I’d heard of the William Heirens serial murder case before, but I never realized he was still alive all these years later until I followed a link from this current thread. He’s been behind bars since 1946, almost 60 years and counting. Is there anyone else in the U.S. who’s been serving longer?
I know Paul Geidel served over 68 years for second-degree murder in New York (1911-1980), but I’m intersted in people who are still alive and in prison.
Heirens appears to be the longest serving inmate in Illinois.
Dave Embers is the longest serving in Kentucky, but he’s only been in prison since 1952. He reportedly was 69 in 2003, retarded and probably mentally ill.
Walter Bourque is the longest serving inmate in New Hampshire. Arrested in 1955, he killed a four year old girl when he was 17, claims he thinks about her every day, and accepts that he will die in prison. He appears to be a sexual predator of some sort.
I just want to go on the record as stating that it is really sad to read those stories, and I feel a bit of anguish because of the way their lives have turned out. Bourque’s story hit a little harder than the other two, perhaps because it seems he is fully aware of what he did.
I’m not saying whether they ought to be let out, but Lord, what a shame for a 17 year old boy to be locked up for the rest of his life. “The victim’s family,” you’ll say. Yes, I know. But it’s still a damn shame, because everyone has *something *to contribute to the people around them. You just have to dig a little to discover it sometimes.
It seems these men will never have a chance to contribute to their society, but if you ever run into someone who seems out of place, remember this - they aren’t “good fer nuthin’,” they just need a chance to show *what *they’re good for, that’s all.
It’s a pity when Old Yeller gets rabies and has to be shot, too. Or when the only way to save six people’s lives is for some poor sap to suffer a catastrophic brain injury so we can cut his healthy guts out. Your point?
Actually, Dave Embers was really bad at committing crime. The state’s witness noted in 1952 that he was incapable at answering questions intelligently and didn’t understand the seriousness of the crime. “This boy does not reason at all.”
Embers cannot read or write and has not had any vocational training in prison. He is currently housed in the psychiatric problem wing in La Grange, Kentucky. His defenders would prefer that he be locked in a mental health facility, as they believe he was batshit insane to begin with.
Oh yeah, the OP:
Interesting lead in the 2003 Kentucky article: " Only Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina and Tennessee have inmates held longer. "
The Illinois ref probably refers to Heirens’ incarceration.
In Britain, the answer appears to be “34 years” – or in prison since about 1971. Cite: Scroll down for .doc file. They do not give a name.
This sensational site, which features interviews with 13 infamous murders, claims, “William Heirens (“The Lipstick Killer”) – Known to have killed at least two women and a little girl whom he dismembered after abducting her from her bedroom in the dead of night. America’s longest serving killer held at Vienna Correctional Facility, Illinois.”