Lindquist, Lillian Oetting, and Frances Murphy had gone to hike and bird watch.
## Weger convicted, then recanted
Chester Weger was sentenced to life in prison in 1961 for killing one of the three women. He confessed to the killings but quickly recanted, then spent the rest of his life insisting he was innocent.
## Six decades behind bars
Weger spent about 60 years in prison before being paroled in 2020 for good behavior. His conviction remained on his record even after his release.
## Fresh evidence emerges
After his release, Weger's lawyers launched a new effort to overturn his conviction, citing DNA evidence, new witness testimony, and alternative theories about who killed the women.
## The mob theory
Weger's lawyers theorized that a relative of one victim hired mobsters to kill her and that the other two women were slain because they witnessed the crime.
## Mysterious hair evidence
A hair found on the finger of one victim didn't match the women or Weger. Tests showed it most likely came from another local man.
## Judge rejects petition
A LaSalle County judge rejected Weger's post-conviction petition last year. Weger died less than a week later at age 86.
## Family pursues posthumous pardon
Weger's family filed a petition in June asking Governor JB Pritzker to grant executive clemency, a process that could posthumously wipe away his conviction.
## Rare posthumous hearing scheduled
The Illinois Prisoner Review Board scheduled an October 6 hearing on the family's clemency request. The board rarely considers posthumous petitions, holding such hearings for only two other people in the past seven years.
## How the process works
The Prisoner Review Board will weigh testimony at the October hearing before sending the governor a confidential recommendation. Pritzker will make the final decision on clemency.
## Lawyer's decade-long fight
Attorney Andrew Hale spent a decade reinvestigating the Starved Rock murders, hosted a podcast about the killings, and appeared in an HBO documentary. He says the family didn't get a fair shot at the evidentiary hearing.

> "I am hopeful. I feel like this board and the governor's office, if they take a fresh look at this, I should win."
## Family will attend hearing
Weger's sister and her two daughters plan to attend the October hearing. His lawyer hopes the board will closely review the family's nearly 100-page clemency petition.
## Opposition from prosecutors
Prosecutors and survivors of the women have opposed efforts to parole Weger and overturn his conviction.
## Grover Thompson precedent
In 2019, Governor Bruce Rauner granted a posthumous pardon to Grover Thompson after serial killer Timothy Krajcir confessed to the crime Thompson was convicted of in 1981.
## Joe James case pending
Another recent posthumous case involves Joe James, a Black man executed in 1908 for killing a white man in Springfield. The Prisoner Review Board sent Pritzker a recommendation, and the governor has yet to act.
## Potential lawsuit concerns
Weger's lawyer acknowledges that wiping away his conviction could potentially open the door to a lawsuit, but says that's not the family's focus.
## Key takeaway

Chester Weger spent 60 years in prison for murders he claimed he didn't commit. Even after his death, his family is pursuing a posthumous pardon to overturn his conviction.