William Heirens
Encyclopedia
William George Heirens is a convicted American serial killer
who confessed to three murders in 1946. Heirens has been called The Lipstick Killer due to a notorious message scrawled in lipstick
at a crime scene. He is reputedly the world's longest serving prisoner, having thus far spent 65 years in prison.
He is currently incarcerated at the Dixon Correctional Center medium security prison in Dixon, Illinois
(Inmate No. C-06103). Though he remains imprisoned, Heirens has recanted his confession and claimed to be a victim of coercive
interrogation and police brutality
.
Fritz Lang
directed his film While the City Sleeps based on the novel The Bloody Spur by Charles Einstein
which depicts the story of Heirens.
of Chicago
.
At the age of 11, Heirens claimed to have witnessed a couple making love. He told his mother, who then told him that all sex was dirty, and would lead to diseases. While kissing a girlfriend he burst into tears, and proceeded to vomit in the presence of the girl.
At 13 years old, Heirens was arrested for carrying a loaded gun. A subsequent search of the Heirens’ home discovered more weapons hidden in a refrigerator and in the loft. Heirens admitted to a string of burglaries
and was sent to the Gibault School for wayward boys for several months. He claimed that he mostly stole for fun and to release tension.
Not long after his release, Heirens was again arrested for burglary. This time, he was sentenced to three years at St. Bede Academy
, operated by Benedictine Monk
s. During his time at the school, Heirens stood out as an exceptional student. He was released when he was 16. His good test scores allowed him to enroll at the University of Chicago
.
Not long after his release, however, Heirens resumed his serial burglary, even as he studied electrical engineering
at the University of Chicago.
Ross’ fiancé had an alibi, as did her former boyfriends and ex-husbands, and police had no other suspects. They looked for a dark-complexioned man who was reported loitering at the apartment or running from the scene, but were unable to identify or locate him.
Police found a bloody fingerprint
smudge on the door jamb of the entrance door. Also, there was a possible eyewitness to the killer's escape. An "eye-witness", George Weinberg, heard gunshots at about 4 a.m. According to John Derick, the night clerk stationed in the lobby of the building, a nervous man of 35–40 years old and weighing approximately 140 pounds got off the elevator, fumbled for the door to the street and left.
Her disappearance earned significant publicity, and police vowed to find whoever was responsible. Police found a ladder outside the girl’s window, and also discovered a ransom
note which had been overlooked by the family. The note read:
On the reverse of the note was written,
The letters had been written in a style similar to musical notation
, leading handwriting experts to theorise that the author was a competent musician.
A man repeatedly called the Degnan residence demanding the ransom, but hung up before any meaningful conversation could take place.
Chicago Mayor Edward Kelly
also received a note:
strike and the OPA
was talking of extending rationing to dairy products. Degnan was a senior OPA executive recently transferred to Chicago. Another executive of the OPA had recently been assigned armed guards after receiving threats against his children and in Chicago, a man involved with black market meat had recently been murdered by decapitation. Police considered the possibility the Degnan killer was a meat packer.William T. Rasmussen Corroborating evidence II pg 51
Police questioned the Degnan family's neighbors, but few had seen anything unusual. Someone later telephoned police anonymously, suggesting that police look in the sewers near the Degnan home. Police did, and discovered the young girl’s head in a storm drain
sewer that was in an alley a block from the Degnan residence. In the same alley they discovered the girl's right leg in a catch basin, her torso in another storm drain and her left leg was found in a drain in another alley, each location progressively further from her home. Her arms were found a month later in a sewer on the other side of the Red Line
railway more than three blocks from the Degnan residence. All the drains were capped with circular cast iron manhole cover
s yet no one had heard them lifted or replaced. Searches of an apartment building near where her head was found uncovered a basement laundry room with four tubs that contained evidence indicating she had been dismembered there. The killer had mopped the floor but blood was found in the drains of all four tubs. The press called it the "Murder Room" although the autopsy showed that she had been alive when taken from her home, murdered at a second location that was never identified, then taken to the laundry room.
Police questioned hundreds of people regarding the Degnan murder, and gave polygraph
exams to about 170. On several occasions, authorities claimed to have captured the killer, but the suspects were eventually released.
in the building where Degnan lived, was arrested and touted as the suspect. Police told the press "This is the Man," despite discrepancies between Verburgh's profile and the one that was developed by them as to what kind of skills the killer had, including him having surgical knowledge or at least being a butcher. Police cited such evidence as Verburgh frequenting the so-called "Murder Room," and the grimy state of the ransom note suggested it was written by a dirty hand such as that of a janitor. The police tried to pressure Verbaugh's wife to implicate her husband in the murder.
Police held Verburgh for 48 hours of questionings and beatings
that severely injured him, including a separated shoulder. Throughout, Verburgh denied involvement in the murder. Verburgh's Janitor Union lawyer got Verburgh released on a writ of habeas corpus. Verburgh said of the experience:
Verburgh spent 10 days in the hospital. It was determined that Verburgh couldn't write English
well enough even by the crude standards of the ransom note itself for him to have written it. He sued the Chicago Police Department for USD$15,000 but was awarded USD$20,000, which is approximately USD$222,000 in 2010 dollars. Five thousand dollars ($55,000 in 2010 dollars) of the $20,000 awarded to Verburgh was awarded to his wife.
. Police had found blond hairs in the back of the Degnan apartment building and nearby was a wire that authorities suspected could have been used as a garrote
to strangle Suzanne Degnan. Near that was a handkerchief the police suspected might had been used as a gag to keep Suzanne quiet. On the handkerchief was a laundry mark name: S. Sherman. The police hoped that perhaps the killer had erred in leaving it behind. They searched military records and discovered that a Sidney Sherman lived at the Hyde Park YMCA
. The police went to question Sherman but discovered that he had vacated the residence without checking out and quit his job without picking up his last paycheck,.
A nation-wide manhunt ensued. Sherman was found four days later in Toledo, Ohio
. He explained under interrogation that he had eloped with his girlfriend and denied that the handkerchief was his. He was administered a polygraph
test, which he passed, and was later cleared. Eventually the real owner was found; the handkerchief belonged to Airman Seymour Sherman of New York City who had been out of the country when Suzanne Degnan was murdered. He had no idea how it could possibly have ended up in Chicago and the presence of the handkerchief was determined to be a coincidence.
Costello lived only a few blocks from the Degnan apartment building and attended a nearby high school before being convicted of armed robbery at age 16 and sent to reform school
. According to the story Campbell told the police, Costello told him that he kidnapped and killed the girl and disposed of her body. Costello allegedly told Campbell to make ransom calls to the Degnans. This corroborated the mystery ransom calls made to the Degnans the morning after Suzanne was reported missing. The police arrested Costello on that basis and interrogated him overnight.
The story started to fall apart when both Campbell's and Costello's polygraph test indicated that they had no knowledge of the murder. They later admitted that they heard police officers discussing details of the case and came up with the idea of calling the Degnans about the ransom.
By this time the press was taking an increasingly critical tone as to how the police were handling the Degnan investigation.
, having moved from Chicago. At the time of the Chicago investigation he was imprisoned in Phoenix for molesting one of his own daughters but he was in Chicago at the time of the Degnan murder. A handwriting expert for the Phoenix Police Department first informed Chicago authorities of the "great similarities" between Thomas's handwriting and that of the Degnan ransom note, noting that many of the phrases Thomas had used in an extortion note were similar and his medical training as a nurse matched the profile suggested by police. Although Thomas lived on the south side, he frequented a car yard directly across the street from where Suzanne Degnan's arms were found. During questioning by Chicago police he freely admitted killing Suzanne Degnan. However, the authorities were intrigued by a promising new suspect reported to the paper the same day the Thomas development broke. A college student was caught fleeing from the scene of a burglary, brandished a gun at police and possibly tried to kill one of the pursuing policemen to escape. By this time Thomas had recanted his confession, but the press didn't notice in light of this new lead.
According to Heirens, he remembered drifting into unconsciousness
under questioning. The police had taken him to Bridewell Hospital, which was adjacent to the Cook County Jail. The questioning became more intense, with officers demanding to know how he did it, to say that he did it, they "knew" that he did it. At one point, someone punched him in the testicle
s, causing him to nearly vomit. They also burned them with ether.
Heirens later said he was interrogated around the clock for six consecutive days, being beaten by police and not allowed to eat or drink. He was not allowed to see his parents for four days. He was also refused the opportunity to speak to a lawyer for six days.
Two psychiatrists, Doctors Haines and Roy Grinker, gave Heirens sodium pentathol without a warrant
and without Heirens' or his parents' consent, and interrogated him for three hours. Under the influence of the drug, authorities claimed, Heirens spoke of an alternate personality named "George Murman", who had actually committed the murders. Heirens claimed that he recalled little of the drug-induced interrogation. What Heirens actually said is in dispute, as the original transcript has disappeared. In 1952, Dr Grinker revealed that Heirens had never implicated himself in any of the killings.
On his fifth day in custody, Heirens was given a lumbar puncture
without anesthesia
. Moments later, Heirens was driven to police headquarters for a polygraph
test. They tried for a few minutes to administer the test, but it was rescheduled for several days later after they found him to be in too much pain to cooperate.
When the polygraph was administered, authorities, including State's Attorney William Tuohy, announced that the results were “inconclusive.”
On July 2, 1946, he was transferred to the Cook County Jail where he was placed in the infirmary to recover.
