How a murderous fantasy cost two boys their future

This article was published in The Sydney Morning Herald 18 October 2010

When 18-year-old "Dexter" killer Andrew Conley was given a life sentence without parole for strangling his young brother he faced a future William Heirens knows well.

Heirens is now the US's longest-serving prisoner, having been in jail for more than 64 years.

Heirens, who some believe could even be the world's longest serving prisoner, was sentenced when he was just 17 for the murder of a young girl and two women.

He claims the confession he gave police that led to his lengthy sentence was coerced and he still maintains his innocence

"It all came down to the point where either I accepted a plea bargain and did what they told me to do or they would kill me," Heirens said in a Daily Mail interview inside Dixon Correctional Centre in Illinois last year.