Suspect in 1972 murder of Naperville girl wants search warrant, statements to police thrown out
A Minnesota man accused in the 1972 killing of a Naperville teenager wants statements he made to police and evidence found at his house kept out of his trial.
Barry Lee Whelpley, 76, is charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death and rape of 15-year-old Julie Ann Hanson of Naperville. Whelpley, who was arrested in June in Minnesota, is being held at the Will County jail on $10 million bail.
Whelpley's attorney, Terry Ekl, last week filed several motions to suppress evidence in the case.
Ekl contends that Will County Judge David Carlson should not have approved a search warrant for Whelpley's home in Minnesota. The application for the warrant didn't contain information indicating there would likely be evidence of the murder in Whelpley's house, according to Ekl.
One of the motions says it is unlikely there would be evidence of the murder on any personal computers, cellphones, flash drives and other digital media police sought, given these items didn't exist in 1972.
Ekl also argues the search was improper because it was too long after the murder and Whelpley wasn't living in Minnesota in 1972. He was living in Naperville at the time of Julie's death.
Police collected numerous items, including seven cellphones, four computers, two tablets and 171 storage disks. They also took two knives with 7-inch blades, one of which was wrapped in a paper towel and stored under a bedroom dresser.
Ekl wants anything Whelpley said to police while they searched his home thrown out because police did not read Whelpley his Constitutional rights. Whelpley was essentially in custody because officers did not let him leave the house or use the bathroom by himself for seven hours, according to Ekl. Statements Whelpley made after being arrested and asking to call his lawyer should not be allowed because police continued to question him, Ekl wrote.
A hearing on the motions is scheduled for Oct. 14.
Julie disappeared on July 7, 1972, while riding a bicycle to her brother's baseball game. Her body was found the next day in a cornfield in Naperville near 87th Street and Modaff Road.