Heirens was attributed as saying while under the influence that he met "George" when he was 13 years old; that it was "George" who sent him out prowling at night, that he robbed for pleasure, and "killed like a cobra
" when cornered. "George" related his secrets to Heirens. Heirens allegedly claimed that he was always taking the rap for George, first for petty theft, then assault and now murder. Psychologists explained at the time that, in the same way children make up imaginary friends, Heirens made up this personality to keep his antisocial
feelings and actions separate from the person who could be the "average son and student, date nice girls and go to church..."
Authorities were skeptical of Heirens’ claims and suspected that he was laying the groundwork for an insanity defense, but the confession earned widespread publicity with the press transforming "Murman" to "Murder Man".
. Further, a fingerprint of the left little finger also allegedly connected Heirens to the ransom note with nine points of comparison. At the time Heirens' supporters pointed out the FBI handbook regarding fingerprint identification required 12 points of comparison matching to have a positive identification.
Later, Chief of Detectives Walter Storms confirmed that the "bloody smudge" left on the door jamb was Heirens'.
) of Heirens’ residence and college dormitory found other items that earned publicity. Notably recovered was a scrapbook containing pictures of Nazi officials that belonged to a war veteran, Harry Gold, that was taken when Heirens burgled his place the night Suzanne Degnan was killed. Gold lived in the vicinity of the Degnans. This, once again, put Heirens in the circle of suspicion.
Also in Heirens' possession was a stolen copy of Psychopathia Sexualis (1886), Richard von Krafft-Ebing's famous study of sexual deviance. In addition, among Heirens' belongings police discovered a stolen medical kit, but they announced that the medical instruments could not be linked to the murders. No trace of biological material such as blood, skin or hair were found on the tools. Moreover, no biological material of the victims were found on Heirens himself or any of his clothes. The medical kit tools were considered to be too fine and small to be used for dissection. Instead, Heirens had used the four inch long medical kit to alter the war bond
s he stole.
A gun was found in his possession that was linked to a shooting. A Colt Police Positive revolver had been stolen in a burglary at the apartment of Guy Rodrick on December 3, 1945. Two nights later, a bullet crashed through the closed eighth floor apartment window of Marion Caldwell, wounding her. Heirens had that gun in his possession and, according to the Chicago Police Department
, the bullet that injured Caldwell was linked through ballistics
to that same gun.
observed in its July 29, 1946, issue:
On July 14, State's Attorney William Tuohy met in a close door meeting with Heirens' lawyers, the brothers Malachy and John Coghlan, to discuss a possible plea bargain
.
On July 18, 1946, Chicago Tribune
staff reporter George Wright wrote a piece on the case entitled:
The Heirens Story! How He Killed Suzanne Degnan and 2 Women.
Wright manufactured details and cited "unimpeachable sources" that said Heirens had confessed. The Tribune devoted 38 columns for the story. It began:
A radio newscast reported on the Chicago Tribune's scoop of the "confession," which Heirens heard in his cell. He was incredulous, stating:
The other four competing daily newspapers reprinted the confession in their publications with Chicago newspapers headlining the story 157 times over the next ten weeks. As The Tribune wrote later:
Heirens had a few supporters in the press. The London Sunday Pictorial ran an article called "Condemned Before His Trial, America Calls This Justice":
As late as 1975, the Chicago Daily News
was still taking credit for its "scoop."
. Before the trial, inconsistencies in his original statement had led many to dismiss his evidence. Later, Subgrunski's in court testimony would be discredited when it was pointed out that in contrast to his original statement, that he could not see the man's features because there was no light, at trial he testified that he was certain because Heirens had walked in front of the car "in the full glare of his headlights."
Heirens' lawyers pressured him to take Tuohy's plea bargain
. That deal, which was the topic of that closed door meeting with Tuohy, stated that Heirens would serve one life sentence if he confessed to the murders of Josephine Ross, Frances Brown, and Suzanne Degnan. With the help of his lawyers, he began drafting a confession using the Chicago Tribune article as a guide:
Both Heirens and his parents signed a confession. The parties agreed to a date of July 30 for Heirens to make his official confession. On that date the defense went to Tuohy's office, where several reporters were assembled to ask Heirens questions and where Tuohy himself made a speech. Heirens appeared bewildered and gave noncommital answers to reporters' questions, which he years later blamed on Tuohy:
Tuohy withdrew the previously agreed sentence of one life term with a few minor charges, changed it to three life terms to run consecutively, and threatened Heirens with the death penalty if he went to trial. They threatened to charge him with another murder (Estelle Carey) even though Heirens was attending the Gibault School for Wayward Boys, a boarding school
in Terre Haute, Indiana
, at the time. Heirens’ own attorneys were angry at their client for reneging on the plea bargain. The Chicago Tribune had a headline:
MUTE HEIRENS FACES TRIAL - KILLER SPURNS MOTHER'S FERVENT PLEA TO TALK.
Tuohy announced that he would press ahead to try Heirens for the deaths of Suzanne Degnan and Frances Brown.
Heirens agreed with the new plea agreement. The public allocution
was held again in Tuohy's office. This time, Heirens talked and answered questions, even reenacting parts of the murders he had confessed to. Ahern changed his opinion and believed he was culpable when he heard how familiar Heirens was with victim Frances Brown's apartment.
Heirens said later: "I confessed to save my life."
himself in his cell, timed to coincide during a shift change of the prison guards. He was discovered before he died. He said later that despair drove him to attempt suicide
:
On September 5, after further evidence was written in the record and the prosecution and defense made their closing statements, Ward formally sentenced Heirens to three life terms. As Heirens waited to be transferred to Stateville Prison from the Cook County Jail, Sheriff Michael Mulcahy asked Heirens if Suzanne Degnan suffered when she was killed. Heirens answered:
." This drug was administered by psychiatrists Haines and Roy Grinker. Under its effects he allegedly stated that a second person named George Murman actually committed the killings.
This form of interrogation, which was done without a warrant and administered with neither Heirens's or his parent's consent, is believed by most scientists today to be of dubious value in eliciting the truth, due to high suggestibility of subjects under the influence of such substances.
However, when Heirens was arrested in 1946, growing scientific opinion against "truth serum" had not yet filtered down to the courts and police departments.
During Heirens' post-conviction petition in 1952, Tuohy admitted under oath that he not only knew about the sodium pentathol procedure, he had authorized it and paid Grinker USD$1,000. The same year, Grinker revealed that Heirens never implicated himself in any of the killings.
contacted Chicago Daily News
artist Frank San Hamel to examine a photograph of the ransom note. Three days after the murder, Hamel told the police and the public that he had found "hidden Indentation writing" i.e. writing impressions from a note written on an overlying piece of paper, leaving a ghostly impression. At this news, Storms broke the chain of custody and provided Hamel with the original note for him to examine directly. Since the chain of custody was broken by this action, the note was rendered useless in court no matter the result. After Heirens was arrested for the Degnan killing, Hamel reported that it implicated him. The FBI had previously issued a report on March 22, 1946 that it examined the note and declared that there was no indentation writing at all and Hamel's assertions...
Even the actual handwriting on the note has been apparently discredited. Most handwriting experts, both attached to the Chicago police and independent at the time of the original investigation, believed that Heirens had no connections to either the note or the wall scribble. Charles Wilson, who was head of the Chicago Crime Detection Laboratory, declared Heirens's known handwriting exemplar
s obtained from Heirens' hand written notes from college agreed with the Police Department experts who could not find any connection between Heirens the note and the wall message. Independent handwriting expert George W. Schwartz was brought in to give his opinion. He stated flatly that
A third handwriting expert, Herbert J. Walter, whose credentials included working on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping
in 1932, was brought in. After examining documents written by Heirens, Walter declared that Heirens wrote the ransom note and the lipstick scrawl on the wall and attempted to disguise his handwriting. However, this was in direct contradiction from what he said several months before, at which time he said he doubted that the two writings were authored by the same person. He was quoted as saying there were "a few superficial similarities and a great many dissimilarities."
In 1996, FBI handwriting analyst David Grimes declared that Heirens’ known handwriting did not match either the Degnan ransom note or the infamous "Lipstick Message." supporting the two earlier results of the original 1946 investigation and Herbert J. Walter's original January 1946 opinion. In addition, the handwriting of the notes don't match each other.
The Degnan ransom note was first examined by the Chicago Crime Detection Laboratory, but they couldn't find any usable prints on the note. Captain Timothy O'Connor took the note to the FBI crime laboratory in Washington, D.C.
on January 18, 1946 with the idea of enlisting the FBI's more sophisticated technology in finding any latent prints. The FBI subjected the note to the then advanced method of Iodine
Fuming to raise latent prints. The process was similar in execution to today's polycyanoacrylate "super glue" fuming in which Cyanoacrylate
is heated to a vapor. This vapor sticks to the skin oils on the friction ridges of a latent fingerprint. The older Ninhydrin
method which is a liquid that is sprayed on paper to detect latent prints on paper is similar. The FBI were able to raise two prints which they photographed promptly because unlike modern polycyanoacrylate fuming prints revealed by the Iodine process fade quickly. Captain O'Connor later testified at Heirens's sentencing hearing that he only saw two prints on the front of the note and did not mention the existence of any on the back.
Upon his return to Chicago he turned over the photographs of the revealed prints on the note to Sergeant Thomas Laffey, the Chicago Police Department's fingerprint expert. After his examination he stated to the press that they were "....so incomplete that it is impossible to classify them." Despite checking these "incomplete" prints with everyone arrested between January 1946 and June 29, 1946 he was unable to find a match even though William Heirens was previously arrested and fingerprinted on May 1, 1946 on a weapons charge. Heirens was arrested for burglary on June 26, 1946; three days later Sergeant Laffey announced a nine point comparison match to Heirens left little finger with one of the prints. Then a match was announced between Heirens and the second print. In a news conference State's Attorney Tuohy declared that "...there could be no doubt now" about the suspect's guilt but then incongruously also stated that they didn't actually have enough evidence to indict Heirens.
