In 1966. 25-year-old Richard Speck was already familiar with violence, drugs, and alcohol. His marriage had broken up when his wife was unfaithful, and he often took part in bar fights He was said to be obsessed with sex Speck worked in a Chicago boatyard until July 13. 1966. when a fight with a ship's officer cost him his job. Leaving work, he borrowed money to buy drink and drugs. That evening, after injecting an unknown drug, he approached a townhouse rented by nine student nurses, armed with a gun and knife. He told the woman who answered the door that he needed money, and he made her and five other residents lay an the floor of a bedroom. Tying them up with strips from a sheet, he told them they would not be hurt. Three more women who came to the house during this time joined the captives. All but one were residents. Speck pocketed all the money he could find, but he did not leave. Becoming increasingly agitated. he led the women in singles and pairs to other rooms in the house where he stabbed and strangled them. His final victim was raped before she was murdered The only survivor was a woman who managed to hide beneath a bed, where Speck could not see her After the surviving nurse sought help. a manhunt began, but Speck himself made capture easy by trying to slash his wrists in a flop house several days later. Tried in 1967 and sentenced to die, he appealed and was re-sentenced to more than 400 years in prison. He was a suspect in the disappearances and deaths at five women that occurred from May to July 1966, but was not charged. He died in 1991 of a heart attack at the age of 48, still incarcerated

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