I was 13 in July of 1966, when Richard Speck committed the “Crime of the Century” – raping and murdering eight student nurses after breaking into their Chicago townhome.
Although it was 59 years ago this month, I will never forget it.
My family lived on a well-traveled, yet fairly isolated main road in rural central Illinois, about two hours downstate from Chicago. On that evening, my parents were out and I was charged with babysitting my little sister. She played in her room and I was watching TV when a bulletin interrupted my program. Eight young women had been raped and murdered, and a suspect was on the run – believed to be heading south in our direction.
Instead of panicking like I probably would today, I got a wooden baseball bat from the garage and big containers of salt and pepper from the kitchen. I set them by the front door. If this man came to our house, which I was sure he would since our house was on the end of the road and the most convenient to get in and out of quickly, I would be ready to fight and protect my sister.
I was riveted to the TV and soaked up all the details as they became available. I didn’t want to scare my sister and told her nothing.
Five of the nurses murdered by Speck are seen here with nurse Judith Dykton (upper left) in 1965. clockwise bottom left to bottom right are Jordan, Farris, Schmale, Pasion and Wilkening
Source: commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1965_Speck_Decedents_With_Nurse_Judith_DyktonA.jpg
Over the next hours, I learned that the victims were between 19 and 24 years old. Two were Filipino exchange students and the other six were American. Speck broke into their home. There was one survivor, also Filipino, who hid under a bed while he systematically raped, stabbed and strangled her housemates.
On July 17, Richard Speck was finally apprehended. He was tried for the crimes, convicted and sentenced to death. As the death penalty was outlawed in Illinois, he received a reduced life sentence. In retrospect, so did I – because I never forgot it and have relived the details every July since.
Richard Speck died in prison of an apparent heart attack at age 50. The survivor of his murder spree, Corazon Amurao, became a critical care nurse, married and had a happy family, including grandchildren, something denied her fellow student nurses by the monster Speck.
When he committed those heinous crimes, Richard Speck was 24 years old. He acted alone. I still can’t believe I thought that my gangly-legged, skinny little self could have warded off this strong, grown man who had just murdered eight women. What was I thinking? It does prove, though, that intense fear and a strong desire to survive and protect are powerful motivators. But Corazon Amurao knows that better than anyone.
