Richard Speck
American mass murderer (1941–1991)
Richard Benjamin Speck (December 6, 1941 – December 5, 1991) nicknamed The Birdman was an American mass murderer who killed eight student nurses in their South Deering, Chicago, residence by stabbing, strangling, slashing their throats, or a combination of the three on the night of July 13–14, 1966. Speck also raped one victim before killing her. A ninth potential victim, student nurse Corazon Amurao, survived by hiding beneath a bed.
Convicted of all eight murders on April 15, 1967, Speck was sentenced to death. His sentence was reduced to 400–1,200 years in 1972. This was later reduced to 100–300 years. Speck died of a heart attack while incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center on the eve of his 50th birthday.
Early life and crimes
Childhood
Richard Benjamin Speck was born in Kirkwood, Illinois, in 1941 and was the seventh of eight children of Benjamin Franklin Speck and Mary Margaret Carbaugh. The family moved to Monmouth, Illinois, shortly after Speck's birth. He and his sister Carolyn (b.
The public source identifies “Richard Speck” as american mass murderer (1941–1991). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Richard, Speck and American.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q944350. VIAF identifies the subject as 28462130. The Library of Congress control number is n84005010. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1941, 1991, 1966 and 1967.
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This entry incorporates text from “Richard Speck” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.