The conclusion you’ll draw from viewing this new True Crime documentary series is that the “crime” part is easy. And gruesome, and extreme. But it’s the “true” part that remains elusive .After all, 62 years have passed since three women were raped and brutally murdered at a scenic tourist spot in Starved Rock State Park A man was convicted and spent 60 years in prison before being paroled.
In the first of three episodes, it appears that this might turn out to be yet another of those stories that shift from “we got the guy who did it” to “it was a false confession” to many living witnesses and some who were filmed before their deaths, each offering viable explanations for and against the conviction of Chester Weger, a then 23 year old dishwasher at the café on the property.
But it’s actually much more than that. Deeper and with more twists than you can imagine, even within the first two episodes of this 3-parter.
David Raccuglia /HBO
David Raccuglia Interviews His Father
Chester Weger circa 1960
The series gets a little Meta, because it relies heavily on a mid-2000s doc started, but not finished by filmmaker David Raccuglia. He is the key to this narrative – it was his father who prosecuted the case and got the life sentence for Weger. Did his Dad go by the book? Part of the footage from the 2000s shows David interviewing his own father, one-on-one, and asking some tough questions.
I will stop short of revealing anything beyond the fact that Weger is paroled (because that is revealed very early on) and that that doesn’t even come close to this doc rolling the final credits. In fact, brand new questions arise once the now feeble 83 year old walked out of the gates.
It’s an easily bingeable series that may not answer all of your questions, but it certainly makes you question the very nature of truth and memory.
The Murders at Starved Rock | 3 out of 4 Stars | on HBO
