The Lipstick Killer (Part 2) | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this is [Music] morbid and it is part two of the
lipstick Killer part D part one was rough but then you got a little palette cleanser of our besties
Karen and Sabrina not between Parts bye the way you said it last time made me think that no I me between the career
girls and the lipstick Killers two girls one ghes well like I said bye so part one was rough yeah not easy
to get through no that was that was one of the tougher ones I think that we've covered yeah and this is one that I
think a lot of people have heard of if you if you've studied true crime or like read true crime books you know anything
like that the lipstick killer you always like we said associate it with William hirin yes and I do wonder wonder if
that's going to change today interesting and we talked a lot about you know the the police department beating up a
grandpa that was horrible um and then realizing that oops that wasn't him maybe it's two guys like who
knows who's to say after all that yeah and I think when we last left you they were in a true place of
desperation they are not handling the public outcry and the pressure very well not at all and the
Press is doing their part to really [ __ ] this case up further by not practicing
responsible journalism in any shape of the word great yeah they're just exploitation and just lies and riing
people up like it was bad was bad it sounds like it was awful and so things are not going great and then in late
June 1946 at this point and this is in uh we're out of Chicago right now just cuz
we're bringing someone into the fold oh okay um a jury in Phoenix Arizona found 42-year-old Richard Thomas y of quote
unnatural sex acts and attempted rape of his 12-year-old daughter oh my God citing a guilty conscience and repeated
nightmares Thomas suddenly admitted to Arizona detectives that he was responsible for killing six-year-old
Suzanne degnan in Chicago earlier in the year okay according to Thomas he quote frequently had spells unac what he
called spells accompanied by unnatural sexual urg and would often resort to theft and
robbery in order to make quick money okay in early January Thomas was working at woodlon hospital in Chicago I was
waiting for the Chicago Connection there it is and on the night of January 7th he
told his supervisor he was sick and left work around 10: p.m. because quote he knew he had to Rob some money and he
claims just had to he had to he claimed he picked the degnan house because quote
it looked like I would find money and or jewels in there mhm now remember Jim Dean is an
executive right so at first Thomas planned on using the painters ladder he'd taken from a yard down the street
and even put it up against the house next to Suzanne's open window which they did find a ladder M when he remembered
that he had several master keys for various types of locks and one happened to fit the lock on the lock on the
degnan's front door H once inside he prowled around the open rooms until he entered Suzanne's room and found her
sleeping so it is very possible that her mom did hear some dogs making noise if they had heard any of that exactly wow
that they might have heard him prowling around right and he said when he walked into Suzanne's room quote I decided I
could make a lot of money quick by kidnapping her Thomas said quote so I scribbled a note on some brown paper I
had brought along to wipe away fingerprints okay all adding up so far according to Thomas Suzanne never woke
up as he carried her out of the house and down the street and only began screaming once they were a few blocks
away that's horrible now anyone with like young kids knows that's entirely possible oh yeah some kids I was not
gifted enough to have those kind of children that you can bring from the car to the house while they sleep like they
wake up immediately feel like most people aren't but honestly there is a lot I see a lot of my friends have kids
that they can just take out of the car sound asleep and they will remain asleep until they put them in their bed like
those kids kids are like deep Sleepers at times so this does make sense and it's horrific to think about now worried
her screaming would alert someone Thomas said he put a bag over her head and covered her mouth until she stopped
screaming now he was thinking he had inadvertently killed her at this point like
by Thomas dropped her body into an open coal choot at the house on winth Street then slid down the Shute himself to gain
access to the basement there he said he dismembered the body using the surgical tools he had brought with him now by
that time the story of the dean kidnapping and murder had spread across the country MH and detectives in Arizona
were very familiar with the case sensing that Thomas might be telling the truth here detectives in Arizona contacted
their counterparts in Chicago who much to Arizona's surprise didn't seem enthusiastic or even all that interested
in this confession what actually although Chicago chief of detectives Walter storms acknowledged quote there
was enough in Thomas's story to Warrant a thorough investigation uh definitely he added that Thomas quote might be
trying to get out of being sentenced in Arizona on the rape charge I think this would be a much worse
charge you'd be facing death in Chicago for admitting to this correct this is very improbable yeah the brutality and
cruelty of the degnan murder and dismemberment yeah kidnapping murder dismemberment had shocked and outraged I
told you people were out for blood here they it had shocked and outraged people all over the country with many in
Chicago specifically advocating for extrajudicial execution for the offender as soon as they were identified exactly
so the idea that someone would voluntarily confess to the crime and wave extradition back to Illinois
in order to avoid prosecution for a lesser charge that doesn't make sense at all and the other thing is I don't know
obviously how much was put into the media and like the papers about all the different like uh details which a lot
was like they they were the detectives were not good at keeping anything private but and so that makes sense but
he does seem to have every single detail possible which again every single detail
sounds like it was reported but it's all very specific he's also a piece of absolute [ __ ] garbage and he
literally raped his own child ored to rap his own child like he's a literal monster so this is very I'm not I
wouldn't put this past someone who can do that and he's in Chicago at the time like employed in Chicago not even just
passing through exactly yeah I don't that yeah so what happens but so everybody was just kind of like what
like how does this make sense that he wants to avoid the charge of rape by agreeing to confess to the murder and
dismemberment of a six-year-old child who everyone is literally Out For Blood for the culprit of like what but the
reason for storms his eagerness to minimize and ultimately ignore Thomas's confession became clear because there
was then an announcement of an arrest in the degnan case Okay so right away you go oh you just didn't want the case that
you probably manufactured to fall apart huh you zeroed in on someone now on the morning of June 26th just hours before
detectives in Arizona contacted Chief storms for Thomas's confession so just hours before they got this confession oh
no Neighbors near the Degan home spotted who they believed to be a Prowler leaving the home or leaving a home with
some of the occupants belongings so somebody burglarized they alerted two police officers who immediately began
pursuing this Prowler after cornering the suspect on a set of of stairs police tried to subdue the young man who fought
back and almost managed to break free oh wow this next part is the only part of levity that you're going to hear in this
case that you feel free to give it a little giggle because this is wholly cartoonish and it really happened oh God
so he tried to break free when a neighbor intervened by dropping a heavy flower pot on his head and knocking him
unconscious that's quite literally like out of a slapstick com from a window dropped a flower pot all three Stooges
we love a Good Samaritan we love a Good Samaritan we love a comical Good Samaritan this is 100% true because he
he actually got like very injured by this because unlike cartoons you don't just like see stars around your head be
like don't birds you actually get like a traumatic head injury you could also probably die depending on how high up
that was abely so no matter what like this particular little detail if you found yourself going that's
okay happen again it's okay I want you to live in that place of levity for a while because you've earned it after
listening to part one AB [ __ ] lutely now upon his arrest the suspect was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated
for a traumatic brain injury there it is uh where he was eventually identified as
William hirin okay William hirens at this time was 17 years old oh and he was a University of Chicago sophomore and
the son of a police Sergeant interesting he did have a criminal record though Des his dad must
have been [ __ ] piss yeah his son was like his dad was was like really dude now despite his young age cuz 17 that's
