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William George Heirens (November 15, 1928 – March 5, 2012) was a convicted American serial killer who confessed to three murders in 1946. Heirens was called the Lipstick Killer after a notorious message scrawled in lipstick at a crime scene. At the time of his death, Heirens was reputedly Chicago's longest-serving prisoner, having spent 65 years in prison.〔("Gray area: Aging prison population has state looking at alternatives." ) ''Pantagraph.com''. May 30, 2009. Accessed June 5, 2009.〕 He spent the later years of his sentence at the Dixon Correctional Center in Dixon, Illinois (Inmate No. C-06103). Though he remained imprisoned until his death, Heirens had recanted his confession and claimed to be a victim of coercive interrogation and police brutality.〔(Kennedy, Dolores "Bill Heirens Asks For Help So He Won't Die In Prison For Another's Crime." ) URL accessed January 29, 2007〕 Charles Einstein wrote a novel called ''The Bloody Spur'' about Heirens. The novel was later adapted into the film ''While the City Sleeps'' by Fritz Lang. On March 5, 2012, Heirens died at the UIC Medical Center. ==Early life== Heirens grew up in Lincolnwood, a suburb of Chicago. His family was poor and his parents argued incessantly, leading Heirens to wander the streets to avoid listening to them. He took to crime and later claimed that he mostly stole for fun and to release tension. He never sold anything he had stolen.〔Joseph Geringer (''William Heirens'' ) TruTV Pg 3〕 At 13 years old, Heirens was arrested for carrying a loaded gun. A subsequent search of the Heirens's home discovered a number of stolen weapons hidden in an unused storage shed on the roof of a nearby building along with furs, suits, cameras, radios and jewelry he had stolen. Heirens admitted to 11 burglaries and was sent to the Gibault School for wayward boys for several months.〔 Not long after his release, Heirens was again arrested for burglary. This time, he was sentenced to three years at the St. Bede Academy, operated by Benedictine Monks. During his time at the school, Heirens stood out as an exceptional student, and his test scores were so high he was urged to apply for the University of Chicago's special learning program. He was accepted into the program just before his release and asked to begin classes in the 1945 fall term, allowing him to bypass high school. He was 16 years old.〔 Heirens returned home to live and commuted to the university, but this was impractical, and he eventually boarded at the university's Gates Hall. His parents were unable to afford either the tuition or boarding, so Heirens worked several evenings a week as an usher and at the university as a docent to pay his way. However, he also resumed his serial burglary, even as he studied at the University of Chicago.〔 University of Chicago graduate Riva Berkovitz (PhD 1948) reports that Heirens was quite popular in the ballroom dancing class that they had together: "I remember the most popular boy in my class, who was handsome, smart and a good dancer. We all wanted to dance with him - the foxtrot, tango or a waltz. It didn't really matter."〔The Core, winter 2013 Supplement to the University of Chicago Magazine〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「William Heirens」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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