JOLIET, Ill. – The man accused of sexually assaulting and murdering a 15-year-old girl in Naperville in 1972 has died in jail while awaiting trial. Barry Lee Whelpley, 79, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Will County jail, and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, according to Kathy Hoffmeyer, spokeswoman for the Will County Sheriff’s Office. An autopsy is expected to determine the cause of death, but authorities believe it was due to natural causes.
Whelpley had been charged with the murder of Julie Ann Hanson, whose body was found in a cornfield a day after she was reported missing. The case remained unsolved for nearly five decades until police arrested Whelpley in 2021. He was a graduate of Naperville Community High School and lived less than a mile from the victim’s home at the time of the murder.
The arrest and subsequent legal proceedings brought closure to a tragic case that had haunted the community for many years. Until Whelpley was charged, the Hanson case was one of Naperville’s oldest unsolved murders. The victim’s family expressed gratitude for the arrest, as both of her parents and a brother had passed away before justice was served.
The investigation utilized advancements in DNA and genetic genealogy, allowing detectives to do sophisticated testing and genetic analysis on evidence collected in the case. Private labs, including one in California, were able to compare the DNA from the case to samples in their database and pull up matches of distant relatives, eventually leading to Whelpley’s identification as a suspect.
Whelpley’s death in jail now raises questions about the future of the case and whether it will proceed to trial despite the accused’s passing. The efforts to solve the case and bring closure to the victim’s family underscore the impact of advancements in forensic technology on cold cases, offering a glimmer of hope for justice even after many years have passed.