young hirens had arrests for burglary dating back years wow he was a little thief he was a little [ __ ] and a little
thief his first arrest in 1942 when he was just 13 years old Jesus someone was rebelling against that I think so now at
the time hirens was arrested for burglarizing a neighbor's home and then accidentally causing a fire but
following his arrest he confessed to at least 11 more burglaries in the neighborhood
now another arrest followed a year later when hirn was caught sneaking out of a building after burglarizing several
several of the apartments inside and officers discovered quote several of the keys in the boy's possession were traced
to the apartments which had been looted in other North Side buildings so he was just like a he was a a burglar can I
also just say he doesn't seem like a criminal mastermind he certainly does not he doesn't seem like he would just
walk out of a building unsuspected exp inly because um he kind of hasn't so far he seems like a bumbling teenager who's
an [ __ ] yes correct like I'm not taking that away from him he's a [ __ ] he goes into people's homes and
steals her [ __ ] like he's a [ __ ] and it's like but so far I'm not seeing much
that leads up to abducting a six-year-old taking her from her home strangling her and then dismembering her
and either none of that and then anything that happened in the other two murders in the Browner Ross case no I'm
not seeing this whole like you know a bread knife through a neck and stabbing somebody in the neck several times and
in the face I'm not seeing it here no because people have to start somewhere absolutely but these burgies aren't even
violent it doesn't sound like at least no I'm not here I the like they these ones in particular were not like armed
robberies and stuff I they're [ __ ] up of course but just a weird weird I didn't see I don't I didn't see a
17-year-old kid with a record of like burglary being responsible for this anything now like this although
investigators were able to identify him from his fingerprints cuz obviously he had a criminal record yeah yeah the head
injury from the flower pot had actually caused tyrants to like slip in and out of Consciousness so he wasn't able to
make a statement at first damn um but detectives and some Physicians believed that at one point he was either faking
or at least exaggerating his symptoms I'm sure uh which he kind of admits he was later like at first he was genuinely
hurt but he keeps it going for a little while and you'll see why um it's never been made clear why hirin became a
suspect in the Degan murder what much less the murders of Ross and brown nobody knows how he became a suspect
there's really no clear reason he became a suspect what the suspicion of burglary
and resisting arrest was sufficient cause to at least take his fingerprints which obviously were submitted to the
FBI for analysis and compare comparison to the Brown and Degan case cuz those are the only ones that had even slight
fingerprints things to compare to which they didn't even really have mhm despite
not having received any results from that analysis Captain EMT Evans told reporters I'm convinced that the two
prints brought out in this case were made by the same person what so let me make sure you guys understand
this the dean case and the Brown case Francis Brown and Suzanne Deon there were like smudged like one
fingerprint available was like barely anything and they had not received an analysis of these fingerprints he said
comparison between the two and he said I'm convinced they are from the same people I'm not talking about Josephine
Ross and Francis Brown I'm talking about Francis Brown and 6-year-old suan Suzanne degnan this man is saying that
he is sure this is the same person that committed those two crimes in what world
again we talked about this in part one in what world is suzan degnan's case related to Francis Brown and Josephine
Ross I see Francis and Josephine being connected 100% two the same person agreed I do not
think on any realm or plane of reality that they are connected to the Suzanne degnan case no and I just can't stop
thinking about the man I'm sorry I forget his name the man that confessed he like he it sounds just perfect Thomas
yeah Thomas it sounds perfect and I mean I know like Suzanne wasn't sexually assaulted in any way right not that I
don't think they could tell okay that's awful because she was dismembered but either way like he he takes a baby out
of her home like that's [ __ ] perverted and he also was accused of raping his daughter like there's a clear
line there that connect some kind of pathology here that you should be taking a closer look at as an investigator it's
the 40s but like come on people this is just human right like this is just me with eyes I just can't believe like I
keep going back to the fact that they were just like oh okay yeah like call you back never yeah to that confession
yeah they were just like oh cool uh we already have someone though we have the 17-year-old that bur 17-year-old that we
literally have no evidence to claim that he has anything to do with any of these
murders but we're just going to pin it on him I think and we're never going to tell you why no we're never going to
like why even though this guy just confessed and was actually in Chicago and has a record that is very much on
par with what has happened right like a perverted disgusting awful record awful record and then like again knows a lot
of details of this case mhm I don't know I don't [ __ ] know dude so this Captain EMT Evans told reporters I'm
convinced that the two prints brought out brought out in the case were made by the same person and we're like stop
talking to reporters but curiously it wasn't police who even thought to check William Hon's Prince it was James Gavin
a reporter for the Chicago Tribune who suggested hey why don't you check the prince against those found in the deant
case okay let me be clear once again about that they arrested William hirin for prowling mhm they were like cool you
have a record you're like a little [ __ ] you burglarize that was what he was going to be charged with burglary that
was it rightfully so and then James Gavin a random a reporter for the Chicago Tri Chicago Tribune you got this
that was not hard to say I don't know why it was sometimes it is it's the my brain's going faster than my M my mouth
that's why cuz I'm just like cuz your thoughts are racing this this reporter looks at police and says do you think he
murdered that six-year-old and the police are like oh my God brilliant let's go check his F
and he was like and the police are like how could we ever connect him to that though and James Gavin a reporter for
the Chicago Tribune says maybe you should compare the fingerprints like what and they were like holy [ __ ] that's
great people say [ __ ] [ __ ] all the time of course they do espe like like especially reporters they come up with
like random questions just to like make a story a little more salacious or you this get even better no I you kept
saying that last time better because so James Gavin says heyo you should check those fingerprints against the ones
found in the dean case and they were like holy [ __ ] that's such a cool idea and Captain Evans was like Wow awesome
and he grabs another police sergeant in real time after this reporter was like you should check that they were like
good call nailed it good call solid idea and then he grabs a police Sergeant they
go into an exam room for 10 minutes no come back out and announce the prince match those in the Degan case
wait just like two officers just went in the room and said like heyo how what that sounds like an SNL
skit I'm not even joking that sounds annl skit that a reporter is like do you want to know how to do your job and the
police were like that sounds so awesome let's give it a shot and then they just go into a room together and come out and
we're like yeah everybody we found them and it's like what there was nothing leading you to this
nothing and like again you're you you sorry my my thoughts are going way faster than my brain you were just
saying like these are like partial prints if that like they're [ __ ] up prins yeah and we don't have we didn't
have nearly the technology to be 100% sure of that back then no we don't have the technology now for like to be 100%
on partial PRS no like and that's does this sound wild to you no don't you dare sit there AC cross from me and tell me
it gets better does it sound wild because I will surprise you in the end with something about these fingerprints
that you're that you're will you surprise me or will I just be like yeah that checks I'll hopefully I'll shock
you because it's wild oh God now while detectives continue their attempts to get hirn to talk at this point because
hens was like uh no like I'm not going to other officers searched his dorm room cuz remember he's a sophomore in college
yeah where they found two medical kits containing a surgical in a scalpel set was he in medical school he was not okay
that's a little weird it was absolutely weird as well as other items recently stolen from nearby homes so they were
also like was this just stolen yeah like were you trying to like sell this maybe
