Episode Transcript
Kori: It was a hot, muggy night in Chicago. The summer of 1966 was already tense, with the city grappling with rising crime, social unrest, and deep economic divides. But no one was prepared for the horror that would unfold on July 13.
Amanda: On that night, nine young student nurses were preparing for bed in their shared townhouse, completely unaware that a nightmare was about to walk through their door.
Kori: What happened next would shock not just the city, but the entire nation. The man behind it, Richard Speck, a drifter with a troubled past and a chilling future.
Amanda: Today, we're diving deep into the story of Richard Speck, a crime that changed Chicago forever and set the stage for one of the most sensational trials in American history.
Kori: I'm Corey.
Amanda: And I'm Amanda. Welcome to Colorado Crime, where we unravel the most haunting true crime stories and explore their lasting impact.
Kori: Get ready to explore the dark corridors of Richard Speck's life, the events of that tragic night, and the shocking revelations that came to light years later.
Amanda: It's a story of fear, survival, and a city pushed to its limits. But be warned, this isn't for the faint of heart.
Kori: All right, let's get started.
Amanda: In the 1960s, Chicago was a city undergoing significant social, economic, and cultural shifts. Known for its sprawling urban landscape, it was a hub of industry and transportation, serving as a major Midwestern crossroads.
However, beneath the surface of its growth and modernization, Chicago faced intense social challenges and divisions.
During this decade, Chicago's economy was largely driven by manufacturing, steel production, and the railroads. While many industries thrived, the economy was becoming increasingly strained by competition and automation.
The city was seeing the effects of post war industrial decline, leading to job losses and economic disparity.
The wealth gap was growing, leaving many working class neighborhoods, particularly those populated by immigrant and minority communities, struggling with poverty and deteriorating living conditions.
Kori: The 1960s were also marked by a significant civil rights movement and social upheaval. Chicago was no exception. With stark racial segregation dividing its neighborhoods, the city was the site of activism led by civil rights leaders like Dr.
Martin Luther King, who campaigned against discriminatory housing practices and economic inequality. Tensions often erupted in protests, and some neighborhoods experienced violence that highlighted deep rooted racial and socioeconomic divides.
Chicago in the 1960s, however, had a reputation for corruption within the police force and local government. It still does.
This, combined with limited resources and strained public trust, which is still happening, often made crime prevention challenging. Violent crime rates were high, and the city grappled with how to effectively police its diverse and expanding population.
Less corruption.
In this backdrop, heinous crimes such as Richard Speck's mass murder would captivate the public and lead to calls for reform.
Amanda: The city was a melting pot of cultures due to a strong wave of migration from the rural south to northern cities, bringing both opportunities and tensions.
It was a time of cultural vibrancy, marked by the rise of jazz, blues and the birth of influential social movements.
But it was also a time when the media played a crucial role in framing public perceptions with sensationalized crime reporting adding to the climate of fear and fascination surrounding violent crimes.
The architecture of Chicago stood as a testament to its grand past, with iconic skyscrapers and historic neighborhoods. Yet areas such as the south and west sides of the city were marked by underinvestment and poor housing conditions, contributing to the city's reputation for stark contrasts between wealth and poverty.
These areas were often hotspots for crime and social unrest, reflecting a city divided by economic and racial lines.
This multifaceted backdrop set the stage for high profile crimes like the Richard Speck murders. The events that unfolded were shocking, but also emblematic of a city struggling with rapid changes and deep social rifts.
The case would resonate with the public as it highlighted not only the brutality of the crime, but the vulnerability within society that allowed such events to occur.
Kori: Richard Benjamin Speck was born on December 6, 1941 in Kirkwood, Illinois. He was the seventh of eight children in a large working class family. His father, Benjamin Speck, was a hard working man who Richard admired greatly.
However, tragedy struck when Speck was just six years old as his father died of a heart attack. This event marked a turning point in young Richard's life, leaving him devastated and vulnerable.
After his father's death, Spec's mother, Mary Margaret, married Carl Lindbergh. Not to be confused with the Lindbergh baby.
