Video: 'The Details of Mass Murderer Richard Speck | Oxygen'
(Wednesday, July 13, 1966, shortly before midnight CDT) — Drifter Richard Speck forced his way into a nurses’ dormitory near South Chicago Community Hospital tonight, then bound and strangled eight student nurses during an hours-long rampage that remains one of the most notorious mass murders in U.S. history.
Speck, 24, slipped into the two-story townhouse at 2319 E. 100th St. and systematically attacked the women inside. Three of the victims arrived home while the killings were underway. The ordeal lasted until the early morning hours of July 14.
The victims, ranging in age from 20 to 24, were Pamela Wilkening, Suzanne Farris, Mary Ann Jordan, Nina Jo Schmale, Valentina Pasion, Merlita Gargullo, Patricia Matusek and Gloria Jean Davy.
Video: 'The Terrible Torture Killings of Mass Murderer Richard Speck (Full Documentary)'
The lone survivor, Corazon Amurao, escaped notice by hiding beneath a bed. After remaining silent for hours following Speck’s departure, she climbed onto an exterior ledge and screamed for help. Two neighbors alerted police officer Donald Kelly, who entered the residence and discovered the gruesome scene.
A massive manhunt followed. Speck was arrested three days later after a physician recognized him from media reports and alerted authorities.
Convicted of the murders in 1967, Speck was sentenced to death. The sentence was later commuted to prison after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated existing death penalty statutes. He spent the remainder of his life behind bars and died in prison in 1991 at age 49.