like including war bonds amounting to $2,100 jewelry other items found in his room were several knives and guns
recently reported missing around Chicago um and there was also and this is interesting and also show like who knows
what this is about they found a photo album of Nazi soldiers in guards which they didn't know was if it
was stolen or if that was something he had or why he would have that what it was like [ __ ] disturbing [ __ ]
disturbing like I said not a good guy yeah weird [ __ ] not a good guy bad dude but just as they had done with
Hector verberg last our grandfather they beat the [ __ ] out of him the local press
made no attempt at objective reporting and seemed to go out of their way to a associate William hirin right away with
the brutal murders despite a literal total lack of evidence not a shred not shocked reporters described him as being
quote built like a good football end having quote a hint of a sneer and claimed that quote it took four
policemen to bring him in and quoted one officer as saying they needed quote two
straps to subdue him if you go ahead and Google William H no I already did and I said none of that
true this also directly contradicts their claims that he was unconscious when they brought him in yeah but okay I
guess but oky DOI archi why not he's not a big dude by any means he's pretty lanky yeah actually to be honest now
when hirn came into the hospital he was very confused and believed that he had been arrested for burglary mhm so he was
stunned when he realized that they suspected him of being a killer yeah and especially when they said that they were
suspecting him of being the killer of Suzanne degnan and William hirin had followed the story in the papers and he
remembered how he Hector had claimed he was tortured by police for days in an effort to get him to confess terrified
so hirn later said about this time he said my best bet was to keep my eyes closed and my mouth shut if the police
thought I was still unconscious maybe maybe seriously hurt they couldn't take me to the police station station
handcuff me and hang me over the door by my arms as I had heard they had done to
Hector oh wow unfortunately hirens knew he couldn't keep pretending for much longer so that's that's why the police
and the investig and the doctors were like I think he was like exaggerating because he did keep it going for longer
because he just didn't want to talk I mean and so you know he knew he couldn't keep it going forever though especially
with each new Doctor Who was being like you're [ __ ] faking it like I know that you are awake yeah and so he
finally asked a nurse for a drink of water and that's when they alerted everyone to him being awake now locked
in an exam room one wave of detectives after another took their run at him uh they tried to get a confession out of
him so they could finally close the books on the deing case and at first investigators tried the usual tactics
you know they told him they had arrested his mother and quote put her in with the
prostitutes Jesus that's a quote of course and that they'd arrested his girlfriend Joanne and would keep
grilling her until he confessed and not let her go home and hour after hour he just sat silently waiting for his
parents to arrive because he's 17 M so so are they even actually legally allowed to be doing any of this and one
detective after another aggressively confronted him and they were shouting the details of Suzanne's murder at him
like God and so hirn had been arrested before obviously for burglary and [ __ ] yeah so and given his age he knew there
was only so much they could do to him before they had to let him go or turn him over to his parents technically a
minor in fact tyrn welcomed his parents arrival because he thought naively that they would come to his rescue and make
the whole thing go away he was like I just want to go home but a long time had passed and they still hadn't arrived and
he grew more anxious and like hours are going by and they're getting more and more aggressive and finally when one of
the detectives started telling him they'd matched his fingerprints to those found at the dean case the seriousness
of the situation started to sink in and he realized that they truly believed or they were going to intend to stick it on
him they truly believe that he killed Suzanne dnan what the [ __ ] now the more hirn resisted and longer he remained
silent the more aggressive and impatient the interrogators got until hirn heard one of them say something about ether
that's like an old like torture technique essentially and they said I can make this guy talk what what is it
should I Google it Google it it's like it's it was used in like um it's like it's almost part of like the uh like the
truth serum series of of drugs but it's not truth serum um but the way they would use it was to elicit confessions
um and he remembers one of the men say ain't none of them can keep still with this what and a moment later he smelled
The Ether CU ether is also used as an um anesthetic so uh he's he knew the smell
of ether because he had recognized it from a childhood surgery cuz they used to use ether okay um then one of the men
in the room lifted his hospital gown to expose his genitals no he had no idea what was happening and then he felt
several Drops Of The Ether hit his scrotum causing a feeling of intense cold followed by excruciating pain that
shot through his entire body it's a it's literally described as a volatile liquid
yeah now despite the physical and psychological torment he remained silent he did not confess holy [ __ ] he still
was thinking too that his parents were going to come get him where are his parents or at the very least he thought
the police would realized they made a mistake with the fingerprints that was what he alleged later yeah
now his parents were busy at home trying to deal with the horde of reporters who
had descended upon their house as soon as his identity was announced to the Press when hiren's mother Margaret first
heard the announcement on the radio her heart sank and she immediately was like I don't even know what we're going to be
able to do to fix this so she said after all his burglaries they would naturally
suspect bill it did not take too much imagination to to suggest the kinds of pressures the police could bring bring
to bear on a 17-year-old boy well they've already heard what they're doing to an elderly man the public the press
and the police wanted the case cleared up so anyone would do would do so long as the police could make their charges
stick under such circumstances I felt Bill wouldn't have much of a chance my God God now while detectives continued
their Relentless attempts to coers a confession cuz remember he has not confessed anything and also AKA torture
yeah officers tore apart the hiren's home looking for evidence Chicago detectives had finally gotten around to
talking to Richard Thomas the guy in Arizona who literally confessed and were quick to report that Thomas had actually
changed his story and recanted the whole confession yeah cuz now he hears another
[ __ ] guy he's going to take the fall for it now Thomas was claiming he had nothing to do with the kidnapping or
murder and then he goes oh you know what I actually only wrote The Ransom note for the actual
killer what he said this man asked a few days before the kidnapping if I wanted to go in on a snatch with him which is a
kidnapping sure when he refused cuz he was like I have a long criminal record I probably shouldn't snatch a kid you know
not for moral reasons just you know I don't want to get in trouble uh he said the man asked if Thomas would at least
write the ransom note who the no which Thomas agreed to do and he said later on that day the child was kidnapped and
killed and he said quote I saw the man washing blood off his hands in the bathroom which several families
used so to me that says don't ask me to write anything down because my handwriting is definitely going to match
that note cuz I definitely was there and definitely wrote that note but no I didn't have anything to do I didn't have
anything oops did I tell you that I that I actually committed the murder what I meant was I just wrote The Ransom note I
feel like that guy is a pretty good [ __ ] suspect like I don't who knows at the end of the day but he's at least
a terrible human being exactly and should be put away forever anyway now Chief Storm's resistance to Richard
Thomas's confession seemed odd to Arizona detectives cuz they were like Arizona's like what the [ __ ] is going on
trying to away yeah but that's because they didn't know investigators in Chicago had already arrested William
hirin and declared him the killer in the Degan case under those circumstances Thomas's confession would have been a
very serious complication to their Theory and one that could have undone their entire quote unquote
case it would have been easy for Chicago authorities to reject Thomas's confession as inaccurate when compared
to the facts of the case which they did claim but what they couldn't explain away so easily was that the handwriting
analysis in Phoenix had examined the ransom note in the dean case and compared it to Thomas's handwriting
declaring that there were un mistakable similarities between the documents and they were most likely written by the
