IL: The longest-serving prisoner in the U.S.

[seamusTX]

In Chicago, in 1945, the first victim of a brutal serial killer was found. He murdered two women and a young girl within six months. In one case he left an infamous message scrawled on the wall of the victim's home with lipstick: "for heavens sake catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself."

The press went nuts, labeling him the Lipstick Killer.

In 1946, a 17-year-old University of Chicago student named William Heirens was arrested for burglary and confessed to the crime after a nice workover by the cops, which was S.O.P. at the time. There is no doubt of his guilt.

He is now 80 years old and has been in prison for 63 years, the longest-serving prisoner currently alive in the U.S.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/10/24/ill ... k.murders/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

BTW, he had poor command of spelling and punctuation for a UC student, unless that was a ruse.

- Jim

[BobCat]

Jim,

You point out that the cops beat the confession out of him, and then assert that there is no doubt of his guilt. I'm choking.

Remember the case (in the 70s or 80s, I think) of the New York Jogger - the investment banker woman who was raped and beaten within an inch of her life? They arrested a group of young men / boys and got them to plead guilty - said they were "wilding" - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wilding" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - well, heck, I just googled "wilding central park" and got the whole story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trisha_Meili#Confessions" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; - years later, they actually found the guy who did it, it was not a gang of black youths, and let the falsely-convicted ones out eventually.

I'm not on the criminals' side - but I spent long enough in the Windy City that if a Chicago cop told me it was Wednesday today, I'd smile and nod, leave ASAP, and check the calendar.

Regards,
Andrew

[seamusTX]

You point out that the cops beat the confession out of him, and then assert that there is no doubt of his guilt. I'm choking.

There was also forensic evidence -- fingerprints and hair -- from two of the crime scenes, and other hard evidence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_He ... d_evidence" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Heirens#The_knife" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Heirens pled guilty, so there never was a trial to determine formally whether he was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

I don't approve of beating confessions out of suspects. It was the way that things were done in that time and place, but it was never right or just.

I should also note that when a suspect in serial killings is arrested, and the killings stop, that's a reasonable indication that the suspect is the perpetrator.

Here's a lengthy article that I do not have time to read now:
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/big-iss ... er-chicago" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

[surprise_i'm_armed]

seamustx:

Your article shows that the longest incarcerated prisoner is in Illinois.

For a prison whose "no release" policy also leads to lifelong imprisonment,
the champ would seem to be Angola, Louisiana. Even when their inmates are
elderly and pose no threat to society, they keep them until natural death.

SIA

[seamusTX]

Texas also has inmates who are so disabled they couldn't slap a mosquito. I've seen a few of them being wheeled around UTMB.

- Jim

[TDDude]

Texas also has inmates who are so disabled they couldn't slap a mosquito. I've seen a few of them being wheeled around UTMB.

- Jim

You guys are starting to sound like getting sick in prison can count as a time multiplier or something. A sentence of 150 years should be just that, 150 years. Getting sick or becoming disabled should have nothing to do with it. If it ever did, I think we would start seeing a new class of disease faking experts crop up, teaching inmates how to fake symptoms. All these out of work post Obama doctors will be opening up consulting firms to teach inmates how to fake different illnesses. I can actually see the daytime commercials now. They come on right after the bail bondsman adds between the Kotex and Tide detergent spots.

I'm talking tongue in cheek of course, but not by much.

[seamusTX]

I didn't say that they should be released early. I have no opinion on the matter.

- Jim