Episode 726: Richard Speck : The Student Nurse Murders (Part 2) | Forensic Files

Hey weirdos. I'm Elena. >> I'm Ash. >> And this is Morbid. [music] Yeah. >> Morbid. It's a part two. [music]
>> Part two. And we're one day closer to a Twilight episode. >> Yes. which we will desperately need
after this. >> I know. Actually, that'll be like perfect. We get a Twilight episode which
will be coming out on the 14th and >> 14th because you guys said if you don't do that Twilight episode that you
mentioned, we will revolt in the streets. >> You guys said you were going to beat us
up and twist us upside down and steal our lunch money. >> Exactly. And we said don't have to tell
me twice. >> We said fine. I'm very excited for our Twilight bonus. And it's a bonus
episode. It's not a regular episode. >> It's a bonus episode. Calm down. >> Just in case that wasn't clear.
>> Honestly, I think everybody is excited anyway. Um, well, I'm so excited for that. I can't even say too many things
because then I'll just start talking about it and it will just be the episode. >> We got to save it all.
>> We also have a super special guest that's going to be on the show next week slash this week.
>> This week, Thursday. [laughter] What is time? Um, >> what is time? >> And you know, you'll just hear that when
you hear it, but we love this guest. She's great. And I am excited to see her again.
>> I'm very excited to see her again. It's going to be really fun. >> It's going to be super fun. It's going
to be so fun. You know what's not fun? >> What? >> Richard Spec. >> Not fun at all. Yeah,
>> that is not fun at all. >> Uh-uh. >> He's horrible. >> Yeah, part one really rocked my [ __ ]
>> Yeah, I figure part one there was just a lot to take in. >> Yeah, there was a lot. There was much.
>> It's a brutal crime. It's an unbelievable crime. And he's a a sad, pathetic person.
>> Yeah, he really >> is also evil and dastardly and >> irredeemable. >> Truly. I think irredeemable is a perfect
word to describe him. >> Great adjective. You little writer over there. >> Thank you.
>> What do you write books or something? >> I do. Tinyurl.com/the butcher in their
own. Don't go there. It doesn't exist. >> I was going to say it's not a thing anymore.
>> I just like to say it. It's called a vocal stem. Look it up. >> I do love that. So many vocal stems.
>> Oh yeah. >> So many. Another one is and Honey the Land. >> Honey the land. People keep messaging me
Honey the bangs because I cut bangs. >> I love that. >> I know. I was like, I don't think we
could do Honey the Land merch because it's not our quote, >> but I was like, could we do like Honey
the Land-S? I like that >> in memoriam. >> In memoriam of silver brown. >> Probably not.
>> Silva Brown. >> Silva Brown. >> Silver Brown. >> It's That's how you say it quick. Silva
Brown. >> Silver Brown. around. >> Um, >> yeah, I don't think we can do that, but
>> No, but we can keep saying it, >> but we'll continue to say it >> and you guys can keep saying it because
it's funny. >> I might put that on my grave someday. >> Honey the lamb. >> Honey the grave. [laughter]
>> I say it about everything now. >> Yeah, you got to. >> Um, so when we, you know, when we left
you in Pat one, Richard Speck had done some awful [ __ ] >> Yeah. >> He had killed these women, by the way,
were like between the ages of like 21 and 23. young. Their careers are just starting
>> right before graduation too. They were like months away, like weeks away. >> And to think all the work that they had
put into that >> for the rest of their lives. >> Mhm. >> And this is how it ends. It just pisses
me off. >> And to think that some of them had escaped like very dangerous situations
in different countries >> to come here to be safe. Yeah. And then they meet this [ __ ] nasty little
[ __ ] [ __ ] goblin, >> Richard Speck. like, oh, he's so gross. So, when we last left you, that that's
what happened. They they had though ended up finding a lead through like a very interesting little avenue of like
having to take some resources from different parts that were not just the direct Chicago Police Department.
>> Very boots on the ground. >> Very boots on the ground. Very on the ground. And it was the robbery squad
that was the one that ended up having the kooky contacts to make this happen. >> Not the kooky contacts. And it was also
people not taking out the trash, which is pretty sick. >> That happens so frequently. I I never
know when they are going to take my trash. >> If you question if if you're sitting
there and your gut says, you know what, I don't feel like taking out that trash today. Don't do it cuz I think it's
telling you something. >> Everything happens for a reason. >> Yeah. And they had through this whole
little um process of, you know, going to this mechanic who deals with a lot of petty criminals and then finding out
that this guy had been in there who was a dick face to him and had left two of his bags there. They were able to follow
that to the NMU, which is a union um for like people who work on like ships and boats and [ __ ] and they can get them
assignments and jobs. They ended up going there. The guy, the administrator there was like, "Oh yeah, I think I
remember a guy like that." We had sent him on a job. He didn't get it. He was pissed. He wrote down all of his [ __ ]
information and crumpled it up and put it in the trash because he was a piece of [ __ ] and didn't deserve a goddamn job
to begin with. >> I know. I love that. He didn't even get a job. >> He just threw that [ __ ] right in the
trash. And then he was able to pick up that crumpled piece of paper and say, "Well, actually, his name is Richard
Bspec and here's a direct line to his sister Carolyn who he is living with currently."
>> Hey, >> and we told you that Carolyn was the one I don't know. >> She's his big sister. I I don't know
>> what happened. >> But she just, you know, she's trying to she she took him in. She was trying to
to help him out. >> Don't make me mad at Caroline. >> And just, you know, I think she just I
think she wanted him to be a better person than he was. >> She had blinders on. >> I think she had a lot of blinders on.
So, he's living there right now. He's currently drinking. He's still getting into trouble. He had promised her he was
going to be a better person and he just wasn't. So based on what detectives had learned from that administrator at the
NMU, they knew that that's where he was staying. And from the look of things, he
was trying to get out of the city as fast and as soon as possible because who they talked to, this guy was looking to
get on a boat and he was looking to go to New Orleans. >> Yeah. >> It certainly helped that they now had a
name to go with the detailed description from Kora and now the sketch made by a police sketch artist. But they still had
to tread carefully when it came to releasing this information to the press. Now, earlier that year, the US Supreme
Court's decision in Miranda versus Arizona, you might know it. I think I've heard of it. It had cast a spotlight on
police abuses of power during criminal interviewing. And both the district attorney and investigators on the case
worried that if they posted the sketch in the paper or mentioned Spec by name, that might be cause for the case to be
completely thrown out in court. Yeah. >> Because they just Yeah. that nailed it.
