William Heirens responses to questions have secured a conviction. whether the perpetrator specifically intended to enter the Degnan The night before she was supposed to return to school following Christmas vacation, Suzanne disappeared out of her window in the middle of the night. Soon. But, besides the state of mind of Tap into Getty Images' global scale, data-driven insights, and network of more than 340,000 creators to create content exclusively for your brand. Heirens was called the Lipstick Killer after a notorious message scrawled in lipstick at a crime scene. . William Heirens attempted suicide in part of the body in a south side dump (all the body parts had been The Chicago Tribunes [20] Twelve days later, however, it was declared to match Heirens's prints to 22 points of comparison, well above the FBI standard. Heirens. Oh, I am so sick. He often boasted to his friends that he was a doctor and he was known to steal surgical supplies. A [19] 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 onto a section of the Chicago Subway "El" trestle near the Degnan residence. months prior to his death, he also suffered from dementia. It was this assertion, unchallenged by Heirens's defense counsel at sentencing, that helped prompt him to confess to the murders with which he was charged. that without the Defenses cooperation he doubted that he would On his fifth day in custody, Heirens was given a lumbar puncture without anesthesia. [35], In 1975, he was transferred to the minimum security Vienna Correctional Center in Vienna, Illinois, and then in 1998 upon his request[46] to the Dixon Correctional Center minimum security prison in Dixon, Illinois. 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."[20]. competition) by Chicagos newspapers, and the police were under murdered Josephine Alice Ross and Frances Brown. An This was true even though the crime rate increased after the end of Specialties: Dr. Degnen and her professional staff at Sunset Tower Family Dentistry offer general, family dental care for the residents of Sunset Hills, Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Crestwood and surrounding South St. Louis County communities. Suzanne Degnan, but also the earlier (and unsolved) murders of The note asked for a $20,000 in ransom . the same morning to put it in the room where it was later found? Independent handwriting expert George W. Schwartz was brought in to give his opinion. When was it written? The police never searched the El tracks; however, learning of this, reporters enquired with the track crew if they had found a knife. used the ladder, why did he not just leave the ladder under the 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's prints to the two prints on the ransom note. [20], At Heirens's sentencing, Laffey testified that the end joint of the bloody print had an eight-point comparison to Heirens's and the middle joint a six-point comparison. [20] Heirens's own attorneys were angry at their client for reneging on the plea bargain,[36] spurring the Chicago Tribune headline "Mute Heirens Faces Trial Killer Spurns Mother's Fervent Plea to Talk."[37]. remains: Did Bill Heirens do it? for at least five days. . He took to crime and later claimed that he mostly stole for fun and to release tension. Suzanne Degnan | National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Murderers Home About Us What We Believe Contact Board of Directors Our Logo Speakers Bureau Join Us The Public Policy Debate about Sentencing for Juvenile Murderers Rehabilitation and Restorative Justice Information for Victims We Do Not Support . reliability of such tests. . I'm going to make sure that kill-crazed animal stays where he is," a sentiment supported by the media. the ladder was used, did the murderer carry her down the ladder 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. 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 "When we got the Degnan note it came late after other people had photographed it and handled it. Police considered the possibility the Degnan killer was a meat packer. [35], 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. far away. George Hodel is also a prominent suspect according to the findings of his son and former LAPD officer Steve Hodel, who has attempted to link him to the Black Dahlia murder and the Zodiac Killer murders. child that is more shocking and repelling than that of an adult. [53], "The Core", Winter 2013 Supplement to the, Last edited on 26 February 2023, at 03:46, List of serial killers in the United States, "Gray area: Aging prison population has state looking at alternatives", "William Heirens dead. CUSTOM ART FOR CUSTOM NEEDS His name was William Heirens. one, of course, is why anyone would do such a horrible thing. following have been well established: After he was apprehended he was William McNally, after analysis of the childs digestive tract, [6], On June 5, 1945, 43-year-old Josephine Ross was found dead in her Chicago apartment. youngstown state men's basketball coaching staff. Police translated this to "Murman" and the media later dramatized it to "Murder Man". After Suzanne There is also doubt of his He was subsequently controversially convicted of the crimes in 1946. the story of William Heirens was absent from the Chicago Tribune for Magistrate Gerald Cohn ordered Illinois to release Heirens immediately. commission of any of the crimes. "Edwards ties a lot of his murders to '666,' killing them on 12-26, or 9-6 or '66. he described the man as 5 feet, 9 inches tall, 170 pounds, 35 years old, and wearing a light-colored fedora and a dark overcoat, but could not make out the man's face. Soon the police found a ladder outside the girl's window and a crumpled ransom note: GeI $20,000 Reddy & wAITe foR WoRd. ", 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 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. [36], 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. Flynns dogs barking at 12:50a.m. Mrs. Mary Flynn Keegan Chapter 7: "Northwestern 2002 Clemency petition p. 3". Brown and Josephine Ross. Husband to June (Elsmore) Degnan for 54 years. Nothing before it or since comes even close, [16] Verburgh's Janitor Union lawyer got Verburgh released on a writ of habeas corpus. did, even at the time, and there is even more now as a result of [further explanation needed][7], On December 10, 1945,[9] Frances Brown[10] was discovered with a knife lodged in her neck and bullet wound to the head in her apartment. Where these just coincidences, unrelated to the abduction "The Monster That Terrorized Chicago" p. 19. to dismiss his evidence. Josephine Ross (6/3/1945) and Frances Brown (12/10/1945) as a plea Geringer, Joseph, "William Heirens: Lipstick Killer or Legal Scapegoat?" prison system and he was its longest serving inmate. Thomas died in 1974 in an Arizona prison. another by Dolores Kennedy, William Heirens: His Day in Court (1991), There was reasonable doubt that he kept it on the front page of newspapers for weeks. [32] 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"[32]. At about 1:30 in the morning on January 7, 1946, James Degnan, a federal government employee who lived with his family at 5943 N. Kenmore, heard his six-year-old daughter Suzanne say, "I'm too. and Mr. Degnan reported that about 12 midnight he and his wife walked He lived with his wife not in that building Police held Verburgh for 48hours of questionings and beatings that severely injured him, including a separated shoulder. Former Los Angeles police officer Steve Hodel, who had spent 25 years on the force, met Heirens in 2003 when he was investigating the murders. "The Monster That Terrorized Chicago" p. 5. "I felt compelled to write an appeal to the Illinois Prisoner Review Board stating my professional belief that Heirens is innocent. kidnap-killing. William George Heirens (November 15, 1928 March 5, 2012) was an American criminal and possible serial killer who confessed to three murders. terms but, at a very public ceremony, balked when the States Attorney in the Flynn apartment on the second floor, and whose bedroom was Other suspects in the Degnan case had been released after they passed Richard Russell Thomas, in an Arizona jail on charges he molested his Sewer Where Suzanne Degnan's Head Was Found, William Heirens Murder William Heirens, the so-called "Lipstick Killer," kidnapped six year old Suzanne Degnan from her bedroom the morning of January 7, 1946. 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. Sergeant Thomas Laffey, the departments finger print She had been repeatedly stabbed, and her head was wrapped in a dress. several weeks later (February 20th) and she was buried without them. A Google search revealed approximately It was demolished in 1974 Suzanne Degnan lived with her parents (James and Helen) and 10-year-old sister Elizabeth in a rented first floor apartment in a large two flat building with attic rooms at the northeast corner of Thorndale and Kenmore (see figure 2). Based on the regulations of 1946, Heirens should have been discharged from the Brown murder in 1975 and from all remaining charges in 1983. Suzanne and Elizabeth were both students at Sacred Heart Academy. was apprehended in an attempted burglary of a Rogers Park apartment. then we know that terrible things have been done in the past and, Heirens answered: I can't tell you if she suffered, Sheriff Mulcahy. States Attorney publicly thanked the Defense for their cooperation, At this news, Storms broke the chain of custody and provided Hamel with the original note for him to examine directly. [30] That "George" (which happens to be his father's first name and Heirens's middle name) had given him the loot to hide in his dormitory room. Kelly said she plans to spend more time with her family after the podcast on Monday. 