Memories of Speck
Indigo Ace
Memories of Speck
Mass murderer Richard Speck's trial was moved from Chicago to Peoria
in 1967. Harry Miller recalls how he was sworn in to help guard Speck.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Story by HARRY MILLER
Special for the Journal Star
EDITOR'S NOTE: On July 14, 1966, eight student nurses were murdered in
a Chicago townhouse. The man accused of the crime was Richard Speck, a
former Monmouth man who for years had been a drifter and inmate in
various jails. Speck's attorney secured a change of venue that landed
the dramatic trial in Peoria in 1967.
Speck's presence and the high profile of the trial created the need
for extra manpower. Harry D. Miller, now 73, of West Peoria was sworn
in as a special deputy to bolster the number of guards available. Then
an insurance adjuster, Miller later would serve on the Peoria County
Sheriff's Department for 20 1/2 years, eventually reaching the rank of
lieutenant and receiving awards of valor from Peoria County and the
Illinois Police Association.
Starting with his first shift on Feb. 18, 1967, 40 years ago today,
Miller kept a diary of his experiences with Speck, on which the
following account is based. Miller is the father of Journal Star
religion editor Michael Miller, who edited the story.
It seemed like it had been a year since Peoria County Sheriff Willard
Koeppel had asked if I would like to work a prisoner detail. He didn't
tell me anything else except when to be in his office to be sworn in
as a special deputy.
When I reported, he sat me down and explained what might be happening.
I was, to say the least, surprised. The word that surprised me and
caused apprehension was "Speck."
The sheriff advised that the word from Chicago was that a change of
venue was going to be granted, and the murder trial of Richard Speck,
charged with killing eight student nurses on July 14, 1966, was coming
to Peoria County. He was going to need additional help to maintain
security for Speck. On Feb. 18, 1967, I got the call.
I arrived at the Peoria County Jail early that afternoon for the 4 to
8 p.m. shift. After detailing the orders and procedures, the guard I
was relieving left, and I settled in for what was to become my home
away from home.
Speck and I introduced ourselves, drank coffee and made small talk,
mostly about him. He talked about the jails he had been in and the
differences in their rules and regulations, a little about his life in
Texas and some of his likes and dislikes. He talked about taking
drugs, said he tried heroin once and would never do it again - he
didn't like what it did to him. He said the only times he ever got in
trouble were when he was drinking and taking "barbs" (barbiturates).
Speck said he once lost a whole week while on alcohol and barbs. It
was believed he was on a type of barbiturate called "reds" when he
killed the nurses. His mother got him out of jail once and he was
still high and hit her. He was remorseful about this and it bothered
him that he would hit his mother.
Speck's moods
Richard "Don't Call Me Dick" Speck was moody and could be irritated
very easily if you didn't do what he wanted or if you were moody also.
He expected you to be upbeat all the time. And if he asked a favor of
you and you forgot, he could go a couple of days and not speak to you.
Which wasn't all bad, but it made for a long, quiet shift.
Speck liked most of the people assigned to guard him, but if possible
would play mind games with them. He would tell one guard one thing and
tell another one something contrary to that, trying to cause friction.
Some of the guards wanted things from him, usually a painting, so they
in turn would have to do something for him. On occasion, he would say
something to a captain or even the sheriff, but I don't recall
anything serious ever happening, such as a guard being replaced.
One deputy that I worked with a lot, whom Speck had nicknamed "Rango"
and who was very moody himself, would find himself in a situation
where Speck would tell me what he wanted to say to the deputy but
would not talk to the deputy himself. It was like two spoiled little
kids. Sometimes this would go on for a week and got old after a while.
Rango and I worked a lot together, and when we did, we usually got
there about the same time. The first thing we did was to go to the
back room, an office, and put our weapons in one of the drawers. One
night after doing this and going back out to the cell where Speck was,
Speck said he knew why we always went there first and also told us
which drawer we each put our weapons in - and he was right. Rango used
the bottom right drawer and I used the middle left drawer. How he knew
we never found out.