Yeah. What they needed was some piece of evidence that conclusively connected Spec to the murders and made him an
irrefutable suspect. >> Now, at the NMU office, investigators decided to set a trap
>> to try to lure Spec to the officer where they could take him into custody. >> Okay.
>> The administrator placed a call to Carolyn's apartment, his big sister, where they spoke to her husband, who
informed them that he hadn't seen Richard all day. >> Okay. The administrator asked the man to
relay a message to Richard telling him they had a job for him on the Sinclair Great Lakes, but they needed him to come
into the office as soon as possible. >> Smart. >> So, the trap is laid, and a large number
of undercover officers waited in the NMU office, posing as sailors. >> I love a trap.
>> And they waited anxiously for their suspect to arrive cuz they knew that he he's probably their guy.
>> Yeah. I mean, everything is lining up too perfectly. Now, while detectives work to lure Spec into the NMU office,
analysts at the Chicago Police Department have been doing their best to track down Speck's fingerprints. If they
were able to find a set of prints, they hoped they could match them to the prints found in the townhouse, and that
would allow them to publicly identify him as a suspect and release his name in the sketch.
>> Yeah. >> As luck would have it, the FBI headquarters that Specs Prince were on
file from an earlier arrest. >> Oh. Oh. >> In Texas, so they already had them. But
in a time before fax, machines, and email, the only way to get the prints from Washington DC to Chicago was either
drive them or send them by air. >> Oh man. >> At the time, there was an ongoing airline strike across the country,
>> and flights out of DC were grounded until further notice, putting investigators in a pretty tough pickle.
>> Yeah. >> Back at the NMU office, the phone rang just a little after 5:00 p.m. And when
the administrator answered, it was Richard Speck calling about the job. Oh god, >> this man just murdered eight women and
now he's like, "A job, you say? >> Thanks. I'm I'm getting out of here." >> The man reiterated the details. It was a
last minute job in the Sinclair Great Lakes. And if Speck wanted the work, he needed to come down to the office that
afternoon and get the assignment. Spec told the man he'd take the job and promise he'd be there soon. But hours
passed and he didn't show up. After several hours, it occurred to investigators that Speck might be on to
their plan. >> Oh [ __ ] Uh, in fact, when he spoke to the man from the NMU, the administrator
told Spec the job was on the Sinclair Gate Great Lakes, the exact name of the ship Speck had been previously assigned
to and was passed over for someone else. If he had caught the name, he probably would have known that that ship already
left port. >> Y, >> which would have been a strong indication that this was a trap.
>> That's not a good way to lay your trap. >> Use a different ship. >> You have to have everything planned out.
So, now certain that spec was on to them. Chicago officers and detectives spread out across the city again, this
time with a clear understanding of who they were looking for. The problem was though that with the ongoing protests
and the general policing that was occurring at the same time, messages and alerts didn't always get relayed. Case
in point, in the early evening of July 16th, two beat cops received a call from dispatch about a man at a local hotel
with a gun. The officers arrived at the hotel and were told by the front desk clerk that the room was registered to a
David Stton. But when they went up to the room, the man inside identified himself as Richard Speck. Having not
been directly involved in the investigation of the student nurses, the officers had no way of knowing the
suspect had been named. >> Please tell me. >> So, they simply gave Speck a verbal
warning and confiscated the gun, allowing Speck to slip from their fingers yet again. Shut up.
>> When the news of the check of the hotel reached homicide detectives, they raced
to the hotel, but by the time they got there, he was gone. >> And they said, "You [ __ ] idiot."
>> Yes. For the second time in one day, the killer of eight innocent young women had
managed to slip away into the city, and investigators were starting to think that they might lose their chance to
catch him. If he managed to get through the roadblocks and make it out of Chicago, they were never following him.
Their best bet remained the fingerprints in the sketch. And finally that afternoon, they caught a lucky break.
Despite the ongoing air airline strike, a pilot with American Airlines volunteered to fly the fingerprints from
Washington DC to Chicago. >> Hell yeah, brother. >> Once they received the prints, two
analysts worked through the night, analyzing the set by hand and comparing them to the prints found at the house.
That is too cool. too cool. >> To think about people analyzing fingerprints before you could just like
plug it into a database is bit by bit. >> So [ __ ] cool. >> And they worked all night to make sure
these were like those two are bad asses. By the next morning, they were able to confidently and conclusively match the
prints at the scene to Speck's prints from the FBI file. >> And detectives rushed to get the sketch
of Speck onto the front page of every newspaper that morning. along with a description of his born to hell to race
hell tattoo. >> No. >> Now, as soon as the description and identification of spec went out, calls
started flooding into the Chicago Police Department. Most were misidentifications
or, you know, of little value basically. But there were a few who claimed to have
seen or spoken with Speck at local bars in the days before and immediately after
the murders. >> And they said those are probably correct because that guy drinks.
>> He drinks. One man, Claude Lunsford, told investigators that he had been drinking with Spec a few nights earlier
on the fire escape of the Star Hotel. He remembered that tattoo on his arm and the gun he had been carrying that night.
>> That's such a clawed story. >> It really is such a clawed story, right? On like the fire escape of a of a bar.
>> Yeah, that's that's just Claude doing hotel >> like, >> you know, just Cloud things
>> where Claude hangs. >> Find yourself a Claude and he'll have a story. I know it.
>> That is at the start of the hotel. >> While officers fielded calls that morning, Dr. Leroy Smith was on his
break at County Hospital where he was casually flipping the newspaper and he read the description of the suspect in
the tattoo. Moments later, Dr. Smith was called into surgery to help a young man
who had been brought to the hospital with what appeared to be superficial cuts on his wrist from a half-hearted
attempt to end his life. As Smith was wiping the blood away from the young man's arm, he recognized the tattoo on
that left arm that read, "Born to raise hail. >> Stop it." >> And realized the man on the hospital
gurnie was none other than Richard Speck. >> Stop. >> The most wanted man in Chicago. And he
obviously knew that the police were onto his ass. Thank goodness he read the paper that morning.
>> Wow. >> Dr. Smith called for hospital security who kept an eye on Speck until homicide
detectives were able to get to the hospital and they placed him under arrest for murder.
