William George Heirens, also known as the Lipstick Killer, was a serial killer from America. He was convicted in 1946 after he confessed to murdering three people between June 1945 and January 1946. He got the nickname for the notorious message scribbled in lipstick at the crime scene. Raised in an impoverished, dysfunctional family, Heirens began committing crimes when he was still a child. However, he hoarded all his loot, never selling any of them. After his arrest, the stolen items were recovered from an unused shed on the roof of a building near his house. In the next two years, he was sent to two different Roman Catholic youth detention centres. Despite his criminal activities, Heirens thrived in his academic life, excelling in all of his subjects. He was accepted in the University of Chicago’s special learning program. But he relapsed to being a serial burglar which eventually led to the first murder in June 1945. After his arrest, he was tortured and injected with sodium pentothal or as it is colloquially called, the “truth serum”. He eventually confessed and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He later recanted his confessions, stating that they were given under duress caused by police brutality and coercive interrogation. Heirens died in prison at the age of 83.
