Episode 725: Richard Speck : The Student Nurse Murders (Part 1) | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Ash. And I'm Elena. And this is Morbid. >> This is morbid. It's more of the bed.
>> It's more of it. >> And bit of more. >> Absolutely. >> It's It's our show. >> Yeah. What's up?
>> We went to yoga this morning. >> We yogaed so hard. Actually, we did. Let me just say for a second, we yogaed with
the best of them this morning. That was a hard class. >> A difficult flow. I was not quite
flowing, but >> but you know, >> but I moved. >> We got through it. >> I What was it? Half moon reverse and
moon left and moon right there. So much mooning. >> It was a lot of mooning. Not that kind
of. >> We were not showing our asses, but I was I was showing my lack of >> kind of showing my ass with showing how
I don't know how to do all yoga poses. Yeah, for sure. >> But yeah, I feel I we're trying to like
move, you know? >> We're trying We tried a Pilates class yesterday. >> Yeah. I'm just trying to like
>> And then we signed up for a lot of Pilates classes. >> Yeah. And I feel you know what it is?
It's like ever since like the kids are getting like older and I'm sitting there being like, I need to be like around and
healthy. >> Yeah. >> For the rest of your days. We I need to be 150 years old. still kicking it with
you and your my great great grandchildren. >> Awesome. >> So, I'm looking to stay to do that.
>> Yeah. >> So, I think quite a lofty goal. >> You know what? I'm a Capricorn. >> I mean, I make big goals.
>> You know what? Actually, I've been shouting out my nail guy so much and I got my nails done the other day and he
was like, "Thank you so much for shouting me out. Here I go again, Hely. I went to the nail salon last week and
he had on Black Mirror which I've never seen before. >> It's like obviously like very like
sci-fi futuristic. You know, maybe you will live until 150 cuz they might upload you to the cloud and you could
just continue living on. >> That'd be pretty sick. >> Yeah, let's go. >> I don't know if I would want to live on
the cloud. Do you think you would? >> I mean, if if my kids are still around, I would like to still be around.
>> That's beautiful. >> That's how I feel. >> That's the most beautiful thing I've
ever heard. >> If they're if they're still kicking it, throw me on the cloud. >> Okay, I'll write that down. can stay
around. >> I think I'm like I'm something in your will. So, I'll make sure I know that.
>> So, there you go. >> I guess you won't even need the will cuz you'll be kicking it.
>> I'll just be around. >> Everybody's just kicking it. >> Yeah. And I want to be like a cool
grandma. >> What do you want your grandma name to be? Have we talked about that?
>> That I haven't figured out yet. >> I know what I want mine to be. >> I won't know that until I think it's
like happening. >> I want to be glamma. >> That makes sense. >> And I refuse I refuse to be called
anything else. >> I kind of want to do the thing where I let them decide. What if they call you
like Schnoogan? >> Then Schnoogan it is. >> And Schnoogan. >> Yeah. Then Schnoogan it is.
>> Hey, >> I love a weird grandparent name. So >> I do too. Like um I don't want to say
names, but like our family >> one of the Yeah. One of our our friends their kids call their grandparents uh
Goo and Goopy. >> Oh yeah, that one. >> And I think that's the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life.
>> And then in our family, like we have extended family where their grandkids call them
>> banka. Yeah. >> Banka and Gigi, I think. >> And Gigi. Yeah. >> Oh, you know what though? For me, I do
want to be called Gigi. >> See, >> this is tough. You got some time to think about it. So,
>> yeah. I don't even have children yet. >> You know, >> you're like, "My kids are nine. We all
have time to think about it. That's why I'm not worried about it right now." >> All right. Well, Pilates, kids,
grandma's uploading to the cloud. What do you got for us today? >> What do I have for you today?
>> What's up, Red? >> Oh, I have a t-shirt for you today. >> You have a t-shirt for me,
>> Mikey? I just looked over. Is that the universal signature for for t-shirt? >> I just looked over. I said, "What do I
have for you today?" And I just happened to look at Mikey and he just kind of like flexed like placed his hands down
his body and I said, "T-shirt." >> But you also kind of like he kind of did it like in the chicken dance way and
like moved his shoulder. He like started under >> It kind of felt like he was coming at
you. >> Yeah. And I got it. I was like, "T-shirt?" That's like We mind melded for a minute. I said, "Te-shirt."
>> I just stood over here like what? Yeah, we um I'm not good at this, so maybe Ash
got you. Um we teamed up with And it doesn't even feel like we teamed up with them because they're just so talented. I
don't even really feel like I did anything. >> Yeah, they did all the talented part of
this. They did >> it was and they are Matt and Ryan from the Black Veil. Um if you go to the
Salem Nightfare, you know who Matt and Ryan are. And if you don't go to the Salem Nightfare, what the [ __ ] is wrong
with you? >> Get on it. >> Get on it next year. But in the meantime, you can support them and us by
buying our brand new shirt that they created. And it's really [ __ ] cool. Wait, what the [ __ ] What?
>> It's a piece of lettuce. Girl, girl, >> what is happening? I just >> Mikey and I are both like
>> I was just like hitting myself to clear my throat and this this lettuce did not
come out of my throat but I don't know where it came from. You you would you would like
>> you just slap your chest and food comes >> remnant lettuce >> remnants of a past lunch whatever I
laugh I'm like I don't laugh like that and people are like yeah you do I just laugh like so many varieties
but yeah the merch that we like is awesome and Matt and Ryan are so talented also really cool because
they're our tattoo artists so Yeah. If you have this, it's like having them tattoo you.
>> Exactly. You know, it's they're insanely creative. They're lovely human beings.
>> The loveliest of human store is [ __ ] phenomenal and there's nothing like it.
>> And there's actually one of a kind experience. Yeah. There's two now. There's one on um Essex Street, right?
>> Essex Street and then the other one's on Boston Street. >> Yeah. They're amazing. And we were so
excited to just like join up with them and for them to do the hard part which is create the design and also
>> cuz we trust them. >> So you can either go to our Instagram and like hit a link there or however
that works or you can go to >> Blackville Studio. >> Blackville Studio.com >> Leave yourself in.
>> Leave yourself in. I'm like Mikey what is it? >> Leave it in. >> Leave it in. We need to get merch also
that just says leave it in. Um, also they created our uh rewatcher artwork. So if you're not going over to listen to
the rewatcher, we're now covering True Blood. We're all done with Buffy, which was so much fun. If you haven't listened
to the Buffy one, do that. But now we're on to more different things. >> And Andrew McMahon did our [ __ ] theme
song for tonight. Can you believe it? So I'll never stop saying that. >> We might say that every episode. I
probably will. >> And you can't blame us. >> No. Who could blame us? What millennial
can blame us? >> I don't. Even the Gen Z's, you can't blame us. >> No, you can't. I'm saying crazy stuff.
You are. She's really off her. >> I'm a little bit rogue. I wasn't going to have a diet.
>> A little bit rogue. She's a little bit rogue. I wasn't going to have a diet coke and then I had a diet coke. Yeah,
that'll happen. Only had like four sips, but it's making me rogue. Well, before we go too rogue, before I allow Ash
before Rogue loses all >> fly off into the the wild blue yonder >> into the vagy,
>> uh, we have a two pad here. I didn't even know that. Yeah, we have a tada. >> Yes, I did. You knew that. Um, but I
liked your figning shock. >> The funny thing is I wasn't even figning. I just forgot that it was two
parts. You know, it's the Diet Coke. Um, it's the aspartame, you know. But we're
going to be talking about a pretty gnarly case. Uh it's one that he's a bigger name, Richard Speck.
>> You might have heard of him. >> Yep. >> Uh you might remember he was in Mind Hunter.
>> Yep. Yep. Yep. Like they showed like portrayed him in Mind Hunter. >> Um I believe he's the one that like
