The kitchen was the townhouse social hub, a place where Nina and her roommates congregated to eat, study and listen to the record player from the nearby living room. In those postwar years, most residents of Chicago's Far South Side were white and working-class, still close to their immigrant roots. But she still can't stand the smell of roses. Life, though not idyllic, felt safe. Tina, as her family called her, had graduated the year before among the top 10 nursing students in her class at Manila Central University. Just a few glimpses of the video have been shown (in the A&E) documentary about Richard. She has looked at the Facebook page Schmale started as part of the commemoration for the nurses, a place for trading stories and photos, though she doesn't linger. According to news accounts published at the time, Merlita, 23, was quiet, shy, hardworking, efficient, pretty and blessed with a rich singing voice. Finding no one there, he marched them back upstairs. '', Even when he attempted to express remorse for the murders, he still came off as a conscienceless criminal: ''I`m sorry as hell. The close quarters helped turn most of the women into close friends, and for all their dedication and discipline, they loved pranks. Her father, Charles, was a former Marine who expected as much from his five daughters as he did from his son. Lori has come to believe that Gloria's death prepared her to handle anything, and to see, in some useful ways, the possibility of death in everything. Richard Speck captured the nation's attention during the summer of 1966 after murdering eight female students who lived together on Chicago's South Side. On the 50th anniversary of the murders, he remembers Corazon's bravery in court. Soon after he was born, the family moved to Monmouth, Illinois. In 1996, five years after Speck's death, a TV journalist made public a prison video, which showed Speck taking drugs and engaging in sex with another inmate during the 1980s, while he was an inmate at Statesville Correctional Institute; Speck appears to have breasts in the video, apparently as a result of hormone treatment received while in prison, and is wearing women's underwear. What about the notorious ''Born to Raise Hell'' tattoo that led to his capture? Speck was captured two days later when an emergency room doctor at Cook County Hospital thought a patient he was treating for self-inflicted gashes looked familiar. Richard Speck | American murderer | Britannica (Farris family). Richard Speck once remarked that the day after he was born, all hell broke loose. `60 Minutes,` the news, keep up on the outside world. And I don`t know what I`d do without it. What a waste that Nina and her friends weren't able to give the world everything they had to give, or enjoy its pleasures. Over his 25-year career with the FBI's Investigative Support Unit, Douglas interviewed hundreds of America's most notoriously brutal killers, from Charles Manson and Ted Bundy to " Son of Sam " David Berkowitz and the " BTK Killer ," Dennis Rader. Richard Speck was waiting. 28. Heroin and whiskey. Her father, who had become a familiar figure on TV, with his cane or in his wheelchair as he protested the possibility of Richard Speck's parole, died in 1990 on Pat's birthday. He has made sure that his niece, who is the keeper of the old family cookie jar, knows why she can't get rid of it. Cora the first of the residents to see Richard Speck that night, and the only one to survive unlocked it. Mary Ann was at the Jordan bungalow on the night of July 13, 1966, when Phil and Suzie stopped by. Best Known For: In 1966, Richard Speck committed one of the most horrifying mass murders in American history when he brutalized and killed eight student nurses living on Chicago's South Side. Lori Davy, center, accepts a nursing school diploma on behalf of her slain sister, Gloria Davy, at a ceremony at McCormick Place in 1966. ''Dillinger and them guys, that was the Depression, they were robbing banks because that was their only way to survive. In one of John Schmale's slides, Nina poses wearing nothing but a white towel and her nurse's cap, holding a hypodermic needle and pretending she's about to give one of her housemates a shot. But any kid can end up just like me.'' When. "She is doing very, very well," said William Martin, 79, the former assistant state's attorney who was the lead prosecutor in the case. He's still searching for the words to explain to his three children who his sister was, what happened to her. Books, documentaries, countless news stories, a 2007 film called "Chicago Massacre: Richard Speck" were dedicated to the so-called crime of the century. "A lot of us never locked our doors but the Speck case changed all that.". So eight people got killed. Whatever confluence of forces saved her, Cora Amurao made it through the night alive. I asked him if he wasn`t afraid of getting in trouble for talking about the contraband he kept in his cell. The book is a detailed account of the months before the crime and ends with the drama of the trial. Once, remarking on her diligence and steady temperament, her brother told her she'd make a good military nurse. Corazon Amurao, center, the nurse who survived the massacre of eight of her fellow student nurses, walks between another nurse and William Ruddel, Bridewell jail superintendent, from Bridewell's Cermak Memorial Hospital after a second visit to the building where Richard Speck was being held on July 19, 1966. And the mail. "I really don't know how to break the news of Tina's death to our parents," one of her sisters sobbed when word reached the Philippines. Martin and Atienza kept in contact as Martin collaborated with author Dennis Breo, updating the book "Crime of the Century," about the