Switching cells
When he first got to Peoria, Speck was kept on C-Annex of the old
Peoria County Jail on Hamilton Boulevard, isolated from the inmate
population. Right outside his cell area was a metal ring on top of a
large, metal-covered opening in the floor. He asked me what that was,
and I told him that, in the past, they had executions by hanging in
the jail and that was the trap door. He never asked about it again.
At first, Speck was shuffled back and forth from the jail across
Hamilton Boulevard to the courthouse by car, requiring the use of
several county, city and state police. After awhile, it was decided
that the holding cell in the courthouse could be reconstructed to
accommodate him and provide better security by not having to expose
him to the public every day. The only drawback was the delivery of
meals from the jail and, although inconvenient at times, it worked out
well.
The toilet for Speck's use was right across from his cell. Although it
was rude, you had to stand in the doorway and watch him and then
escort him back to his cell. When he took a shower, that was something
else. You had to take him to another floor and to an office that had a
shower in it, wait and then return him to his cell. Usually, we
brought in a city K9 unit to sweep both the area going to the shower
and the shower area itself as someone could hide during regular
courthouse hours.
One night, however, a K9 unit dog changed the routine. The dog and
handler were standing in the hall outside Speck's cell when the dog
decided he was thirsty and drank out of the toilet across from the
holding cell. Well, Speck decided that he was not going to sit on that
toilet again, so from then on we had to take him down the hall to
another toilet. Sometimes Speck would demand a shower even if not
scheduled for one, just to upset the routine, I think. And he knew the
routine!
Speck became familiar with not only his surroundings but with the
police personnel as well - in some cases, maybe too familiar. People
brought him food, especially doughnuts, and he became sick a couple of
times. But bringing him what he asked for (and was authorized to have)
did have advantages - you may get one of his paintings.
His inner artist
Before the trial began, Speck's attorney requested a couple of things
for Speck, and they were granted: a television for his cell in
addition to the radio he had; a daily newspaper (the Journal Star);
and some magazines or comic books, as long as they weren't Playboy or
such.
The comic books brought out the artist in him.
Someone brought in some paper and colored pens and pencils, and he
started to draw and color comic book characters. He especially liked
Tweety Bird, Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner and characters of that
nature. He was very good at drawing these characters, and most of the
time he would give the sketches to the guards who asked for them or
who did something for him.
Near the end of the trial, Speck asked me one night why I had never
asked him for a drawing even though I had done him a favor or two, and
I said I would think about it. After a couple of days, he asked me if
my son had any comic books with some Disney characters. I said yes and
he asked if I would bring one in as he wanted to look at something
different. I brought a couple of comics in and again he asked about a
painting and I said yes, I would like to have an abstract painting.
Well, then I had to explain what that was and I told him I would buy
the oil paints and brushes so as not to deplete his supply, which I
did.
He eventually gave me the abstract - swirling strokes of color - and
painted in the lower right corner:
to
Harry Miller
Richard Speck
4-6-67
There was a particular character named Scamp that he was fond of and
which he was very good at drawing. A guard wanted one of those and
traded Speck two pairs of pajamas for it. After that, I saw more
"stuff" in his cell, but when asked about it, Speck refused to say
anything except that his attorney or the sheriff had authorized it.
He really liked the Road Runner cartoons on Saturday mornings. If you
didn't wake him up and he missed that cartoon ... well, you were in
for a long day. He would give you the silent treatment for a week or
so - at least until the next Saturday morning.
Speck got a lot of mail, mostly from females. They sent money, too,
which was then given to his attorney and was well-documented by the
sheriff's department. Some of the girls would want him to pray on a
certain day at a certain time as they would be praying for him at that
time. He said he never did that.
One evening when I reported in, Speck asked if I had heard about him
getting some glasses, and I said I had heard it on the news. He got
upset about someone talking to the media, but he was reminded that the
sheriff had a news conference every morning, and if something was
brought up, the sheriff wasn't going to lie about it, or if the
sheriff felt something was newsworthy, he would tell them. Speck had
been taken to the eye doctor at 5 a.m. to avoid a crowd. He was to be
given glasses that hopefully would get rid of his headaches. Taking
him out of the courthouse and to a doctor was quite an exercise in
security; it took three or five cars.