same person girl what did I tell you thus Thomas's recanting and telling of a news story very conveniently solved the
problem and removed him as a suspect leaving only William hirens and they had no connection I'm
assuming no connection so William just found him on the street and said hey you want to write a note for me you want to
write a note now and this kid this 17-year-old kid's like I don't know I think I want to like kidnap a kid and
murder her do you want to do you want to do it with me never done that before but
I was just thinking of doing this today like no now in the days after his arrest
tyrn remained almost completely silent and refused to cooperate with investigators believing that if he
didn't say anything he couldn't get in trouble mhm so nevertheless detectives continued building their case against
him routinely releasing information to their press not always accurate information either of course of the
information that would eventually be touted irrefutable proof of his guilt none was more compelling or persuasive
than the supposed fingerprint evidence that tied hirens to the case they were saying this is irrefutable how I feel as
though it's refutable I feel like there's so much refute here I feel I feel refute in my bones I do I like oh I
someone's name is refute here like it's now when the degnan scene was processed the original suzan degnan scene was
processed FBI agents diso discovered two fingerprints on the front of the hastily
written Ransom note yeah because remember there was like that substance yeah which they photographed and
returned to the Chicago police after hiren's arrest the handwriting analysis for an excuse me analyst for the Chicago
Police Department Sergeant Thomas lafy reviewed the prints and declared them incomplete and quote impossible to
classify uhhuh much like we suspect complete and impossible to classify you cannot use these prints to class
classify anything also lafy compared the prints to those collected from like cuz he was
like what I have here just to shoot my shot and to like make sure I've crossed my teas and dotted my eyes he compared
those prints to those collected from all persons arrested between January and June of that year but found no matches
among them despite hiren's having been arrested in May mhm so he's he would have already had his fingerprints
compared to those yep but 3 days after hiren's arrest lafy told the press and his superiors that a print found on the
back of the ransom note was actually a match for William hirens how convenient wait Thomas laffy I thought that you
just said that it's impossible I got to go but now no it's like a full match like what a great
print that you guys just happen to miss the first time around that's so cool um that's so cool it's so great for you
guys like I love that you just keep falling into these like awesome things you're should play the lotto yeah it
would be made public that there was in fact no fingerprints on the back of the ransom note that was
a li cool he lied out of his lying [ __ ] face lied to penless on a random ass 17-year-old lied like again not
saying this 17-year-old is an awesome 17-year-old but but if he didn't kill a six-year-old then let's not pin it on a
man like yeah yeah I think that's a that's something you would think we could all agree on still it it was the
supposed fingerprint evidence that served as the basis for hiren's being the prime suspect and the evidence on
which his conviction would stand this fake fingerprint that doesn't exist it was also the fingerprints that
supposedly linked the brown and Degan cases together oh no detectives alleged that the fingerprints on the ransom note
were a match for the bloody fingerprint found on the door jam at the brown crime
seen that partialing one fingerprint and since the Ross and brown murders were believed to have been committed by the
same person investigators linked all three and tied them all to William hirens isn't that so convenient how that
all lined up for them the wildest thing to me is that in all of these cases nothing is missing nope nothing is
missing he's a he a known burglar and he didn't take anything from the scenes should say nothing is missing like 20
bucks was missing one of the first ones but of all the things Ste steal he steals like physical items like not just
like money so he can sell them like that's he's his [ __ ] his stick is stealing [ __ ]
from people's houses like come on and one of the main things especially in the brown and Ross case was it didn't appear
anything was really missing right like there was jewelry there was all kinds of stuff he didn't steal any of it and I'm
sorry but like Suzanne's case is not connected to these other two you can't I don't know what somebody could say to
convince me otherwise so while the District Attorney's office and higher ups at the Chicago Police Department
continued feeding information about supposedly irrefutable evidence to the Press which is very much refutable
detectives continued their assault on a still completely silent hirens he was still not confessing to it it's not like
he was giving them information I can't believe how long he held out when he wouldn't talk or refuse to give them the
answers they wanted detectives resorted to physical torture including having a nurse perform a spinal tap without
anesthesia whose idea was that which they claimed was being done to rule out brain
damage but they had them do a spinal tap without anesthesia just as physical torture oh
my God mhm they're like sadistic it's like really wild the [ __ ] was on this police force back then like yeah now
what the [ __ ] now on June 30th William hiren submitted to a polygraph examination which he
passed no however when the results were reported to the Press they were deemed futile and
inconclusive but he passed the test which again F trench coat but still but come on you have to remember too cuz
like as much as we say polygraphs are like you know what's going on with them they are
reacting to your body's physiological responses responses to certain questions so there's something to be taken from
them I think and obviously some people can beat them that's the thing I don't think 1year old is beating a polygraph
17-year-old kid who's up for murder I don't know how calm he is a 17-year-old kid who probably has a traumatic brain
injury and is up for murder that I don't think he committed I don't think he's going to be
able to control his [ __ ] that much I don't think so in order to to skew these results wow now when the polygraph exam
failed to produce the results they were hoping for the state's attorney William Tui agreed to play to pay psychiatrist
Dr Roy grinker a fee of $1,000 to administer sodium pentathol against hiren's wishes and
without consent of his parents illegal illegal that is truth illegal now in the news about the so
called Truth SE serum leaked to the Press State's Attorney Tui denied knowing anything about the drug or its
use in the hiren's case yeah cuz he'd lose his [ __ ] job otherwise he told reporters I don't know anything about
what those psychiatrists did I will neither confirm nor deny use of the drug because I do not know when they testify
coner concerning this in court when they say what they say is their testimony will be my opinion I do not know what
steps they took I genuinely hate people despite his repeated very clumsy denials
of knowing anything about the administration of the drug when he testified under oath in a 1952
postconviction review of the case Tui admitted that Not only was he fully aware so he lied out of his [ __ ] face
like most of these [ __ ] he was fully aware that they use the drug but he was in fact the one who'd ordered it and
authorized the payment to the doctor I have to go oop once again no it's so scary how Wild it's so scary
how people in positions of power could just get away with whatever the [ __ ] they want to and it can come out later
and have no [ __ ] bearing on anything no repercussions like it's it's mindblowing yeah what the [ __ ] he just
seems like I can't coner to die I have no idea and he's like he like oh I literally authorized yeah I literally
fully knew about that in fact I said to do it and oh [ __ ] I authorize the payment cuz I paid him off to do it oh
my God and these are the guys saying we closed the case you didn't close [ __ ] you didn't do [ __ ] this is the worst
[ __ ] I have ever heard it's like what you faked all of this [ __ ] and the worst
part is it's like whether William hiren's did it which I'm going to say he didn't do it I don't think he did it
dude whether he did or not though you didn't figure it out you didn't prove it if this man did this this 17-year-old
kid did this you did not prove he did no way in any way shape or form no way and
that's what's so frustrating is you didn't even have the [ __ ] G or the you couldn't even you don't even have
the skill set to prove that he did it if you really thought he did it you could prove it absolutely and you didn't even
try you just you [ __ ] it's you rigged this you rigged the game yes instead of winning it you rigged it like a [ __ ]
champion and coming out of there and saying hey everybody we caught the [ __ ] who did this you can sleep
soundly tonight you rigged the [ __ ] game cuz you're a little [ __ ] it's like that's such a cheap [ __ ] way and it's
