William Heirens
| William Heirens | |
|---|---|
Mug shot of William Heirens (2004)
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| Born |
William George Heirens November 15, 1928 Evanston, Illinois |
| Died | March 5, 2012 (aged 83) University of Illinois Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois |
| Other names | The Lipstick Killer |
| Criminal penalty | Life sentence with the possibility of parole. |
| Killings | |
| Victims | 3 |
|
Span of killings
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June 5, 1945–January 7, 1946 |
| Country | U.S. |
| State(s) | Illinois |
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Date apprehended
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June 26, 1946 |
William George Heirens (November 15, 1928 – March 5, 2012) was a convicted American serial killer who confessed to three murders in 1946. Heirens was called the Lipstick Killer after a notorious message scrawled in lipstick at a crime scene. At the time of his death, Heirens was reputedly Chicago's longest-serving prisoner, having spent 65 years in prison.
He spent the later years of his sentence at the Dixon Correctional Center in Dixon, Illinois, (Inmate No. C-06103). Though he remained imprisoned until his death, Heirens had recanted his confession and claimed to be a victim of coercive interrogation and police brutality.
Charles Einstein wrote a novel called The Bloody Spur about Heirens. The novel was later adapted into the film While the City Sleeps by Fritz Lang.
On March 5, 2012, Heirens died at the UIC Medical Center.
Heirens grew up in Lincolnwood, a suburb of Chicago. His family was poor and his parents argued incessantly, leading Heirens to wander the streets to avoid listening to them. He took to crime and later claimed that he mostly stole for fun and to release tension. He never sold anything he had stolen.
At 13 years of age, Heirens was arrested for carrying a loaded gun. A subsequent search of the Heirens's home discovered a number of stolen weapons hidden in an unused storage shed on the roof of a nearby building along with furs, suits, cameras, radios and jewelry he had stolen. Heirens admitted to 11 burglaries and was sent to the Gibault School for wayward boys for several months.
Not long after his release, Heirens was again arrested for burglary. This time, he was sentenced to three years at the St. Bede Academy, operated by Benedictine Monks. During his time at the school, Heirens stood out as an exceptional student excelling in all subject areas including but not limited to: mathematics, biological sciences, and social sciences. Heirens set new school records regarding these subjects on standardized tests, records that are unbroken to this day. His test scores were so high he was urged to apply for the University of Chicago's special learning program. He was accepted into the program just before his release and asked to begin classes in the 1945 fall term, allowing him to bypass high school. He was 16 years old.
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