kills the bird. >> I think in Mind Hunter during their interview he like Is that the first sec?
I was going to say is it the first second or the second? >> The first second. It's the first one. I
believe. >> Why don't I remember that? >> Uh it's when they're interviewing a lot
of the serial killers. I think he's the one who kills the bird and it made me upset. What a douchebag.
>> Um it's very him though. Uh and he's also uh so ugly. Um that's he's very ugly.
>> I love who you are. >> He's I mean that's pretty I think like across the board we can all agree. I I
think I'm not alone on this island. Uh he's ugly inside. He's ugly outside. He's ugly all around.
>> His aura is ugly. >> Yeah, he's disgusting. disgusting. >> And this is >> Nicholas would say the disgusting.
Nicholas would yell that right now. >> Uh but this is also known as the student nurse murders.
>> Um this this case is super gruesome. It's brutal and it's also [ __ ] shocking.
>> Really? >> He contained and murdered so many women at once. It is like I still and and we'll get into it, but the
investigators in this case were like there had to have been more killers. Like there's no way one person did all
this. And I don't blame them. Sometimes they do though. Like sometimes one person is capable of the craziest [ __ ]
>> But honestly, I haven't. This is one of a kind. >> So, do you think he possibly wasn't
working solo? >> Oh, no. He He was. It's just this is that he was able to do it. This isn't
one of those where it's like, oh yeah, some people that that happens before. This does not like when you hear how it
happens, you're like, how did that happen, though? >> I don't know any of the details of this.
I know the name and I know like the overview, but not any details. >> Horrifying. It's a horrifying case. It
really is. So, we're going to go to 10:30 p.m. on the night of July 13th, 1966 in Chicago is where we are. Uh Kora
Amaroe had just drifted off to sleep when she heard a knock at the front door of the townhouse that she was sharing
with eight other young women and it was in the Jeffrey Manor neighborhood on Chicago Southside. Uh all nine students
were in the nearby South Chicago community hospital nursing program and the house was kind of like a dorm. It
you know it almost had like it wasn't a sorority but it had that like vibe to it. There was even like a house mother
who lived in like an adjacent townhouse. Um, and many of these students, like Kora, had come from other parts of the
country or the world. They were from everywhere. >> Now, thinking it might be one of her
roommates who'd forgotten their keys, Kora, of course, gets up to let them in. >> And she started to open the door and she
said that the person on the other side started pushing it open like forcibly >> and it didn't feel like one of her
friends like who would just, you know, like help open the door kind of thing. This was like with force. So she finally
the door swings open because she's kind of like taken off guard by it and it was
not one of her roommates. It was a young man that she never seen before. No thank
you. So Kora told a jury the next year, "I saw a man standing in the center of our door holding a gun in his right hand
pointing it towards me." >> [ __ ] >> She just woke up from this. >> Yeah. And just like thought she was
getting the door for one of her friends. >> Yeah. She said, "I noticed marks on his
face, the dark clothes, his hair blondish, combed over in the back." Kora stared at who this was trying to figure
out what the [ __ ] is going on. And she said it felt like several minutes, but then she was just like shaken out of her
shock by him saying, "Where are your companions?" And he grabbed her by the arm.
>> Ew, what? And she's like, "What the fuck?" And by then, the five other women who were in the house at the time heard
all of this commotion and had come out to see what was going on. And as soon as they saw the gun, Kora and two of her
roommates, Merita Gardulo and Valentina Pacion, ran into one of the closets in an attempt to just hide from him because
they didn't know what the [ __ ] else to do. >> I mean, what do you do? >> So, for 5 minutes, they tried to hold
the door closed from the inside. All of them holding the door knob to keep it from turning as he's trying to open the
door. >> Oh, that's chilling. Now, ultimately, what's even scarier is it wasn't the
this man who convinced them to come out, but one of the other girls in the house.
One of the other girls said, "You come out of the closet and he's not going to harm you
>> because they were believing or at least hoping that if you just come out and listen to what he says, he's not going
to hurt us." That's what he's saying. And that's what he kept telling them. I'm not going to hurt you. Just listen
to what I say and you'll be fine. It's >> like, then why the are you here, bro? So
they come out of the closet to find this man pointing his gun in their direction.
He's now rounded up all six women. There's six women. >> And the man instructed him to them all
to go into the nearby bedroom and sit on the floor. And in a super calm and even
voice, he explained he just needed money to get to New Orleans. And if they would
just give him whatever money they had, he would leave and no one would get hurt.
>> Okay. >> Now, if someone says that, you're going to be like, "Okay, take all that. We'll
just listen. Take whatever the [ __ ] you want. I don't even see you like well I
whatever >> didn't even hear your voice. >> So to Kora and two of her roommates who
had also come from the Philippines to study in the US um that was Merita and Valentina
the insistence that all he wanted was money seemed disingenuous to them. >> Yeah.
>> They said they were like clocking him a little bit. They had they said they had
all known men like him back home or at least heard about these kind of men. men who would like promise that you'll be
fine just to convince you that you're safe only to turn on you without warning. >> Oh man.
>> They all watched in complete terror as he began stripping the bed sheets with a
large hunting knife that he pulled from a sheath on his belt. >> What the [ __ ]
>> Using the strips, he started binding them at the hands and ankles. So that would immediately be like, "No, you
don't need to bind me if you're just trying to get money." So, while the man was occupied doing
this, Kora and the others are whispering to each other. Kora and the other two students that were born internationally,
they all decided they were like, "Let's rush this [ __ ] and knock him down. >> Let's go."
>> Like, what do we like? There's more of us than there is of him. >> Right. Right.
>> And it's like, yeah, sure. Like, one or two of us might get hurt in the process,
but there's no way he can control all five or six of us at once. >> Get hurt or God knows it's going to
happen here. And it was pretty reasonable and one that probably would have worked I think if they could have
but also the so the what happened was the other girls insisted that they should just do what he said and he'll
leave which you can understand >> I can't fathom being in this so I'm not going to sit here and say well in this
situation I would do this go [ __ ] myself I'm not going to say that like are you
kidding me like go shut up I hate never have I ever heard somebody tell themselves
myself. Like that's I I'm not going to sit here and be like, "Yeah, well I would have rushed." Like, "No, I don't
know what the [ __ ] I would have done in this situation." >> This sounds [ __ ] terrible. And it's
like, so you can see both sides like what like >> Kora I and her friends, I can understand
that they were like, "Let's rush this [ __ ] cuz I want to believe that I also would have thought that."
>> But at the same time, you might be frozen with terror. You're [ __ ] terrified.
>> I've never been in this position before. So, it's like if he's telling you, "I
just want to go to New Orleans. I need money. You guys have money. Just give me the money and I'll leave."
>> I can understand why they were sitting there going, "Okay, maybe if we just do
what he says, he'll just leave." And like, >> but I'd also be like, "Why is he tying
us up?" Like, that would be a question on my mind. >> And why did he come with a hunting knife
and a gun? >> Exactly. That's a little scary. You could say like intimidation. He's just
