William Heirens
William Heirens, 83, died at a Chicago hospital on March 5, 2012, after staff at Dixon Correctional Center found him unresponsive in his cell, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy was scheduled for the days after his death, and no cause of death had been given in the reports. Heirens had spent decades in Illinois prisons, and students and law professors took up his case in the years before he died. One account notes that he became the first Illinois prisoner to earn a four-year college degree while incarcerated.
Cause of death, as reported: Cause not yet determined. The Cook County medical examiner's office handled the death, but the sources give no cause or manner of death, and an autopsy was only scheduled.
Reported by: Cook County Medical Examiner's office (medical examiner or coroner).