Man Charged in 1976 Murder to Plead Guilty

A man who was not charged with the 1976 murder of a Wheaton woman because he had an alibi said Tuesday that he will plead guilty when he appears in court Aug. 22.

His decision comes hours after DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin and Wheaton Chief of Police Mark Field announced that murder charges had been filed against Michael Whitney, 58, for the murder of then 28-year-old Darlene Stack of Wheaton.

DNA evidence that was not available in 1976 and a former girlfriend's new testimony were the information investigators used to charge Whitney with murder.

According to police reports, Whitney returned from a night of drinking with an acquaintance in the early morning hours of Aug. 18, 1976. Whitney rented a room in the basement of a home at 1465 N. Stoddard, Wheaton. Stack rented an upstairs room of the same home. She had moved in three days earlier, on Aug. 15. Police say that when Whitney returned home, he left his downstairs room, illegally entered Stack’s apartment and sexually assaulted and stabbed Stack 33 times in her chest. Whitney allegedly left the apartment and disposed of the murder weapon in the DuPage River. Stack was found naked in her bed at approximately 3 p.m. that afternoon, bound and gagged with torn bed sheets.

The Wheaton Police Department investigated the murder, but did charge Whitney because he had an alibi. After some time and numerous leads, the murder investigation went cold.

In 2005, Wheaton police detectives reopened the investigation, which included re-interviewing witnesses, re-examining physical evidence and testing evidence for DNA, something that was not available in 1976. They said they found Whitney's DNA on a bed sheet.

Whitney's girlfriend, who was his only alibi, had lied to a grand jury,  Berlin said. He said she lied because she was afraid of the defendant and still had feelings for him. She was given transactional immunity and told the truth last week when she was informed about the DNA evidence. She earlier testified that she and Whitney went for a ride to get something to drink that night and she was with him during the early morning hours.

She now says that she was with him but he left to go upstairs; that he was naked at the time; and she heard muffled screams from another part of the house.

The DuPage County Coroner ruled in 1976 that there was no sexual assault. DuPage County Chief of Prosecutions Joseph Ruggiero said that there was no evidence of sexual assault at the time of the murder—so that was the conclusion. Police think differently now.

"Thirty-five years is a long time," Berlin said. "Many things change over the course of that time, but the truth has never changed. In August 1976, Darlene Stack was viciously murdered in her own home.”

Berlin thanked the Wheaton Police Department, "particularly detectives Edward Fanning and Andrew Uhlir, who never gave up on seeking justice in the name of Darlene Stack. Their perseverance ultimately led to the filing of today’s charges.

"I would also like to thank the DuPage County Crime Lab, State’s Attorney Investigator Bob Guerrieri as well as Assistant State’s Attorneys Joe Ruggiero and Tim Diamond for their efforts on this case.”

Whitney has been charged with six counts of murder, which under the laws in effect in 1976 carries an indeterminate sentence with a minimum of 14 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. 

The law that was in effect in 1976 provides that a murderer serves a minimum of 14 years in corrections to a maximum of the equivalent of life in prison, Berlin explained. He will have the choice of whether to apply the 1976 laws or the current laws.

Mark Douglass, Darlene Stack's nephew in-law, said, "We are very, very pleased with the work of the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s office as well as the work … the tireless efforts on behalf of the Wheaton Police Department. And we thank them for bringing what we hope is the end of this. It makes it very easy now to put some closure."

Whitney is currently serving a 60-year sentence for the 1982 murder /home invasion/armed robbery of Cecil Wallar. His projected parole date was Oct. 11, 2012.

He appeared in bond court this afternoon where Judge Neal Cerne denied bail. His next court appearance in the Stack case is scheduled for 11 a.m. Aug. 22.