Amanda: I was just gonna ask a man.
Kori: With the history of criminal behavior and alcoholism. The family relocated to Dallas, Texas, where Speck's childhood took a darker turn. His stepfather was abusive and the chaotic home environment deeply impacted him.
He struggled with feelings of neglect, a sense of inadequacy and simmering anger that would later manifest in destructive ways.
Amanda: Spec's school years were marked by poor academic performance and disciplinary issues.
He was known for being withdrawn, shy and socially awkward. By his teenage years, he began to show signs of delinquency.
He dropped out of school at the age of 16 and started accumulating a record of petty crimes, including theft and public intoxication.
Alcohol quickly became a central part of his life, exacerbating his behavioral issues and impulsive tendencies.
As he entered adulthood, Spec's pattern of behavior became more erratic and violent. He worked various low paying jobs, primarily as a laborer on ships and docks, but struggled to maintain steady employment due to his drinking and tendency to get into fights.
Spec's criminal record expanded to include burglaries, forgeries and assaults, illustrating a growing disregard for law and order.
Kori: By his early 20s, Richard had been in and out of jail multiple times. He got married to Shirley Malone in 1962, who he met at the Texas State Fair. That marriage offered a brief hope of stability, especially after the birth of their daughter.
However, Richard's violent tendencies and alcoholism led to frequent domestic abuse, straining the relationship and ultimately resulting in divorce.
Those who knew Richard at the time reported an increasingly erratic man, prone to anger and deep feelings of inadequacy. His insecurities were compounded by his lack of success and feelings of rejection, leading to a volatile mix that would later fuel his actions.
Richard's history points to potential signs of antisocial personality disorder. He exhibited traits such as impulsivity, lack of empathy and disregard for social norms and others rights. These signs, coupled with a history of trauma and substance abuse, contributed to a profile that hinted at future violence.
Amanda: By 1966, Speck was a drifter with a long history of arrests, failures and increasingly reckless behavior.
His move back to Chicago that year set the stage for the night of July 13th and 14th, when he would commit the crime that etched his name into history. Speck's past provided clues that foreshadowed his capacity for brutality.
But nothing had yet matched the scale of what was to come.
The combination of his troubled upbringing, repeated failures, unresolved anger and addiction issues formed a pattern that tragically culminated in the infamous murders of eight student nurses. A case that would become one of the most shocking in American history.
Kori: On the evening of July 13, 1966, Richard Speck, who was then only 24 years old, spent hours drinking heavily at local taverns. He'd been staying at a rooming house just blocks away from the nurse's residence.
That evening, fueled by alcohol, feelings of inadequacy, and a mounting rage, Spec set out with criminal intent. He was armed with a switchblade and carried a vague plan to rob or assault.
The townhouse on 100th street and South Avenue was occupied by nine student nurses from the South Chicago Community hospital.
At around 11pm Speck, wearing dark clothing and under the COVID of night, broke into the residence. He entered through a back window or an unlocked door, catching the young women inside completely off guard.
Speck forced his way into the main room where the nurses were gathering or preparing for bed.
With the knife in hand, he threatened them and made it clear that he was in control. His demeanor was described as cold and methodical. Despite his intoxicated state, he maintained a frightening composure.
He ordered the women to remain quiet and gathered them in one room.
Speck tied the women's hands behind their backs with strips of bedsheets. He reassured them that he was only there to rob them, a tactic he likely used to keep them from attempting to escape or fight back.
Over the course of the night, however, he proceeded to lead each nurse out one by one into separate rooms, where he raped, tortured and murdered them by stabbing or strangulation.
Amanda: In what later proved to be a critical element of the case, one of the student nurses, Corazon Amorio, managed to survive by hiding under a bed. During the ordeal. She stayed silent, listening to the terrifying sounds of her colleagues being led away and killed.
Spec, likely having lost track of the number of women in the house or distracted by his own actions, left without discovering her. Corazon was a 23 year old student nurse from from the Philippines and the sole survivor of the massacre.
