Teen’s slaying went unsolved in Illinois for 49 years. Now retired welder is arrested
Julie Ann Hanson borrowed her brother’s bike to attend a baseball game in July 1972.
The 15-year-old Illinois girl never returned home.
She was found brutally stabbed to death in a field the same day she was reported missing from her home in Naperville, a Chicago suburb. Over the next half-century, her killing went unsolved.
A year after Julie’s death, Roberta “Bobbie” Jean Anderson, a 16-year-old from neighboring Oswego, was found dead at an abandoned farm, her body also stabbed numerous times, the Chicago Tribune reported. A man named Major Morris was convicted of killing Anderson over 20 years later and sentenced to prison, the newspaper reported.
Morris later pleaded guilty to also killing 18-year-old Margaret Stirn, who lived in another suburb, after discussing her death with an inmate, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“Many people in law enforcement felt he was the one who killed Julie Ann Hanson but not these guys,” Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow said during a news conference with Naperville police on Friday. “These guys never rested, never put the file to the side, always kept working.”
On Wednesday, Barry Lee Whelpley, a 76-year-old living in Mounds View, Minnesota, was charged in Hanson’s death, police said. He was charged with first-degree murder with a $10 million bond.
Whelpley was 27 at the time of Hanson’s slaying and lived within a mile of her home, police said. He recently retired as a welder, police said.
Police have said Hanson was kidnapped, raped and stabbed three dozen times, the Daily Herald reported.
“This horrific crime has haunted this family, this community and this department for 49 years,” Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall said in a statement.
Police said “technological advancements” in DNA and genetic genealogy analysis led to Whelpley’s arrest but declined to share specific information, citing the ongoing investigation.
“They left no stone unturned. They utilized private labs throughout the country to assist us with advanced DNA testing and genealogy analysis,” Marshall said. “They pored over the evidence, they conducted interviews, kept regular contact with Julie’s family.”
Whelpley was arrested in Minnesota and awaited extradition to Illinois.
“As you might assume, it has been a long journey for our family. We are forever grateful to all those who have worked on this case throughout the many years,” Hanson’s family said in a statement.
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