The Starved Rock Killer, who was accused of beating three women to death in the 1960s, will be released from prison next week.

Chester Weger, 80, became known as the Starved Rock Killer after the bodies of the women were found in Starved Rock’s St Louis Canyon in Illinois. He will be released on 21 February after serving a nearly 60 year life sentence.

Mr Weger was convicted of beating Lilliam Oetting, 50, to death and sentenced to life in prison. The bodies of Frances Murphy, 47 and Mildred Lindquist, 50 were found with Ms Oetting in a cave at Starved Rock State Park. At the time, the media called their final resting place the “canyon of death.”

Mr Weger was not charged with the murders of the other women because he had already been given a life sentence for Ms Oetting’s murder.

At the time, Mr Weger confessed to the murders, but recanted later and said the confession was coerced by the sheriff at the time.

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In an interview with CBS 2, Mr Weger said the sheriff said “You’re going to ride the thunderbolt, Chester!” meaning that Mr Weger would be sentenced to die via the electric chair.

“Why should I feel remorse then if I never killed them? I mean I feel sorry for the people being dead, but I’m not going to admit that I done something I never done,” Mr Weger said.

Mr Weger was 21 at the time and was a dishwasher at the Starved Rock Lodge. Police traced the murders to him by matching the cord used to bind the women to a spool from the lodge’s kitchen.

The granddaughters of Mr Weger’s victim have spoken out against his release, according to the Chicago Tribune.