The Crime of the Century

Richard Speck and the Murders That Shocked a Nation

By: Dennis L. Breo, William J. Martin

Narrated by: Christina Delaine

Length: 18 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

On July 14th, 1966, Richard Franklin Speck swept through a quiet Chicago townhouse like a summer tornado and stabbed, strangled, and killed eight young nurses in a violent sexual rampage. By morning, only one nurse, Corazon Amurao, had miraculously survived, and her scream of terror was heard around the world.

As the eight bodies were carried out of the small building, the coroner, who had seen the carnage up close, told a gathering crowd: "It is the crime of the century!"

Now, the prosecutor who put Speck in prison for life (William J. Martin) and the author and journalist who won an award for his coverage of the crime (Dennis L. Breo) have teamed up to recreate the blood-soaked night that opened a new chapter in the history of American crime: mass murder.

Corazon Amurao, the nurse the killer left behind, confronted Speck at trial and told jurors, "This is the man!" Richard Speck was spared execution by Supreme Court rulings and here is the inside story of how he confessed to the murders in a sordid prison video made three years before his death of a heart attack in 1991. And here is the life today of the nurse who survived the crime that murdered American innocence.

©2016 Dennis L. Breo and William J. Martin (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Former prosecutor Martin and Chicago journalist Breo present a fast-paced, solid reconstruction of Martin's biggest case: the fatal stabbing, strangling, and sexual assault of eight young nurses by drifter Richard Speck in Chicago in 1966." ( Publishers Weekly)

Love It

TearJearker If you love Crime this is a good book to Read Listen to it while I was at work

Disturbing True Story

Unbelievable that there is such evil in the United States in the late 60s, a total heartless act!

I remember

I was 14 years old when Richard Speck murdered eight nursing students. This book is amazing mostly concerning the bringing to the the victims and details z about the arrest and trial. I couldn’t put this book down. Also the book is narrated by my favorite narrator, Christina Delaine.

Long story but worth the listen.

This was a good story and I was amazed at Richard Speck and how much I actually disliked him. I did find it to drag on a little and I thought that there was some redundancy. I didn't feel like I knew the victims at all so I couldn't give more than 3 stars. I thought that the victim character development was weak and they were not given enough time or description. Also, there is a very long sequence regarding the play that was done about this book during the book itself. It felt gratuitous and I didn't really understand why it would have been added.

Excellent and Extensive Coverage of the Speck Trial

Overall this book was excellent — content and performance I like. I now have an unanticipated need to listen to more by this voice actor.

The trial content is unmatched. As a lay Speck expert I am happy to confirm that. I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that there are some blatant dramatizations of Speck and a LOT of his young life has been completely glazed over. That can be addressed in other publications, however.

For the purposes of the trial and its impact this book is excellent and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in criminal law and trial tactics. If you are more interested in Speck’s psychopathology there are other more thorough resources that are not so heavily and explicitly hedged against any possibility he might be anything other than a pure and detestable monster.

High praise to the narrator, I look forward to finding more by her.

Powerful

Author does an amazing job organizing complex material and emotions. Truly honors the profession of prosecutors.

Excellent!

Don’t worry about the negative comments about the narrator! Just listen on 1.1x and it’s fine. Don’t miss this thorough account of the Speck murders and trial.

Excellent story telling

A factual and comprehensive account of the Richard Speck story. Very well done. Worth the time to read.

Way too long

This really would of been more enjoyable if it was closer to 10 hours, instead of the 18. I gave up when it went into talking about Gacey.

The reader was a poor choice, really should of been read by a man. Her male voices were poorly done. She also mispronounced Oquawka and Des Plaines.

Informative and Terrifying

True crime is a favorite of mine, whether it be TV Shows, Documentaries, or Books. It does make for a hard read or listen due to the nature of the evil is showcases but is still a fascinating subject for me.

The Crime of the Century is one said read. I listened to this one and it gave me chills. Despite this having happened so long ago, it's still a dark look into madness and evil. The narrator does an amazing job with this one, and I flew through this.

Definitely recommend this one for true crime fans, or those who have heard of this crime, but wanted to know more. The author does a great job bringing out the tragedy and events.