The Tragic Murder of Julie Ann Hanson
Julie Ann Hanson was born in 1957, to parents Jerome and Marguerite Hanson. She grew up in Naperville, Illinois; a relatively affluent and comfortable suburb of Chicago. Julie played in the school band, sang in choir, and taught Sunday school at her local Church.
On July 7th, 1972, Julie borrowed her brother’s bicycle so she could attend a baseball game. She planned to head straight home after the game, and her parents had no reason to suspect she would be in any sort of danger. When Julie did not return home that night, her parents immediately contacted the police to report their daughter as missing. Julie was just fifteen when she disappeared.
The following day, a search party made up of officers from the Naperville Police Department and local volunteers scoured areas near Julie’s house, the baseball field, and the roads between them. Her brother’s bike was found abandoned off the side of a gravel road, but Julie was still nowhere to be seen.
Eventually, Julie’s body was found in a cornfield, carelessly discarded by her murderer. An autopsy revealed that Julie had been stabbed 36 times and sexually assaulted. News of the young girl’s brutal death hit the neighboring community hard, with many demanding justice for Julie immediately. Although Julie’s killer would not be found until half a century later, the Naperville police department never closed her case, and the locals never forgot her.
In June of 2021, the Naperville police department announced they had arrested who they believe to be Julie’s murderer. Through advancements in DNA technology, they were able to use a sample from the 50-year-old crime scene to locate the perpetrator, a man named Barry Lee Whelpley.
Barry Lee was twenty-seven at the time that Julie was murdered, and lived less than a mile from her family’s house. He was arrested at his home in Mounds View, Minnesota, where he had been living as a retired welder, and charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the case of Julie Ann Hanson. Barry Lee is currently being held at the Ramsey County Jail in Minnesota, but will soon be extradited to Illinois and put on trial for his crimes. His bail is set at 10 million dollars.
Unfortunately, both of Julie’s parents passed away before their daughter’s killer was caught, Jerome in 2009 and Marguerite in 2019. In a statement to police, Julie’s surviving family members said they were “… forever grateful to all those who have worked on this case throughout the many years.”
Julie Ann Hanson was a bright, talented, beloved young woman. She was a daughter, a sister, a friend. Her life was cut all too short by unspeakable evil, but she is remembered by family, friends, and her local community. Rest in peace, Julie.
