Suzanne Degnan
Six-year-old Suzanne Degnan was abducted from her bedroom in Chicago and dismembered. William Heirens, known as the 'Lipstick Killer' for writing on walls with lipstick, was convicted in 1946 and spent 65 years in prison. He consistently maintained innocence until his death in 2012, and many experts questioned the evidence.
Suzanne Degnan is documented in the ColdCaseIndex database as a homicide case in Chicago, Illinois. The events are dated to January 7, 1946. The victim is recorded as 6 years old and female. The last known information on record places the case at January 7, 1946, family home in Chicago, IL.
Within the ColdCaseIndex taxonomy, Suzanne Degnan is filed under Homicide with a status of Conviction. A homicide entry documents a killing in which the perpetrator has not been identified, has not been convicted, or where the case is otherwise historically notable. The record is cross-referenced under the themes child, homicide, Chicago, historical, Lipstick Killer, which connect it to related cases across the database.
The Suzanne Degnan case ended in a criminal conviction. It is retained in this index as a historically significant case — one whose investigation, prosecution, or aftermath shaped forensic practice, criminal law, or the public understanding of violent crime.
Primary jurisdiction for the Suzanne Degnan case rests with local law enforcement in Chicago, supported by Illinois state investigative authorities. The case sits within a wider national picture: the U.S. homicide clearance rate has fallen from roughly 90% in the 1960s to about 54% today, and more than 346,000 homicides recorded since 1965 remain unsolved. ColdCaseIndex documents individual cases like this one to keep them publicly visible and searchable.
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