Richard Speck : The Student Nurse Murders (Part 1)

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. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-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)

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