Months after the FBI had returned the note and the photograph of the note to the Chicago police, the police announced that Laffey had discovered a palm print on the reverse side of the note also matching Heirens to 10 points of comparison. No other prints were found on the note prompting Police Chief Walter Storm to say:
This declaration is suspicious to some because:
Indeed, even before the police crime lab got a chance to examine the note Charles Wilson, the chief of the Chicago Crime Detection Laboratory stated:
In the same vein, a March 22, 1946 FBI report noted:
These statements are in direct contradiction of Chief Walter Storm's assertion that no one else but Heirens handled the note.
Further, Laffey testified during the September 5, 1946 sentencing hearing that one more fingerprint on the reverse sided of the note was linked to Heirens to 10 points of comparison. He also increased the points of comparison of the palm print to Heirens from 10 to the FBI standard of 12.
As to the fingerprints on the front of the note that were discovered by the FBI in January 1946, Laffey only identified one and did not say it belonged to Heirens when he testified at the sentencing hearing. Only the prints not found by the FBI and allegedly discovered after Heirens's arrest were mentioned at the sentencing hearing and not the two front prints that was supposedly "indisputable" proof of Heirens's culpability. They were hardly mentioned, nor were they linked to Heirens, in a court hearing in which the witnesses had to testify under oath.
As a further indication of what could be called ineffective defense by Heirens's lawyers, none of these issues were raised at the sentencing hearings and no objections were made, nor did they bring up chain of custody issues.
A "bloody, smudged" print of an end and middle joint of a finger was found on the door jamb of a door between the bathroom and dressing room in Francis Brown's apartment. A photograph of the print was taken, but no match was made with anything on file. After Heirens was arrested on June 26, his prints were compared with the Degnan note. When Laffey claimed a match with Heirens and the prints on the Degnan note an attempt was made to match him with the door jamb print. It was unsuccessful, and the police declared him cleared of the Brown murder because the print at the crime scene was not his. Twelve days later, however, it was declared to match Heirens' prints to 22 points of comparison, well above the FBI standard.
At Heirens' sentencing, Laffey testified that the end joint of the bloody print had only an eight point comparison to Heirens' and the middle joint a mere six point comparison. The middle joint didn't live up to even Laffey's personal standard of seven or eight points to make a positive identification match.
Another source of contention is that the Brown crime scene fingerprint has the appearance of having been rolled, which is the practice of taken a person's inked finger and rolling them on an index card, and not the smudged, bloody and unreadable print as originally reported. Traditionally, after the fingertip is covered in ink from either the suspect's hand being pressed on top of an ink pad or an ink roller being run across them, the finger is placed on the card on one edge. It is rolled once from one edge to the finger's other edge to produce a large, clear print.
Heirens' attorneys did not question the veracity of the prints, however.
. Police handwriting expert Charles B. Arnold, head of the forgery detail of the Phoenix police in Thomas’s hometown of Phoenix, Arizona
, noted similarities between the handwritten Degnan ransom note and Thomas’ handwriting when Thomas wrote with his left hand, and suggested that Chicago police investigate Thomas.
Upon being questioned, Thomas confessed to the crime, but he was released from custody after Heirens became the prime suspect. Others contend that Thomas was a strong suspect, to wit:
The Chicago detectives dismissed Thomas' claims after Heirens became a suspect. Thomas died in 1974 in an Arizona
prison. His prison record and most of the evidence of his interrogation regarding the Chicago murders have been lost or destroyed.
to "Hill". His parents divorce
d after his conviction.
Heirens was first housed at Stateville Prison in Joliet, Illinois
. He has since learned several trades, including electronics and television and radio repair; at one point he had his own repair shop. Before a college education was available to prison inmates, Heirens on February 6, 1972, became the first prisoner in Illinois history to earn a four year college degree, receiving a Bachelor of Arts
(BA) degree later earning 250 course credits by funding the cost of correspondence courses with 20 different universities from his savings. Passing courses as varied as languages, analytical geometry, data processing and tailoring, he was forbidden by authorities to take courses in physics, chemistry or celestial navigation. He managed the garment factory at Stateville for five years, overseeing 350 inmates and after transfer to Vienna he set up their entire educational program. He has aided other prisoners' educational progress by helping them earn their General Educational Development (GED) diplomas and becoming a "jailhouse lawyer
" of sorts, helping them with their appeals.
Heirens was given an institutional parole for the Degnan murder in 1965, and in 1966 he was discharged on that case and began serving his second life sentence. Although not freed, parole policies of the day meant that he was considered rehabilitated by prison authorities and that the Degnan case could no longer legally be put forward as a reason to deny parole. Based on the regulations of 1946, Heirens should have been discharged from the Brown murder in 1975 and from all remaining charges in 1983. However, in 1973 the focus moved from rehabilitation to punishment and deterrence which has blocked moves to release Heirens. In 1983 the Seventh District U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that it was unconstitutional to refuse parole on deterrence grounds to inmates convicted before 1973. Magistrate Gerald Cohn ordered Illinois to release Heirens immediately. The brother and sister of Suzanne Degnan went public, pleading with authorities to fight the ruling. Attorney General Neil Hartigan
stated "Only God and Heirens know how many other women he murdered. Now a bleeding-heart do-gooder decides that Heirens is rehabilitated and should go free...I'm going to make sure that kill-crazed animal stays where he is," a sentiment supported by the media. Ignoring that Heirens had been legally discharged from the Degnan murder, in response the Illinois senate passed a resolution that as the "confessed murderer of Suzanne Degnan, a 6-year-old girl whom he strangled in 1946...that it is the opinion of the chamber that the release of William Heirens at this time would be detrimental to the best interests of the people of the state." With the support of prominent politicians, the 1983 court ruling was later reversed.
In 1975 he was transferred to the minimal security Vienna Correctional Center in Vienna, Illinois
, and then in 1998 upon his request to the Dixon Correctional Center minimum security prison in Dixon, Illinois
. He resides in the Hospital Ward. He suffers from diabetes, which has swollen his legs and limited his eyesight, and now uses a wheelchair
. He continues with his efforts to win clemency.
Heirens' most recent parole
hearing was held on July 26, 2007. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board decision in a 14-0 vote against parole, was reflected by Board member Thomas Johnson, who stated that "God will forgive you, but the state won't". However, the parole board also decided to revisit the issue once per year from then on.
There remain many who have questioned whether Heirens is guilty.
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
who confessed to three murders in 1946. Heirens has been called The Lipstick Killer due to a notorious message scrawled in lipstick
Lipstick
Lipstick is a cosmetic product containing pigments, oils, waxes, and emollients that applies color, texture, and protection to the lips. Many varieties of lipstick are known. As with most other types of makeup, lipstick is typically, but not exclusively, worn by women...
at a crime scene. He is reputedly the world's longest serving prisoner, having thus far spent 65 years in prison.
He is currently incarcerated at the Dixon Correctional Center medium security prison in Dixon, Illinois
Dixon, Illinois
Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 at the 2000 census. Named for its founder, John Dixon , it is the county seat of Lee County. Located on the Rock River, Dixon was the boyhood home of former U.S...
(Inmate No. C-06103). Though he remains imprisoned, Heirens has recanted his confession and claimed to be a victim of coercive
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
interrogation and police brutality
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
.
Fritz Lang
Fritz Lang
Friedrich Christian Anton "Fritz" Lang was an Austrian-American filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional film producer and actor. One of the best known émigrés from Germany's school of Expressionism, he was dubbed the "Master of Darkness" by the British Film Institute...
directed his film While the City Sleeps based on the novel The Bloody Spur by Charles Einstein
Charles Einstein
Charles Einstein was a newspaperman and sportswriter and he also wrote the novel The Bloody Spur on which the film While the City Sleeps by Fritz Lang was based. His father was the comedian Harry Parke...
which depicts the story of Heirens.
Early life
Heirens grew up in Lincolnwood, a suburbSuburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
At the age of 11, Heirens claimed to have witnessed a couple making love. He told his mother, who then told him that all sex was dirty, and would lead to diseases. While kissing a girlfriend he burst into tears, and proceeded to vomit in the presence of the girl.
At 13 years old, Heirens was arrested for carrying a loaded gun. A subsequent search of the Heirens’ home discovered more weapons hidden in a refrigerator and in the loft. Heirens admitted to a string of burglaries
Burglary
Burglary is a crime, the essence of which is illicit entry into a building for the purposes of committing an offense. Usually that offense will be theft, but most jurisdictions specify others which fall within the ambit of burglary...
and was sent to the Gibault School for wayward boys for several months. He claimed that he mostly stole for fun and to release tension.
Not long after his release, Heirens was again arrested for burglary. This time, he was sentenced to three years at St. Bede Academy
St. Bede Academy
Saint Bede Academy is a private, four-year, Catholic college-preparatory high school located in Peru, Illinois. The campus buildings and monastery are situated on of wooded land. The monastery is home to 32 Benedictine monks who have taken a vow of stability, meaning that they remain at Saint Bede...
, operated by Benedictine Monk
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
s. During his time at the school, Heirens stood out as an exceptional student. He was released when he was 16. His good test scores allowed him to enroll at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
.
Not long after his release, however, Heirens resumed his serial burglary, even as he studied electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
at the University of Chicago.
