"Tonight, the Killer Himself Provides the Answer": WBBM-TV's "Richard Speck Speaks", Part 1, 1996

Name: "Tonight, the Killer Himself Provides the Answer": WBBM-TV's "Richard Speck Speaks", Part 1, 1996
Uploaded: 2024-08-30T00:00:00Z
Duration: 7 min 10 s
Description: The opening segment of Bill Kurtis's 1996 series: the murders of eight student nurses retold over 1966 film, the Cook County evidence locker, detective Jack Wallenda's memory of the scene, and two brief lines from Speck on the 1988 Stateville tape.

The opening segment of Bill Kurtis's 1996 series: the murders of eight student nurses retold over 1966 film, the Cook County evidence locker, detective Jack Wallenda's memory of the scene, and two brief lines from Speck on the 1988 Stateville tape.

Subject: Richard Speck
Recorded: May 5, 1996
Runtime: 7:10

Content warning: Describes the murders of eight student nurses in Chicago in 1966, with stab counts, the ligature on a victim's neck and the words "rape, or worse"; bloodstained evidence is shown.

The Interview

This is the first segment of "Richard Speck Speaks", Bill Kurtis's series for WBBM-TV (CBS 2 Chicago), first broadcast on the 10 p.m. news on Sunday, May 5, 1996, and posted by CBS Chicago in 2024. It runs 7 minutes 10 seconds. It retells the murders of eight student nurses in July 1966 over black-and-white archive film and from the Cook County evidence locker. Speck himself is heard for only about 10 to 15 seconds, in two short excerpts from the 1988 Stateville videotape; both excerpts are also in part 2 of the series, with more context. The segment also includes a 1996 interview with Jack Wallenda, the first detective on the scene, a promo for the week's series and a studio exchange.

Historical Context

On the night of July 13 to 14, 1966, Richard Speck entered a townhouse at 2319 East 100th Street on Chicago's South Side, where nine student nurses were staying that night, and murdered eight of them. Corazon Amurao survived by hiding under a bunk bed. Speck was convicted in Peoria on April 15, 1967, and sentenced to death; the sentence was reversed in 1971 and he was resentenced in 1972 to 400 to 1,200 years. He died in prison custody on December 5, 1991. In 1988 inmates at Stateville Correctional Center secretly videotaped him; WBBM aired the tape in May 1996.

Circumstances

The 1996 series was built on the Stateville tape. In the closing studio exchange Kurtis says it "came to us out of the blue, really, from a lawyer," who had received it "in payment for a fee," and that the inmates "were making a pornographic tape inside Stateville prison." This opening segment sets out the crime; the following nights covered the manhunt, the "confession", Speck's life in prison and the families.

What the Interview Covers

Kurtis contrasts the Speck of 1966 with the inmate of the 1988 tape ("the hair now dyed blonde") and says it shows "no remorse." He takes viewers into the Cook County evidence warehouse, where eight red evidence boxes hold the victims' clothing, and to the window screen Speck pried open. On the tape Speck says a woman "spit on me in the face"; Kurtis suggests she "may very well have been" Pam Wilkening, the first victim. A second fragment refers to two nurses coming home, whom Kurtis identifies as Mary Ann Jordan and Suzanne Farris. Wallenda recalls that the ligature on Gloria Davy's neck was so tight "I had a hard time getting my finger between the ligature and her throat." Kurtis then tells how Corazon Amurao hid for three hours and survived.

What Makes the Recording Significant

It opened the landmark 1996 series that brought the Stateville tape to the public and led to hearings on the tape by a committee of the Illinois House of Representatives.

Archival Importance

WGN's 1991 report on Speck's death, with Wallenda again, is a companion from another station.

Important Caveats

Speck is heard for only about 10 to 15 seconds, and the machine passes render his words only in fragments: one line is confirmed by an on-screen subtitle, the rest is bracketed. The series title "Richard Speck Speaks" applies to the whole series. The link between the "spit" remark and Pam Wilkening is WBBM's inference ("may very well have been"), and Speck's account is his own claim. The stab counts are WBBM's figures and were not checked independently. The anchor is addressed as "Jay"; his identity is not confirmed. The promo's "never-before-heard audio tapes" is WBBM's 1996 claim.

Anchor: Tonight, a killer's confession. For the first time since the murder of eight student nurses in 1966, the convicted killer, Richard Speck, speaks. It's a confession obtained by Channel 2's Bill Kurtis, who joins us tonight with a story many thought, Bill, would never be told.

Bill Kurtis: Well, that's true, Jay. If you were born on the day of the Richard Speck crime, you would be nearly 30 years old. And while you might have heard of it, chances are you don't really know much about the Speck case. It was one of Chicago's worst. And after three decades, it's amazing that we have something new to report in Richard Speck's own words. We begin with the crime.

Bill Kurtis: This is the Richard Speck Chicago came to know in July 1966, the very face of evil. And this is Richard Speck 22 years later, an inmate in Illinois' Stateville prison. The face of evil has aged. The hair now dyed blonde. The video is grainy. It's a jailhouse production made secretly inside prison walls, then smuggled out three years before Speck's death. We don't know why the killer made this tape, but it does tell us one thing about him: the years behind bars have taught him nothing. There is no remorse for the crime many believe started the modern era of mass murder.