>> Shut up. So he basically walked right into it. >> Yeah. >> Now when the news broke of the arrest,
the residents of Chicago heaved a collective sigh of relief because remember they're all terrified. This guy
walked into a [ __ ] house that night and massacred eight women. >> Like >> Yeah. It's shocking. Like absolutely
shocking to me that he had never murdered before. >> They're all terrified. And think about
Kora. Cora is [ __ ] terrified. She's the only one that survived. She's sitting there being like, "Is he going
to come find me?" >> Andy, that's the thing. He's seen her face. >> Yeah. Sergeant John Griffith told press
immediately after he was taken into custody at the hospital. There is no doubt that this is Speck. Later that
morning, Kora was brought to the hospital where she viewed Speck through a two-way mirror and she confirmed that
he was the killer, telling detectives, "This is the man." What a brave [ __ ] girl.
>> What a badass. Truly. Yeah. Like that's really brave. After everything she went
through and everything she heard having to be sedated like still traumatized. >> That's the thing. She had to be sedated
after this. Like >> Oh yeah. >> Now in their press conference following the positive identification, police
superintendent ow Wilson said, "I feel we have enough evidence to convict him. We have physical evidence placing him in
the building and we have positive identification from an intended victim. As far as I'm concerned, there's no
question but that this is the man. More positive identifications followed, including those from the National
Maritime Union and various bars and hotels where Richard uh had been seen before and after the murders occurred.
>> Okay. >> The next day, July 18th, Spec was arranged for the murders, but the prosecutor was hesitant to rush the case
to a grand jury given how much scrutiny the courts and law enforcement had been under with regard to the rights of the
accused. States Attorney Daniel Ward told the press that they would be proceeding with an abundance of caution
and making sure the case was airtight before presenting it to a grand jury, >> which you understand.
>> Yeah. They don't want this guy getting released again. Jesus Christ. >> And he's been in and out of the system
forever. >> Yeah. And so Ward said, "We anticipate going to the grand jury this week with
the case. Although Speck is presently under sedation, we plan to have him appear in felony court." In fact, more
than three weeks passed before investigators were even given approval to interview Speck. But eventually, Ward
presented the evidence to a grand jury with a small but pretty significant amount of circumstantial evidence behind
him. >> Among other things, they were presented with the fingerprint evidence that
linked him to the crime scene, Kora's positive identification of him as the killer and various others who testified,
including William Kirkland, who told the jury he'd bought a 12-in hunting knife from Speck at a downtown bar just hours
after the murders were committed. >> Stop it. bought the [ __ ] knife from him >> hours later.
>> According to Kirkland, we were sitting there talking and Spec brought the knife
out and began talking about it. I asked him if he if he wanted to sell it, offered him a dollar, and he handed me
the knife. >> A dollar? >> A dollar cuz he wanted to get rid of that murder weapon.
>> That should have been like a red flag for that guy. >> Yeah, I would say so. Now, the grand
jury voted to indict Richard Speck on eight counts of first-degree murder, but the road to the trial was going to be
long and filled with delays. For one, Speck's attempted suicide, no matter how sincere or insincere, was evidence of a
deep depression that would surely hinder his ability to aid in his own defense. Unfortunately,
>> at the time, there was still a great deal of concern again over the rights of
the accused. >> So, the prosecutor's office is saying, "Unless everything's done completely by
the book, there's a chance that one little technicality is going to get us, and we're just not walking into that."
>> Good for them to be so >> so careful. >> Yeah. cuz this is just like we don't
need the verdict overturned in an appeal. We don't need some technicality cutting this short
to walk out that door and do it again. >> As a result, the preparation for the trial took months as both sides readied
for what would surely be the biggest trial of the year. >> Oh yeah. >> In the meantime, Richard Spec sat in
jail waiting for the trial to begin. Between July 26th, 1966 and February 17th, 1967, he was held at Kermach
Memorial Hospital in the Chicago House of Corrections. And he was being treated for depression and suicidal ideiation.
Also, according to Dr. William Norcross, there was quote an 80% chance that Speck
had suffered a coronary thrombosis on the morning of his arraignment. So, he required treatment for that as well.
Dang. [music] During this time, he participated in twice weekly sessions with a psychiatrist, Dr. Marvin Zaporan, who
would go on to write a book about his experience with spec. >> Oh, isn't that very against everything?
[laughter] >> Isn't that very against everything? >> Do you know what I mean? Like hippo.
Yeah, I've I'm sure. >> But maybe do criminals not get HIPPA? >> Do you not get HIPPA? [laughter]
>> Hey, criminals. Do you get criminals? You got HIPPA? >> No, but like you know what I'm saying?
[laughter] Cuz I know that like when you're a criminal and you write a book, you can't
profit off of it. Like when you're like a killer, >> that's like a newer >> I know that's newer.
>> Um I said that's so rude. I was like I know that's newer. >> I know that. >> But no, I'm like the psychiatrist
writing about it. Isn't that like no? Isn't that bad news bears? >> I think they have to still maintain
animity when it comes to the person that they were treating, but they can talk about their experiences
>> without naming them. I'm fairly >> and then everybody will just know that it's that [laughter] person
>> and everybody will know. But like >> interesting. >> I mean, I guess he can sue you.
>> It's one of those things, you know? So many legal questions. >> Spoiler alert, he's dead now. So,
>> okay. He's not doing [ __ ] >> All right. >> Except for rotting where [laughter]
good. >> Um >> maybe that's maybe that's it. >> Maybe that's what it is. >> All right. Anyway,
>> uh so he Sorry, I got caught up in the minut. >> Yeah, you know, it's cool. But so he
wrote a book and he said later, "Yes, Speck was suicidal. He was emotionally unstable, impulsive, and depressive. In
his early sessions, he noted that Speck's mood changed constantly through their meetings and was quote, "Never the
same for more than two or three minutes at a time." >> Wow, that's horrifying. >> Scary. Uh, like nearly all Americans at
the time, Saporin was desperate to find an explanation for what was an inexplicably brutal and pretty [ __ ]
senseless like set of murders. >> Yeah. >> Spec had forcibly entered the house presumably to rob the nurses who
willingly gave up their money and listened to him. Then for reasons that made no sense at the time, he just chose
to brutally and systematically murder them all. The modem was supposed to be robbery. That was pretty weak. motive
for him to claim now. >> Especially cuz they all just were like sitting in a room and were bound.
>> They were sitting there saying, "We'll give you everything. You can take all you want. I don't give a shit."
>> And there's a living witness to testify to that. >> It's like that doesn't And so it's like
after they cooperated, why he would murder them and so brutally is beyond comprehension. Truly.
