Prosecutors said his handwriting matched that of the words scribbled in lipstick at the scene of the Brown killing. The FBI determined that a fingerprint lifted from the Degnan ransom note matched Heirens. That gave the state’s attorney two powerful pieces of evidence against Heirens. But a confession would seal his fate. On August 7, 1946, Heirens supplied it, describing how he killed Degnan, Brown and Ross. He pleaded guilty to three counts of murder. In exchange for the plea, Heirens was spared the death penalty and given three consecutive life sentences. Heirens has distinguished himself in prison. He was the first inmate in Illinois to receive a college degree. “He helped redesign the library system in the department of corrections,” said Drizin, who also commended Heirens for becoming a “first-rate jailhouse lawyer.” Drizin said Heirens has been eligible for parole nearly every year since the 1970s. The Center on Wrongful Convictions mounted a clemency campaign for Heirens on the grounds that he has served longer than required, and that the evidence used to convict him was unreliable. “Smoke and mirrors” was how Drizin described it. Kennedy, who wrote a book that attempts to prove Heirens is innocent, said a political component is keeping him in prison. “It’s a very political case,” she said. “Authorities have made statements that he would never get out. I think the courts managed to look the other way and the [parole] board didn’t want to take the heat.” John Russick, senior curator for the Chicago History Museum, said the story of William Heirens is complicated. “This is not a largely understood case,” Russick said. “People know the term Lipstick Killer, and that there was a sensational crime, but I don’t think it’s talked about in detail.” He added, “I feel like it defies logic, and that’s what’s troubling about it. When you look closely at the nature of these kinds [of confessions] and when you know how these confessions were acquired, there’s enough there to — at the very least — to make you feel very unsure.” Frank Czagany, who met Heirens when both were working in the machine shop at U.S. Steel in 1944, remembers his friend as being “very quiet, not wild.” “He wouldn’t say crap if he had a mouthful of it,” Czagany said. Finn calls the efforts supporting Heirens misguided. “I’m not a vindictive person, I’m not doing this out of anger. It’s fear,” she said. “There is no evidence that says he’s the least bit innocent. How can every single court be wrong” Finn, who attended Heirens’ most recent parole hearing, in July, said he is not innocent by any stretch of the imagination. “Keep him locked in jail,” she said. Kennedy said she and others are looking for a suitable placement in a nursing home for Heirens. She said she believes there is some indication that if an acceptable facility is located, he may have a chance to spend his final days a free man. “He looks for any glimmer of hope,” said Kennedy. “He still wants to be out.” Drizin said that time has come. “This is a case where I have serious doubts about his guilt,” he said. “But it’s a case where there is no question in my mind that the circus-like atmosphere that pervaded his arrest and his prosecution resulted in a trial proceeding for Bill and a guilty plea that was fundamentally unfair.” “They probably have good hearts and are dedicated,” Finn said of Heirens’ believers. “He is not innocent by any stretch, no matter how they twist it.”

Tags | abducted, burglar, degnan, heirens, intruder, josephine, lipstick, murders, police, result