Friends of Ottawa attorney Harland D. Warren, the former county prosecutor credited with solving the Starved Rock murders case 46 years ago, held a surprise 90th birthday party for him in August.

Four days a week, Warren makes the trip from his Serena home to his law office in the First Federal Savings Bank Building. He has officed there since 1970, across from the Bee Hive Restaurant, where his image is on a mural.

“When I get up in the morning, I think about not going in,” he told an Ottawa Times reporter. “But after the second cup of coffee, I tell myself, ‘Oh, I'd better go in and see what's going on.'”

A 1941 graduate of the University of South Dakota Law School, Warren served in the Navy during World War II before beginning a law practice.

He was LaSalle County state's attorney when three women were slain in Starved Rock State Park in mid-March 1960. It was an election year, and there was public clamor for an arrest and conviction.

Constantly badgered by his Republican opponent, Robert Richardson, with charges of bungling the case, Warren decided in July to launch a personal investigation without telling state and county law enforcement offices.

His investigation centered on Chester Otto Weger, a former dishwasher at Starved Rock Lodge who had been cleared initially by state authorities.

Harlan uncovered evidence that linked Weger to the triple murder, but he decided to wait until after the election to make the arrest. That cost him his $9,000-a-year job, by 3,500 votes.

He spent his final weeks in office scouring Weger's sworn statements for inconsistencies and carefully developing an airtight case for his successor.

Richardson took office Dec. 5, 1960, and started planning the prosecution with his first assistant, Anthony C. Raccuglia. Warren had to watch from the sidelines as the trial began Jan. 30, 1961. Jury selection was completed Feb. 13.

The prosecution and defense rested March 2, and the jury took only a day to reach a guilty verdict and recommend a sentence of life in prison.

Although the timing of the case cost Hal Warren an election, he was ultimately given the vindication he deserved for solving it. In July 1963, he received the largest portion - $11,500 – from a $38,350 reward fund that accumulated from donations and interest.

Warren had already won his next election, receiving the most votes in a four-way 1962 race for a seat in the Illinois House of Representatives.

Chester Weger has lost several attempts to be paroled, most recently in April 2005. Among those who spoke against parole then was former prosecutor Tony Raccuglia, a LaSalle attorney who was inducted in 2003 as a Laureate of the ISBA Academy of Illinois Lawyers.

The entire story is recounted in a 1982 book, “The Starved Rock Murders,” by journalist Steve Stout, who included Warren in his dedication. The book may be purchased at Starved Rock Lodge.