Josephine Ross
On June 5, 1945, 43-year-old Josephine Ross was found dead in her apartment at 4108 North Kenmore Ave; she had been repeatedly stabbed, and her head was wrapped in a dress. She was presumed to have surprised an intruder, who then killed her. Dark hairs were found clutched in Ross' hand, indicating that she had struggled with the intruder before she was killed. No valuables were taken from the apartment.Ross’ fiancé had an alibi, as did her former boyfriends and ex-husbands, and police had no other suspects. They looked for a dark-complexioned man who was reported loitering at the apartment or running from the scene, but were unable to identify or locate him.
Frances Brown
On December 20, 1945, Frances Brown, a divorced woman, was discovered stabbed to death in her apartment at 3941 Pine Grove after a cleaning woman heard a radio playing loudly and noted Brown’s door partly open. Brown had been savagely stabbed, and authorities thought that a burglar had been discovered or interrupted. No valuables were taken but someone had written a message in lipstick on the wall of Brown’s apartment:- For heavens
- sake catch me
- before I kill more
- I cannot control myself.
Police found a bloody fingerprint
Fingerprint
A fingerprint in its narrow sense is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. In a wider use of the term, fingerprints are the traces of an impression from the friction ridges of any part of a human hand. A print from the foot can also leave an impression of friction ridges...
smudge on the door jamb of the entrance door. Also, there was a possible eyewitness to the killer's escape. An "eye-witness", George Weinberg, heard gunshots at about 4 a.m. According to John Derick, the night clerk stationed in the lobby of the building, a nervous man of 35–40 years old and weighing approximately 140 pounds got off the elevator, fumbled for the door to the street and left.
Suzanne Degnan
On January 7, 1946, six-year-old Suzanne Degnan was discovered missing from her first floor bedroom at 5943 North Kenmore Ave. After searching the apartment and not finding the girl, her family called police.Her disappearance earned significant publicity, and police vowed to find whoever was responsible. Police found a ladder outside the girl’s window, and also discovered a ransom
Ransom
Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or it can refer to the sum of money involved.In an early German law, a similar concept was called bad influence...
note which had been overlooked by the family. The note read:
- GeI $20,000 Reddy & wAITe foR WoRd. do NoT NoTify FBI oR Police. Bills IN 5's & 10's [sic].
On the reverse of the note was written,
- BuRN This FoR heR SAfTY [sic].
The letters had been written in a style similar to musical notation
Musical notation
Music notation or musical notation is any system that represents aurally perceived music, through the use of written symbols.-History:...
, leading handwriting experts to theorise that the author was a competent musician.
A man repeatedly called the Degnan residence demanding the ransom, but hung up before any meaningful conversation could take place.
Chicago Mayor Edward Kelly
Edward Joseph Kelly
Edward Joseph Kelly served as chief engineer of the Chicago sanitary district in the 1920s, and later as mayor of Chicago, Illinois for the Democratic Party....
also received a note:
"This is to tell you how sorry I am not to not get ole [sic] Degnan instead of his girl. RooseveltAt the time there was a nationwide meatpackersFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and the OPA made their own laws. Why shouldn't I and a lot more?"
Meat packing industry
The meat packing industry handles the slaughtering, processing, packaging, and distribution of animals such as cattle, pigs, sheep and other livestock...
strike and the OPA
Office of Price Administration
The Office of Price Administration was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA was originally to control money and rents after the outbreak of World War II.President Franklin D...
was talking of extending rationing to dairy products. Degnan was a senior OPA executive recently transferred to Chicago. Another executive of the OPA had recently been assigned armed guards after receiving threats against his children and in Chicago, a man involved with black market meat had recently been murdered by decapitation. Police considered the possibility the Degnan killer was a meat packer.William T. Rasmussen Corroborating evidence II pg 51
Police questioned the Degnan family's neighbors, but few had seen anything unusual. Someone later telephoned police anonymously, suggesting that police look in the sewers near the Degnan home. Police did, and discovered the young girl’s head in a storm drain
Storm drain
A storm drain, storm sewer , stormwater drain or drainage well system or simply a drain or drain system is designed to drain excess rain and ground water from paved streets, parking lots, sidewalks, and roofs. Storm drains vary in design from small residential dry wells to large municipal systems...
sewer that was in an alley a block from the Degnan residence. In the same alley they discovered the girl's right leg in a catch basin, her torso in another storm drain and her left leg was found in a drain in another alley, each location progressively further from her home. Her arms were found a month later in a sewer on the other side of the Red Line
Red Line (Chicago Transit Authority)
The northern terminus of the Red Line is Howard Street in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago , on the City Limits farthest north. The Red Line extends southeasterly on an elevated embankment structure about a half-mile west of the lakefront to Touhy Avenue then turns south along Glenwood...
railway more than three blocks from the Degnan residence. All the drains were capped with circular cast iron manhole cover
Manhole cover
A manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, to prevent anyone from falling in and to keep unauthorized persons out....
s yet no one had heard them lifted or replaced. Searches of an apartment building near where her head was found uncovered a basement laundry room with four tubs that contained evidence indicating she had been dismembered there. The killer had mopped the floor but blood was found in the drains of all four tubs. The press called it the "Murder Room" although the autopsy showed that she had been alive when taken from her home, murdered at a second location that was never identified, then taken to the laundry room.
Police questioned hundreds of people regarding the Degnan murder, and gave polygraph
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
exams to about 170. On several occasions, authorities claimed to have captured the killer, but the suspects were eventually released.
Witnesses
Coroner Brodie fixed the time of death at between 12:30-1:00am and stated that a very sharp knife had been used to expertly dismember the body. The site was later found to be in the basement laundry room at 5901 Winthrop Avenue, near the Degnans home, however it was determined that Suzanne was already deceased when she was taken to the room. Dr. Kearns, the coroners expert, stated that the killer was "either a man who worked in a profession that required the study of anatomy or one with a background in dissection...not even the average doctor could be as skillful, it had to be a meat cutter." Brodie concurred adding that it was a "very clean job with absolutely no signs of hacking."- Several residents of the Degnans apartment building stated that on the afternoon before the murder a woman dressed in a mans coat had chased the children after offering them candy. One child was scratched on the face by the womans long fingernails.
- Ethel Hargrove, who lived in an apartment above the Degnans, arrived home at 12:50am. She reported hearing loud male voices downstairs and dogs barking in the Flynn apartment. Another tenant corroborated the barking at that time.
- George Subgrunski went to the police shortly after the murder and reported seeing a man walking to the Degnan home carrying a bag at 1:00am. He described the man as around 5'9" tall, 170 lbs and 35 years of age and wearing a light coloured fedora and dark coat. His evidence was found to be inconsistent and was dismissed by several investigators.
- Robert Reisner, a cab driver, saw a woman carrying a bundle under each arm near the alley behind the Degnan home at 1:30am. She got into a car driven by a grey haired man.
- Miss Crawford, who lived across the road, reported seeing a car containing a man and a woman repeatedly drive up and down the street at 2:30am.
- Marion Klein and Jake DeRosa, looking out her apartment window at 3:00am, saw a man wearing a grey hat and tan coat trying to enter the basement laundry room where Suzanne was dismembered. He ran away after apparently being disturbed.
- Freida Meyer, who lived above the laundry room, saw a man enter the laundry room at 3:40am, stay 10–15 minutes then leave via the alley. He returned to the laundry room 15 minutes later, staying for several minutes before returning to the alley. He returned a third time 15 minutes later but only stayed a moment.
Hector Verburgh arrest
Notably, 65-year-old Hector Verburgh, a janitorJanitor
A janitor or custodian is a professional who takes care of buildings, such as hospitals and schools. Janitors are responsible primarily for cleaning, and often some maintenance and security...
in the building where Degnan lived, was arrested and touted as the suspect. Police told the press "This is the Man," despite discrepancies between Verburgh's profile and the one that was developed by them as to what kind of skills the killer had, including him having surgical knowledge or at least being a butcher. Police cited such evidence as Verburgh frequenting the so-called "Murder Room," and the grimy state of the ransom note suggested it was written by a dirty hand such as that of a janitor. The police tried to pressure Verbaugh's wife to implicate her husband in the murder.
Police held Verburgh for 48 hours of questionings and beatings
Police brutality
Police brutality is the intentional use of excessive force, usually physical, but potentially also in the form of verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer....
that severely injured him, including a separated shoulder. Throughout, Verburgh denied involvement in the murder. Verburgh's Janitor Union lawyer got Verburgh released on a writ of habeas corpus. Verburgh said of the experience:
"Oh, they hanged me up, they blindfolded me ... I can’t put up my arms, they are sore. They had handcuffs on me for hours and hours. They threw me in the cell and blindfolded me. They handcuffed my hands behind my back and pulled me up on bars until my toes touched the floor. I no eat, I go to the hospital. Oh, I am so sick. Any more and I would have confessed to anything."
Verburgh spent 10 days in the hospital. It was determined that Verburgh couldn't write English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
well enough even by the crude standards of the ransom note itself for him to have written it. He sued the Chicago Police Department for USD$15,000 but was awarded USD$20,000, which is approximately USD$222,000 in 2010 dollars. Five thousand dollars ($55,000 in 2010 dollars) of the $20,000 awarded to Verburgh was awarded to his wife.
