The Crime of the Century: Richard Speck and the Murders That Shocked a Nation

The murder of the eight student nurses happened when I was about to enter junior high school, and the last summer before my father was transferred with his job out of the Chicago area. I remember our suburban neighborhood being skittish in the days following the murders before Speck was apprehended. Throughout the years I've heard speculation about why and how the victims could have been so passive and "allow" themselves to be murdered. This book lays those cruel "blame the victim" speculations to rest, and shows us their humanity and bravery in the final moments of their lives. The one thing that got to me the most was the happy portrait of Cora's, the sole survivor, life in the years since the murders of her comrades; the smiling family portraits of her, her husband, children and grandchildren. And then Dennis Bros and Bill Martin reminds us that there were eight other women who never had the chance at living their lives.

This is an excellent book, and a first-class collaboration between Dennis Breo and William J. Martin. Mr. Martin was the Assistant State's Attorney who prosecuted the case, and one of the things I found refreshing is that in contrast to Vincent Bugliosi's "Helter Skelter," which is another great book about a horrific crime, Mr. Martin is written about in the third person, so there is none of the "I spoke to..." and so on.One of my disappointments in reading this book, and on re-reading it more recently, is that we gain very little knowledge of the eight women who were murdered. There is a lot of information about the murder (whose name I will not mention) and,a decent amount of information concerning Corazon, the only survivor of that night of terror who hid under a bed, and who was instrumental in the conviction of the killer.Fortunately, on the 50th anniversary of the crime, the Chicago Tribune ran a great story with recently discovered photos, and which fleshed out who Nina, Mary Ann, Gloria, Patricia, Pamela, Suzanne, Valentina and Merlita were as young women pursuing nursing careers in the mid-1960's. The brother of Nina Schmale, and family and friends of the other nurses who lost their lives have started a Facebook page, Our Nurses Memorial Association. Please check it out if you want to know more about these young student nurses. They deserve to be remembered. Their murderer has had enough attention.

It was one of the most horrific crimes of the twentieth century in America. In the middle of the night of July 13-14, 1966 – exactly fifty years ago this month – a drifter with a pockmarked face, a gun, and a knife broke into a townhouse in Chicago and brutally murdered the eight student nurses who lived there. For over four hours, Richard Speck systematically bound, stabbed, and strangled to death each of the innocent young women, one-by-one. He raped his final victim, and then departed, leaving behind him a bloody scene of devastation – and, unknown to him, one surviving eyewitness.“The Crime of the Century,” authored by Dennis L. Breo and William J. Martin, is an excellent non-fiction account of this shocking crime and its aftermath. Dennis Breo is a journalist and author of five previous books. William Martin, currently a Chicago-area criminal defense attorney, was the lead prosecutor of Richard Speck. Together, they tell a fast-paced, often chilling, and always fascinating story of how Richard Speck murdered the eight student nurses, and of how the Chicago police were able to quickly track him down and arrest him two days later.Most of “The Crime of the Century” deals with the efforts made by the State Attorney’s office to convict Richard Speck of the charges brought against him. Although the evidence against Speck was strong, it was no “slam-dunk;” Assistant State Attorney Martin and his capable team of assistant prosecutors and detectives had a lot of work to do to get the conviction they wanted. That included protecting the one student nurse who survived Speck’s attack and witnessed what happened. Opposing Martin and his team were the best lawyers in the Public Defender’s office. Among them was the formidable Gerald Getty, considered one of the most capable criminal defense lawyers in Illinois.“The Crime of the Century” is certainly one of the best true crime books I’ve read in many years. It was originally published in 1993, and was updated in 2016 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the murders. Throughout the book, Breo and Martin provide precise and accurate accounts of the crime and the investigation that followed, and they do so while showing great sensitivity to the victims of this vicious crime and their families.I found “The Crime of the Century” a most compelling read… so much so that it was nearly impossible for me to put down. I finished reading this 576-page book in less than two days.Highly recommended.