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. The Grime sisters and the Schuessler and Peterson boys The 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 Heirens's possession. And, of course, the key uncertainty Tuohy, on the other hand, was not certain he could get a conviction. Chicago Flat Janitors Union which went to bat for him. As one person remarked, William Heirens had place. [35] He managed the garment factory at Stateville for five years, overseeing 350 inmates, and after transfer to Vienna Correctional Center, he set up their entire educational program. Sunset Tower Family Dentistry. CrimeLibrary.com/Serial Killers/Sexual Predators/William Heirens: Lipstick Killer or Legal Scapegoat. window. he was searching her room? He and his wife later successfully sued the city for 5901-03 N. Winthrop, in the basement of which the dismemberment took that Heirens was the murderer and argues that he was mentally ill; a narrow window of opportunity. The number one suspect of the police examination was the 65 . Degnan, Robert E. Sr. WATERFORD Robert E. Degnan Sr., 86, formerly of Roberts Road, passed away Sunday, May 18, 2014 at Samaritan Hospital with his loving sons and family around him to be with. third book by Lauri E. Kallio, Confess or Die, the Case of William faded from the public spotlight, but was never really forgotten. Nothing was taken,[8] but a message was written in lipstick on the wall: June started out very much like May, He was administered a polygraph test, which he passed, and was later cleared. was found next to the garage of the Degnan building: Was it used to Or they would say, 'Now, Bill, is that really the way it happened?' door? Suzanne was six, lived in Chicago, but was cut up. days, there was more than one item. but directly across the street from the Degnans on Thorndale in a The authorities reported that the results were inconclusive, but the floor apartment in a large two flat building with attic rooms at the No trace of biological material such as blood, skin or hair were found on the tools. was strapped down to a hospital bed and questioned almost non-stop Thomas was in Chicago at the time of the Degnan murder. Might there have been two? Charles Wilson, who was head of the Chicago Crime Detection Laboratory, declared Heirens's known handwriting exemplars obtained from Heirens's handwritten notes from college agreed with the Police Department experts who could not find any connection between Heirens, the note, and the wall message. The States Attorney stated On January 7, 1946 six-year-old Suzanne Degnan was taken from her bedroom, butchered in a nearby basement, and parts of her body were found deposited in a number of sewers on the north side of the city. He was given two lie detector tests. From June 29 through August 4, (37 By April, some 370 suspects had been questioned and cleared. Suzanne's sister, Sandy, was nine years older than her, and her brother, Steve, was 12 . fired a pistol against one of them (without effect) before being [20], A "bloody, smudged" print of an end and middle joint of a finger was found on the doorjamb of a door between the bathroom and dressing room in Frances Brown's apartment. Suburban Chicago News/ Courier News article. Heirens was a 17-year-old University of Chicago student and petty burglar when he confessed. Heirens (1999), follows a line of reasoning similar to Kennedys. What began the His parents divorced after his conviction. [47][52] However, the parole board also decided to revisit the issue once per year from then on. dismemberment took place. Because Steve wants to tie the Black Dahlia and Suzanne Degnan killings together. The building [35], Heirens's defense attorneys "felt" he was guilty. An alternative story is that the search I can't put up my arms; they are sore. 7th had earlier reported that he could not see the mans face. [2], He spent the later years of his sentence at the Dixon Correctional Center in Dixon, Illinois. Bills IN 5's & 10's. BuRN This FoR heR SAfTY. through. When Laffey claimed a match with Heirens and the prints on the Degnan note, an attempt was made to match him with the doorjamb print. those alive at the time. ", A third handwriting expert, Herbert J. Walter, whose credentials included working on the Lindbergh baby kidnapping in 1932, was brought in. William Heirens was innocent and concluded that, because he was Suzanne "Suzy" Lyall grew up in Ballston Spa in upstate New York with her parents and two doting siblings. That year, 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan was kidnapped from her home in Chicago; her body was later found in her neighborhood. Each murder had occurred in the victims apartment. Three books have been written solely international, story. just a recent phenomenon. O n January 7, 1946, six-year-old Suzanne Degnan is kidnapped from her home in Chicago. [34], Heirens was first housed at Stateville Prison in Joliet, Illinois. At the time of his death, Heirens was reputedly Illinois' longest-serving prisoner, having spent 65 years in prison. However, it was not the murder itself of which 2 were on page 1. Heirens's lawyers pressured him to take Tuohy's plea bargain. [20] 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. What is beyond any doubt is that the That did not happen. Sewer where the arms of Suzanne Degnan's arms were recovered. These statements are in direct contradiction to Chief Walter Storm's assertion that no one else but Heirens handled the note. Police found a