Evening star., 1946-09-04
Heirens Pleads Guilty
10 Degnan Staying,
Two Other Killings
BY the Assoeiotsd Press

IWV VIIICI NIIIIuyS
BY the Assoeiotsd Press
CHICAGO. Sept. 4. William
Heirens, 17-year-old student pleaded
guilty today to three of Chicago's
most savage murders and court
began hearings to fix his punish
ment.
After rattling off guilty" to a
long list of lesser crimes, the
swarthy, bushy-haired University of
Chicago sophomore haltingly ad-
mitted his guilt when confronted
with indictments charging he mur-
dered 6-year-old Suzanne Degnan,
Mrs. Josephine Ross and Miss Fran
ces Brown.
The State called before Chief JUS
tlce Harold G. Ward of the Cook
County (Chicago) Criminal Court
only two witnesses in the Degnan
case and the defense took no cross
examination. The witnesses were
James Degnan, father of Suzanne,
and Capt. John L. Sullivan of the
Summerdale police district, North
Side neighborhood in which the kill
ing occurred.
Found Note in Morning.
Mr.. Degnan testified he last saw
Suzanne alive about midnight of
January 6 when he took her to the
bathroom of the Degnan apartment,
then tucked her in bed for the
night. In the morning, he said, he
found the bedroom window open,
the child missing and a note de-
manding $4,000 rantom.
On his signed confession
Heirens declared he strangled
Suzanne in her room and carried
her body down a ladder. She
was dead when he returned to
tos sin the note, and he explained
he had no intention of collecting
ransom but merely wished to
ease the parents anxiety by
making them think she still was
alive)
The girls father testified he
reused his wife, Helen, and sum-
moned police. The next time he
saw Suzanne, he said, was in a fu-
neral parlor.
On leaving the witness stand, Mr.
Degnan stopped at the prosecution
table to speak with States Attorney
William j. Tuohy to whom Heirens
confessed the three killings early
last month. Heirens stared blankly
at him from his chair a few feet
away.
Capt, Sullivan told briefly of the
search his men made. of the finding
of parts of Suzanne's body stuffed
in sewers near the Degnan home.
Left Lipstick Note.
When the confession was read
back to him, Heirens made numer-
Gus revision in the transcript in his
own handwriting, the captain said.
Both the State and the defense
stipulated that DR.. Jerry Kearns,
coroner's toxicologist, would have
testified Suzanne died as the result
of strangulation, asphyXiation and
external violence.
Taking up the Staying of Frances
Brown on December 10 in her apart
ment in the Pine Crest Hotel, the
State summoned Mrs. Martha Engle,
a maid in the apartment building,
to testify.
She related that at about 8:45 am
the morning of December 10 she
found the door to the Brown apart
ment partly open and the radio
blaring. When she entered, she said,
she was confronted by this message
written in lipstick on a wall:
For heavens sake catch me be-
fore I kill more. I can't control
myself"
Police Capt. Frank j. Reynolds
said Miss Browns nude body was
in the bathroom, with a large
butcher knife jabbed all through the
neck" Later, he said, he found Miss
Brown also had been shot twice.
Warned of Rights by Court.
When the clerk announced the in
dictment accusing him of the muir
der of Suzanne Degnan, Heirens
wrung his hands, his hips quivered
and he. responded haltingly:
Guilty"
Justice Ward then interrupted the
proceeding to warn Heirens of his
constitutional rights and the jeop-
ardy into which such a plea placed
him.
you understand, Heirens, that In
pleading guilty you are waving a
trial by jury and that having waived
that trial the court may sentence
you to death, or natural life impris-
onment, or for any number of years
not less than H." the judge told the
youth.
Having been informed of this dc
you still persist in pleading guilty?'
Judge Ward asked.
Yes" Heirens replied.
The same procedure was followed
with the indictments accusing him
of numbering Mrs. Ross. 43-year-old
widow, in her apartment en- June 5
1945 and Miss RrOmp