trying to intimidate us into not rushing him. >> Well, you're also just not going through
all the possibilities like necessarily right then in there. So once this guy had tied the hands and
ankles of all six women, he untied one of the women, Pamela Wilining, and he led her out of the room into the living
room. From their spot and on the bedroom floor, the other girls could hear him demand that Pamela remove her clothes.
>> Oh no. And they could also hear as he sexually assaulted her. >> Oh, that's awful.
>> Then something very unexpected happened. In the middle of his assault on Pamela, he was
interrupted by the arrival of another roommate, Gloria Davyy, who he quickly subdued and led into the bedroom with
the rest of them where he tied her ankles and wrists just like the others. >> Okay.
>> So, he is just in the middle. He was interrupted and managed to get her into a room as well.
>> Yeah. The scene repeated itself 20 minutes later when two remaining roommates,
Suzanne Ferris and Maryanne Jordan, returned as well. Oh my god. So, thinking quickly, he brandished his gun
and forced them into the bedroom off the living room as well. >> I can't imagine one experiencing this
from the very like start and then two, walking into this scenario. >> Yeah. Like, and you just can't even like
fathom it. You're like, what? Like, how did this happen? how your life changes in a split second like that. Like who's
like those two girls are probably coming from class or shopping or running errands and it's coming home.
>> You're just coming home for the night and you think your day is ending and this [ __ ] is in your house doing
this. >> Like that's so scary. You should all know now that none of the victims in the
other room survive except one. >> Oh man, >> there's one survivor to this one. >> That's unreal. So, it's impossible to
know exactly how things unfolded in that room. We can rely on Kora, her testimony, because she is the one that
survives. Yeah. >> Um, in the coroner's report to piece together, you know, a little bit of an
accurate picture of what happened in there. But from the bedroom, the other woman could only just sit there and
listen as he just unchathed his knife and drove it into Pamela Wilining's chest, killing her almost immediately
because it severed her pulmonary artery. Oh wow. >> And that they're just tied up listening
to this. >> Uhhuh. >> And once Pamela was dead, there was no turning back. This guy is now a killer
and now he has to get rid of witnesses. >> Yeah. >> So the man returns to the bedroom where
he locked all of the roommates. and he took them from the room one by one and killed them just like first it
was Suzanne Ferris who he stabbed at least 18 times before strangling her to death.
Then it was Maryanne Jordan who he stabbed multiple times including once in the left eye.
According to the coroner, her cause of death was from a stab wound directly to her heart. But the coroner couldn't tell
when the fatal wound was administered. So she could have been alive when she was stabbed in the eye.
>> That's awful to think about. >> Yeah. And finally, he killed Nah Sheamala, who he stabbed three times in
the neck before ultimately strangling her to death. >> It's crazy that he's also switching off
between stabbing and strangling them. And that he has the >> like not I don't want to say strength,
but like the wherewithal to be able to do that many times over. >> The stamina. Exactly.
>> Yeah. And it's also he's choosing two very intimate ways to kill someone. >> Yeah.
>> And he has a gun. >> Yeah. >> And it's like >> I guess he just brought that to get them
like >> to do what he said. >> And just think about it from the other room. They're all just listening
helplessly as their friends are murdered one by one and knowing that they're next. Yeah.
>> And just going to come in and get you. >> Not knowing exactly who is going to be
next. >> Are you next or eventually I'm being led out there to die? >> Yeah. because I'm bound and I can't help
myself. >> What are you gonna do? >> Like many months after this, Kora would tell the investigators from the district
attorney's office that despite the absolute [ __ ] horror show that was happening out there, she said there were
no screams, no sounds of violence. In fact, Kora recalled that if she didn't know otherwise, she never would have
expected her roommates were being systematically and brutally killed just feet from where she was.
>> That's it. Eerie silence. How? Because a lot of the times he was stabbing them in
like the neck and [ __ ] so that like >> it only sank in when after killing the first three women, this man now [ __ ]
covered in blood came back to the bedroom where he'd left the others and started bringing them into the room as
well. So now they're seeing this man come back covered in more and more blood each time.
>> Yeah. That's a nightmare. >> Like that you can't make that [ __ ] up. >> Yeah. First was Valentina Pacion who was
stabbed in the neck. She was followed by Merita Gargulo who was also stabbed in the neck before being strangled.
Then he came for Patricia Matusk who died of strangulation but not before. And this is [ __ ] terrible. Before so
she died of strangulation but not before she was kicked in the stomach so hard that her stomach began to hemorrhage.
>> What? >> Yeah. Do you know how hard you have to kick someone in the [ __ ] stomach to
do that? can only imagine. >> It was during one of these times that Ka thinking quickly managed to stuff
herself as far back under one of the beds as she could, hoping that he wouldn't detect that she was gone. Like
maybe he didn't count or something, >> right? >> And in fact, when he returned, he seemed
so singularly focused and in like a rampage state, like he seemed like a [ __ ] animal at this point, that he
didn't notice that one of the six original women was now missing from the room. That's
wow. >> Imagine how you would feel in that moment >> realizing like, okay, I got away with
this, but also exactly what you're about to say. How long did she sit there? >> So, well, first he grabs Gloria Davey by
the arm and drags her away. >> And when the bodies were discovered, Gloria was the only one who hadn't
suffered any stab wounds. Her cause of death was listed as strangulation. So maybe I don't I would say like maybe he
was exhausted by this point, but strangulation takes more strength than stabbing does, I don't think.
>> Yeah, maybe he just that's what he decided on. >> Yeah. Now from her hiding spot under the
bed, Cora just lay there [ __ ] terrified. Every muscle is tensing in her body as she's listening to him now
in a total [ __ ] anim animalistic frenzy, rumaging around the townhouse looking for valuables and cash, like
just ripping [ __ ] apart. And she's just sitting there being like, "Is he gonna
look under the bed next?" Right. Exactly. Realize >> she wouldn't remember precisely when he
left the house. But they think it wasn't very long after midnight. And once he thought everyone in the house was dead,
that's when he left apparently. Like he he thought he had gotten everyone. He got everything he could out of there.
But still, Ka was so [ __ ] terrified that she still didn't make a sound and she didn't move from her spot under the
bed. So, she stayed silently pressed up against the wall under the bed, bound until 5:00 a.m.
>> Wow. >> This was not even midnight essentially. >> So, like hours and hours and hours.
>> And she said she was literally sitting there just staring straight ahead, dead
silent, just in a state of terror for hours. >> She had to have been in shock. >> And then the alarm clock starts going
off at 5:00 a.m. because that's when the nurses would have started their day. >> Mhm. Imagine how jarring that sound must
have been. in that house >> in the silence of that house. That alarm going off to start the day. Now, she's
terrified that the man is still in the house at this point. She doesn't know. She didn't hear him leave. She doesn't
know what's going on. So, she still lays there completely still for another hour
before crawling out from under the bed >> and just listening to that alarm go off
over and >> she said this was the such a scary part because she said it was like eerie
silence when usually in the morning when that alarm goes off, she's like, "It's laughter. It's us talking about our day.