Sidney Sherman Investigation
Another notable false lead was that of Sidney Sherman, a recently discharged Marine who had served in World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Police had found blond hairs in the back of the Degnan apartment building and nearby was a wire that authorities suspected could have been used as a garrote
Garrote
A garrote or garrote vil is a handheld weapon, most often referring to a ligature of chain, rope, scarf, wire or fishing line used to strangle someone....
to strangle Suzanne Degnan. Near that was a handkerchief the police suspected might had been used as a gag to keep Suzanne quiet. On the handkerchief was a laundry mark name: S. Sherman. The police hoped that perhaps the killer had erred in leaving it behind. They searched military records and discovered that a Sidney Sherman lived at the Hyde Park YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
. The police went to question Sherman but discovered that he had vacated the residence without checking out and quit his job without picking up his last paycheck,.
A nation-wide manhunt ensued. Sherman was found four days later in Toledo, Ohio
Toledo, Ohio
Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...
. He explained under interrogation that he had eloped with his girlfriend and denied that the handkerchief was his. He was administered a polygraph
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
test, which he passed, and was later cleared. Eventually the real owner was found; the handkerchief belonged to Airman Seymour Sherman of New York City who had been out of the country when Suzanne Degnan was murdered. He had no idea how it could possibly have ended up in Chicago and the presence of the handkerchief was determined to be a coincidence.
Mystery phone calls solved
On the day of Suzanne Degnan's disappearance several calls to the Degnan residence demanding ransom payment but without leaving further instructions or further conversation were made. The mystery of who placed those calls was answered. While checking out local persons of interest to see if they had any connection to the Degnan case, they picked up a local boy named Theodore Campbell. Under questioning, he admitted that another local teenager, named Vincent Costello, had killed Suzanne Degnan. The Chicago Tribune declared the Degnan case solved.Costello lived only a few blocks from the Degnan apartment building and attended a nearby high school before being convicted of armed robbery at age 16 and sent to reform school
Reform school
A reform school in the United States was a term used to define, often somewhat euphemistically, what was often essentially a penal institution for boys, generally teenagers.-History:...
. According to the story Campbell told the police, Costello told him that he kidnapped and killed the girl and disposed of her body. Costello allegedly told Campbell to make ransom calls to the Degnans. This corroborated the mystery ransom calls made to the Degnans the morning after Suzanne was reported missing. The police arrested Costello on that basis and interrogated him overnight.
The story started to fall apart when both Campbell's and Costello's polygraph test indicated that they had no knowledge of the murder. They later admitted that they heard police officers discussing details of the case and came up with the idea of calling the Degnans about the ransom.
Lack of progress
In February, Suzanne Degnan's arms were found by sewer workers about a half mile from her home after the rest of her was already interred. By April some 370 suspects were questioned and cleared.By this time the press was taking an increasingly critical tone as to how the police were handling the Degnan investigation.
Another confession
Richard Russell Thomas was a nurse living in Phoenix, ArizonaPhoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, having moved from Chicago. At the time of the Chicago investigation he was imprisoned in Phoenix for molesting one of his own daughters but he was in Chicago at the time of the Degnan murder. A handwriting expert for the Phoenix Police Department first informed Chicago authorities of the "great similarities" between Thomas's handwriting and that of the Degnan ransom note, noting that many of the phrases Thomas had used in an extortion note were similar and his medical training as a nurse matched the profile suggested by police. Although Thomas lived on the south side, he frequented a car yard directly across the street from where Suzanne Degnan's arms were found. During questioning by Chicago police he freely admitted killing Suzanne Degnan. However, the authorities were intrigued by a promising new suspect reported to the paper the same day the Thomas development broke. A college student was caught fleeing from the scene of a burglary, brandished a gun at police and possibly tried to kill one of the pursuing policemen to escape. By this time Thomas had recanted his confession, but the press didn't notice in light of this new lead.
Arrest and questioning of Heirens
On June 26, 1946, 17 year old William Heirens was arrested on attempted burglary charges when someone saw him breaking into an apartment. As Heirens fled, the building's janitor pursued him and blocked his path out of the building. However, Heirens allegedly pointed the gun he was carrying at the caretaker saying, "Let me get out, or I'll let you have it in the guts!" The janitor ceased his pursuit. Heirens made his way to a nearby building to lie low, but a resident spotted him and called the police. Two officers closed in from two different directions. When trapped, Heirens brandished a revolver, perhaps pointing the barrel at one officer. Some reports state that he actually pulled the trigger but the gun misfired. In the police account, Heirens charged them after his gun misfired twice. In Heirens' version, he turned and attempted to run after bluffing with the gun and the cops charged him. A scuffle resulted that ended only when an off-duty policeman dropped a flowerpot on Heirens’s head, rendering him unconscious.According to Heirens, he remembered drifting into unconsciousness
Unconsciousness
Unconsciousness is the condition of being not conscious—in a mental state that involves complete or near-complete lack of responsiveness to people and other environmental stimuli. Being in a comatose state or coma is a type of unconsciousness. Fainting due to a drop in blood pressure and a...
under questioning. The police had taken him to Bridewell Hospital, which was adjacent to the Cook County Jail. The questioning became more intense, with officers demanding to know how he did it, to say that he did it, they "knew" that he did it. At one point, someone punched him in the testicle
Testicle
The testicle is the male gonad in animals. Like the ovaries to which they are homologous, testes are components of both the reproductive system and the endocrine system...
s, causing him to nearly vomit. They also burned them with ether.
Heirens later said he was interrogated around the clock for six consecutive days, being beaten by police and not allowed to eat or drink. He was not allowed to see his parents for four days. He was also refused the opportunity to speak to a lawyer for six days.
Two psychiatrists, Doctors Haines and Roy Grinker, gave Heirens sodium pentathol without a warrant
Warrant (law)
Most often, the term warrant refers to a specific type of authorization; a writ issued by a competent officer, usually a judge or magistrate, which permits an otherwise illegal act that would violate individual rights and affords the person executing the writ protection from damages if the act is...
and without Heirens' or his parents' consent, and interrogated him for three hours. Under the influence of the drug, authorities claimed, Heirens spoke of an alternate personality named "George Murman", who had actually committed the murders. Heirens claimed that he recalled little of the drug-induced interrogation. What Heirens actually said is in dispute, as the original transcript has disappeared. In 1952, Dr Grinker revealed that Heirens had never implicated himself in any of the killings.
On his fifth day in custody, Heirens was given a lumbar puncture
Lumbar puncture
A lumbar puncture is a diagnostic and at times therapeutic procedure that is performed in order to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid for biochemical, microbiological, and cytological analysis, or very rarely as a treatment to relieve increased intracranial pressure.-Indications:The...
without anesthesia
Anesthesia
Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
. Moments later, Heirens was driven to police headquarters for a polygraph
Polygraph
A polygraph measures and records several physiological indices such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, and skin conductivity while the subject is asked and answers a series of questions...
test. They tried for a few minutes to administer the test, but it was rescheduled for several days later after they found him to be in too much pain to cooperate.
When the polygraph was administered, authorities, including State's Attorney William Tuohy, announced that the results were “inconclusive.”
On July 2, 1946, he was transferred to the Cook County Jail where he was placed in the infirmary to recover.
Heirens’s first confession
After the sodium pentathol questioning but before the polygraph exam, Heirens spoke to Captain Michael Ahern. With State's Attorney William Tuohy and a stenographer at hand, Heirens offered an indirect confession, confirming his claim while under sodium pentathol that his alter-ego "George Murman" might have been responsible for the crimes. That "George" (which happens to be his father's first name and Heirens' middle name) had given him the loot to hide in his dormitory room. Police hunted all over for this "George" questioning Heirens' known friends, family, and associations, but came away empty handed.Heirens was attributed as saying while under the influence that he met "George" when he was 13 years old; that it was "George" who sent him out prowling at night, that he robbed for pleasure, and "killed like a cobra
Cobra
Cobra is a venomous snake belonging to the family Elapidae. However, not all snakes commonly referred to as cobras are of the same genus, or even of the same family. The name is short for cobra capo or capa Snake, which is Portuguese for "snake with hood", or "hood-snake"...
" when cornered. "George" related his secrets to Heirens. Heirens allegedly claimed that he was always taking the rap for George, first for petty theft, then assault and now murder. Psychologists explained at the time that, in the same way children make up imaginary friends, Heirens made up this personality to keep his antisocial
Psychopathy
Psychopathy is a mental disorder characterized primarily by a lack of empathy and remorse, shallow emotions, egocentricity, and deceptiveness. Psychopaths are highly prone to antisocial behavior and abusive treatment of others, and are very disproportionately responsible for violent crime...
feelings and actions separate from the person who could be the "average son and student, date nice girls and go to church..."
Authorities were skeptical of Heirens’ claims and suspected that he was laying the groundwork for an insanity defense, but the confession earned widespread publicity with the press transforming "Murman" to "Murder Man".
Hard evidence
While handwriting analysts did not definitively link Heirens’ handwriting to the "Lipstick Message", police claimed that his fingerprints matched a print discovered at the scene of the Frances Brown murder. It was first reported as a "bloody smudge" on the door jambDoor jamb
A doorjamb is the vertical portion of the frame onto which a door is secured. The jamb bears the weight of the door through its hinges, and most types of door latches and deadbolts extend into a recess in the doorjamb when engaged, making the "true" and strength of the doorjambs vitally important...
. Further, a fingerprint of the left little finger also allegedly connected Heirens to the ransom note with nine points of comparison. At the time Heirens' supporters pointed out the FBI handbook regarding fingerprint identification required 12 points of comparison matching to have a positive identification.
Later, Chief of Detectives Walter Storms confirmed that the "bloody smudge" left on the door jamb was Heirens'.
The loot
Police searches (without a warrantSearch warrant
A search warrant is a court order issued by a Magistrate, judge or Supreme Court Official that authorizes law enforcement officers to conduct a search of a person or location for evidence of a crime and to confiscate evidence if it is found....
