He was 17, injected with truth serum without his consent, and interrogated for six days without a lawyer. He spent the rest of his 65 years in prison insisting he'd confessed only to avoid the electric chair.
William Heirens, dubbed "the Lipstick Killer," was convicted in 1946 of murdering Josephine Ross, Frances Brown, and 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan in Chicago. He became Illinois's longest-serving inmate before his death in 2012, having spent his entire incarceration disputing the evidence used to convict him.
Three Murders in a City on Edge
Between 1945 and 1946, Chicago was rocked by the killings of Josephine Ross, stabbed in her apartment; Frances Brown, shot and stabbed, with a chilling message scrawled in lipstick on her bedroom wall reading "For heaven's sake, catch me before I kill more — I cannot control myself"; and 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan, who was kidnapped from her home, killed, and dismembered, with a ransom note left demanding money for her safe return.
Arrest at 17
Heirens, then a 17-year-old University of Chicago student, was arrested in June 1946 during an attempted burglary. He was interrogated for six days without legal counsel, injected with sodium pentothal — commonly known as "truth serum" — without his consent or knowledge of his attorneys at the time, and, according to later court findings, subjected to physical abuse during questioning. Illinois's Supreme Court later described the searches, prolonged interrogation, and unauthorized use of the drug and a polygraph as "flagrant violations of his rights."
A Plea to Avoid Execution
Heirens's own attorneys later said their goal was never to prove his innocence but to keep him out of the electric chair. Prosecutors offered a deal: if Heirens confessed to all three murders, he would receive life in prison rather than a death sentence. His lawyers, who by their own later account believed he was guilty and hadn't meaningfully investigated the evidence against him, urged him to accept. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three consecutive life terms.
Evidence That's Been Seriously Disputed
In the decades since, significant doubt has been raised about the physical evidence used to secure that plea. Handwriting analysts, including an FBI examiner in 1996, found that Heirens's known handwriting didn't match either the Degnan ransom note or the lipstick message, and that the two notes didn't even match each other. A fingerprint found at the Brown crime scene, initially reported to police as a "bloody smudge," has been challenged by defense attorneys and outside experts as potentially being a "rolled" print of the kind found on a police fingerprint card rather than a genuine crime-scene print, raising questions about whether it may have been planted. Heirens also passed two polygraph examinations, though prosecutors publicly described the results as inconclusive.
Decades of Appeals
Heirens sought release roughly 30 times over his incarceration, maintaining he had confessed only because he was told he had no chance of a fair trial. His case was taken up by Northwestern University's law clinic focused on wrongful convictions, and a 2002 clemency petition detailed the coercive circumstances of his interrogation. None of these efforts succeeded, and Suzanne Degnan's sister, Betty Finn, consistently and publicly opposed his release for decades, maintaining her belief in his guilt.
Death in Custody
Heirens died in prison on March 5, 2012, at age 83, having spent nearly 66 years incarcerated — reportedly the longest sentence served by any Illinois inmate. He never received parole and died still disputing the murders he was convicted of.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did William Heirens ever admit guilt after his conviction?
No. He maintained for the rest of his life that he had confessed only under coercive circumstances and to avoid a death sentence, not because he was actually guilty.
Was the evidence against him ever seriously challenged?
Yes. Handwriting analysts, including an FBI examiner, found his handwriting didn't match the crime-scene notes, and defense attorneys have raised serious questions about whether fingerprint evidence was legitimately collected or possibly planted.
Was he ever released or exonerated?
No. Despite roughly 30 appeals and clemency efforts over the decades, he remained incarcerated until his death in 2012.