It's us getting ready. It's showers starting. It's makeup being done. It's hair stuff being like,
>> and it was just dead silent. >> So sad. >> And she said, but nothing could have
prepared her for what she saw when she walked out of that room. And she said she crept slowly down the hall towards
her own bedroom at the front of the house. And she said every single place she looked, it was just horror. It was
just blood. It was horror. And she said scattered throughout the entire house were the bodies of her roommates.
Mutilated, motionless, just everywhere. >> Oh my god. >> And this isn't like no matter you come
out of the room and you see one murdered person >> that's going to change you forever.
>> I can't even fathom that. >> Seeing this many >> and these are all your friends.
>> Like multiple multiple friends brutally mutilated out there >> and you're the sole survivor.
>> You can't even fathom that. You can't even write that. You can't. >> That's I was just going to say it's
something that you would see in a movie. >> Cora did her best to just look straight
ahead down the hall. She was just focused on her bedroom door and finally she gets in there and closes her door
behind her. And then she ran to the open window and pushed the screen out into the ground below. And she climbs out the
window, crawled onto a twoft ledge about 10 ft off the ground. And she said she was cowering there because she was
scared to yell. So she said she finally broke her silence and screamed, "Help me! Help me! Everyone is dead. I am the
only one alive on the samp." Now a samp is a kind of flatbottomed boat that's common in East and Southeast Asia. So in
her mind, in her shock and trauma, she was back in the Philippines fleeing one of the violent insurrections that
ironically had caused her to seek a better life in the United States in the first place. Oh my god. So she was like
fully transported back to like literal like war and insurrection. >> What your brain and your body does in in
times of stress and times of just like I don't even know what to there's no words
to describe this situation. It's remarkable what your brain does. >> I'm the only one alive on the samp like
she fully was like that. >> That's where I am horrifying. And just for her to even be scared to yell.
>> Mhm. >> Like which everyone's been in like a situation where they don't want to make
any noise and like you think about it and you're like, "Oh my god, I'd be scared to scream right now." You know
what I mean? Like think it or like watching a movie and being like, "I don't think I could yell in that
situation cuz I'd be so scared." >> This is one of those >> to actually be faced with it though.
>> That's the thing. >> Now, a few houses away, Betty Windmiller was standing out on her back porch and
she heard Kora's cries for help. So Betty ran around the front of her house and ran directly into her neighbor,
Robert Hall, who was out walking the dog. And the two ran down the street in the direction of the screaming and found
Kora perched on the ledge outside her second story window. >> What a sight. >> And she kept repeating over and over,
"My friends are all dead. All dead. All dead." And she just kept yelling it. And
by then, others had come out of their houses to see what was happening. And they came over to try to help calm Kora
while Miller and Hall called for the police. Mhm. >> Now, just by chance, a patrol car was
driving through the neighborhood around the time Corora's neighbors placed the call. So, there I know it happens a lot.
>> Now, searching around the outside of the house, officer Daniel Kelly found the
back door of the house unlocked with one of the screen panels on the door having
been pushed out. Inside, Kelly discovered exactly what had driven Kora to be hanging out on a ledge on her
second story. In the living room, Kelly found Gloria Davis's nude body face down
on the couch. Oh. >> So, also, he had definitely sexually assaulted more of these women.
>> Yeah. >> Uh, he recognized her immediately as the sister of his former girlfriend.
>> Oh my god. >> Which must have been >> That's next [ __ ] Yeah. >> And still he just had to keep his job,
man. Now the rest of the horror awaited him on the second floor. Just outside the doorway to Corora's room, Maryanne
Jordan's body lay on the floor. A vicious knife wound very visible on her chest. Right next to Maryanne was the
body of Suzanne Ferris. Her clothing was torn like whoever killed her had tried to remove it by cutting it away with a
knife. It was like it was like sheared away. >> Yeah. >> There were several slashes and stab
injuries visible visible on her neck, face, and back. In a nearby room, Pamela Wilining's body
lay on the floor. A long strip of fabric was still tied tightly around her neck.
In the other bedroom at the front of the house, he found the body of Valentina lying across the body of her friend
Merita. Both had been stabbed repeatedly and were there were dark marks on Merita's neck indicating that she had
been strangled and she was literally lying across the body of her friend. That's just
>> so either like she tried to crawl away or he placed her there, >> which both are horrifying.
>> Yeah. >> Now, Nina Shamala's body was on the bed and she also had been stabbed repeatedly
and strangled. And Kelly found the body of Patricia Matusk on the floor in the bathroom with large dark abrasions on
her neck. With the exception of Gloria Davyy and Maryanne Jordan, all the victims were still bound around the
wrists and ankles, >> which take take that what you will. Yeah. >> Uh by the time he'd found the last body,
Daniel Kelly had already called for backup and a full forensic team. >> He told the dispatcher what he
discovered there, but none of them, not even the most hardened senior homicide detectives at this point, were at all
ready for what they were going to find there. >> I don't know how you would ever begin to
prepare yourself to walk into something like Nobody was walking in here being like, "Oh, you know, typical day on
homicide." Like, they were like, "What the fuck?" >> No. >> Now, when homicide detectives arrived
there a short time later, they were greeted by a big throng of of reporters who'd beaten them to the crime scene.
>> Nice. >> And all of them, police and reporters alike, were >> traumatized by what they had seen. In an
article describing his experience, Daily Calamit reporter Tom Hollitz wrote, "I entered the residence of the eight slain
student nurses. It was silent. There were other newsmen milling about in the back bedroom. I walked in and saw that
the broom had been torn up. Women's undergarments, prayer books, and assorted coins were on the floor. I
walked into the front bedroom. It was then that I wanted to vomit, but held back. There was blood everywhere. I just
stared. Now, the officers on the scene were equally shaken by what they saw that
day. Commander um Edward Shehy told a reporter, "I've seen bodies before. I don't know why I'm upset. I'm shaking."
Like I think even he was like I usually I can handle this but like I'm [ __ ] up.
>> Like the other officials at the scene um Edward Shei he had little to tell the
press at this time other than say it was a massacre. >> Yeah. Like it's a nightmare.
>> He's like I don't have anything else to say to you. This is [ __ ] terrible. Now because of the scale of the carnage
here, investigators immediately assume that the murders were definitely done by more than one person. Like there's just
the scale of the carnage, the amount of women that were killed, >> right? >> And like this small area, no one would
think this was one person. Not one. >> That makes perfect sense. >> Um it seemed completely impossible that
a single person could control nine adults. >> Yeah. >> Long enough to murder each of them. Like
that's wild. >> Yeah. Now, at a glance, it was clear to detectives that whether it was one man
or 10, the killer or killers had at some point clearly escalated to the point of
absolute [ __ ] frenzy. >> Yeah. >> The bedroom where the original six women had been held was completely trashed.
Belongings, clothing, other items just thrown around the room, like ripped up, just frenzy.
>> Just picturing somebody lose control like that is so scary. And Cora was under a bed during this. Yes, she heard
everything start to finish. Everything. >> Everything. Purses were pocketbooks were
turned upside down. Their contents was everywhere all over the floor. Any cash or valuables was stolen. Uh despite the
