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| Man Jailed Since 1946 Seeks Release |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 04/10/2002 |
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A man who has been behind bars more than 50 years in a sensational Chicago murder case in which 'Catch me before I kill more' was left scrawled in lipstick on a bathroom mirror asked a clemency board to free him recently, claiming he was railroaded. William Heirens, 73, was not at the hearing before the Illinois Prisoner Review Board, but a pair of Northwestern University law professors who have worked to free wrongly imprisoned inmates argued on his behalf. Heirens, who is believed to the longest-serving prisoner in Illinois, has said he gave a false confession under duress from police and prosecutors who were under intense pressure to solve the notorious 1946 killings of a little girl and two women. He has claimed he was given a spinal tap without anesthetic, injected with truth serum, subjected to round-the-clock police interrogation and isolated from his parents and his lawyer. Steven Drizin of the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern said Heirens' case has 'all the earmarks of a wrongful conviction.' Heirens' supporters have said he is a diabetic and is no threat to society. The board will make a recommendation to Gov. George Ryan, who will decide whether to free Heirens. Heirens was a 17-year-old student at University of Chicago when he was arrested in the slayings of a 6-year-old girl, whose remains were found scattered in the Chicago sewers, and two women. Heirens was convicted and sentenced to three consecutive life terms. The message 'For heaven's sake, catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself' was found scrawled in lipstick on the mirror in one of the women's home. Then-Mayor Edward Kelly called the little girl's slaying 'even too horrible for a maniac.' |
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