When Chester Weger went to trial in 1961, it was heralded by the media as the “Trial of the Century.” Throngs of people, ranging from hungry journalists to curious citizens, lined up outside the LaSalle County Courthouse in Ottawa, Illinois to try and get a coveted seat in the gallery. The quiet Illinois Valley community had never seen a spectacle of this kind. The press, armed with giant cameras and blinding flashbulbs, waited for the police to pull up and escort the accused into the courtroom.
The Weger family had pooled what few financial resources they had to hire Chester an attorney – John McNamara. But even with a fine lawyer like McNamara, Chester was facing a prosecution, with its vast resources, that was interested in nothing less than the death penalty, execution by 50,000 volts. Three women were dead, and someone needed to pay. The public needed their pound of flesh and the State needed to put this case to rest.
After a three-week trial, the jury returned its verdict: Guilty.
But the question that haunted jurors long after the trial had ended was whether or not the right man had paid…Those doubts were evidenced by the fact that the jury elected not to sentence Chester Weger to the electric chair, as the State had demanded…Just in case they got it wrong.
It’s likely his resolve to prove his innocence that has kept Chester alive all these years. For 62 years and counting, Chester Weger has been waiting for that evidence, that full picture, to finally emerge and definitively reveal that YES. . . they got it wrong and real killers have never been brought to justice.
Andy and Whitny dive into the trial of the century and discuss what the jurors were never told.
For more information, documents, photos, and other assets associated with and referenced in episode 6’s coverage of the case, visit andyhalepodcast.com.
