Solving a murder mystery is like solving a jigsaw puzzle in that you can’t see the full picture emerge until each individual piece interlocks with another surrounding piece. Solving the Starved Rock Murders is like attempting a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle but without the guidance of the picture on the box. One piece is William Palmatier. Another piece is his brother Glenn. Yet another is the mysterious kid with the bloody overalls in the trunk of his car.
These pieces interlock with the pieces of the story told by the acquaintance of Smokey Wrona. And those pieces interlock with eyewitness accounts, newspaper reports, and physical evidence. Little by little the pieces are indeed coming together.
But unlike a jigsaw puzzle from a box, not all of the puzzle pieces are on the table for us yet. DNA test results will provide a few more pieces. Yet to be discovered documents could add more. The murder of Chester’s cousin, Danny Weger, who was investigating the case ten years later could be another piece of the puzzle. But perhaps the only way to finally complete this puzzle is with some small detail, some bit of minutia, remembered by someone out there listening…someone who may have the center puzzle piece necessary to finally bring all of these interlocking parts together and allow the full picture of what really happened six decades ago to be revealed.
There is a lot more to this conversation so make sure you listen to the episode and take a look at the documents and photographs provided and outlined below for more context to the discussion and the case! For our audience without the ability to listen to the audio, check out the full transcript provided!
Referenced Documents in the Episode
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Photo of Danny Ray Weger
December 12, 1979 Times Clip - order to exhume the unknown body
January 6, 1971 Times Clip - Investigation of Corpse Identified as Danny Weger
January 6, 1971 Times Clip - Investigation of Corpse Identified as Danny Weger Pg. 2
