William Heirens, known as the "Lipstick Killer" because he once scrawled in lipstick on the wall of a victim's apartment a plea for someone to catch him before he murdered again, has died after spending nearly 66 years in an Illinois prison.

Heirens was the longest-serving inmate in Illinois history, and may be the longest-serving inmate in the United States, according to Steven Drizin, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University, who has represented Heirens in his requests for parole.

Heirens died Monday night at age 83 at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He had been transferred to the hospital from the Dixon Correctional Center due to illness on February 26, according to a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections. The cause of death has not yet been determined.

William Heirens, the Lipstick Killer, dies at 83 | Reuters