chaotic state of the house, there was also little physical evidence actually to be found anywhere that would help
them. >> That's crazy. >> As far as investigators could tell, everything that had been tossed around
the bedrooms belonged to the eight women who lived there. >> Mhm. and told them nothing about the
killer or killers. >> There was, however, one item discovered that probably didn't belong there. It
was on a desk in the living room. They found a man's white t-shirt that was sweat stained.
>> Gross. >> But curiously, very free of any blood stains. >> Oh, >> yeah. So, I don't know.
>> Yeah, that's weird. >> Uh, but you just like leave a shirt there. >> You just left a shirt there. Elsewhere
in the house, they collected more than 30 fingerprints from the walls. the furniture, personal items, and the
bodies themselves. Outside on the front lawn, they discovered tire tracks from a
car that appeared to have sped away from the scene. >> Um, otherwise, there was really little
to be found that could explain what the [ __ ] happened there the previous night
and especially not tell them who did it. >> Now, the best lead detectives had, it
seemed, was their only surviving witness, Kora. she had been in the house when the whole thing happened and could
presumably describe the killers and hopefully give some like crucial details that they needed to try to get any kind
of lead. >> But also, who remember who who would even remember like exactly what he
looked like after all that? >> That's well by that time Ka had been safely rescued from the second floor
ledge and she was taken to South Chicago Community Hospital, the same hospital where she and two of the others worked.
Um, having learned of the murders, the hospital staff sent all the student nurses home because they didn't want to
them they wanted to spare them the emotional chaos of seeing their classmates bodies.
>> Yeah, of course. >> Um, a few did choose to stay though because they wanted to be of some help.
>> That's sweet. >> So, when investigators were finally able to sit down with Ka that morning, they
quickly realized that she was very much in a state of shock and far too traumatized to be of any help.
>> Yeah. For two hours though, they tried to act this absolutely devastated student nurse
anything about what had happened that night, which like >> two hours, which like you have to try, I
guess, but it's like >> you have to try for 2 hours. >> Well, that's the thing. If you don't if
you don't get anything hour one, it's safe to say you're probably not going to get anything hour one. It's like give
her give her some time to you know and >> it's like I get it you know like everybody has a job to do but
>> and that you want to get fresh and you don't want something >> gosh forbid that she just forgets
>> yeah any of the crucial information >> but if she responded which sometimes she
didn't respond at all she was just kind of catacomb >> um all they got was like a you know sto
short strings of sentences mostly in her native language was this uh to galig so
they couldn't understand. Anyways, >> ultimately she had to be sedated and it was several hours before they could even
speak to her again, which like I get >> that poor girl. >> Yeah. So, while they're waiting to talk
to Kora, they started canvasing the neighborhood just hoping that someone saw something. Unfortunately, as Kora
would later tell the jury, the murders and the ransacking of the townhouse were surprisingly quiet for such a brutal
crime. None of the neighbors heard anything. What? Nothing. But I mean, even like she later said how quiet it
was while he was taking everybody. >> Oh, yeah. She said it was like shocking. >> So, one neighbor a few doors down
thought she saw a car parked in front of the nurse's house when she arrived home
at 3:00 a.m., but she couldn't be sure. >> Also, can you imagine looking back and
thinking how you spent your night when that was happening, like, however many doors down.
>> Like, you're sitting there being like, I was watching a movie or like I was taking a shower.
>> That would be such an out-of body experience. >> It would. It would [ __ ] me up. you that
would absolutely >> like I'm just living my life completely oblivious to the absolute hor and to the
fact that like people needed help >> and I couldn't help them cuz I didn't even know they needed help. Like that
would really throw me for a loop. Another neighbor told police that there was a quote strange collar at her door
the day before, but no one else had any similar experience to that. >> That's weird.
>> Even the house mother, who lived in an adjacent townhouse and was awake at the
time, said she didn't recall anything out of the ordinary that night. >> Wow. >> Yeah,
>> that's crazy. >> Yeah. Now, by that afternoon, more than 150 officers were assigned to the case,
pulling from officers from the robbery and homicide squads in addition to a lot of the beat cops that they could get. By
early evening, Ka had started to come out of her sedation and was finally able to speak to detectives. To their
incredible surprise, the murders were committed by a single man. She was like, "Nope, there was no one else in that
house." >> Uh, Cora described him as being about 25 years old. >> What the [ __ ] 6 feet tall and weighing
about 170 lbs. Now, despite her trauma and shock, she walked detectives through everything that had happened as best as
she could remember from the moment she woke up to the knock on the door to the following morning when she came out from
under the bed after hearing the alarm clock. Uh, she said, "I thought if the man was still in the house that would
that would scare him off, but I wasn't sure if he had left. I waited and when I didn't hear anything after a while, I
crawled out. When she was asked if she could pick him out of a lineup, she said, "I would recognize him. I would
know if I saw him again." Which he has a very distinct face. >> He does. >> He has terrible skin.
>> Yeah. >> Now, to the press and the public, investigators expressed confidence in
their ability to catch who was responsible for these murders. Um, lead detective Michael Spiato told reporters
during a press conference, "I'm optimistic about some of the leads we now have in the case." But the truth was
detectives said very little. >> Um, other than the description provided by Kora, which didn't really help
because it kind of described thousands of young men in Chicago at that time. >> Yeah.
>> They had no idea where to start. >> But it's like they can't tell that to the press because you're going to freak
out. pandemonium. Now, if there was any place in the United States where social and cultural changes of the 1960s were
happening in full display right now, it was Chicago in the summer of 1966. >> Um, by this summer, it was the
turbulence of the national debate over civil rights had definitely reached Chicago. um and a typically pretty chill
Midwestern city after police arrested the a black man they believed was wanted for armed robbery. That's when things
really boiled over. >> Yeah. >> People were tired of the oppression, the marginalization, and the abuse that
they' taken from police for decades at this point. And black residents of Chicago's west side took to the streets
to protest their poor treatment. >> For three days between July 12th and July 15th, the majority of the Chicago
Police Department was deployed to these protests. Mhm. >> Um it turned out though that the protest
what was going on which had stretched the department really thin at this point also became somewhat of a benefit in the
hunt for this killer >> really >> because they were forced to pull detectives from other departments.
>> So the squad of officers that they got were made up of men and women from with
a variety of resources and skill sets. >> Okay, that's really cool actually that
it worked out like that. >> And what's wild is the most valuable of these turned out to be the robbery
squad. really >> because robberies are hyper local crimes that typically involve the selling of
stolen goods. >> Yeah. >> Robbery detectives because of that develop a network of contacts, both
upstanding contacts and criminal contacts. >> Okay. >> They can be relied upon as a source of
information in situations like this. >> That makes sense. Yeah. So when the large squad of investigators and