Speck murder case. Bottom row from left are Patricia Matusek, Valentina Pasion, Nina Jo Schmale and Pamela Wilkening. Why he did what he did in the next few hours will never be known. Marriage was prohibited for student nurses. Their mother eventually forgave Richard Speck and urged her children to do the same. So did the fact that her brother, John, who was four years older, was studying to be a doctor. Speck is the character who, while being interviewed by Ford and Tench, tosses a pet bird into a fan. A. I screamed there for about five minutes and nothing. The last time John Farris saw Suzie, 21, he had just come home from a track meet, carrying his victory medals, and she was visiting with her boyfriend, Phil. And Carol Burnett. She worked at the hospital from 7 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Like the other Filipina nurses, she sent money home. He told me that he drank moonshine and took barbiturates in his prison cell. He watched it once and hurled it into a corner. She still gets a kick out of playing poker at casinos in Nevada with her husband. Richard Speck was a murderer notorious for killing eight student nurses in 1966. ''Here,'' he said. We kind of lost her, Lori said. And so, shortly after 12:15, Mary Ann and Suzanne climbed the stairs to Suzanne's bedroom. And it turned out that it reopened her life. For many years she worked as a nurse at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Now 73, she has two children and several grandchildren. I don`t want nothing to do with them women.''. Now, with the 50th anniversary of the massacre by Speck approaching, we are recuing our report on the compelling interview with the sole survivor of this grisly attack. 1. All Rights Reserved. I watch her comedy show. The United States needed nurses, and Filipinas helped relieve the shortage. After she married and had three children, she told her kids that Aunt Gloria had died in a car crash. Murder made Richard Speck famous. A photo that appeared in Life magazine after the murders shows her sitting with three of her housemates. I was high on heroin that night. ''I know it keeps up their morale. Richard Benjamin Speck was an American mass murderer who killed eight student nurses in their South Deering, Chicago residence on the night of July 13-14, 19. "She was great with him," recalled their sister, Susan Jordan Morin. Shes in her nurses uniform, gazing down. And it turned out that it reopened her life.". Nina. Life in the new country must have brought surprises, but it was hardly dramatic. He pushed up his left sleeve to reveal ugly scars on his arm. Martin said he'll never forget a key moment in Atienza's testimony during the trail. When Susan Jordan Morin, who now lives in Chicago's suburbs, thinks back to the day her family heard the news, her mind lands on a vivid memory of Billy. ''Just tell `em to keep up their hatred for me,'' Speck said. I don`t know why it happened to me. In the bedroom she shared with Cora Amurao, Merlita slept on the bottom bunk. At Thornton Fractional South High School, she attended almost every basketball and football game with her closest girlfriends, but she didn't play sports. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. Site contains certain content that is owned A&E Television Networks, LLC. It sure gets way out. ''I like Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson. Those who had been fortunate enough to be out at the time of his arrival found themselves also subjected to brutal attacks when they returned home later that evening. Richard Speck And The Grisly Story Of The Chicago Massacre Media coverage splashed Speck's image all over the front pages and, in a desperate bid to escape, Speck tried to commit suicide on July 19, 1966, by slashing his wrists in the seedy hotel he was staying in. Suzanne Farris, left, and Gloria Davy pose at the dinner table, circa 1966. (Schmale family ). (Schmale family ). 30 Strange And Bizarre Facts About Richard Speck Gloria Davy was the second of six siblings, born in the same hospital where she eventually studied nursing, raised not far from the townhouse where she died. In court, Speck was positively identified by the sole surviving student nurse, Cora Amurao. Pamela Wilkening, left, Mary Ann Jordan, right, and Suzanne Farris, second from right, are shown with other student nurses having fun with a South Chicago Community Hospital School of Nursing banner, circa 1966. Here are the details of the Richard Speck case, explained. I watched `Magnum Force` the other night. Not only had they been allowed a slumber party with their mother, but their big sister who was about to graduate from nursing school was coming home for good the next day. Would Kubasek help? There, next to his kitchen near the village of Mahomet, 140 miles south of Chicago, the lost women flickered back to life. She walked off the stage, shoulders back, carrying a diploma dated July 14, 1966. From early childhood, she connected with him in a unique way, and he was why she wanted to specialize in pediatric nursing. A few years ago, he ran into an old family friend and she told him a story he'd never heard, about how when she was in high school and couldn't afford a prom dress, Suzie made her one. Martin and Atienza kept in contact as Martin collaborated with author Dennis Breo, updating the book "Crime of the Century," about the Speck murder case. Richard speck video noorvideo 81 subscribers Subscribe 253 Save 164K views 11 years ago Notice Age-restricted video (based on Community Guidelines) Almost yours: 2 weeks, on us 100+ live channels. What's more, Douglas was aware that any. After his killing spree in 1966, a manhunt ensued and he was captured two days later. "For Filipinos and Filipino Americans who