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Prolific serial killer confessed to Duluth slaying

In June 1983, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas claimed he committed a homicide in Duluth during the late 1950s, though investigators found his recollections did not align with the January 30, 1958, murder of Marie Bertha Heidman.
Duluth police found Heidman stabbed to death in her Central Hillside home on January 30, 1958; authorities worked more than 1,000 hours on the case, yet the 49-year-old telephone operator's murder remained unsolved for decades.
Known for admitting to approximately 600 murders, Lucas often confessed to crimes he did not commit, a pattern that led former Texas Governor George W. Bush to issue a 1998 reprieve for one of his death sentences.
Despite the attention generated by the Lucas claim, Heidman's killing remains unsolved, with investigators initially admitting the case was "difficult" while noting her personal life was beyond reproach.
Netflix's 2019 documentary "The Confession Killer" revisited Lucas's history of false admissions, highlighting how his unreliable statements complicated decades of criminal investigations, including the search for justice in Heidman's case.

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