officers spread out across the city, the detectives naturally engaged their networks, hitting up their informants,
seeing if anyone heard anything about the murders. One of the robbery detectives had a contact who work at
worked at a southside garage known as a gathering spot for a lot of petty petty criminals.
>> Okay. >> And people just like passing through. >> Yeah. >> The mechanic didn't know anything about
the murders and hadn't heard anything from the men who usually hang around the garage. But when detectives described
the man based on what they'd learned from Kora, something did sound familiar to him. A few days earlier, a younger
guy had been hanging around the station who fit that description. The mechanic remembered the guy because he was like,
he was so [ __ ] rude and belligerent. He was an [ __ ] He's like, "I remember him." According to the
mechanic, the guy had said something about how he was shipping out or taking a boat somewhere. He said they'd be able
to pick him out of a crowd because the tattoo on his left arm read, "Born to raise hell." Oh god, [ __ ] loose. Get
a grip. The man had even left two of his bags with the mechanic while he went out
to look for work at the National Maritime Union, the NMU, >> uh, around the corner from the station,
and he hadn't come back for them. >> Oh, so now they have his [ __ ] >> Yeah. So, the mention of the boat and
the National Maritime Union made the detectives think back to the crime scene and to the unusual knots used to bind
the victim's hands and feet. Oh [ __ ] After hours spent combing the streets and alleys and hitting up every contact
they could think of, investigators had finally gotten a break and a potential suspect.
>> That's a solid lead. >> Yep. Founded in because those those knots were maritime knots. Like they
are, you know, those are marine >> easily identifiable. Um, founded in 1937, the National Maritime Union
functioned as a labor union where sailors and others with experience on a boater ship could find work through
assignments that were arranged by the union. >> Yeah. >> Um, having received this tip from the
mechanic, the detectives rushed over to the union building, but found no one there who matched the description given
by Kora. >> Damn it. But when they spoke to the administrator on duty and gave the
description, the man recalled someone who'd been in a few days earlier who matched that description.
>> Okay, everybody is really looking >> we're working. According to the man at the NMU, a young man matching their
suspect had been in a few days earlier and he was looking for work on a boat headed to New Orleans.
>> Huh. >> Something the killer had mentioned when he gathered up the six original victims
in the bedrooms. Now, as luck would have it, the trash at the NMU still hadn't been taken out from the previous few
days. And after digging through the waste paper basket, the administrator was able to find the crumpled slip of
paper containing the information they needed. Stop. The slip had sent the man to a job on a um on a ship called the
Sinclair Great Lakes. But when he arrived, there was only one bunk available, and the job had already gone
to another man. The suspect returned to the NMU in a highly agitated state. He was pissed off and the administrator
told him if he left his information, they would do their best to find another assignment for him. Fortunately for the
detectives, this man wrote his name and a number where he could be reached on the slip.
>> No. >> Suspect's name was Richard B. Spec and the number was a direct line to his
sister who lived in the city. Hello. So, let's before we get into the next part,
let's go back to who Richard [ __ ] Speck is. >> Yeah, I'm curious. >> Richard, yeah,
>> Richard Benjamin Speck was born December 6th, 1941, and he was born in Kirkwood,
Illinois. >> A sagge. >> He was the seventh of eight children born to Benjamin and Mary Speck.
>> That is so many children. The family struggled financially, but they, you know, they were resourceful and Ben and
Mary Speck managed to support themselves and their eight children even in the hardest of times. Through most of his
adult life, Ben Speck was a farmer and a logger and would sometimes supplement his income with odd jobs here and there.
>> Okay. >> Mary Speck spent the bulk of her time raising all those children. >> In fact, Richard's six older brothers
and sisters were considerably older than he and his younger sister, Carolyn. So Mary had her hands full far longer than
would have other otherwise happened if she had evenly spaced them. >> Yeah. >> Um and when she wasn't wrapped up in
family life, Mary Spec was a devout Christian who volunteered regularly with the Presbyterian church.
>> Okay. >> Unlike most marriages of the day, it was Mary, not Ben, who ruled over the house
with a dominant personality. >> Uhoh. Guided by mommy issues by her very strong religious convictions, she set
standards for how everyone, including her husband, would behave. >> Oh, no. Mommy issues and religious
trauma. >> Yeah. She was not above imposing her will on everybody whenever it suited
her. This all changed somewhat when Richard was 6 years old and his father died from a heart attack at the age of
53. >> Oh wow, that's so young. >> Richard had been close with his father and this hit him pretty hard. He was
only six. >> Yeah, that's [ __ ] up. But given their financial circumstances, there was very
little time to grieve this loss. Just three years later, in 1950, Mary Spec met and married Carl Lindberg, a man
she'd met um on one of her many train trips back and forth to Chicago after Ben's death.
>> Okay. >> Mary had been instantly charmed by this insurance salesman. >> But once they were married, she learned
quickly that he was nothing like Ben. While Ben was generally kind and submissive, he just went with the flow.
Yeah, >> Carl was a quote hardrinking hellraiser. >> Oh, with a long criminal record of
fraud, forgery, and disorderly conduct. >> How delightful. >> He was quick to anger, and he didn't
hesitate to resort to violence if he had been drinking. >> Damn, that's like the stepdad way.
>> Yeah, the stepdad from hell. >> Yeah. >> Now, following the marriage, Mary moved
to Texas to live with Carl, while Richard and Carolyn were sent to live with his oldest sister, Sarah, in
Chicago so he could complete the third grade. the third grade. >> Throughout this time, Richard was
remembered as being quote, "a very good boy who got along well with his peers and his sister." This all changed though
when the school year came to an end and Richard and his sister moved to be with their mother in Texas. And once again,
Carl Lindberg proved to be the antithesis of Richard's biological father. Lindberg was physically and
emotionally abusive to Richard and within a very short period of time, the effects of that abuse were very
noticeable to his teachers. can [ __ ] a kid up real easy. >> Yeah. His eighth grade teacher said he
was sort of sulky, but he didn't talk back. Over time, he withdrew himself. He became isolated, failing to make any
friends. Uh his teacher later said he seemed sort of lost. I don't think I ever saw him smile. I wasn't able to
teach him anything. >> Did you try to? >> Which is just like really sad. >> In 1957, Speck enrolled in Crosier
Technical School and managed to earn no credits in his first semester, even failing gym. [ __ ] how do you fail Jim?
>> Yeah, >> even I didn't fail Jim. >> When the next semester started, he didn't bother to return to school.
Instead, he just started engaging in criminal behavior and was picked up by the police very frequently for vandalism
and petty theft, which >> he didn't have a he really didn't have a shot. Like, unfortunately, he just did
not have a shot. >> You feel bad for the kid version. >> Now, 6 years later, Carl Lindberg
divorced Mary Spec, but as far as Richard was concerned, the damage had already been done.
>> I mean, yeah. Uh by then he'd begun hanging out with an older group of young men, many of whom had already amassed a
very long criminal history and they all spent their lives drinking, gambling, fighting, doing just like dumb [ __ ]
Raise and hail. >> Raisin hail. He was born to do it. Uh during this time he started supporting
himself through petty theft, breaking into homes, stealing whatever valuables he could find lying around in people's