Her courage and presence of mind allowed her to survive the ordeal.
She found the strength to come out of hiding and alert the authorities.
Her detailed description of Spec, including the tattoo on his arm that read Born to raise Hell was instrumental in his capture.
During the trial, she testified with remarkable composure, recounting the events of the horrifying night and facing Spec in the courtroom, which helped secure his conviction.
Corazon later returned to the Philippines, but she remained haunted by the memories of that night and the loss of her friends.
Her bravery and resolve to bring justice for her slain colleagues remains one of the most poignant aspects of the case.
Kori: Spec left the townhouse in the early hours of July 14, 1966, leaving a scene of unimaginable horror.
The crime shocked the city of Chicago and the nation. Police quickly began an intense manhunt, spurred by the widespread public outcry and media coverage. The brutality and scale of the murders led to urgent questions about safety, the ability of law enforcement to protect the public, and the vulnerabilities of young working women living in the city.
In the days immediately following the murders, neighbors recalled a profound sense of disbelief that something so horrific could happen so close to their home.
South Chicago, while not immune to crime, was a largely working class, close knit community where neighbors looked out for each other. And it was also 1966, so people all always looked out for each other.
Really, probably no one locked the door the brutal murder of eight young women shattered any sense of security, leaving residents terrified and hyper vigilant.
Many reported being afraid to even be alone, especially at night, fearing that such an event could happen again. Some neighbors even spoke of hearing noises from the townhouse during the night, but no one suspected it would be something as violent and tragic as murder.
Local residents struggled to comprehend how someone could be capable of such violence and wondered if Spec was someone they had seen or encountered around the neighborhood. He had been staying at a rooming house nearby, meaning he had likely been in the area the days leading up to the attack, possibly even interacting with the locals at bars or stores.
Amanda: The police force faced an immense amount of pressure from the public and media, both to find the killer quickly and to answer how something so devastating could have happened.
The crime led to an internal reckoning within the police department about the challenges of protecting the community. Amid rising crime rates and the public mistrust, the community's reaction to the murders was immediate and intense.
Vigils were held for the victims, and support poured in for the families of the young nurses. The fear of crime in Chicago skyrocketed, leading to calls for increased security measures, especially for young women living in the city.
Local hospitals and nursing programs also reevaluated their safety protocols, including improved security at nurse residences and dormitories.
To gather more leads, detectives questioned locals and combed through recent arrests for similar profiles.
Speck, who had a long criminal history in Texas and Chicago, had previously drawn attention to himself for his erratic behavior, and detectives soon identified him as a potential suspect. As they delved into his background, they learned about his recent stay at a nearby boarding house and his history of violent behavior.
Kori: While the police were zeroing in on him, Speck had fled from the scene and went into hiding in the Chicago area. He stayed at a flop house under an alias and kept a low profile.
In the days following the murders, he remained undetected, moving between cheap lodging and blending into Chicago's transient population. This evasive strategy, however, could not last indefinitely.
On July 16, 1966, Speck's luck ran out. After days of hiding and drinking heavily, he attempted suicide at a seedy flop house by slashing his wrists. A resident discovered him and called an ambulance, and he was taken to Cook County Hospital.
There, a physician named Dr. Leroy Smith happened to take notice of Speck's distinctive Born to Raise Hell tattoo, which had been described in all the police bulletins. Realizing the significance of this discovery, Dr.
Smith informed the police, leading to Speck's immediate arrest at the hospital.
The Spec trial was a national spectacle. The case attracted extensive media coverage, with reporters providing daily updates on the testimony and courtroom drama. Headlines across the country sensationalized the crime, fueling public anger and horror.
The image of a seemingly ordinary man capable of such brutality disturbed the public, and the news outlets repeatedly highlighted Spec's tattoo as a symbol of his evil nature, further influencing public opinion.
Amanda: Public reaction was overwhelmingly negative towards Spec.
Citizens demanded swift justice, and there were widespread calls for the death penalty.