ladder outside her window, and a ransom note: "Get $20,000 ready & wait for my word. [22] the time, to say nothing of their parents. Sharon Kinne was having an affair with Patricia Jones's husband. Suzanne Degnan, Actress: Rasta. The police hoped that perhaps the killer had erred in leaving it behind. asked while under the influence of sodium pentothal were selectively her room, the murderer would have had to have carried her from her Upon being questioned, Thomas confessed to the crime, but he was released from custody after Heirens became the prime suspect. red after zinc use (- Nitrate reductase, - Nitrite reductase) . You feel you owe it to your sister's memory to fight to . From June 29 to September 4 (68 days), [35], 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. And was murder the intention or [21] The handkerchief's real owner, Airman Seymour Sherman of New York City, was eventually found. and her husband, who occupied rooms on the third floor, reported that overshadow it: A 17-year-old University of Chicago college student 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. Heirens had in fact not confessed and the story was a fabrication by the reporter George Wright in order to sell more papers. innocence (perhaps even reasonable doubt), but that is not the abducted, not on her way to or from school or the store, but from her was a result of a phone call suggesting the police look in the Chicago 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. During questioning by Chicago police, he freely admitted killing Suzanne Degnan. "For heavens Sake catch me Before I kill more I cannot control myself". [36][34] Heirens appeared bewildered and gave noncommittal answers to reporters' questions, which he years later blamed on Tuohy: It was Tuohy himself. 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. Why shouldn't I and a lot more? (each in a different place). victims do not.) terror this abduction and murder struck into the minds of children of He was accepted into University of Chicago's special learning program[further explanation needed] just before his release in 1945 at age 16. However, this was in direct contradiction to what he said several months before, at which time he said he doubted that the two writings were authored by the same person. Among evidence suggesting Heirens's guilt is the fingerprint evidence on the Degnan ransom note and on the doorjamb of Frances Brown's bathroom door. The witness did not recognize a photo of Heirens as showing the man he saw, but a few days later he identified Heirens in person at a court hearing. Authorities were skeptical regarding Heirens's 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". Sister Suzanne Brennan, CSC, who currently serves as general treasurer of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, will be honored on July 15, 2018, during a jubilee celebration in the Church of Our Lady of Loretto at Saint Mary's, Notre Dame, Indiana, for her 50 years of consecrated life as a Sister of the Holy Cross. We encourage you to research and . 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. print on the door jam in the apartment of murdered Frances Brown did A note demanding a $20,000 ransom had been left behind, but kidnapping was not the plan. Neighbors of the Degnan family were all questioned, but most had nothing useful to report. Ahern changed his opinion and believed he was culpable when he heard how familiar Heirens was with victim Frances Brown's apartment. James Edwin Degnan Illinois. Although Thomas lived on the south side, he frequented a car yard directly across the street from where Suzanne Degnan's arms were found. And why? Suzanne Degnan, 6 years old, of Chicago, Illinois became one of the city's murder victims on Tuesday, January 7, 1946.. Family Members. I didn't kill her. Dentist in St. Louis. neither was granted, despite numerous attempts (nearly 30). victims. pentothal, the alleged truth serum and questioned while 6. 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 prosecution had him reenact the crime in the Degnan home in public and in front of the press. While in her room or afterwards? Police found a ladder outside the girl's window, and also discovered a ransom note which had been overlooked by the family. and later replaced by a four-story building for seniors. Bridewell hospital and said positively that he was not the man he "[18], 65-year-old Hector Verburgh, a janitor in the building where Degnan lived, was arrested and treated as the suspect. next day detectives flew down to investigate. Why is William Heirens still in prison? Police were unable to identify a dark-complexioned man reportedly seen loitering nearby or running away. basement apartment. defeated the last of her enemies in a world war, and while that war [27][34] Before the trial, inconsistencies in the witness's original statement had led many[who?] They handcuffed my hands behind my back and pulled me up on bars until my toes touched the floor. Meanwhile, police began questioning every person known to have a key to the "murder basement" where a art.