like you said earlier I don't know if it was this part or part one but yes they had pressure on them but not for that
long no it's not like this was like this is within the same year and it's like if
you have pressure on you like I said I think in part one let it be a motivator be let it do it like the deli murder
case those those investigators yes at the very least they held [ __ ] close to the chest they Le [ __ ] that was that
everyone wanted to know details about that case we all did yeah and they were like I'm sorry you're not getting them
because we we don't want to give you details that are going to compromise this investigation because we're going
to do this [ __ ] right whether you're putting pressure on us or not because we want to do it and we want to close it
not just close it quote unquote and it's that's it's so frustrating so this asshole's remarkably
evasive statement to the Press about the use of the truth serum yes yes it represents one of the most important
aspects of the case against William hirin the case was incredibly suspiciously thin obviously
um but the best piece of evidence that they had was fingerprint evidence and this fingerprint evidence was apparently
a nine-point match for hirens what now the FBI and fingerprint experts consider a 12-point match the
bare minimum for compelling fingerprint evidence okay so this is a not compelling not 12 that's the bare
minimum 12 in fact the 9-point loop pattern that matched with William hirin would have also matched 65% of the
population 65% of the population 65% of the population that have a loop pattern on on their fingerprints are you
[ __ ] wait the other thing here is like spoiler alert anybody who knows this case this guy gets convicted yeah
how yeah in what [ __ ] world oh cuz it just keeps getting worse and never gets he never gets out out he died in prison
he was 83 when he died in prison yeah essentially to a certain extent our fingerprints kind of all look the same
obviously they only become unique when it comes to the finer details which is why a 12-point match is considered the
bare minimum otherwise the evidence against hirens was circumstantial at best and at worst purely speculative or
completely manufactured so this Sensational fingerprint evidence is literal garbage
garbage had they taken the case to a jury on its merits the state would have likely lost and the murders of Ross
Brown and Dean would remain unsolved today thus if Tui in the district attorney's
office wanted to close the books on those cases they needed to build a case for the public that convincingly
portrayed hirn as a vicious criminal which he wasn't now in the case against him the use and willing participation of
the press cannot be understated here no way they have [ __ ] blood on their hands and they should know it from the
moment he was arrested the police and other law enforcement officials leaked and explicitly gave information to the
press that while not claiming it to be irrefutable fact was were nonetheless stated with confidence and Authority so
that reporters could infer that it was the truth yeah that's why it was given to them with a lot of authority tui's
statement on the use of truth serum is characteristic of all the types of statements that were being given to the
Press on a regular basis here where some nefarious or Sensational detail or clue
is very Heaven heavily uh implied to be true mhm but it's also vague enough to be denied should it be proven false and
when they weren't publishing vague statements from law enforcement the Press were publishing their own stories
about hirin that emphasized his criminal record his size and uncooperative disposition and anything else that would
distract from the fact that he was a 17-year-old boy being held on suspicion of three crimes for which there was very
little if no evidence for him committing literally and for which doesn't make sense we're even connected in the first
place nope no one's even saying that no one's being like this doesn't even [ __ ] make sense that you're
connecting these three murders it makes no sense whatsoever so at one point a reporter for the Chicago Tribune even
manufactured a story about hirin confessing what he had never confessed but they they just made it up
story just printed it like it was fact the [ __ ] the end result was that regardless of how questionable the
physical evidence was any jury picked for a trial would enter that courtroom with a seriously negative impression
because this guy supposedly confessed but he never did he never confessed oh my God he never confessed to this point
he had not confessed they that was an outright manufactured [ __ ] story what the [ __ ] how did they get away with
that they all could just do whatever they wanted like everybody is just playing their own Fu game now on July
2nd William hirens was transferred from the hospital to the infirmary wing of the Cook County Jail where he spent
about a week recovering from the initial head injury and the injuries sustained during his interrogation and torture um
during which time investigators continued questioning him relentlessly after one week a defense attorney was
finally assigned to him though they wouldn't end up being much help for him while he was in the infirmary hiren's
Attorney John Coughlin was summoned to the DA's office where they were offered a deal this was the deal if William
hirens confessed publicly to all three murders the state would assure that there would be no death penalty and that
the penalty would be one life term all sentences running concurrently under this plea agreement hirens would be gone
would have gone to prison for life but on just one count of burglary because that
because he would confess to the three murders but only be charged for the crime that they initially brought him in
for which was burgy they wouldn't charge him for the murders like they like he wouldn't be convicted on those murders
he would be convicted on burglary which but get life what but that fact that he was only charged for burglary would be
incredibly beneficial for him for purposes of parole later yes so that was the deal you're not going to get the
death penalty admit to killing these three people so we can close our books and look good
which also right then in there proves to you that they didn't think he did this because had he done would have wanted to
put him to death yeah they would have wanted and they also would have wanted to at least get him [ __ ] convicted
they would have wanted those charges sticking 100% you're not going to send him to [ __ ] prison for burglary when
he murdered for three of the biggest murder cases that the entire nation is [ __ ] all over you for like you think
anyone's going to be happy about that like shut up what the [ __ ] the it just gets
more more inting so without speaking to his client first Coughlin agreed to get William to
accept the deal and confess reasoning that they stood no chance with chance with a jury and the result would
definitely be him getting a death sentence so a few weeks later a statement in a statement to the Press
Coughlin his attorney addressed the plea deal essentially claiming it was William's idea to accept the plea
it was not he was never informed of this and he also like I would think that his
parents would need to be informed if he was taking the deal too because he's a minor right and he was just never even
he wasn't informed of it what the [ __ ] what the [ __ ] he said quote for us to
Hazard his life on a plea of not guilty to the murder charges would be taking a risk with risk with no visible hope of
benefit to the defendant when he advised us to his guilt our course became clear
we have followed it in strict Conformity with the ethics of of our profession the
ethics of Ethics is nowhere in this case my friends there's no ethics in the Press
here and there's no ethics in the law enforcement here and there's no ethics in the law here none of you are ethical
none no one in this [ __ ] case ultimately it wasn't the torture it wasn't the constant questioning from the
police or even the defense attorneys agreeing to the ple plea deal without his consent that ended up breaking
William hirin it was the Chicago Tribune article falsely claiming he had already
confessed when the article ran on July 16th claiming that he had killed all three and robberies gone wrong no
remember those first two they were [ __ ] adamant that those were not robberies but now it worked for the
robber's gone wrong he washed the bodies robbery's gone wrong come on robbery's gone wrong
are [ __ ] messy yep you leave [ __ ] ton behind cuz it's a robbery gongying get
out of there that's not what these are and they knew it oh my God so the other papers followed suit they heard this
false confession that it was a robbery on the other papers just went sounds good we'll just run that whether it was
true or not and by the end of the day all of Chicago believed that he was the confessed killer Wow and his lawyer
wrote in a 2002 clemency appeal quote the concocted Chicago Tribune story broke hiren's will and spirit of course
it did so they were like this is what made him just go [ __ ] it like I'm never going to win any I'm I'm already even if