) of Heirens’ residence and college dormitory found other items that earned publicity. Notably recovered was a scrapbook containing pictures of Nazi officials that belonged to a war veteran, Harry Gold, that was taken when Heirens burgled his place the night Suzanne Degnan was killed. Gold lived in the vicinity of the Degnans. This, once again, put Heirens in the circle of suspicion.
Also in Heirens' possession was a stolen copy of Psychopathia Sexualis (1886), Richard von Krafft-Ebing's famous study of sexual deviance. In addition, among Heirens' belongings police discovered a stolen medical kit, but they announced that the medical instruments could not be linked to the murders. No trace of biological material such as blood, skin or hair were found on the tools. Moreover, no biological material of the victims were found on Heirens himself or any of his clothes. The medical kit tools were considered to be too fine and small to be used for dissection. Instead, Heirens had used the four inch long medical kit to alter the war bond
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
s he stole.
A gun was found in his possession that was linked to a shooting. A Colt Police Positive revolver had been stolen in a burglary at the apartment of Guy Rodrick on December 3, 1945. Two nights later, a bullet crashed through the closed eighth floor apartment window of Marion Caldwell, wounding her. Heirens had that gun in his possession and, according to the Chicago Police Department
Chicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
, the bullet that injured Caldwell was linked through ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
to that same gun.
Press influence
As TimeTime (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
observed in its July 29, 1946, issue:
"The News and HearstWilliam Randolph HearstWilliam Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
's Herald-American hit the street together with front-page layouts showing Heirens as a Dr. Jekyll (hair combed) and Mr. Hyde (hair mussed). He had not yet been charged with murder, but the Tribune airily convicted him: HOW HEIRENS SLEW 3.
On July 14, State's Attorney William Tuohy met in a close door meeting with Heirens' lawyers, the brothers Malachy and John Coghlan, to discuss a possible plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
.
On July 18, 1946, Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
staff reporter George Wright wrote a piece on the case entitled:
Wright manufactured details and cited "unimpeachable sources" that said Heirens had confessed. The Tribune devoted 38 columns for the story. It began:
"This is the story of how William George Heirens, 17, kidnapped, strangled and then dismembered Suzanne Degnan, 6, last Jan. 7, and distributed the parts of her body in sewer openings near her home. It is the story of how William George Heirens climbed into the apartment of Miss Frances Brown...and shot and stabbed her to death, and left a message on the wall with lipstick imploring the police to catch him...And it is the story of how William George Heirens entered the apartment of Mrs. Josephine Ross...and how he stabbed her to death when she awoke."
A radio newscast reported on the Chicago Tribune's scoop of the "confession," which Heirens heard in his cell. He was incredulous, stating:
"I didn't confess to anybody, honestly! My God, what are they going to pin on me next?"State's Attorney Tuohy also absolutely denied that Heirens had made a confession.
The other four competing daily newspapers reprinted the confession in their publications with Chicago newspapers headlining the story 157 times over the next ten weeks. As The Tribune wrote later:
"So great was public confidence in the Tribune, that other newspapers . . . reprinted the story solely because the Tribune said it was so. . . . For a while, Heirens maintained his innocence. But the whole world believed his guilt. The Tribune had said he was guilty."
Heirens had a few supporters in the press. The London Sunday Pictorial ran an article called "Condemned Before His Trial, America Calls This Justice":
"While all America waits for a man to be charged in one of the most complex murder cases in history, a suspected youth has already been tried in the pages of Chicago newspapers. And he has been found guilty.”
As late as 1975, the Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
was still taking credit for its "scoop."
An eyewitness
George E. Subgrunski, an active duty soldier, made a statement the day after the murder of Suzanne Degnan that he saw a figure walking in the direction of the Degnan residence with a shopping bag. He said the man was "about five feet, nine inches tall, weighing about 170 pounds, about 35 years old, and dressed in a light-colored fedora and a dark overcoat". Due to the lack of light he couldn't make out this person's facial features. When the police showed him a photo of 18 year old Heirens on July 11, he could not identify him as the man he saw. On July 16, during a hearing, he pointed to Heirens and said "That's the man I saw!" when he was brought into a courtroom and made the identification in person. The Chicago press stated that this solidified the case against Heirens. Subgrunski's testimony helped to return an indictmentIndictment
An indictment , in the common-law legal system, is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that maintain the concept of felonies, the serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that lack the concept of felonies often use that of an indictable offence—an...
. Before the trial, inconsistencies in his original statement had led many to dismiss his evidence. Later, Subgrunski's in court testimony would be discredited when it was pointed out that in contrast to his original statement, that he could not see the man's features because there was no light, at trial he testified that he was certain because Heirens had walked in front of the car "in the full glare of his headlights."
The second confession
Heirens's defense attorneys "felt" he was guilty. Their task they believed, was to save Heirens from the electric chair. Tuohy on the other hand was not certain he could get a conviction."The small likelihood of a successful murder prosecution of William Heirens early prompted the state's attorney's office to seek out and obtain the cooperative help of defense counsel, and through them, that of their client. All the prosecution had in the Degnan case was a partial fingerprint on the ransom note. . . . And it was at this stage of the investigation that defense counsel moved forward in cooperation with my office." —State's Attorney Tuohy
Heirens' lawyers pressured him to take Tuohy's plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
. That deal, which was the topic of that closed door meeting with Tuohy, stated that Heirens would serve one life sentence if he confessed to the murders of Josephine Ross, Frances Brown, and Suzanne Degnan. With the help of his lawyers, he began drafting a confession using the Chicago Tribune article as a guide:
As it turned out, the Tribune article was very helpful, as it provided me with a lot of details I didn't know. My attorneys rarely changed anything outright, but I could tell by their faces if I had made a mistake. Or they would say, 'Now, Bill, is that really the way it happened?' Then I would change my story because, obviously, it went against what was known (in the Tribune).
Both Heirens and his parents signed a confession. The parties agreed to a date of July 30 for Heirens to make his official confession. On that date the defense went to Tuohy's office, where several reporters were assembled to ask Heirens questions and where Tuohy himself made a speech. Heirens appeared bewildered and gave noncommital answers to reporters' questions, which he years later blamed on Tuohy:
It was Tuohy himself. After assembling all the officials, including attorneys and policemen, he began a preamble about how long everyone had waited to get a confession from me, but, at last, the truth was going to be told. He kept emphasizing the word 'truth' and I asked him if he really wanted the truth. He assured me that he did...Now Tuohy made a big deal about hearing the truth. Now, when I was being forced to lie to save myself. It made me angry...so I told them the truth, and everyone got very upset.
Tuohy withdrew the previously agreed sentence of one life term with a few minor charges, changed it to three life terms to run consecutively, and threatened Heirens with the death penalty if he went to trial. They threatened to charge him with another murder (Estelle Carey) even though Heirens was attending the Gibault School for Wayward Boys, a boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
in Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute, Indiana
Terre Haute is a city and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, near the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a population of 170,943. The city is the county seat of Vigo County and...
, at the time. Heirens’ own attorneys were angry at their client for reneging on the plea bargain. The Chicago Tribune had a headline:
Tuohy announced that he would press ahead to try Heirens for the deaths of Suzanne Degnan and Frances Brown.
Heirens agreed with the new plea agreement. The public allocution
Allocution
Generally, to allocute in law means "to speak out formally." In the field of apologetics, allocution is generally done in defense of a belief. In politics, one may allocute before a legislative body in an effort to influence their position on an issue...
was held again in Tuohy's office. This time, Heirens talked and answered questions, even reenacting parts of the murders he had confessed to. Ahern changed his opinion and believed he was culpable when he heard how familiar Heirens was with victim Frances Brown's apartment.
Heirens said later: "I confessed to save my life."
The knife
In his confession, Heirens stated that he disposed of the hunting knife with which he said he cut up Suzanne Degnan on the Elevated Subway tracks near the scene of the murder. The police never searched the El tracks, however. Learning of this, reporters inquired with the track crew if they had found a knife. They had found it on the tracks and they kept it in the Granville station storage room. There reporters determined that the knife belonged to Guy Rodrick, the same person who had his Colt Police Positive .22 caliber gun stolen and found in Heiren's possession. On July 31, he positively identified the knife as his. Heirens acknowledged that he threw the knife there from an El train, claiming he didn't want his mother to see it.Guilty plea
Heirens took full responsibility for the three murders on August 7, 1946. The prosecution had him reenact the crime in the Degnan home in public and in front of the press. On September 4, with Heirens' parents and the victims' families attending and Chief Justice Harold G. Ward presiding, Heirens admitted his guilt on the burglary and murder charges. That night, Heirens tried to hangHanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
himself in his cell, timed to coincide during a shift change of the prison guards. He was discovered before he died. He said later that despair drove him to attempt suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
:
Everyone believed I was guilty...If I weren't alive, I felt I could avoid being adjudged guilty by the law and thereby gain some victory. But I wasn't successful even at that. ...Before I walked into the courtroom my counsel told me to just enter a plea of guilty and keep my mouth shut afterward. I didn't even have a trial...
On September 5, after further evidence was written in the record and the prosecution and defense made their closing statements, Ward formally sentenced Heirens to three life terms. As Heirens waited to be transferred to Stateville Prison from the Cook County Jail, Sheriff Michael Mulcahy asked Heirens if Suzanne Degnan suffered when she was killed. Heirens answered:
I can't tell you if she suffered, Sheriff Mulcahy. I didn't kill her. Tell Mr. Degnan to please look after his other daughter, because whoever killed Suzanne is still out there.