>> Absolutely it is. But Zaporan spent months digging deep into Spec's psyche, looking for the key that would explain
his actions. And there was a great deal of talk about his upbringing, the death of his father, the abuse he suffered at
the hands of his stepfather, of course. >> Yeah. >> Um, there was also the discovery that as
a teenager, he might have suffered a head injury at the hands of a police officer when he was 16 years old.
>> There it is. That's also really bad timing for the police. >> Yeah. That he told Saborin, "I was
fighting this kid. I had him on the ground really giving it to him and a cop came to break it up. He broke it up,
okay? Cracked my head with his club till he knocked me out clean. So >> since then, Richard claimed he had been
experiencing headaches, migraines, all that were like pretty debilitating. And he said he often blacked out and would
awaken hours later with no memory of what had happened, which I said, "Wow, convenient."
>> So yeah, [laughter] here's the thing. Did that happen or did he look at the social climate and say, "Hey, I've been
affected by big old policemen, too. They're the reason I did this. I just blacked out. Sometimes I close my eyes
and I don't know what happened. It's crazy. >> It's a little too convenient. >> And just for good measure, Speck also
included a story about falling out of a tree when he was 6 years old and sustaining a similar head injury. So, he
just he's bopping his head all over the place. He's like, I don't even What head? Who? I don't know her. [laughter]
>> I was trying to say anything, but I couldn't stop laughing. I [laughter] was like,
yeah, I don't know, man. Maybe I [laughter] have injury. Oh, well, no, we'll never know whether Richard was
telling the truth in these interviews. We can know. >> We can uh wildly speculate. [laughter]
>> Uh it's entirely possible that he was telling the truth and that he had had something was wrong with him.
>> Something was wrong. Um but, you know, maybe he was fabricating the whole thing
in preparation for an insanity defense that was clearly being telegraphed by his lawyer, Cook County public defender
Gerald Getty. >> Rob, pro problem. Uh, in preparation for the case, Getty had enlisted three
wellrespected psychiatrists whose opinions he hoped would override those of the prosecution's experts. In fact,
Getty was in a very tricky spot. On the one hand, there was strong evidence that
placed his client at the scene and a witness who repeatedly identified him as the killer.
>> Yeah. >> On the other hand, an insanity defense carried some significant risks. For
instance, if Speck was evaluated by Getty psychiatrists and determined to be a sociopath, it would completely
undermine his insanity defense. >> Yep. >> Still, insanity was the most viable strategy at this point. So, Getty moved
forward and hoped that they could convince the jury Speck wasn't responsible for his actions. What Getty
didn't know at the time was that Dr. Zaporan's evaluations and log of contacts with Speck might work in the
defendant's favor. >> Oh. After spending months with Speck, Zaporan concluded, quote, "Speck is an
obsessive compulsive personality whose rigidity, ambivalence, and hostility have been accentuated by his organic
cerebral pathology." >> Yeah. >> In other words, Speck had an organic mental illness that had been exacerbated
by his reported brain injury when he was 16. >> Okay. >> When those symptoms were at their worst,
he wrote, "A patient is not responsible for his conduct and may be completely unaware of what he is doing."
I disagree. I put that totally disagree. >> But I'm not there. You don't I [laughter]
how we got to really take into consideration how long it must have taken him to do everything he did to
those women >> systematically >> one by one >> walked to those women out there and
sexually assaulted some of them and then brutally [ __ ] he himself later says which we will get to that strangling
someone isn't like you see in the movies you got to go at it for a good 3 minutes
>> Jesus literally what he says and it's on tape later. >> And it's also like how do you know that
if you've never done it cuz like you don't remember your blackouts. >> You're not responsible for your actions
though. So like how do you know that? >> I don't know about that. >> Yeah. Now this wasn't the first time the
prosecutor's office had heard Zaporin's chronic brain syndrome quote unquote as an explanation for criminal behavior. In
fact, he presented it several times in previous criminal cases. >> Like dude, come on.
>> Never with much success. >> Yeah. kind of sounds like he was, you know, trying to get that to be a thing
and it just it isn't a thing. >> It's like maybe let's not try to make that a thing.
>> Yeah. Anticipating um Zaporan and others attempts to explain away Speck's behavior, the prosecution began building
their own case to demonstrate that Richard Speck wasn't some ordinary man afflicted with a kind of jackal and hyde
syndrome. Instead, he had developed his criminal personality and cunning over many years of illegal activity and be a
ship. like he's just >> simple as that. >> Richard Spec's trial began April 3rd,
1967 in Peoria, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. In his opening statements to the jury, prosecutor William Martin
detailed the carnage that unfolded in the townhouse on the night of July 13, including eight murders, robbery, and
sexual assault, all of which was committed by Richard >> Spec. All alone. At no time did any of
the victims attempt to fight or resist Spec. And they because they were bound. >> Yeah.
>> And in fact, they willingly handed over whatever valuables they had in order to
cooperate and get him to leave. But Speck didn't leave. Martin reminded the jury he chose instead to brutally stab,
slash, and strangle everyone in that house in order to cover his tracks and get away with his crime. Which also
means he's sane everybody. He literally did it >> to not leave a witness so he could get
away with it. and then also sold the knife afterwards, which shows that he was trying to get rid of the murder
weapon. >> Like, hello. And that's Martin argued that's the behavior of a man who knew
exactly what he was doing and exactly what would happen if he was caught. As he wrapped up his opening statements,
Martin reminded the jury that his office was asking for the death penalty in this
case, as nothing less was appropriate for what he had done. >> In this scenario, I kind of got a he is
an animal. When it came time for Gerald Getty to present his case, it was as simple a defense as any had ever heard
in this courthouse. He said, "I don't know. He lost his head." [laughter] >> Are you ready?
>> No, probably not. >> He told the jury, "My man didn't do it." No. No. No. No. Get that out of here.
No. My man didn't do it. >> Period. >> My man didn't do it. Period. Now, at some point, [laughter]
>> he got up there with his whole chest >> and talking about a massacre said, "My
man didn't do it. >> My man didn't do it. >> This is just your man now. >> My man didn't do it.
>> That's a conflict of interest, my guy." >> Here's the thing. I think at some point
it became pretty clear to Getty that the insanity defense was uh not going to happen and probably very risky. So,
instead, he just chose the oldest defense in the book, which is wasn't me. wasn't me. He said, "The theory of the
defense is that Speck is not the perpetrator of this crime. The state will have to prove its contention beyond
a reasonable doubt." >> Okay, >> bye. >> The girl who experienced it is right over there and says otherwise. Thanks.