I leave here the entirety of Chicago thinks I confess to it what the I can't just stop saying what the [ __ ] now
certain that he was truly completely out of options he agreed to a plea deal in per their agreement prepared to go
before the state's attorney and the chief of police and confess to all three murders what hirn didn't know and
certainly never expected was that in an effort to celebrate their having caught the
killer no these these good old boys they did their they did their jobs and they caught the killer ash oh God you know I
don't know what the [ __ ] you're about to tell who we invited every person who'd
worked on the case and countless reporters and photographers to witness hiren's confess and he had no idea on
July 30th 1946 he stood up before the room shocked and was asked by Tui to quote
tell the truth about the murders but rather than live up to his end of the bargain after seeing that he responded
and said I don't know anything about them wow because he was like [ __ ] you dude like I'm not doing this outraged so
he didn't get his deal then so outraged that they'd been made to look bad in front of their precious
press yeah the District Attorney's Office rescinded their initial offer offer but offered to one more chance to
confess this time they took the concurrent sentences off the table and instead he would plead guilty to the
murder and receive three sentences to be served consecutively if he accepted the New
Deal William could expect to spend the rest of his life in prison but at the very least he would avoid the death
penalty okay so they were like those are your your options you go to prison for life three consecutive life sentences
and just say that you murdered all three of them and whatever you'll go for burglary this is like or you get the
death penalty because you know you're going to get it this is heartbreaking yeah I don't think he did this
I and after also yeah who the [ __ ] did this exactly they just walked around the
rest of their lives and what two different people two different depraved Disturbed people just walked around the
rest of their lives because let me tell you yeah those two First cases are connected second one no third one excuse
me no no exactly now after much discussion with his parents and his attorney who assured him a jury trial
was a bad idea which I think it was because everybody was tainted as [ __ ] they had already said that he confessed
right no even he didn't but they said he confessed so any jury walking in there had in their mind he confessed no matter
what William hirens accepted the plea agreement and this time there would be no going back so on August 6th 1946 he
publicly confessed to murdering Josephine Ross Francis Brown and Suzanne degnan during which he provided details
of the murders and in a statement to the Press Tui said he was willing to negotiate a plea deal for a confession
quote because of his desire to make certain not only in his own mind but also to the satisfaction of the public
that in hirens the state had had the Slayer of Suzanne Dean Miss Brown and Mrs Ross honestly go [ __ ] yourself
without the confession the state case he said this I would like to point out without the confession the state's case
Bas holy on circumstantial evidence was none too strong we need to go over that again he
they told William hirn you go to court for trial you're convicted and going to die because our case is air [ __ ]
tight we got fingerprints we got all this [ __ ] so you can do that and you're going to die
or you can take this plea deal and you can just go to prison for three consecutive life sentences but you won't
die and then they said and then after he did that they go psych if we went to trial we never would have got him
convicted CU we had [ __ ] literally just said that that kid was duped and duped and duped again they
had Chicago detectives had spent months touting the fingerprint and handwriting evidence they insisted proved tyron's
guilt and only after getting that confession that Tui was willing to that's when Tui was willing to
acknowledge that going forward with a jury trial was risky on their part not his Wow and his own [ __ ] dumb defense
attorney railroaded him right along with everybody else oh my God so as part of his plea deal hirin agreed to describe
in detail and even reenact the murders they made him do that on August 7th he spent more than eight hours describing
how and why he killed Dean Brown and Ross as well as several burglaries and other assaults as they traveled from one
crime scene to another hirens and representatives from the district and state attorney's offices were followed
by a huge audience of onlookers all hoping to hear some piece of the shocking story oh yeah um one of the
onlookers said he's not like he's not like he looks in his pictures he looks gruesome
he looks yeah because you think he's a convicted child killer and like woman killer now yeah throughout the course of
the reenactment State's attorney William Crowley asked one leading question after
another like quote you did get the knife in a burglary didn't you and isn't this the one you took out
of the Rodrick home like just here's all the information each time hirn would just
respond in whatever way was expected and they'd move on on September 4th 1946 hirn appeared in Circuit Court where
three psychiatrists told chief justice Harold Ward that he was quote legally sane but emotionally abnormal so it
ruled out an insan insanity claim and cleared the way for sentencing the following day hirn was back in court for
sentencing and the state's attorney called a long list of experts including investigators fingerprint experts
handwriting experts psychiatrist they all testified on the state's behalf unfortunately there's no documentary
evidence of their testimony huh because the court reporter died before he was able to type up his
notes like of natural causes like I have no idea y'all y'all regardless would Happ that was weird regardless of what
was said in court the outcome was as expected um hirin pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three three life sentences
with a minimum of 61 years served before he would even be considered for 61 Years sir before you're even
considered for Pearle oh my God now in the case of William hirin the facts and evidence have never really supported the
theory or conviction ever most familiar with the case agree now that given the similarities between the two murders
between the two of the murders it's likely Josephine Ross and Francis Brown were killed by the same person but given
the lack of any similarities between those cases and the Degan case it's pretty unlikely the three are connected
at all and only grouped together for the sake of closing all three at once those were the ones everyone was
mad about let's shove them together and close them all at once I just can't believe people bought that yeah as for
the evidence cuz remember I told you I had some more stuff about that the fingerprint you thought I had already
told you about the fingerprints so hirn doesn't even remotely match the description of the
suspicious individuals that people would see in all three cases no nor did he possess the knowledge or experience
believed to be held by someone who dismembered Suzanne degnan uhhuh in fact none of the evidence collected in any of
the cases could be conclusively traced back to him at all years later during his many appeals a team of experts
reviewed the evidence and came to the following significant conclusions one despite what the Press
reported the handwriting in the dean Ransom note was not a match for hirens though it bore great similarity to
Richard Thomas' handwriting yep two also the handwriting on the wall at the brown
crime scene didn't match iron nor was it a match for the handwriting on the D and
Ransom note so those are two different people several members of the review team believe that that message on the
wall was likely written by one of the reporters at the scene in order to make the story more Sensational no and I
believe it no dude because now that you say that a reporter's the one that found it alone
in a room and he's like guys you got to come in here and this entire [ __ ] case is
known as the liptick murders and the lipstick killer what a what a fun way to get a fun nickname out of it that you
can publish who the [ __ ] is that depraved right Humanity where is it let me know
exactly oh my God I no I need one second just hold me a moment hold on one moment
because I'm really trying to process here go ahead what the going back to the fingerprint found on the ransom note was
only a ninepoint match for hirin meaning it also matched 65% of the population with a looped pattern which again is
genuinely the most insane thing I've ever heard then the fingerprint found at the brown crime scene that was
supposedly a match for hirn was determined to actually be a rolled fingerprint like those taken for a
police fingerprint card and was not at all similar to the types of fingerprints naturally left behind at a crime scene
right the implication here is someone was sent back to that crime scene to plant the fingerprint to connect the
cases because otherwise they would have never been connected there was no way without that fingerprint that they were