came of age during the 1960s," she said in a recent email, "I think Gargullo and Pasion are remembered as nurses who encountered American violence and tragedy, and Amurao is remembered as the nurse who used her wits to survive.". I give their addresses to my cellmates. In March of 1978, during an interview I had with him inside the walls of Stateville, Speck confessed for the first time to murdering the eight young women in 1966. She knew before she was officially told: Pat was dead. "Did I just see Grandpa on the television?" A. Come spend the night at the townhouse, Suzanne suggested to Mary Ann. she reportedly told friends a few days after the murders. Guarded by detectives, Corazon Amurao arrives at the courthouse in Peoria to testify as the state's chief witness against Richard Speck on April 5, 1967. Martin talked recently in his Oak Park law office about Cora's bravery. Speck, asked how many lovers he has had in prison, responded that he can't count that high. Speck's jury trial began April 3, 1967, in Peoria, Illinois, three hours southwest of Chicago, with a gag order on the press. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune). Forty miles from home, when they spotted a gas station, they were reluctant to stop for directions because their curlers made them look like creatures from Mars. Betty Jo, whose married name was Purvis, died in 2015. "She did well with other people in situations that you're not necessarily in control of," Farris said, "which I think is a good skill for nursing.". .css-m6thd4{-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;display:block;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;font-family:Gilroy,Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif;font-size:1.125rem;line-height:1.2;font-weight:bold;color:#323232;text-transform:capitalize;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-m6thd4:hover{color:link-hover;}}G. Gordon Liddys Wild Career After Watergate. In 1966, Richard Speck committed one of the most horrifying mass murders in American history when he brutalized and killed eight student nurses living on Chicago's South Side. Too tired. By the time Nina entered nursing school, she was three or four years older than most of her classmates and worried that she was over the hill. But I ended up in jail before I could keep the appointment.'' Nina Jo Schmale appears in an undated photo. Through the end of spring and on into summer, Tina and her Filipina friends were sometimes spotted walking to a nearby shopping center, and they took occasional field trips, but they spent a lot of their nonworking time in the townhouse, frequently writing letters home. Siouchoff was the student who, on the night of the murders, rang the back doorbell of her friends' townhouse, in search of bread, then left when no one answered. As part of their psychiatric rotation, they dealt with mentally disturbed patients. An average student at Aquinas High School, she was turned down by Loyola University, so after graduation she took a job as a file clerk for Peoples Gas. It was that door that a student nurse from a neighboring townhouse approached at 12:15 a.m. on July 14, in search of bread for a late-night sandwich. Except, Speck doesn't see himself as an evil person. Ate an early supper with Merlita and Tina. Richard Speck attack survivor: 'Somebody up there was hiding me from He plays a lot of solitaire. The body count was so high that he failed to notice that Amurao, who had opened the door for him on his arrival, had managed to hide herself under one of the beds. His sister and seven of her fellow student nurses and nurseswere murdered 50years ago in one of Chicagos darkest crimes. Slain nurses remembered on 50th anniversary of Richard Speck murders (Schmale family). Menudo Star Says Jos Menendez Assaulted Him. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune). A doting mother and grandmother, she enjoys baby-sitting her grandchildren about twice a week and the constant companionship of her children. Biography and associated logos are trademarks of A+E Networksprotected in the US and other countries around the globe. At her father's urging, Lori considered becoming a nurse, but she finally told him that she couldn't, she was just too emotional for the job. "I think there was somebody up there who was hiding me from him. It was the kind of neighborhood where kids walked everywhere and went home for lunch, though Pat took sandwiches to school because her mother worked during the day while her father, who ran the bar at night, slept. Pat lived above Joe Matusek's Club, the tavern her father ran in the 10800 block of South Michigan Avenue. Kubasek hurried to her car and drove to the townhouse. Tammy Siouchoff remembers life with her fellow students before six of them and two visiting nurseswere murdered in a neighboring townhouse on Chicago's South Side in 1966. Another sister wired the news to their father in their hometown. On the night of the crime, 24-year-old Speck snuck into a townhouse in Chicago where the nurses lived. When he recalls the terrible summer of 1966, much of what he remembers is conspicuously small. Come spend the night, Suzie suggested. Catherine Ceniza Choy, a professor at the University of California at Berkeley, writes about the three exchange nurses extensively in "Empire of Care," her history of Filipino nurses in the United States. Richard Benjamin Speck[1][2] (December 6, 1941 - December 5, 1991) was an American mass murderer who systematically tortured, raped, and murdered eight stude. Pat asked. All of the bedrooms were upstairs, and none had a phone. She wrote her daughter's name, Nina, on a piece of pink paper. Atienza was the states key witness when Martin prosecuted Speck in the 1967 trial.