A Will County judge Tuesday ruled that some comments made by a Minnesota man accused of killing a Naperville teenager in 1972 will not be admissible in his trial.

Judge David Carlson said statements Barry Lee Whelpley made to investigators at a Minnesota police station after his Miranda rights were given are admissible.

However, any references to statements that Whelpley made to police while police were at his home prior to being read his rights will not be allowed, Carlson ruled.

Whelpley, now 79, was arrested in 2021 after DNA evidence linked him to the murder of Julie Ann Hanson, a 15-year-old girl who disappeared while riding her bike on July 7, 1972, and found the next day. The teen had been stabbed and sexually assaulted.

Whelpley, who grew up in Naperville, has been held at the Will County jail since being returned to the area following his arrest.

Whelpley’s attorneys filed a motion last year to suppress all statements Whelpley made at the Minnesota police station. His attorneys argued that he was questioned for seven hours by Naperville police in his home in Mounds View, Minnesota, without them reading him his Miranda rights. It was only after police received DNA test results from a lab that linked him to Hanson’s death that Whelpley was arrested and his rights were read to him, they said.

Whelpley’s attorneys Terry Ekl and Tracy Stanker said at a hearing last month that when police brought Whelpley to a police station, they continued to ask him about the case and referenced statements he made while they were at his home.

Assistant State’s Attorney Christopher Koch said at a hearing last month that Whelpley was never in custody when he was at his home, and he was allowed to get up, move around and pour himself something to drink. The comments he made to police were voluntary, he said.

Carlson previously ruled that statements he made at his home were inadmissible.

Prosecutors and the defense agreed Tuesday to create a transcript of what was said at the police station and redact the references to statements that were made at Whelpley’s home.

Ekl said after the hearing that he did not believe that the decision would be harmful to Whelpley’s defense and there was only roughly 15 minutes of interrogation at the police station that occurred after Whelpley’s Miranda rights were given and before Whelpley invoked his right to legal representation.

Whelpley did not confess or admit to Hanson’s murder, Ekl said.

The case has been continued to March 13.

Ekl said he anticipates the trial happening later this year, possibly in the fall.

Koch declined comment after the hearing.

Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.