MYSTERIOUS DEATH: The Lipstick Killer
Murder: True Crime Stories
Crime House
4.6 • 765 Ratings
🗓️ 1 May 2026
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1945, a series of shocking murders gripped Chicago, each more disturbing than the last, and one marked by a message scrawled in lipstick that would haunt the city. Police soon arrested 17-year-old William “Bill” Heirens, who quickly became known as the Lipstick Killer. In this episode of Murder: True Crime Stories, Carter Roy examines the investigation, the intense interrogation that led to Heirens’ confession, and the lingering doubts that have fueled decades of debate over whether the right person was held responsible.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is Crime House. |
| 0:11.7 | A message written in a dead woman's lipstick. |
| 0:15.7 | A teenager who claimed a murderous alter ego made him do it. |
| 0:20.4 | A city so desperate for answers that police |
| 0:22.9 | did unspeakable things, and a question that still haunts us decades later. Did they catch the |
| 0:30.3 | right guy? In the mid-1940s, Chicago, Illinois was gripped by fear. Three people had been murdered in the same |
| 0:39.0 | north side neighborhood, a widow, a Navy veteran, and a six-year-old girl. The killings seemed random. |
| 0:47.9 | The evidence was thin, and the press was hungry. What followed was one of the most controversial criminal investigations in American history. |
| 0:57.9 | A 17-year-old boy eventually confessed to all three murders. |
| 1:02.6 | He went to prison for the rest of his life. |
| 1:05.6 | He died there at 83 years old, still insisting he was innocent. |
| 1:12.2 | His name was William Hyrens, |
| 1:16.0 | and this is his story. |
| 1:29.5 | People's lives are like a story. |
| 1:32.2 | There's the beginning, a middle, and an end. |
| 1:34.9 | But you don't always know which part you're on. |
| 1:38.5 | Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, |
| 1:40.8 | and we don't always get to know the real ending. |
| 1:43.8 | I'm Carter Roy, and this is murder. True Crime Stories, a crime house original |
| 1:46.7 | powered by Pave Studios. New episodes come at every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Thank you for |
| 1:53.3 | being part of the crime house community. Please rate, review, and follow the show. And for |
| 1:59.4 | ad-free access to every episode, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. |
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