Bill Kurtis: Chicago, July 1966. The images are black and white. Unlike color, they don't fade. Police, prosecutors and every arm of the law imaginable swarm around a nondescript townhouse on the city's Southeast Side. Inside, the house is a shambles: bodies strewn about, blood congealed in the morning heat. The victims are removed one at a time. There will be eight in all, all of them young women, student nurses one month away from graduation. That afternoon, Chicago's newspapers tell a story that would literally shock the world. In homes across the city, the doors would not be locked. The horror would last forever.

Bill Kurtis: That building is the Cook County evidence warehouse, where the bones of old crimes lay waiting to be uncovered. Inside a room no bigger than a broom closet is the evidence used to convict Richard Speck. For the first time, we'll unlock the door and blow the dust off those old [unclear: "files" / "phones" (Whisper) / "FS" (captions)]. Inside the evidence locker, the filing cabinet reads "Gacy," Chicago's worst serial killer. Beside it, "Speck," our first mass murderer. Scattered about the room are eight red evidence boxes. Each bears the name of a young woman. Inside are the bloodstained clothes of Speck's victims, now dried and crusted with age, as well as the bedsheets the killer used to bind and strangle his victims.

Bill Kurtis: On the floor of the evidence locker sits a screen. Thirty years ago, Richard Speck pried open that screen and unlatched the back door to 2319 East 100th Street, home to nine young nursing students. A third-rate burglar, Speck was looking for an easy score. But how did burglary turn into a slaughter? For 30 years, the questions have lingered. Tonight, the killer himself provides the answer.

Richard Speck: One of them spit on me in the face. [unclear: captions "KCK me out the line"; the same excerpt in V100 is read "She's going to kick me out of the lineup"; the sense is probably "pick me out of a lineup"], I went off, [unclear: captions "sh"; V100 reads "hit her, and shit"]

Bill Kurtis: The young woman Speck claims spit in his face may very well have been Pam Wilkening, his first victim. Once inside the townhouse, Speck had bound and gagged all of the nurses. Now he picked [unclear: "up" (Whisper) / "out" (captions)] Wilkening, dragged her from the main bedroom. Robbery was about to turn into rape, or worse.

Richard Speck: [unclear: captions "there WHYY to K off all the"; not in Whisper; the same excerpt in V100 is read "There's two more ... trying to kill off all the ..."]

Bill Kurtis: The two Speck refers to were Mary Ann Jordan and Suzanne Farris, two nurses who came home late from a date that night. They surprised Speck. In the ensuing struggle, Farris was stabbed 18 times, Jordan five times. Their bodies were found along with Pam Wilkening. She was stabbed once in the heart. With three nurses now dead, Speck returned to the main bedroom, where six women remained bound and gagged. It was at that moment that the killer decided to murder them all. They had all seen his face. One by one, he took them out, a procession of death.

Bill Kurtis: Jack Wallenda was the first detective on the scene that horrific morning. On the couch downstairs, he found the body of Speck's last victim, Gloria Davy. Even 30 years later, Wallenda remembers Speck's handiwork well.

Jack Wallenda: The only one that had the ligature [unclear: "around it" (Whisper) / "on it" (captions)], the neck, was Gloria Davy, who was strangled. And the ligature around her neck was so tight that I had a hard time getting my finger between the ligature and her throat, where I could pull it off and I could cut it off. It was bound so tight.

Bill Kurtis: And while Speck dragged eight nurses to their deaths, a ninth used her wits to survive. Bound hand and foot, 23-year-old Corazon Amurao crawled under a bunk bed and hid. For three hours, she watched and listened as her friends died. Around 3:30 on the morning of July 14, Speck came in for a last look around the bedroom. He had lost count of his victims, forgotten about Cora. He left, never realizing she was still alive. The state's attorney would hide Corazon Amurao for a year until the trial. They didn't want any mistakes. And at his trial, he told his lawyer he couldn't remember anything about the crime. That was his defense. Tomorrow, he finally has a different story.

Bill Kurtis: Coming this week on 2 News at 10: "Richard Speck, the Final Chapter." The manhunt: it begins with never-before-heard audio tapes from Richard Speck's sole survivor, horrifying clues only she could know that would lead police to their killer. The confession: many thought Richard Speck took the secret of his crime to his grave. He did not. Now, in his own words, you'll hear his chilling confessions. The Big House: his secret life behind bars revealed. Witness the unthinkable: a free rein of drugs, sex and money. Then, the killer's mind. If you think you've heard it all, think again. "Richard Speck Speaks."

Anchor: Bill, the centerpiece of all this is that tape. You said it was made three years before he died. Do you think he ever meant it to be made public, as you are now?

Bill Kurtis: I don't think so. They were making a pornographic tape inside Stateville prison. It came to us out of the blue, uh, really, from a lawyer. It had been given in payment for a fee. I think he was doing it as a favor to one of, uh, the people who supplied him these things. You'll find out what they are [unclear: "all week" (captions) / "Only" (Whisper)]. [unclear: "Gleaned" (Whisper); not in captions] from the pornography is the confession, in kind of a running interview by an inmate of an inmate.

Anchor: Amazing.

Bill Kurtis: Thank you.

Anchor: Thanks, Bill. ---