>> His strategy, idiot, >> uh, might have been bold given the evidence. >> Might have been, but he was right about
one thing. It was very much incumbent upon the state to prove its case against Spec, not the other way around.
>> Yeah, that's true. Um, Getty told the jury, "Their evidence will include an eyewitness, and you will have to test
whether that witness is an eyewitness." >> What a douchebag. Which, whoa. Uh, Getty's case may have seemed like a big
risk, but the fact was the forensic evidence only indicated Richard Spec had been in the house at some point, and not
necessarily during the time the women were killed. Unfortunately, it was only Kora, her testimony, that identified him
as the killer. And by her own admission, she hadn't seen her roommates being murdered. She only saw the killer when
he entered the house and tied everyone up. Therefore, it was entirely possible that Kora was mistaken in identifying
Spec or that she was so traumatized by the event that she misremembered the situation entirely. That's what they
could have argued, though. That's what they would have argued. >> Yeah. Getty's subtle attack on the
state's most important witness was to be expected, of course, and it was given a
certain amount of credibility in the eyes of the public, considering that Kora hadn't been seen or heard from
since she was rescued from that scene. >> In fact, many >> Sorry. They said we didn't see her in
the public, so that would only lead me to believe her more. >> Yeah. In fact, many reporters and
speculators wondered whether Kora was even still in the United States. On the second day of the trial, those questions
were put to rest, though, when the prosecution called Kora up to testify. >> I'm like, "Oh, racism." It turned out
that there was a very good reason for her sudden disappearance following the murders. Kora had been placed in witness
protection by the prosecution who worried she might be a flight risk or otherwise too fragile to testify against
Speck. >> Yeah. In the end, Kora proved everyone wrong and ended up being William
Martin's single greatest asset. >> Good. [clears throat] Good. That's a real good for her [laughter] moment.
>> I hate that the public was like, "Is she even in the United States anymore?" >> Isn't that [ __ ] yourself?
>> Isn't that so the public? >> Is that traumatized girl even in the US? >> Probably not.
>> Isn't that so the public though? >> Yes, it's so the public. >> Isn't that so the public?
>> Not the public listening right now, but the other public. like that. Those are
that's those like people on the internet who were like like that's those are people before the internet.
>> And I got to tell you that's what you all sound like. [laughter] Like if you're listening right now and you're
not our public and you're >> that's what [laughter] you sound like. >> And I know it's not you guys.
>> I'm saying you know you guys know you know those those deep goblins on the internet who just have some [ __ ] to say
about [ __ ] everything. everything. Like their [ __ ] opinion matters. Like their [ __ ] words matter. They just go
around going >> I literally just picture Spongebobby like in the Spongebob text where it's
like is she even in the United States [laughter] anymore like okay >> it's so true.
>> Where are you exactly? [laughter] >> Like it's so true. It's so so true. [sighs]
>> Get a grip public. >> See that's that's those kind of people. >> I love that she was like [laughter]
>> she said [ __ ] y'all. >> Let me clear my >> She said listen the public. [ __ ] y'all.
>> Good. Now, over the course of several hours, Kora answered a seemingly endless
barrage of questions and detailed precisely what she'd seen and heard on the nights of the murders, during which
she frequently paused to compose herself, but never broke down. >> Good for her.
>> During the course of her testimony, she described the killer's appearance, the
fact that he smelled of alcohol because he's a nasty ass drunk, and even provided detailed descriptions of the
knife and gun that were nearly an exact match. >> Wow. Finally, when Martin asked whether
the man who committed the murders was in the courtroom, Kora rose from the witness stand, walked over to the
defense's table, standing only about a foot in front of him. She extended her arm, and pointed directly in Speck's
face. The womb that my body just did, nearly touching his nasty little [ __ ] nose. She said, "Not only am I in the
US, you [ __ ] right here, [ __ ] I'm like a millimeter away from him. Oh, I am still warming.
>> And she said loud enough for the whole court to hear, "This is the man." Oh, honey,
>> this is the man. >> They love to doubt a woman and a woman loves to [ __ ] him up. [ __ ] him up.
>> Y'all [ __ ] y'all. >> Oh, good for that. >> Of course, [ __ ] >> Enough can't be said. Enough can't be
said about the [ __ ] survivor she is. She did that for every single one of her friends and sisters and classmates.
Goosebumps. No, I'm still warming. It's insane. >> I've read this a few time. I have
[ __ ] goosebumps. >> That man you like, we really need to sit with this for a second. That man broke
into her house. She was the one who was at the door, right? >> She was in bed, heard a knock on the
door. He knocked on the [ __ ] door. >> He knocked on the door. He shoved the door with a gun in her face.
>> He gets her into a They all run into a closet to hide. He somehow convinces them to come out, ties her and her
friends up. Systematically, she can hear them being sexually assaulted, strangled, stabbed over and over again,
>> and she hides underneath a bed for hours and hours and hours and hours, then comes out to that carnage and lives to
tell the [ __ ] tale, stays in the United States, which everybody was so [ __ ] doubtful about, and then goes
into the courtroom and reles all of that. to relive all of that and then walk right up to that [ __ ] table.
>> Literally, >> the snaps can't be [ __ ] snapped enough. >> To saunter up to that [ __ ] table,
nearly touch the tip of that little bitch's nose and go, "That's a man." >> She said, "You didn't get me."
>> She said this one. >> And really, you didn't get any of us. >> This one [ __ ]
>> I applaud her. I I will applaud her till my dying day. >> She's everything. Cora for life. Yeah,
she's everything. >> And she just and she just said it loud and proud. This >> good for her.
>> In fact, one reporter said it was a moment few in the crowded courtroom would ever forget. It was filled with
the courage that was in the dimmin dimminionive 4 foot 10in form of the sole survivor of a tragic mass murder.
>> Always the shorties. >> She's a little You got to >> She is little but she is fierce.
>> You got to Everyone's going to doubt you. >> Yeah, I know little. >> Everyone's going to underestimate you.
So you got to you got to be >> that's how little Red became Big Red. [laughter] >> That's it.
>> She's forceful and courageous. >> 4 foot 10 and she walks up to that table. >> Good. Good for her.
>> Like a [ __ ] >> And he's a 6' tall like >> Yeah. >> gross looking monster >> goblin. And she walks up a [ __ ]
powerhouse. >> Obsessed. >> Yeah. >> It's amazing. So on April 14th, both sides gave their closing arguments.
