Frances Brown, a 32-year-old white woman, was found dead in her Chicago apartment on December 10, 1945. Her body was discovered with a bullet wound to her head and a knife lodged in her neck. The crime scene was particularly gruesome, with her head wrapped in towels and a bloody fingerprint smudge found on the doorjamb of her apartment. This murder was part of a series of killings attributed to the infamous "Lipstick Killer," a moniker given to the perpetrator due to a message written in
lipstick on the wall of Brown's apartment: "For heaven’s Sake, catch me Before I kill more I can not control myself".
The investigation into Frances Brown's murder was intense and highly publicized. The police initially had few leads, but the discovery of the bloody fingerprint and the lipstick message provided crucial evidence. Witnesses reported seeing a nervous man, approximately 35-40 years old, leaving the building around the time of the murder. This led to a city-wide manhunt and heightened public fear.
In January 1946, the case took a significant turn with the arrest of William George Heirens, a 17-year-old student. Heirens was eventually linked to the murders of Frances Brown, Josephine Ross, and Suzanne Degnan, a six-year-old girl. Heirens confessed to the murders under intense police interrogation, although there has been ongoing debate about the validity of his confession. He was sentenced to three consecutive life sentences and became known as the "Lipstick Killer".
The case of Frances Brown's murder remains a significant part of Chicago's criminal history, illustrating the complexities and challenges of criminal investigations during that era. The arrest and conviction of Heirens brought some closure to the families of the victims, but questions about the true identity of the Lipstick Killer persist to this day.
