There is a commemorative plaque tucked away within the chancel of Riverside Presbyterian Church. It’s a little hard to find, but once you do, it lists the names of the three women to which it was dedicated: Mildred Lindquist, Frances Murphy and Lillian Oetting, all congregation members.
In Andy Hale’s mind, the three Riverside women, who were brutally murdered on March 16, 1960 at downstate Starved Rock State Park, were present with him Saturday afternoon.
Hale is a Chicago attorney who has spent the last decade on a relentless search for justice in the case against Chester Weger, who was convicted of the murders and paroled in 2019 – but never exonerated. Saturday’s talk about the investigation, the criminal trial and possible new evidence, in the very sanctuary where the three women worshipped, was transcendent for him…