Illinois Innocence Project

If you had to make a list of potential cases in that meet the criteria that have made the genre so popular, the 60-year ordeal of Chester Weger would be right at the top of the list. Weger was convicted in 1961 of the murders of three women at Starved Rock State Park, but as time passed, more and more evidence began to accumulate that suggested he could not have committed the crimes. That helped Weger finally be paroled in 2020, and he had five years of freedom before passing away last year at age 86 with efforts to have his conviction overturned still taking place. Now his family members have started a petition drive to try and get the state to grant him posthumous clemency.

Online Petition Started To Gather Support For Posthumous Clemency For Chester Weger Even after his passing, Chester Weger continues to make headlines.

Did you know that 12 states still don't have any laws that provide compensation to those who have endured ? Delaware was among the most recent states to finally enact such legislation, and recently they finally approved their first individual for compensation. Elmer Daniels spent 39 years in prison before his conviction was thrown out in 2018. In the years since, he was at times living on a paycheck-by-paycheck basis while living in a hotel. Now he's been able to purchase his first home and is engaged to be married.

Delaware paid $4M settlement for wrongful conviction | Exclusive A settlement agreement received through a Freedom of Information Act request is the state's largest payout to a wrongfully convicted person.