The Richard Speck Prison Tape: 5 Shocking Facts About The Mass Murderer's Final Years

Few names in American true crime history evoke the same level of raw horror and revulsion as Richard Franklin Speck. His 1966 mass murder of eight student nurses in a Chicago townhouse remains one of the most brutal and senseless crimes of the 20th century, forever changing the perception of safety in a modern city. The narrative of his life—from a troubled youth in Kirkwood, Illinois, to his death in prison—is a dark study in psychopathy and violence, but the story took a shocking, controversial turn years after his death.

As of December 2025, the legacy of Richard Speck is continuously revisited, not just for the gruesome nature of his crime, but for the explosive 1996 release of a videotape that exposed the shocking truth of his life behind bars, revealing a level of depravity and corruption within the prison system that stunned the nation. This is a deep dive into the man, the massacre, and the controversial footage that defined his final years.

Richard Franklin Speck: A Complete Biography and Profile

Richard Franklin Speck was not a serial killer in the traditional sense, but a mass murderer whose single night of violence left an indelible mark on Chicago and the American psyche. His profile is marked by a history of instability, petty crime, and explosive violence that culminated in the 1966 massacre.

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• Full Name: Richard Franklin Speck (often cited as Richard Benjamin Speck on some documents).
• Date of Birth: December 6, 1941.
• Place of Birth: Kirkwood, Illinois.
• Date of Death: December 5, 1991 (Age 49).
• Cause of Death: Heart attack while incarcerated.
• Key Crime: The mass murder of eight student nurses in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13, 1966.
• Victims: Gloria Davy, Suzanne Farris, Merlita Gargullo, Mary Ann Jordan, Patricia Matusek, Valentina Pasion, Nina Jo Schmale, and Pamela Wilkening.
• Sole Survivor: Corazon Amurao.
• Sentence: Originally sentenced to death (electric chair), later commuted to life imprisonment.
• Incarceration: Stateville Correctional Center, Illinois.

The Night of Terror: The 1966 Chicago Nurse Massacre

The crime that catapulted Richard Speck into infamy occurred in the early hours of July 14, 1966, at a townhouse on 100th Street in the South Deering neighborhood of Chicago. The residence served as a dormitory for student nurses from the nearby South Chicago Community Hospital.

A Crime of Opportunity and Escalation

Speck, a drifter with a history of alcoholism and drug abuse, was in Chicago looking for work as a seaman. He had a history of arrests for forgery, burglary, and assault. On the night of the crime, he broke into the two-story townhouse, armed with a knife, with the initial intention of robbery or sexual assault.

He systematically discovered and tied up the nine young women, leading them one by one from a common room to separate bedrooms over a period of several hours.

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The victims, all aspiring nurses, were brutally murdered through a combination of stabbing, strangulation, and slashing.

The Sole Witness: Corazon Amurao

The only reason Speck was captured and convicted was the incredible bravery and quick thinking of the sole survivor, Corazon Amurao.

Amurao, a Filipino exchange nurse, managed to hide under a bed while Speck was preoccupied with the other victims.

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After Speck left, she waited until daybreak, then climbed out of a second-story window onto a ledge, screaming for help.

Her detailed eyewitness testimony and identification of the "Born to Raise Hell" tattoo on Speck's arm were crucial to the conviction in what was quickly dubbed the "Trial of the Century."

The Trial, Conviction, and Life on Death Row

Speck was arrested just three days after the massacre when a doctor at a local hospital recognized his distinctive tattoo from a police bulletin.

The trial was a media sensation, held in Peoria, Illinois, after a change of venue was granted due to the intense publicity in Chicago.

Chief Prosecutor William Martin successfully presented the case, securing a guilty verdict. Judge Herbert Paschen presided over the proceedings.

Speck was initially sentenced to death in the electric chair. However, in 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily abolished the death penalty in the case of Furman v. Georgia, leading to Speck's sentence being commuted to 400 to 1,200 years in prison—effectively, life imprisonment.

The Infamous 1996 Prison Video Controversy

Richard Speck died of a heart attack in 1991, but his name re-emerged in the headlines in 1996 with the public release of an eight-year-old videotape from inside Stateville Correctional Center.

The tape, which was reportedly smuggled out of the facility, was a shocking exposé of Speck’s privileged and depraved life behind bars.

1. Confession and Lack of Remorse: On the tape, a smiling and laughing Speck openly discusses his crimes, stating that he "had a ball" during the murders and showing absolutely no remorse for the victims.

2. Drug Use and Money: The video shows Speck handling $100 bills and openly discussing drug use and access to narcotics within the prison walls, highlighting deep corruption among guards and staff.

3. Transgender and Sexual Activity: The most controversial aspect of the tape was the footage of Speck engaging in sexual acts with a fellow inmate, who was dressed in women's clothing. Speck is seen wearing women's underwear and a wig, referring to himself as "the biggest stud in the joint."

4. The Tattoo Change: The tape confirmed that Speck had altered his famous "Born to Raise Hell" tattoo, having a portion of it covered up with an image of a rose.

5. Systemic Corruption: The video sparked a massive public outcry and led to investigations into the Illinois Department of Corrections, forcing the state to acknowledge the systemic failures and corruption that allowed a mass murderer to live a life of comfort and illicit activity while incarcerated.

The release of the video, five years after his death, ensured that the name Richard Speck would forever be synonymous not just with mass murder, but with the explosive scandal of prison corruption and the failure of the justice system to truly punish one of its most notorious inmates.