>> Honey the Kora. Honey the Kora. >> I said, "Hold on." It came to me. What William Martin reminded the jury of all
that they'd seen and heard throughout the trial. Details of his long criminal history, his propensity for violence,
the irrefutable evidence that's placed him at the scene, and Kora's powerful testimony that identified Richard Speck
as the killer. Gerald Getty, on the other hand, restated his argument that Speck had never been at the house on the
night of the murders. He said, "Let me say one more time, [clears throat] my man didn't do it.
>> My man didn't do it." >> That's all. The fingerprints, he argued, were just, you know, too similar to
those of two people living in the house to be conclusive. >> Are you [ __ ] kidding?
>> FBI analysts literally spent all night hand analyzing them. >> I'm like, "Hey, babe. Do you know about
fingerprints?" >> Yeah. Oh, and also Spec had an alibi from two customers at a local tavern
that placed him somewhere else that night. And you know how how credible two customers of a local tavern usually are.
>> Honey, you know, >> honey, the tavern. And then Getty just said mistaken identity. Mistaken
identity. >> He just said peace. >> Peace. And also I'd like you all right now >> right now
>> to look up a picture of Rick Richard Spec. I shall. >> And then I want you to tell me if you
could ever mistake that man for someone else. He's pretty [ __ ] distinct. >> Yeah,
>> he's pretty [ __ ] distinct. >> Yeah, >> he's foul. It's It's pretty distinct.
He's heinous. Ultimately, [music] the jury disagreed with Getty. Uh, after deliberating for just 45 minutes, they
returned guilty verdicts on all eight counts, each one carrying a death sentence.
>> Wow. >> Uh, when the verdicts were read, Richard Spec looked up at the clerk, but
otherwise registered no emotion. Is he even capable, do we think? Probably not. Detective Brian Carile told a reporter
it was the only verdict the jury could have reached. >> Yeah. >> Uh, noticeably absent in the court that
day was the only surviving victim, Kora. Later that afternoon, >> she did what she needed to do.
>> She didn't give a [ __ ] She was like, "I know what I did." >> Yeah. And she knew that was going to be
enough to get him put away. >> Later that afternoon, when William Martin called to tell Kora the news, her
response was, "Congratulations." >> Period. >> She said, "Good job." >> She said, "Cool. I'm going to go about
my life now." >> Yeah. I'm going to pretend like this never happened. >> Now, on June 5th, 1967, Richard Speck
was sentenced to die in the electric chair, pending any appeals guaranteed to him by the Constitution. In 1968, the
Illinois Supreme Court upheld the conviction and the sentence, and that conviction was upheld a second time on
an appeal in 1971. But just one year later, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was
unconstitutional. And in November 1972, a judge in the same county reentenced Richard Spec to between 400 and 1,200
years in prison. >> I don't know if that's enough. Effectively giving him a life sentence.
>> I love when judges get petty like that. >> That like that's delicious. >> Can sentence you to death. How about a
gajillion years? >> That's very delicious. I really like that. The commutation of Speck's death
sentence was a disappointment to some, but the fact remained that he would spend the rest of his life and several
other lifetimes behind bars. And yet, throughout all of the hearings and appeals, one thing remained unsolved.
Specs motive for the murders. What the [ __ ] Like, why? >> Why did he just walk into that house one
day? In the years before Charles Manson and his followers reframed the public's understanding of murder and before the
FBI began researching and profiling murder leading to, you know, what we understand now about this like
horrifying phenomenon, the general public's perception of murder was pretty simple. Basically, people could
understand murder in the commission of a robbery, murder in a domestic violence situation, and even murder in the
commission of a sex crime. understand is a word. I can't think of another word to
say it. You know what I mean? Like I'm not saying they're justifying it. They're saying like my brain can
comprehend that that happens. >> Yeah. And that >> people just couldn't understand messed
up brain. That is a reason to do that. You know, >> um they could at least understand that.
What was incomprehensible though was murder simply for the sake of murder. That was just not something people could
wrap their brains around, >> which is incomprehensible even still to this day. And again, I said like in Mind
Hunter, you see them >> they talk to Richard Speck in Mind Hunter. >> I got to rewatch that.
>> He was part of this whole thing. So, it's like he they didn't understand. They desperately wanted to understand
why he did this. And >> honestly, we'll never understand. He's just a piece of [ __ ]
>> Um >> I hope someday we can figure out >> I hope someone is a reason though. I
really don't. There's got to be >> I don't know what it could be. But the idea that someone would kill not for any
material gain but just for the satisfaction of killing was just like a concept we couldn't get. Of course,
killers like Spec had existed for centuries and again always would. But in the American imagination, they'd always
been relegated to the pages of fiction, not reality. So it's like this once it started coming into their regular lives,
it was like what? >> That's confounding. So because of this spec's mass murder of eight women for no
[ __ ] reason was according to prosecutor William Martin the end of an age of innocence like suddenly it was
like the glass shatter moment >> that's so heavy >> and it's very much the glass shatter
moment >> it was always happening >> but now it was behind that glass that we just didn't know about or we didn't
understand and now the glass has shattered and now we have to accept that there are people in this world that kill
because they like to kill and it's like that must have been a [ __ ] up time. >> Yeah, absolutely.
>> We've always lived in a time where people have killed for the [clears throat] sake of killing or for
satisfaction because they like to do it. They like to hurt people. >> So, we've never had we can sit here and
like wonder why, but we've never lived in a world where it that even happened and then suddenly to be thrust into this
new way of thinking of like, oh [ __ ] >> that person over there could just really
like killing people and just do it for no reason. what it must have been like to just
>> go about your day in certain ways and not expect to be killed. >> Yeah. >> Like that's
>> in the parking lot this morning. I thought I was going to get killed. >> Yeah.
>> Like that happens all the time. >> Always think about >> that's a woman's Roman Empire is getting
killed. >> Getting killed. >> Yeah. That's why we do this, I think. >> Yeah. You know.
>> Oh, yeah. Now, for two days while he Well, we didn't know who he was. People in Chicago lived in abject fear of this
unknown killer capable of anything. just stalking the streets and capable of killing n eight people at a time alone.
>> Um Martin said it changed everything. We all became much more conscious of our
security. Eight nurses could be slaughtered in their beds for no reason by a stranger. And if it could happen to
eight young women all on the verge of starting their lives and all well-loved and wellresected and smart and capable,
it could happen to anyone. >> Yeah. In the years that followed, the fear and anxiety that gripped Chicago
for those two days would creep into every corner of America, obviously, as the nation grew more and more aware that
not everyone around them was safe. >> But in many ways, that fear can be traced back to Richard Spec's decision
to murder eight innocent women for no [ __ ] reason. Now, maybe it's because of that fear that so many people became
kind of obsessed with understanding his crimes. Well, when there's no answer, you do keep going back to something.