able to connect those cases they needed that fingerprint otherwise there was no conceivable way to connect these cases
in any [ __ ] world how did but for them to go here we have a fingerprint that's at Dean case and Brown case oh my
God they're all connect and isn't this so convenient because we know that the Francis Brown and the Josephine Ross
murders were definitely by the same person so if there was a fingerprint at the Brown case that's also at the dean
case well then that person must have killed Josephine Ross too oh my God we just found the killer of all three of
these people oh my God that's why it came out as a rolled fingerprint because it wasn't
left there naturally that doesn't you don't just like roll up on a scene and just left to right onto the
door and finally no wait I'm sorry no no actually just a sec somebody was tasked
with that job and then went to bed that night and just said like yeah [ __ ] that's my job yeah like they're like I
guess I guess that child murderer can just keep roaming around we get that we get that William hiren's off
the streets so that's good this makes me want to cry like how do you how do you not think that way like that you just
[ __ ] up three murder cases and pinned them on some random [ __ ] kid like sure not the best kid in the whole world
but a child murderer and now like a crazed lunatic killer are just Tes women and murders them in their homes are not
facing any kind of walking free like maybe not walking free two well not anymore but there were two murderers in
this case that got away with it right two two different ones and I mean maybe not walking free because I think that
Richard Thompson oh yeah Richard Thomas Richard Thomas he it does feel like he's
regardless of what was going on there like he should be in jail anyways I mean again 40s but and finally analysis of
hiren's confessions quote revealed numerous inconsistencies between the confessions and the known facts of the
crimes and he was frequently wrong about basic facts of the cases including locations times related events like same
exact thing like and no one gave a [ __ ] and it was just fine and despite all this question an in
Wild amount of questionable evidence in hiren's case the official position of the state of illino
was and remains that William hirens murdered Josephine Ross Francis Brown and Suzanne Dean in 1954 hirens appealed
his sentence on numerous grounds ranging from illegal search and seizure to fa false arrest and abuse and it was shot
down from by the Supreme Court who concluded quote the finding of the criminal court against petitioner on the
issue is adequately supported by the evidence what evidence not though still in their summary the court acknowledged
that quote it may be conceded that the circumstances under which the crimes were committed the opinions of
examinated examining psychiatrists the involuntary disclosure of petitioner while under the influence of sodian
pental and other matters in evidence indicate the presence presence of an abnormality rendering him unable to
control his conduct and might well have Justified a finding that he was not re legally responsible for the acts at the
time they were committed but the mere fact that Council failed to advise their client to defend on such grounds does
not amount to a denial of due process but a lot of other things do amount to it other appe appeals were filed in the
years that followed but none were successful and in 1995 hirens filed his final appeal which resulted in the
appell court upholding the previous ruling and noting litigation has a beginning and of necessity an end the
end for William hiren's has long since passed as far as those claims are concerned so they were like we don't
want to hear it anymore oh my after serving 61 years of his sentence hirens came up for parole
in July 2007 he told the Chicago Tribune I figure I'll be getting out this year no
it's a bad thing on the reputation of Illinois that they lock people up forever yeah it is in his previous bids
for parole hirens had been denied in large part because he wouldn't admit to what he didn't do because he didn't do
it and unfortunately this time would be no different he said One Parole Board member said the words I still haven't
heard from Bill hirens are I ask for forgiveness for my crimes so they wouldn't parole him because he wouldn't
admit to doing it a second time or a third time really it turned out that that would be William hen's last attempt
at parole because on March 5th 2012 he was found unresponsive in his cell at the Dixon Correctional Center and was
transported to the University of Illinois medical center where he was pronounced dead from complications from
diabetes he was 83 years old and Justice was not served I am without I'm without words
that's the one of the most corrupt cases I've ever heard of in my life that man spent are you ready 66 years in prison
for three crimes that I am fully willing to say he did not commit I do not believe he committed those crimes I do
not believe he committed those crimes years his entire life mhm 17 years old died at
83 I'm like I'm Shell Shocked right now like absolutely Shell Shocked it's just like wow the and like OB like obviously
that's not the first time or unfortunately the last time that will ever happen but the egregious it is
egregious and it's just like I I just can't rationalize it in my brain that people can do this to other people and
yeah for just to close a c to quote unquote close a case and it makes me angry that it's like you didn't catch
the person who snatched a baby out of her bed and dismembered her or Brut put that person away you didn't catch the
person who broke into two women's apartments and brutalized them and left them in strange unsettling awful brutal
positions for their family members and like the cleaning woman to find those people get out Scott free and
then you just went around planting evidence at different scenes like that's wild there's not words there are there
are not words wow yeah W I'm like I'm so upset right now I'm genuinely so upset it's a very rough one I just can't
believe that man spent 66 years of his [ __ ] life in prison that's the thing and whoever did
was probably just laughing all the way around town that's the thing and who like who knows I'm sure they went I
don't think a person like that just stops murdering people yeah how many other people were murdered that's the
thing I'm like okay and honestly I kind of want to I want to go back in the records and see after this were there
anything else that was even slightly like these right or like did he see that somebody else got it pinned on him and
so he changed hiso or maybe moved somewhere moved somewhere else and started doing it like I want to look
into that and just like there was no other suspects ever ever and they just and they brought William hirens in with
nothing connected to these cases just a burglary and it's like dude and then listen that's such a [ __ ] cautionary
tale that's why you don't get your yourself wrapped up in bad [ __ ] because more bad [ __ ] follows like don't take
that path like I'm not saying he did that to himself you don't want to be in the wrong [ __ ] place at the wrong
time yeah cuz that was wrong wrong wrong lifestyle choice at the at the right time for the police exactly is what it
was like it was they saw their chance and they took it I'm so shook right now I want to I'm going to go donate money
to the Innocence Project by it was wild it really is a wild wild SK I thought forever that William hirens was the
lipsti killer because I never really looked into the case that far and it's just I can't believe there's not more
information out there about I don't think he is if you start googling like look through you'll see a lot of people
suddenly realized a lot of things about the case and were like oh [ __ ] like it
was just like holy [ __ ] way too late yeah it's so sad that there was no activist at the time that was able to
help him in any way I know to even try because now and everything was so corrupt then you know what I mean like
it was just like like if this was happening he would absolutely be like help be getting like some kind of
representation and like you look and it's like the the detectives are all wearing like the the detective hats you
know like they're all like it's it's the classic like very corrupt very different
way of doing things back then that like everything just gets swept into the rug holy this one moved me to like a place I
feel like I've never been moved it's a wild one it is and again not saying William hirens was like you know this
Bastion of like you know moral superiority or something like that like he was not you know he was also 17 so
you hope he would be able to turn [ __ ] around if he was given the chance who knows his [ __ ] brain wasn't even
developed yet but it's like I don't think he was a murderer no I really don't no and I think that's really where
it lies I don't think he was a murderer I don't think he did this no wow and that's unfortunate wow all right well um
we hope you keep listening and we hope you keep it weird but never so weird as any of this because my freaking God all
of this was absolutely the weirdest [ __ ] [ __ ] I've ever heard in my life I'm real stressed and I'm glad that this
is out [Music] yeah