The trial took place during a time when violent crime rates were on the rise, and many saw Spec as emblematic of society's deepest fears. The sensational media coverage and the community's need for closure contributed to an intense public push for conviction and capital punishment.
On April 15, 1967, after less than an hour's deliberation, the jury found Spec guilty of all eight murders. The swift decision underscored the strength of the prosecution's case and the impact of Corazon's testimony.
Speck was sentenced to death, a decision met with approval by the public and seen as justice for the young nurses whose lives had been taken.
However, in 1972, his sentence was commuted to life in prison. After the U.S. supreme Court temporarily halted capital punishment, Speck was transferred to Statesville Correctional center in Joliet, Illinois, where he would spend the remainder of his life.
For those who had expected justice to bring peace, the revelation that Speck would live out his days in prison was a bitter pill to swallow.
Kori: It gets worse. While in prison, Spec's behavior continued to shock the public. His time at Statesville was marked by a series of disturbing revelations that painted a picture of life behind bars that was far from punishment.
Spec reportedly had access to a wide range of privileges within the prison, including illegal drugs which were smuggled in regularly.
Inmates claimed he used drugs including marijuana and amphetamines, and engaged in various illicit activities while within the prison. This lax control over inmates in Statesville raised questions about prison administration and the adequacy of incarceration as a punitive measure for serious offenders.
Perhaps the most shocking revelation, however, came in 1996 when a homemade video surfaced showing Spec in prison appearing to lead a life of privilege and excess. This video depicted Spec using drugs, engaging in sexual activities with other inmates, and showing off female hormone induced breast reportedly developed to make himself more attractive to other inmates.
In the video, Spec made chilling remarks about his lack of remorse, stating, if they knew how much fun I was having, they'd turn me loose.
The video shocked and angered the public, intensifying the belief that Spec had effectively escaped meaningful punishment for his crimes.
Amanda: What a ******* wiener, right? Oh my.
Kori: Also, the prison system ******* sucked in 1996, apparently.
Amanda: I mean, it's, it's better now, but it's still not great.
Kori: No, it's not. Prison is way different than county, than any county. Yes, it's a totally different ballgame. You're already sentenced. Like, what are you. What do they have to lose? Nothing.
They have nothing to lose.
Not one thing.
Amanda: Insane.
The Richard Speck case was a transformative moment in American criminal justice, forever changing how the nation viewed crime, punishment and personal safety. Spec's life and crimes raised critical questions about the justice system's ability to punish and reform the role of prisons and the protections needed for young women in urban settings.
The unsettling details of Spec's life in prison only fueled the public's frustration with the system's failings, leaving a lasting call for reform.
Today, the Spec case is remembered as a grand, grim cautionary tale. A powerful reminder of the need for vigilance, justice and compassion for those affected by violent crime.
Kori: For many in Chicago, the memory of the Richard Speck murders continued to haunt them. The incident came emblematic of the violence that felt increasingly close to home. And it left a deep psychological impact on both individuals who live near the scene and the city as a whole.
Amanda: And that wraps up today's episode on this chilling story of Richard Speck, a man whose actions left a permanent scar on American history.
It's hard to even comprehend that kind of darkness that drove him to commit such horrific crimes.
Kori: Absolutely. Spec's rampage and the brutal murders of those eight young nurses in Chicago in 1966 are something that still haunts people to this day.
It is one of those cases that really makes you question human nature and the justice system. Especially in the 60s.
Amanda: Right?
Especially with how the media sensationalized the trial and how he continued to manipulate the system even behind bars.
And then there's the infamous video that surfaced years later showing him living it up in prison.
It is truly mind boggling.
Kori: Just definitely shows how complex and flawed the prison system can be. But that's a topic we could explore for a different episode.
Amanda: Ooh, for sure. But for now, we want to thank you all for tuning in. If you found today's episode insightful, make sure to subscribe, rate and review us on your favorite podcast platform.
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Until next time, stay safe, stay curious. And remember, there's always more to the story than meets the eye.
Kori: Well, podcastians have the day you deserve.