Gerald Getty wanted to prove his client was insane at the time of the killing. While Dr. Zaporin theorized that it was
likely a head injury combined with an organic mental illness that led to it. If they could find an explanation, a lot
of people were reasoning maybe we could stop these killers >> before it even happens,
>> you know, or at the very least make them safe from themselves, stop it from happening. And there was a real movement
and still kind of is to figure out what is happening, how this happens and stop it before it actually even begins to
start. >> Right. Right. >> But on December 5th, 1991, just one day before his 50th birthday, Richard Speck
died. >> One day before his 50th birthday. >> Yeah. >> Wow. >> He died at Silver Cross Hospital from a
heart attack. >> And his dad had died early of a heart attack. >> It's true. And young. Yeah. Like young.
>> Pretty young. Yeah. So, that should be where the story of Richard Spec ends. But there's a weird bizarre KOD at the
end of this that I don't think anybody really could have uh seen coming like after death. Um, so in the spring of
1996, he died in 1991. >> That's my literal time. The spring of 1996, [laughter]
>> row, you know, different big difference. Uh, in the spring of 1996, television
news anchor Bill Curtis interviewed William Martin for a special that he was working on for A&E television.
>> Oh, an A&E. >> After the interview, >> we know drama. >> Yeah. After the interview, I'm so sorry.
[laughter] >> Like, what? >> You're like, "Shut the [ __ ] up." >> Uh, after the interview was done, Martin
was walking Curtis to the elevator when he suggested Martin come to his office sometime soon. He said, "I want to show
you something." >> That's terrifying. >> I would have said, "No." And is Martin the guy that was like, "My man didn't do
it." >> No, that's Getty. Martin was the on the good side. Oh, okay. I'd go to his
office. So, at the time, he's a veteran prosecutor, so he's like, "Sure." So, at
the time, Martin thought Curtis was just being polite. So, he acknowledged the offer, but then kind of forgot about it.
Uh, but a few weeks later, Martin got a call from Bill Curtis's assistant, again, inviting Martin to Curtis's
office to see something he thought would be of some importance. So, because there
was repeated requests at this time, Martin's like, "All right, cool. He must have something to show me. So, a few
days later, he found himself sitting before a television in Curtis's Chicago office. According to Bill Curtis, he had
received a videotape from an unnamed lawyer with access to inmates at Stateville Correctional Center, where
Richard Spec was serving his sentence. >> The lawyer claimed that the tapes contained irrefutable evidence of
profound corruption and abuse happening in the Illinois prison system, and he wanted Curtis to expose that corruption.
>> Oh, [ __ ] Bill Curtis was like, "Fuck yeah, I will." But before he showed those tapes to a committee at the state
legislature, he wanted William Martin to see them. >> When Bill Curtis pressed play on the
VCR, the first thing that that Richard that Martin saw was Richard Speck on the videotape.
>> Okay. >> Sitting beside another inmate, Ronzel Laramore, in an otherwise empty room
with blank walls. There was a third person who has never been identified operating the camera.
>> Okay. >> They're in prison, by the way. Why do they have a video camera? >> Yep.
>> Martin was so scared right now. >> You should be. So Martin was shocked when he saw Speck in the video because
it had been decades since he'd last seen Richard Spec and he remembered him being
like awkward, like really skinny, gangly. But in the video, Richard was considerably heavier and looked much
older than 47 years old. >> Okay. >> And he Yeah. He was sporting this like really odd page boy haircut too and was
wearing old paint smeared clothing. >> Okay. >> It's a very unsettling image. >> Have you seen it?
>> I've seen an image from it. >> Oh, but >> should I Google now? >> Careful when googling. [laughter]
I will give you that. >> Okay, I'll have you show me the one. >> Careful when googling.
>> Oh, no. >> The video itself, the fact that unsupervised inmates had access to a
video camera in an empty room. >> Yeah. Weird. were surprising to Martin and certainly seemed like evidence of
poor prison management right off the bat. Uh, but the content of the video was what shocked him the most. In the
video, Laramore can be heard interviewing Spec. Um, and it's revealed that the two of them have been in a
sexual relationship for many years. Richard is seen on the video performing sex acts and using drugs on camera.
They're in prison >> using drugs and and perform. So, they're making like a sex tape in prison.
>> Yeah. Okay. And he also reveals that he had some kind of hormone smuggled into
prison which he had been taking and no one had known about it. >> Okay. And then he goes on to, now this
is Richard Speck. He goes on to remove his clothing and can be seen walking back and forth in front of the camera
wearing nothing but a pair of women's underwear, which I assume he's in a men's prison. So where did he get those?
>> Not real sure. Just before the video ends, the conversation turns to the crimes for which Richard Spec was in
there for. Laramore asks, "What's what are you locked up for?" And he says, "Eight counts of murder." And Laramore
smiles. >> Ew. >> And says, "Did you kill them?" And Richard chuckles and says, "Sure, I
did." >> And when he's asked why he did it, which is the question that everyone had been
asking forever, he does not hesitate even a little. And he says, "It just wasn't their night.
>> [gasps] >> What the [ __ ] Isn't that the most chilling thing you've ever heard?
Ew. Like the most chilling thing. It just wasn't their night. >> It just wasn't their night.
>> No hesitation. It just wasn't their night. Like, what the [ __ ] >> What does that even mean, dude?
>> What does that even mean? >> Like >> to be so like horrifying. >> Is cavalier the right word for that?
Yeah, that just popped into my brain. Yeah, it just wasn't their night. And they and he even asked him like why he's
like why did you bring a gun and not use it? And he said it makes too much noise.
>> It was just for like So once he's proving that he knew exactly what he was in there to do.
>> So that whole thing where he was like cuz then he says something like all I want to do was burglary. It started off
as burglary. No, baby. You just you just kind of showed your ass, though, cuz you
said that the gun would be too loud. So, you were planning to use it. >> Yeah. >> You were planning to use something to
hurt them, and you knew the gun would be too loud. That's why you brought the knife.
>> I don't think I will ever forget. It just wasn't their night. >> Yeah. >> That's like
>> It just wasn't their night. >> That's like um what's her name? Brenda. >> Oh my god. Who said, "Yeah, I just don't
like Mondays." >> Yep. >> Like that's [ __ ] up. And he even says he talks to him and
this is when he says like strangle a person. It's not like what you see on TV about 3 seconds and they're dead. You've
got to go at it for three and a half minutes. It takes a lot of strength. I'm just like I'm shook right now.