The brutal murders of Ross, Brown, and Degnan shocked the city of Chicago and terrified and outraged the city’s residents, who wanted only to feel safe once again. Under intense pressure from the press, the public, and city officials, investigators were desperate to catch the killer and solve the case by any means necessary, even if they had to break more than a few rules and ignore some inconvenient facts in order to do it.

Thank you to the incredible Dave white of Bring Me the Axe & 99 Cent Rental Podcast for research!References

Amended Petition for Executive Clemency. 2002. C-06103 (Illinois Prisoner Review Board, April).

Arizona Republic . 1946. "Defendant fails in plea to jury." Arizona Republic, June 20: 18.

Banks, Joe. 1946. "Prisoner says he killed girl." Tucson Daily Citizen, June 26: 1.

Chicago Tribune. 1946. "Police resift all clues in Degnan case." Chcago Tribune, January 12: 1.

—. 1946. "2 rewards offered for 'execution' of girl's kidnap-slayer." Chicago Tribune, January 8: 2.

—. 1946. "Call Heirens sane; today's plea in doubt." Chicago Tribune, September 4: 1.

—. 1946. "Child stolen from her bed during the night." Chicago Tribune, January 8: 1.

—. 1945. "Ex-WAVE slain, plea written in red on wall." Chicago Tribune, December 11: 1.

—. 1946. "Handwriting similarity to killer's shown." Chicago Tribune, June 27: 1.

—. 1946. "Heirens gets new grilling following 'futile' lie test." Chicago Tribune, July 1: 1.

—. 1946. "Heirens made choice of plea, attorneys say." Chicago Tribune, August 7: 12.

—. 1946. "Murders, assaults, thefts, shooting; Heirens' story." Chicago Tribune, August 7: 1.

—. 1945. "Mystery grows in WAVE slaying." Chicago Tribune, December 12: 1.

—. 1943. "Organize posse of tenants and catch prowler." Chicago Tribune, August 9: 18.

—. 1946. "Repudiates his 'confession' in Degnan slaying." Chicago Tribune, June 29: 6.

—. 1946. "Student held in Degnan case puzzles police." Chicago Tribune, June 29: 1.

—. 1946. "Tubs in basement, saw and ax held best clews." Chicago Tribune, January 9: 1.

—. 1946. "U.C. Sophomore, facing police quiz, fakes coma." Chicago Tribune, June 29: 1.

—. 1946. "Use of serum in Heirens quiz still mystery." Chicago Tribune, July 1: 5.

—. 1945. "Widow is found in home; suitor quizzed." Chicago Tribune, June 6: 10.

Decatur Daily Review. 1946. "Chicago girl kidnapped; note demands $20,000." Decatur Daily Review, January 7: 1.

—. 1946. "Janitors grilled in kidnap-death." Decatur Daily Review, January 9: 1.

Decatur Herald. 1945. "Brutal WAVE slayer sought." Decatur Herald, December 12: 1.

Higgins, Michael. 2007. "1940s killer denied parole." Chicago Tribune, August 3: 1.

—. 2007. "Is 61 years in prison enough retribution." Chicago Tribune, July 29: 1.

Kennedy, Dolores. 1991. William Heirens: His Day in Court. New York, NY: Bonus Books.

New York Times. 1946. "Heirens confesses in no-chair deal." New York Times, August 7: 36.

Pantagraph. 1945. "Former Wave found brutally slain in Chicago bathtub." Pantagraph, December 10: 1.

People of the State of Illinois v William Heirens. 1954. 33165 (Supreme Court of Illinois, September 23).

People of the State of Illinois v William Heirens. 1995. 1-90-2240 (Appellate Court of the State of Illinois, March 15).

Priddy, Gladys. 1945. "Slain ex-WAVE a friend to all, roomate says." Chicago Tribune, December 14: 3.

Connect with Wondery http://wondery.com/shows http://facebook.com/WonderyMedia http://twitter.com/WonderyMedia http://instagram.com/WonderyMedia

Brief Summary

William Hirens was wrongfully convicted of three murders due to police misconduct and media sensationalism, spending 66 years in prison before his death.

Key points

The Lipstick Killer Confession. Richard Thomas confesses to the murder of Suzanne Degnan, raising eyebrows about his motives.
A Comical Arrest. A neighbor intervenes in a police chase by dropping a flower pot on a suspect's head.
Fingerprint Match. A reporter suggests checking fingerprints, leading to a shocking match in the Degnan case.
William Hirn's Arrest. William Hirn is arrested and suspected of murder despite his confusion and protests.
The Ether Incident. Hirn is subjected to a painful ether application during interrogation.
Richard Thomas's Confession. A suspect recants his confession, complicating the case against Hirn.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This is wholly cartoonish and it really happened.

The absurdity of a neighbor dropping a flower pot on a suspect's head.

9:15WatchMar 25, 2024

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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