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Richard Speck

Also known as: Chicago nurse murders

Active
1966–1966
Region
Chicago, Illinois, USA
State
IL
Kind
Mass
Status
Convicted
Victims
8

On the night of July 13-14, 1966, Richard Speck, a 24-year-old drifter, broke into a townhouse on Chicago's Far South Side that served as a dormitory for nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital and killed eight young women. A ninth, Corazon Amurao, hid under a bed and raised the alarm at dawn. Speck was arrested on July 17 at Cook County Hospital, where a doctor treating him after a suicide attempt recognized his "Born to Raise Hell" tattoo. A jury in Peoria convicted him in April 1967 and he was sentenced to death; after the death penalty was struck down he was resentenced to prison, and he died at Stateville in December 1991.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

Timeline of locations

  1. July 13, 1966
    Nurses' townhouse, Jeffery Manor (Crime scene, approximate area)

    The townhouse on East 100th Street in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood was used as a dormitory by nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital. Speck, who had been looking for work at a seamen's union hall nearby, entered late on July 13 and killed eight of the women overnight. Corazon Amurao survived by hiding under a bunk bed.

  2. July 17, 1966
    Cook County Hospital (Arrest, approximate area)

    After a suicide attempt in a skid-row hotel, Speck was brought to Cook County Hospital around midnight. Dr. LeRoy Smith recognized the "Born to Raise Hell" tattoo described in the newspapers, and Speck was arrested.

  3. 1967
    Stateville Correctional Center (Prison)

    Speck served his sentence at Stateville. After the death penalty was struck down he was resentenced in 1972 to 400 to 1,200 years. He died of a heart attack in December 1991, the day before his 50th birthday, after being taken to a hospital in Joliet.

  4. April 3, 1967
    Peoria County Courthouse (Court / trial)

    The trial was moved to Peoria. On April 15, 1967, the jury convicted Speck of all eight murders after 49 minutes, and on June 5 he was sentenced to death.

Watch, listen, read

Read

  • The Crime of the Century (1993, Dennis L. Breo and William J. Martin)
  • Born to Raise Hell (1967, Jack Altman and Marvin Ziporyn)

Sources

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.