Claims of innocence
Within days of his confession in open court, Heirens denied any responsibility for the murders. Mary Jane Blanchard, daughter of murder victim Josephine Ross, was one of the first dissenters, being quoted in 1946 as saying:"I cannot believe that young Heirens murdered my mother. He just does not fit into the picture of my mother's death … I have looked at all the things Heirens stole and there was nothing of my mother's things among them."
The sodium pentathol interrogation
Heirens was subjected to an interrogation under the influence of sodium pentathol, popularly known as "truth serumTruth Serum
Truth Serum is an independent comic book series created, written and drawn by author Jon Adams.-Overview:Originally published as a mini comic in 2001 and given away for free, it appeared as a three-issue mini series published by Slave Labor Graphics in 2002...
." This drug was administered by psychiatrists Haines and Roy Grinker. Under its effects he allegedly stated that a second person named George Murman actually committed the killings.
This form of interrogation, which was done without a warrant and administered with neither Heirens's or his parent's consent, is believed by most scientists today to be of dubious value in eliciting the truth, due to high suggestibility of subjects under the influence of such substances.
"....by the 1950s, most scientists had declared the very notion of truth serums invalid, and most courts had ruled testimony gained through their use inadmissible."
However, when Heirens was arrested in 1946, growing scientific opinion against "truth serum" had not yet filtered down to the courts and police departments.
During Heirens' post-conviction petition in 1952, Tuohy admitted under oath that he not only knew about the sodium pentathol procedure, he had authorized it and paid Grinker USD$1,000. The same year, Grinker revealed that Heirens never implicated himself in any of the killings.
The polygraph test
In 1946, after Heirens underwent two polygraph examinations, Tuohy declared the results inconclusive. However, John E. Reid and Fred E. Inbau published the test findings in their 1953 textbook, Lie Detection and Criminal Interrogation, which seem to contradict that assertion. According to the book, the test was not inconclusive, writing, "Murderer William Heirens was questioned about the killing and dismemberment of six-year old Suzanne Degnan ... On the basis of the conventional testing theory his response on the card test clearly establishes (him) as an innocent person."The handwriting evidence
During the Degnan murder investigation, the Chicago Police DepartmentChicago Police Department
The Chicago Police Department, also known as the CPD, is the principal law enforcement agency of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, under the jurisdiction of the Mayor of Chicago. It is the largest police department in the Midwest and the second largest local law enforcement agency in the...
contacted Chicago Daily News
Chicago Daily News
The Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
artist Frank San Hamel to examine a photograph of the ransom note. Three days after the murder, Hamel told the police and the public that he had found "hidden Indentation writing" i.e. writing impressions from a note written on an overlying piece of paper, leaving a ghostly impression. At this news, Storms broke the chain of custody and provided Hamel with the original note for him to examine directly. Since the chain of custody was broken by this action, the note was rendered useless in court no matter the result. After Heirens was arrested for the Degnan killing, Hamel reported that it implicated him. The FBI had previously issued a report on March 22, 1946 that it examined the note and declared that there was no indentation writing at all and Hamel's assertions...
"...indicated either a lack of knowledge on his part or a deliberate attempt to deceive.".
Even the actual handwriting on the note has been apparently discredited. Most handwriting experts, both attached to the Chicago police and independent at the time of the original investigation, believed that Heirens had no connections to either the note or the wall scribble. Charles Wilson, who was head of the Chicago Crime Detection Laboratory, declared Heirens's known handwriting exemplar
Handwriting exemplar
A handwriting exemplar is a piece of writing that can be examined forensically, as in a handwriting comparison. It is especially important to questioned document examination.-Use:...
s obtained from Heirens' hand written notes from college agreed with the Police Department experts who could not find any connection between Heirens the note and the wall message. Independent handwriting expert George W. Schwartz was brought in to give his opinion. He stated flatly that
"The individual characteristics in the two writings do not compare in any respect."
A third handwriting expert, Herbert J. Walter, whose credentials included working on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping
Lindbergh kidnapping
The kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr., was the abduction of the son of aviator Charles Lindbergh and Anne Morrow Lindbergh. The toddler, 18 months old at the time, was abducted from his family home in East Amwell, New Jersey, near the town of Hopewell, New Jersey, on the evening of...
in 1932, was brought in. After examining documents written by Heirens, Walter declared that Heirens wrote the ransom note and the lipstick scrawl on the wall and attempted to disguise his handwriting. However, this was in direct contradiction from what he said several months before, at which time he said he doubted that the two writings were authored by the same person. He was quoted as saying there were "a few superficial similarities and a great many dissimilarities."
In 1996, FBI handwriting analyst David Grimes declared that Heirens’ known handwriting did not match either the Degnan ransom note or the infamous "Lipstick Message." supporting the two earlier results of the original 1946 investigation and Herbert J. Walter's original January 1946 opinion. In addition, the handwriting of the notes don't match each other.
Fingerprint evidence
Among evidence demonstrated toward Heirens' guilt is the fingerprint evidence on the Degnan ransom note and on the door jamb of Frances Brown's bathroom door. However, suspicions on the veracity of door jamb fingerprints found at the Brown crime scene has come into question, including charges that the police planted the fingerprint since it allegedly looks like a rolled fingerprint, the type that you would find on a police fingerprint index card. Both sets of prints have come under serious question as to their validity, good faith collection and possible contamination; even the possibility of their being planted.Ransom note fingerprints
On or about June 26, 1946, State’s Attorney Tuohy announced that "there can be no doubt now" as to Heirens's guilt after the authorities linked Heirens' prints to the two prints on the ransom note. It was this assertion, unchallenged by Heirens' defense counsel at sentencing that helped prompt him to confess to the murders he was charged with. In a 2002 clemency petition, however, his lawyers question the validity of those prints on the ransom note due to the timing of discoveries of fingerprints on the card, the broken chain of evidence, its handling by both inexperienced law enforcement and civilians.The Degnan ransom note was first examined by the Chicago Crime Detection Laboratory, but they couldn't find any usable prints on the note. Captain Timothy O'Connor took the note to the FBI crime laboratory in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
on January 18, 1946 with the idea of enlisting the FBI's more sophisticated technology in finding any latent prints. The FBI subjected the note to the then advanced method of Iodine
Iodine
Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The name is pronounced , , or . The name is from the , meaning violet or purple, due to the color of elemental iodine vapor....
Fuming to raise latent prints. The process was similar in execution to today's polycyanoacrylate "super glue" fuming in which Cyanoacrylate
Cyanoacrylate
Cyanoacrylate is the generic name for cyanoacrylate based fast-acting adhesives such as methyl 2-cyanoacrylate, ethyl-2-cyanoacrylate , and n-butyl cyanoacrylate...
is heated to a vapor. This vapor sticks to the skin oils on the friction ridges of a latent fingerprint. The older Ninhydrin
Ninhydrin
Ninhydrin is a chemical used to detect ammonia or primary and secondary amines. When reacting with these free amines, a deep blue or purple color known as Ruhemann's purple is produced...
method which is a liquid that is sprayed on paper to detect latent prints on paper is similar. The FBI were able to raise two prints which they photographed promptly because unlike modern polycyanoacrylate fuming prints revealed by the Iodine process fade quickly. Captain O'Connor later testified at Heirens's sentencing hearing that he only saw two prints on the front of the note and did not mention the existence of any on the back.
Upon his return to Chicago he turned over the photographs of the revealed prints on the note to Sergeant Thomas Laffey, the Chicago Police Department's fingerprint expert. After his examination he stated to the press that they were "....so incomplete that it is impossible to classify them." Despite checking these "incomplete" prints with everyone arrested between January 1946 and June 29, 1946 he was unable to find a match even though William Heirens was previously arrested and fingerprinted on May 1, 1946 on a weapons charge. Heirens was arrested for burglary on June 26, 1946; three days later Sergeant Laffey announced a nine point comparison match to Heirens left little finger with one of the prints. Then a match was announced between Heirens and the second print. In a news conference State's Attorney Tuohy declared that "...there could be no doubt now" about the suspect's guilt but then incongruously also stated that they didn't actually have enough evidence to indict Heirens.
Months after the FBI had returned the note and the photograph of the note to the Chicago police, the police announced that Laffey had discovered a palm print on the reverse side of the note also matching Heirens to 10 points of comparison. No other prints were found on the note prompting Police Chief Walter Storm to say:
"This shows that Heirens was the only person to handle the note."
This declaration is suspicious to some because:
- The Chicago Police couldn't find any prints originally, hence the necessity to send the ransom note to the FBI for further processing, indicating that they were incapable of finding it in the first place.
- Captain O'Connor only mentioned the two prints on the obverse side of the note and none on the reverse. Further, since both sides of the note are photographed immediately after fuming by the FBI a third print on the reverse side would had been obvious on the note itself and at the time of the development of the photograph of the note. Yet despite the testing occurring in mid January this third print wasn't discovered until early July, six months later and approximately two weeks after Heirens was arrested despite Laffey working on the Degnan case almost exclusively for six months.
- The original note was previously given to Chicago Daily NewsChicago Daily NewsThe Chicago Daily News was an afternoon daily newspaper published between 1876 and 1978 in Chicago, Illinois.-History:The Daily News was founded by Melville E. Stone, Percy Meggy, and William Dougherty in 1875 and began publishing early the next year...
reporter Frank San Hamel the previous January (after the FBI had processed it) to examine to find any "hidden indentation writing" that Heirens supposedly left. This broke the chain of custody making the note inadmissible as evidence in court. Additionally, any number of people including Hamel had compromised the integrity of any prints on the note by depositing additional prints and obscuring and corrupting the prints of the culprit.