house. >> Delinquent. >> Now, as far as criminals went, Richard Spec was um not sophisticated, I would
say. >> Okay. Uh but he really didn't need to be. All he needed was enough to get by.
Like he wasn't looking to do any like big heists or anything. At the same time, his behavior on the street was
becoming more and more aggressive. In 1965, Speck and a friend were arrested for beating a 15-year-old boy and
cutting his face. >> What the [ __ ] >> Yeah. A few months later, Richard was arrested after police found him crouched
outside the window of a house that he intended to burglarize carrying a screwdriver in his pocket.
>> I'm sorry, what? When they asked him what he needed the screwdriver for, he answered, "I always carry a
screwdriver." >> Oh, okay. Yeah. >> As one does. What the [ __ ] >> He looked at them like they were crazy.
Like, you don't have your screwdrivers tonight, fellas. >> No big deal. Um, so how old is he now?
He's >> He's like 23 at this point. Depending on >> uh during this period of criminality, he
also made time for um I would say women, but no, girls. >> No. including a 15year-old girl.
>> No. >> Named Shirley Malone, who he dated briefly. >> That's not dating. >> Um who he uh groomed and uh was a
president. >> Yeah. When Mary Spec discovered that Shirley had become pregnant, >> she demanded that her son marry this
girl. So in 1962, they married at city hall. Uh married and with a child on the way, Richard and Shirley moved in with
Richard's mother, but that didn't last long. >> Married to a child with a child on the
way. >> Exactly. Between Richard's hard drinking and his tendency to lose jobs every four
minutes, the couple were soon kicked out of his mother's house and spent several
months moving around from one apartment to another. >> Oh, that poor girl. >> In July, Shirley gave birth to their
daughter, Robbie. But by then, the relationship had completely deteriorated and fall apart. And rather than continue
following her deadbeat husband around one tenement to another, she chose to return to her parents house. By this
time, the relationship had become physically abusive, including one time where Richard threw a knife at Shirley
and hit her in the leg. >> What the [ __ ] >> So, she was like, "Nah, I don't really
see a reason to stay with you. I'm out." >> Yeah. Now, while their relationship may
have ended, Shirley's connection to Richard through their daughter meant that she could never sever all ties to
him. In the years after that, Richard not only harassed and frequently terrorized Shirley, but also Shirley's
parents, Ida and Albert Malone. >> Like, dude, what are you doing? In addition to frequently making
inappropriate and wildly disrespectful sexual comments to his mother-in-law, >> he would often threaten them with guns
and other weapons, including an incident in 1965 where he twice attacked item alone with
a knife while her husband and daughter were out of the house. It was only after Ida grabbed a knife and shouted, "I'll
make you eat that knife." That Richard finally retreated. >> And that's what we call queenship.
>> A bad [ __ ] Yeah. >> She said, "I'll make you eat that [ __ ] knife." He retreated and
threatened to kill her as he left the house. But she was like, "Yeah, you're going to kill me while you retreat cuz I
told you to eat that knife. >> Swallow that knife." Finally in >> of southern charm when Catherine says,
"I hope you fall on a knife." >> Which is why don't you fall on an ass? >> That's the most intense thing to say
thing to say. Now, finally, in January 1966, after years of abuse from Richard, the Malones brought their daughter to
the courthouse and formally filed for divorce and requested sole custody of their child. The divorce was not
contested, and it was granted on the spot. >> God, I thought you were going to say not
granted. >> The next day, Shirley married Tinker Frasier, a man she'd been seeing for
several months. And just before the divorce was filed, Richard visited Shirley one final time and begged her to
reconsider. >> Shirley, baby, no. When she refused, he pathetically asked if he could borrow
her car before exiting their lives forever. >> What a deadbeat. >> What a pathetic.
>> What a deadbeat. >> Loser. >> That's such ex-husband behavior. >> Such a [ __ ] loser.
>> Please get back with me. Please, please, please. Can I borrow the car? >> Can I just use if we're not going to get
back together, can I use your car? >> She's like, "Fuck off. >> It reminds me of driving in cars with
boys." >> Now, between 1961 and 1966, Richard bounced between jobs, apartments, even
penitentiies. And hey, it was really the latter of the three where he seemed most
comfortable and at ease to be honest. >> Isn't that so like I don't feel bad for
him. But isn't that such a sad concept that you hear about >> seems to be locked up
>> and that and that some people are more comfortable in that scenario. >> It's a sad state of being
>> more comfortable in that scenario where all of your creature comforts are taken
away from you. >> Exactly. Now in the real world there were so many variables and social norms
to be navigated but in prison he knew what was expected of him. It felt like it's simplified.
>> Okay. >> He doesn't do well with complex thoughts and complex ideas and notions. He needs
it simple as [ __ ] You get up, you eat your food, you go back in your cell, you
you brush your teeth, and you go to sleep. Like that's >> that's what he needed.
>> That's so sad. And also, he didn't have to be anything other than what he truly
was, which by this point, according to one former employee, was quote careless, troublesome, and dishonest. He could be
that in prison. >> Imagine people, they're like, "Hey, what are three words that describes this
person?" And that's what they choose. >> Careless, troublesome, dishonest. >> I'd be like, "Damn, I should probably do
some inner work." Now, in the fall of 1966, after yet another stretch in prison for forgery, this time, Richard
Speck was released from jail and accepted an invitation from his sister Carolyn, who remember had taken care of
him when he was little. Yeah. >> To join her and her husband in Chicago. >> And remember when he was living with
Carolyn, >> he was good. >> He was happy, but he was also like >> he was doing well,
>> but still like he was I think like well obviously she was a good influence. I
think it went really went downhill when he moved to Texas with his mom and his stepfather
>> cuz he was being abused. >> Now, at that time, Richard had promised his sister and just about anyone else
who still spoke to him that he was ready to give up his hard hard living life and
straightened his [ __ ] out. Um, and all he needed was a place to stay while he got himself a job and got back on his
feet. He didn't want to do this anymore. >> And of course, you want to do that for
your sibling when they're telling you they're promising you the world. >> Yeah. Now, unfortunately, it turned out
that Richard's promises to get his life together were just another empty [ __ ] can promise. Um, and within a few weeks
of arriving in Chicago, he'd spent most of his time and money getting drunk and hanging around downtown. So,
>> Caroline was just trying to help him out and be a good big sister, just like she
had done when he was I mean, she took >> That's her little brother who's like in
third grade, and his mom and his stepdad were just like, "Bye, we're going to Texas. You can live with your sister in
Chicago." >> Yeah. just abandoned like straight up were like you take care of him.
>> Yeah, she sounds like she was more of a mom. >> She probably just tried to step in and
like at this point she's like I I'm trying again but like I did my best. >> And that's where we are going to end for
part one because then we are going to get into his arrest for the murders of the nurses in Chicago in 1966 in part
two. >> But that is Richard Spec so far. Wow, that was a whirlwind. And I can only
imagine what part two will be. >> And we've caught up to where we are now in 1966. We've caught up to he is now
living with Carolyn, his sister, in Chicago. He's promising the world and he's still being a [ __ ]
>> I have a feeling that he does more [ __ ] things. >> I mean, he definitely does.
>> All right. Well, with that being said, we hope you keep listening and we hope
you keep it weird, but not so weird that you're just born to raise hell. Oh, [ __ ] Luther.