In July, 1966, I had just graduated from high school and was preparing to go to business college in the fall. I was staying at a cottage on a lake in the Quebec Laurentians with a good friend who was going to university in the fall, and we were driving around in her parent's forest green Ford Mustang when the radio station we were listening to interrupted to announce that a man named Richard Speck had been arrested in the murder of the nurses in Chicago. It had been the most horrifying crime story that we had ever heard at the delicate age of seventeen. Eight young, dedicated nurses had been tied up, and then led out of the holding room to another room to be raped and murdered one by one while the others listened and waited for her turn to come. One of the nurses rolled under a bed, though she was tied up, and stayed quiet for hours as she listened to the horrors in the other room. Then Speck made his first mistake when he miscounted the women.Things like this did not happen in Canada and we were stunned. This moment in time was the catalyst to my life long interest in true crime and in particular serial killers and mass murderers because I needed to know what made them tick. How could anybody do this to a fellow human being?This book is a detailed, enthralling true story which explains everything that is known about this monster. His early life, the brutal deeds and his other previous crimes, his trial and the verdict including the decision on the death penalty phase. You meet all the characters, the judge, the prosecutors and the defense lawyers as well as the hero of the piece, Corazon Amurao, the sole survivor of the attack. That is because it is cowritten by William J. Martin who led the prosecution team.This was a fascinating read, and took me back over 50 years to an exact date and time I have never forgotten.

This is an exceptional account of this appalling crime. I've had it in my wishlist for an age waiting on a pricedrop so was thrilled it became more affordable for me this month so I could snap it up !! Now, I thought everyone knew about these murders but I asked my mum about them and she hadn't heard of them at all. I was only a year old but she was 27 so should have remembered !!!I have never understood how he managed to control all nine nurses and that none ever tried to take him on or get away but this is put to rest in this account for me at last. Plus, he was soft spoken and was nice to them when addressing them all as a group. And really ? Who would ever comprehend one person killing them all as he did ? That sort of thing wasn't commonplace back then, it just didn't happen.At the end of the day, he was a nasty piece of work, though for me I still didn't really understand why he did it. He never came clean so we'll never know. The book didn't address this, either, I guess because it would only be supposition. And this book is all true.....it was so interesting to read of the background machinations among lawyers and how it all transpired in the courtcase. Bill Martin and Team Speck did an astounding job. I was so impressed, too, how they looked after Cora and her family so well. It was lovely to see her photos at the back of the book and to know she is happy. She has nothing to regret, she did her fellow victims proud. A girl whose bravery shouldn't ever be underestimated.I have to say Speck made a VERY valid argument whilst discussing the death penalty. He'd said to a doctor it was a great way to control people and said doctor said it wasn't a deterrent, though. Speck said, "That's a joke. It sure as hell stops the guy that's electrocuted. He won't kill anybody again." Very good point.I spotted a couple of spelling mistakes, using ascorbic and not acerbic, Clair and not Clare, Dostoyevski and not Dostoevsky and they wrote Betty Jo but changed it later to Mary Jo.....also pore and not bore and fiance and not fiancee. There were the odd misplaced or missing words here and there along with some dodgy apostrophe usage, though I really liked the publisher's font that was used.One passage made me cry when it referred to a fortune cookie Valentina kept in her purse.....It was such a needless, sad waste of life altogether....but thankfully Mary Ann, Nina, Patricia, Valentina, Gloria, Suzanne, Merlita and Pamela are never forgotten.

This book is a well written statement of resident evil. It goes into minute detail about the case and is hard to put down.A thoroughly enjoyable if not confronting book.

This is an excellent True Crime book. It's well researched, well written, and with a recent update at the end. There are photos but none of them feel tasteless, and the story is told in an exciting yet respectful way.Richard Speck was just a vile person, and so blatently guilty that even a skilled defence lawyer couldn't inspire reasonable doubt in the jury. This book takes the reader from the horrific murders, to Speck's movements before and after, the investigation, the hunt for the killer, the trial, and the aftermath of the verdict. Even though I knew he was found guilty, the trial and verdict sections were thrilling with a cliff-hanger build-up.The reader is taken through the different types of evidence used, as well as why certain evidence is not used. We see the skilled prosecution team make decisions on the evidence and witnesses, and it's clear they are experts at their jobs. The discussion on an insanity plea is interesting too...how can someone prove they were not in their right mind and so are not "responsible" for thier crimes? There's also the role Speck played in the changing of attitudes to crime in America, and introducing people to the idea of mass murder in their own homes.The Aftermath section at the end leaves the reader with hope as we read about the star witness, Cora, and the life she had lead since.There is so much research that's gone into this book, the only reason for the 4 star is that sometimes I felt bogged down with information and details. However, this is a great book and the fact that it's co-authored by the main lawyer for the prosecution means it's the definative work on the subject.A must for True Crime readers.

Well written and interesting. I've read two other books about Richard Speck's murders, and this one is very good. It gives more background and information about Speck than some of the others did, as well as his movements on the day of the murders and afterwards. I wish there were more photos.