>> Yeah, he's a horrifying human being. Um so again, up until this point it been
decades to try to figure out why the [ __ ] he murdered eight innocent women and nobody ever really got an answer.
And it kind of but it was also kind of just right in front of them the whole time. He wasn't mentally ill. He didn't
have any neurological disorders that caused him to kill without knowing what he was doing.
>> He was a shitty person, a petty criminal who'd found himself caught in the act of
robbery and sexual assault. And instead of going to jail for his crimes, he just
decided to wipe out all the witnesses. And he went in there thinking, "Well, maybe I'll kill some people tonight." He
just didn't care. Like it wasn't. >> And he was pissed off. I think he was a pissy little [ __ ]
>> and I think he got into moods and he got into rages and when he got mad got >> off the handle
>> someone else was going to pay for it and >> so I think that was part of it. >> That's got to be like even though like
we like we're saying like he's not mentally ill that h it has to be some mental illness that we just haven't
figured out yet. >> Yeah. >> You know what I mean? >> I don't even know I don't even know if I
want to classify it as a mental illness. I think it's like he's missing something.
>> Yeah. I miss a piece of what makes you a human. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Which I think is different from a mental
illness. >> No, I don't think you're wrong. >> Is missing a fundamental piece of what
makes you a human being. I think we just haven't figured out what that piece is yet.
>> I think eventually we will figure out what the pieces are that fundamentally make you a human being and keep your
humanity intact. And I think he is missing it or it's irrevocably broken. Well, I think a lot of it has to do with
the brain and like which part of the brains connect and which part of the like which pathways are [ __ ] up.
>> And it's I I do feel like if we keep studying the brain like we will find out.
>> And I it's got to be some pathway to like a like two different parts of the brain that just don't connect.
>> Yeah. >> Or that maybe two parts of the brain that do connect and not aren't supposed
to. >> I don't know. But it's >> I I hope I'm alive when they figure it out. I know cuz the thing is like he was
in a [ __ ] frenzied state. >> Yeah. >> During this like frenzied like anim animalistic like blackout, not blackout
but like rage wild frenzy. And only because of that only because he was in such a frenzied ragefilled just chaotic
state. That's why he failed to notice that one of his intended targets had disappeared and wasn't sitting in the
room. >> Right. And it's only thanks to the bravery of Kora Amaro that Speck was
held accountable at all. And he even says that in the video, which further goes to show you that Kora is the
[ __ ] hero here, because in the video they ask him, Larore asks him, uh, how did it feel after killing all those
ladies? That's how he says it. And he says, like I always felt, have no feeling. If you're asking if I felt
sorry, no. And he says a very like >> just and he says, "Did none of them get away?"
>> Somebody else asked that. >> Yeah. >> And he says, "One did. That's why I'm sitting here now." And he says, "If none
of them got away, I wouldn't be sitting here." So he unknowingly also just proved that Kora is the [ __ ] badass
of the century here and she's the reason he's behind bars. >> I can't imagine being Kora and hearing
that. >> Yeah. >> That you're the reason and that he knows it. that he's been sitting in prison.
That also that's the biggest >> that must have been simultaneously >> horrifying and also
>> so validating >> satisfying because it's like you know he's been sitting in prison for however
long just thinking about the fact that you're the reason which would be terrifying because thinking about
someone that evil thinking about you and at all any kind of like just vengeful thoughts against you would
>> having every single day to sit there in a cell thinking But then also sitting there and being
like [clears throat] >> what are you going to do about it, right? [laughter] >> And now you're dead. So that was the end
of your life was sitting there thinking about how I [ __ ] your life up. >> This was one of the
gnarliest but also at the same time most fascinating cases I think you've ever told.
>> It's a wild one. Like truly truly wild. >> The end of that is so chilling. >> It just wasn't their night.
>> No, I hate that. Yeah. I What a [ __ ] What a cold answer. It's like the It's
cold as ice that answer. >> Just no thought at all. Just >> It almost feels like he's trying to be
funny. >> Yeah. >> But it's like >> if you think that's funny, [ __ ] >> Yeah. That's dark. That's so dark.
>> Yeah. We >> If you read more about the the video is a wild >> Martin William Martin sitting there
watching that must have been like, "What the [ __ ] did you just show me?" He's like, "You really want me video?" Like
[laughter] I just didn't need to see this. >> The [ __ ] those people must see and then
just they have to go home to their families is nuts. >> Just like live >> like lawyers, defense attorneys,
prosecutors, police, likeards, anybody in that field. I >> you see the gnarly [ __ ]
>> It's true. >> It's wild. >> Yeah. So that's the uh that's the case of Richard Spec.
>> Well, I need to go um cut off the top of my head, take out my brain, and wash it
and put it back in what I have to do. >> And then I'll see you later. So, while they do that, we hope you keep
listening. >> And we hope you >> keep it weird, >> but not so weird as Richard Spec.
[music] Honey, >> never. >> Don't do that. >> Never do that. >> I don't even know how you could
possibly. Kora for life. Kora five ever. Keep it as weird as Kora. >> Yeah. [music] Keep it as badass as Kora.
Hell yeah. >> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music]

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 https://www.purple-planet.com Main Theme: Matti Paalanen — Trick or Treat — Provided by Jamendo Ad Music: BlueJay Studio — Spooky Waltz — Provided by Jamendo

Brief Summary

Richard Speck's brutal murders of eight nursing students and the investigation leading to his arrest are discussed, highlighting survivor Kora Amaro's bravery.

Key points

The Twilight Episode. Elena and Ash discuss their upcoming Twilight bonus episode, which fans are eagerly anticipating.
Richard Speck's Capture. Richard Speck, the notorious murderer, is captured after being recognized by a doctor at the hospital.
Kora's Identification. Kora bravely identifies Richard Speck as her attacker, providing crucial evidence for the case.
Richard Speck's Trial Begins. The trial for Richard Speck, accused of multiple murders, begins with high stakes.
Kora's Courageous Testimony. Kora, the sole survivor, bravely identifies Speck in court, defying public doubt.
Richard Speck's Trial. After deliberating for just 45 minutes, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Everything happens for a reason.

Elena reflects on the significance of not taking out the trash.

4:30WatchNov 11, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from Morbid | Podcast

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.