In the early morning hours of July 14, 1966, Chicago police responded to a call about a woman screaming for help at a townhouse in Chicago’s Jeffery Manor neighborhood. When they arrived, they found student nurse Cora Amurao outside the home she shared with eight other student nurses, all of whom had been strangled or stabbed that night by an unknown intruder, while Cora hid underneath her bed.

Considered at the time to be a “crime of the century,” the student nurse murders shocked and terrified Chicago residents all across the city. Not only had one man managed to brutally murder eight people, but he had also managed to escape and was loose somewhere in the city. At the time, racially motivated riots had broken out across the city, making the already-burdened Chicago Police Department even more strained when it came to investigating the case.

After an intense manhunt that lasted several days, investigators arrested Richard Speck, a twenty-four-year-old unemployed drifter with a criminal history. There was a strong amount of evidence that linked Speck directly to the murders, including his own confession, so when he went to trial, his lawyer tried unsuccessfully to argue Speck was not legally sane at the time of the murders. Unfortunately, the truth was something far worse: Speck killed eight women for no reason whatsoever.

References

Altman, Jack, and Marvin Ziporyn. 1967. Born to Raise Hell: The Untold Story of Richard Speck. New York, NY: Grove Press.

Breo, Dennis L., William J. Martin, and Bill Kunkle. 1993. The Crime of the Century: Richard Speck and the Murders That Shocked a Nation. New York, NY: Bantam Books.

Chicago Tribune. 1966. "Prisoner suffers heart attack, doctor hints." Chicago Tribune, July 20: 1.

Chown, Susan. 1966. "Tearful eyes at hospital." Daily Calumet (Chicago, IL), July 15: 1.

Goodyear, Sara Jane. 1966. "Hunt for clews in killing of eight nurses on S.E. side." Chcago Tribune, July 15: 1.

—. 1966. "Killing leads 'hopeful'." Chicago Tribune, July 16: 1.

Hollatz, Tom. 1966. "Grisly scene stuns reporter into silence." Daily Calumet (Chicago, IL), July 15: 1.

—. 1966. "Relatives, neighbors are 'shocked beyond words'." Daily Calumet (Chicago, IL), July 15: 1.

—. 1966. "The townhouse tragedy." Daily Calumet (Chicago, IL), July 15: 2.

Koziol, Ronald. 1966. "Cops weave tight security web around prisoner in hospital." Chicago Tribune, July 18: 1.

Siemaszko, Corky. 2016. How Richard Speck's rampage 50 years ago change a nation. July 13. Accessed July 29, 2025. @ime-courts/how-richard-speck-s-rampage-50-years-ago-changed-nation-n606211.

Sowa, Tony. 1966. "Nab killer suspect." Chicago Tribune, July 17: 1.

Wiedrich, Robert. 1967. "Death verdict for Speck." Chicago Tribune, April 16: 1.

—. 1967. "Filipino nurse tells how eight met their doom." Chicago Tribune, April 6: 1.

—. 1967. "Filipino nurse tells how eight met their doom." Chicago Tribune, April 6: 1.

—. 1967. "State describes night of horror in nurses' home." Chicago Tribune, April 4: 1.

Cowritten by Alaina Urquhart, Ash Kelley & Dave White (Since 10/2022) Produced & Edited by Mikie Sirois (Since 2023) Research by Dave White (Since 10/2022), Alaina Urquhart & Ash Kelley Listener Correspondence & Collaboration by Debra Lally Listener Tale Video Edited by Aidan McElman (Since 6/2025) Listener Tale Theme Music licensed from @ Main Theme: Matti Paalanen — Trick or Treat — Provided by Jamendo Ad Music: BlueJay Studio — Spooky Waltz — Provided by Jamendo

Brief Summary

Richard Speck murdered eight student nurses in 1966 Chicago, with Kora Amaroe being the sole survivor.

Key points

The Cloud Concept. The hosts discuss the idea of living on in the cloud, humorously contemplating immortality.
The Gruesome Case of Richard Speck. The hosts introduce the chilling case of Richard Speck, known for a brutal crime spree.
The Silence of Horror. Kora recalls the eerie silence as her friends were brutally murdered just feet away.
The Sole Survivor's Escape. Cora escapes from the horror, screaming for help as she realizes she is the only survivor.
The Discovery of Bodies. Detective Kelly discovers the gruesome scene, with bodies scattered throughout the house.
The Aftermath of the Massacre. The detectives are traumatized by the scale of the carnage they encounter.

Episode highlights

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What the [ __ ] is wrong with you?

Promoting a local event.

4:33WatchNov 11, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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