The Lipstick Killer- William Heirens (Patreon Teaser)

True Crimecast

Stove Leg Media

Society & Culture, Documentary, True Crime, Personal Journals

4.7 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 1 March 2026

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

To hear the rest of this episode, visit Patreon.com and sign up for as little as $3! In the mid-1940s, Chicago was a city gripped by a unique kind of terror. It wasn’t the mob wars or the wartime rationing that kept people awake—it was the phantom breaking into high-rise apartments and leaving behind a plea scrawled in red: "For heaven's sake catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself." In this episode of True Crimecast, John and Jamie dissect the case of William Heirens, the 17-year-old University of Chicago student labeled "The Lipstick Killer." From the brutal murder of Josephine Ross to the horrific kidnapping and dismemberment of 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan, we look at the crimes that shocked a nation. But the story doesn't end with an arrest. We dive into the controversial interrogation of a teenager—involving "truth serum," allegations of police brutality, and a confession that Heirens would spend the next 65 years trying to take back.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Stoveleg Media, igniting conversation.
0:04.0	Welcome. Welcome to True Crimecast Patreon edition.
0:27.4	I am John here with Jamie.
0:29.2	I think we both sound somewhat back to normal.
0:31.8	Somewhat better.
0:32.6	It, like, man, this thing has freaking lingered.
0:35.2	We've been sick.
0:36.2	I don't know if we've spoke about that on the air air or not, but man, I had, what I thought
0:41.0	was a man cold that ended up being three weeks worth of nightmare.
0:44.7	Just the crud and we'll not go like you and I, the big sports, or the big basketball tournament
0:51.6	has been happening.
0:52.9	And we've been been we've called like
0:55.2	lots of games in the last two weeks and it's just been a battle I think for both of us
1:01.0	didn't stop us but I don't think we sounded great we got paid nonetheless we did
1:06.0	guys we appreciate you patreon members for signing up for always being there, supporting the show.
1:13.1	We honestly couldn't do it without you.
1:14.8	And we've got an interesting case for you all today.
1:17.6	We're going to call it the lipstick murders.
1:20.2	We get, man, we get to so many where I'm like, how have we not done this one yet?
1:24.8	This is just, and this seems like it should have been,
1:32.1	not that we do seasons, but this seems like it should have been a season and one true crime cast situation.
1:37.8	When I'm researching this case, it reminded me of a TV show that I used to watch, and now I'm rewatching it. Did you ever watch The Mentalist? A little bit. Yeah, it was good.
	...

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