Indeed, even before the police crime lab got a chance to examine the note Charles Wilson, the chief of the Chicago Crime Detection Laboratory stated:
"When we got the Degnan note it came late after other people had photographed it and handled it."
In the same vein, a March 22, 1946 FBI report noted:
"...it is evident that the note has been handled considerably."
These statements are in direct contradiction of Chief Walter Storm's assertion that no one else but Heirens handled the note.
Further, Laffey testified during the September 5, 1946 sentencing hearing that one more fingerprint on the reverse sided of the note was linked to Heirens to 10 points of comparison. He also increased the points of comparison of the palm print to Heirens from 10 to the FBI standard of 12.
As to the fingerprints on the front of the note that were discovered by the FBI in January 1946, Laffey only identified one and did not say it belonged to Heirens when he testified at the sentencing hearing. Only the prints not found by the FBI and allegedly discovered after Heirens's arrest were mentioned at the sentencing hearing and not the two front prints that was supposedly "indisputable" proof of Heirens's culpability. They were hardly mentioned, nor were they linked to Heirens, in a court hearing in which the witnesses had to testify under oath.
As a further indication of what could be called ineffective defense by Heirens's lawyers, none of these issues were raised at the sentencing hearings and no objections were made, nor did they bring up chain of custody issues.
The door jamb print
At Heirens' sentencing, Laffey testified that the end joint of the bloody print had only an eight point comparison to Heirens' and the middle joint a mere six point comparison. The middle joint didn't live up to even Laffey's personal standard of seven or eight points to make a positive identification match.
Another source of contention is that the Brown crime scene fingerprint has the appearance of having been rolled, which is the practice of taken a person's inked finger and rolling them on an index card, and not the smudged, bloody and unreadable print as originally reported. Traditionally, after the fingertip is covered in ink from either the suspect's hand being pressed on top of an ink pad or an ink roller being run across them, the finger is placed on the card on one edge. It is rolled once from one edge to the finger's other edge to produce a large, clear print.
Heirens' attorneys did not question the veracity of the prints, however.
The confession
Twenty-nine inconsistencies have been found between his confession and the known facts of the crime. It has since become the understanding that the nature of these inconsistencies is a clear indicator of false confessions. Some details did seem to match, like the police theory that Suzanne Degnan was dismembered by a hunting knife and Heirens confessed to throwing a hunting knife on to a section of the Chicago Subway "El" trestle near the Degnan residence. However, it was never determined scientifically that it was at least the dismemberment tool and Heirens had an alternate explanation for it. Further, it was not initially recovered by the police, but members of the press, who recovered it from the transit track gang who found it.An alternative suspect
After the Degnan murder, but before Heirens became a suspect, Chicago police interrogated 42-year-old Richard Russell Thomas, a drifter passing through the city of Chicago at the time of Degnan's murder found in the Maricopa County Jail in Maricopa, ArizonaMaricopa, Arizona
-Surrounding Municipalities:-Demographics:As of the census of 2010, there were 43,482 people, 14,359 households, and 11,110 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,356.8 people per square mile . There were 17,240 housing units at an average density of 540.4 per square mile...
. Police handwriting expert Charles B. Arnold, head of the forgery detail of the Phoenix police in Thomas’s hometown of Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
, noted similarities between the handwritten Degnan ransom note and Thomas’ handwriting when Thomas wrote with his left hand, and suggested that Chicago police investigate Thomas.
Upon being questioned, Thomas confessed to the crime, but he was released from custody after Heirens became the prime suspect. Others contend that Thomas was a strong suspect, to wit:
- Thomas previously had been convicted of an attempted extortionExtortionExtortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
— with a ransom note that threatened the kidnapping of a little girl. - As previously noted, handwriting experts at the time stated that the Thomas' ransom note from his previous conviction of extortionExtortionExtortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...
bears similarity in both style in regarding the wording and in form of the actual structure of the letters formed to the Degnan ransom note. - Thomas was in Chicago at the time of the Degnan murder.
- At the time he confessed to the Degnan crime, he was awaiting sentencing for molesting his daughter.
- Thomas had a history of violence, including spousal abuseDomestic violenceDomestic violence, also known as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, and intimate partner violence , is broadly defined as a pattern of abusive behaviors by one or both partners in an intimate relationship such as marriage, dating, family, or cohabitation...
. - Thomas was a nurse who was known to masquerade as a surgeon. He often boasted to his friends that he was a doctor and he was known to steal surgical supplies. Chicago Police had previously developed a profile of the Degnan killer as having surgical skills or being a butcher.
- He frequented a car agency near the Degnan residence. Parts of Suzanne Degnan's body were found in a sewer across the street from the car agency.
- Like Heirens, he was a known burglar.
- He had confessed freely to the Degnan murder, although he would later recant it.
The Chicago detectives dismissed Thomas' claims after Heirens became a suspect. Thomas died in 1974 in an Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
prison. His prison record and most of the evidence of his interrogation regarding the Chicago murders have been lost or destroyed.
Aftermath
Soon after Heirens was arrested, his parents and younger brother changed their surnameSurname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
to "Hill". His parents divorce
Divorce
Divorce is the final termination of a marital union, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of matrimony between the parties...
d after his conviction.
Heirens was first housed at Stateville Prison in Joliet, Illinois
Joliet, Illinois
Joliet is a city in Will and Kendall Counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County. As of the 2010 census, the city was the fourth-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 147,433. It continues to be Illinois' fastest growing...
. He has since learned several trades, including electronics and television and radio repair; at one point he had his own repair shop. Before a college education was available to prison inmates, Heirens on February 6, 1972, became the first prisoner in Illinois history to earn a four year college degree, receiving a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(BA) degree later earning 250 course credits by funding the cost of correspondence courses with 20 different universities from his savings. Passing courses as varied as languages, analytical geometry, data processing and tailoring, he was forbidden by authorities to take courses in physics, chemistry or celestial navigation. He managed the garment factory at Stateville for five years, overseeing 350 inmates and after transfer to Vienna he set up their entire educational program. He has aided other prisoners' educational progress by helping them earn their General Educational Development (GED) diplomas and becoming a "jailhouse lawyer
Jailhouse lawyer
Jailhouse lawyer is a colloquial term in North American English to refer to an inmate in a jail or other prison who, though usually never having practiced law nor having any formal legal training, informally assists other inmates in legal matters relating to their sentence or to their conditions...
" of sorts, helping them with their appeals.
Heirens was given an institutional parole for the Degnan murder in 1965, and in 1966 he was discharged on that case and began serving his second life sentence. Although not freed, parole policies of the day meant that he was considered rehabilitated by prison authorities and that the Degnan case could no longer legally be put forward as a reason to deny parole. Based on the regulations of 1946, Heirens should have been discharged from the Brown murder in 1975 and from all remaining charges in 1983. However, in 1973 the focus moved from rehabilitation to punishment and deterrence which has blocked moves to release Heirens. In 1983 the Seventh District U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that it was unconstitutional to refuse parole on deterrence grounds to inmates convicted before 1973. Magistrate Gerald Cohn ordered Illinois to release Heirens immediately. The brother and sister of Suzanne Degnan went public, pleading with authorities to fight the ruling. Attorney General Neil Hartigan
Neil Hartigan
Neil F. Hartigan is an Illinois Democrat who has served as Illinois Attorney General, the 40th Lieutenant Governor, and a judge of the Illinois Appellate Court. Hartigan also was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1990 but lost the race to Republican Jim Edgar.-Background:Hartigan grew up in...
stated "Only God and Heirens know how many other women he murdered. Now a bleeding-heart do-gooder decides that Heirens is rehabilitated and should go free...I'm going to make sure that kill-crazed animal stays where he is," a sentiment supported by the media. Ignoring that Heirens had been legally discharged from the Degnan murder, in response the Illinois senate passed a resolution that as the "confessed murderer of Suzanne Degnan, a 6-year-old girl whom he strangled in 1946...that it is the opinion of the chamber that the release of William Heirens at this time would be detrimental to the best interests of the people of the state." With the support of prominent politicians, the 1983 court ruling was later reversed.
In 1975 he was transferred to the minimal security Vienna Correctional Center in Vienna, Illinois
Vienna, Illinois
Vienna is a city in Johnson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,434 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Johnson County, and the site of two well-known state penitentiaries. Heron Pond - Little Black Slough Nature Preserve, a National Natural Landmark, is nearby. The...
, and then in 1998 upon his request to the Dixon Correctional Center minimum security prison in Dixon, Illinois
Dixon, Illinois
Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 at the 2000 census. Named for its founder, John Dixon , it is the county seat of Lee County. Located on the Rock River, Dixon was the boyhood home of former U.S...
. He resides in the Hospital Ward. He suffers from diabetes, which has swollen his legs and limited his eyesight, and now uses a wheelchair
Wheelchair
A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
. He continues with his efforts to win clemency.
Petition for clemency
In 2002, Lawrence C. Marshall, et al., filed a petition on Heirens' behalf seeking clemency. They cited not only doubts about Heirens' guilt, but also his behavior in prison. The appeal was eventually denied.Heirens' most recent parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
hearing was held on July 26, 2007. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board decision in a 14-0 vote against parole, was reflected by Board member Thomas Johnson, who stated that "God will forgive you, but the state won't". However, the parole board also decided to revisit the issue once per year from then on.
There remain many who have questioned whether Heirens is guilty.
Further reading
- Before I Kill More Lucy Freeman. New York: Pocket Books, 1958. ISBN 0-671-81835-X