CLAY COUNTY, Mo. — Chester Weger, the man convicted in the 1960 killing of Lillian Oetting at Starved Rock State Park in Illinois, died on Sunday at the age of 86. Known as the “Starved Rock Killer,” Weger spent nearly six decades in prison before being released on parole in 2020. He initially confessed to the murders of Oetting and her two companions but later recanted, claiming coercion. A jury convicted him of Oetting’s murder in 1961; he was not tried for the other two deaths. Weger maintained his innocence for decades, and efforts to clear his name continued until a judge denied his request for a new trial just one week before his death.
Author Steve Stout wrote a book about the crime “The Starved Rock Murders” in 1982
“The crime will always be with us. It’ll never go away. It’ll be with the park and with the area forever. And, and that’s really a shame because St. Louis Canyon is one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever seen.”