Almost 49 years to the day he first appeared in court on charges he murdered three women at Starved Rock State Park, Chester Weger could be paroled from prison.

Weger, 70, was charged in November 1960 with murdering Lillian Oetting, Frances Murphy and Mildred Lindquist, all of suburban Riverside, in March of that year in St. Louis Canyon at the park. He confessed several times, but then recanted. He was tried for the Oetting murder, and a jury found him guilty in March 1961. He was sentenced to life in prison.

Weger had a parole hearing — his 14th — Wednesday at Western Illinois Correctional Center in Mount Sterling, the prison where he is held. Weger and his relatives spoke at the hearing, with Weger claiming innocence. In a separate hearing the same day, La Salle County State's Attorney Brian Towne spoke, via an audio recording, against Weger's parole. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board, which oversees parole hearings, is set to issue a decision Thursday, Dec 17. Weger's first court hearing in the case was Dec. 20, 1960.

A Chicago film company started making a documentary about the case almost five years ago, but no word has been available as to when the film will be released. Weger is the second-longest imprisoned inmate in Illinois.