Trial and verdict
After the trial started, Speck's demeanor changed somewhat. He seemed
more uptight, seemed to sleep more, was quick to anger and just more
moody. We were watching TV one night, and there was a young woman on
TV identified as a witness. Speck said, "Oh, that's what she looks
like." I said, "Well, you have seen her before, she is the one that
hid from you," and he got angry, saying he hadn't seen her because he
wasn't there, that he hadn't done it.
During the latter part of the trial, especially when witnesses were
appearing against him, he was more nervous than usual and more easily
upset as he felt they were all telling lies about him and the crime,
and especially about identifying him. A girl and a sailor said he was
blond and had a crew cut, while he had long hair and it was brown, or
at least a dark blond. And he wondered why they did not identify the
fingerprint they found at the scene that didn't belong to any of the
victims or to him.
When I entered the cell area on April 15, the day of the verdict and
sentencing, three uniformed deputies were milling around, drinking
coffee - or trying to - and watching Speck. We were all a little
nervous. The call came down from the court that the jury was returning
and to get Speck back upstairs. After he got dressed, he asked for a
couple of aspirin as he had a headache, drank a little coffee, and
they all went upstairs, leaving me alone in the cell area. I got a
call from a captain asking me to go into his cell and check for a
razor blade or something similar. I found a pencil sharpener blade and
secured it.
Shortly after, I heard a knock at the door, and the first man through
was Speck. I could tell from his face what the verdict and sentence
were: guilty on all counts and death. Until you have actually looked
into the face of a man who has just been sentenced to death, it is
hard to describe. Dismay? Disbelief? Shock? All of the above.
After he was back in the cell, he paced and then asked for coffee
while we stood around, not knowing what was going to happen. While it
had been discussed that he would be taken back to Chicago as soon as
the verdict was in, that didn't happen. We were told there would be
four guards on duty until he left our jurisdiction. He was told to put
his pajamas back on as he would be here until Monday, when a hearing
would be held.
After getting on his pajamas, he said he had to go to the head, so I
took him, and he asked what I thought about the verdict. I said I
thought they would find him guilty but was surprised at the death
sentence. I told him I lost $5 on that, and he seemed to like that!
When we got back, someone suggested we play cards. He asked whether,
since there were more people guarding him, three guards could come
into his cell. The captain, who was still in the area, approved. Three
of us went into the cell and played, some losing a few cents to Speck,
who won a couple of dollars.
After getting something to eat, Speck was more relieved and thanked
all of us for coming into his cell and playing cards with him. He said
it took his mind off things. But he couldn't understand why there were
now four guards and said that he didn't like that. It was explained we
were there to protect him from the people outside, not to protect them
from him. After turning off the lights inside, we let him look
outside, and he saw all the people milling around the parking lot
along with police.
The day after he was found guilty, a small noose was found hanging
from a heating duct in his cell, with the required 13 loops in it.
When I went in for my last shift, it was gone. No one seemed to know
what happened to it. When asked about it, Speck just grinned.
After the sentencing, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 1971 declared
capital punishment unconstitutional. Speck was resentenced to 400 to
1,200 years in prison and died from a heart attack at Stateville
Prison in Joliet on Dec. 5, 1991.
http://pjstar.com/stories/021807/TRI_BC8FFQ13.040.php
--
Anne, indigoace at goodsol period com
Jewelry: http://www.prettygoodjewelry.com
Cats: http://www.goodsol.com/cats/
cro...@earthlink.net
interested in. I enjoyed reading this behind-the-scenes account. He got
treated much more casually and in a more friendly manner than I would have
imagined.
"Indigo Ace" <indi...@seesignature.com> wrote in message
news:45d8c5cb....@news.prodigy.net...
Vindicated
Nancy Rudins
Vindicated wrote:
> i remember, It was horrible.
>
>
>
Me too. I was living in Chicago at the time. I was about
12 years old. My mom wouldn't let me read any newspapers
during that time period since it was all over all the
Chicago papers.
Kind regards,
Nancy
--
"Your head so much concerned with outer, mine with inner, weather."
(Frost)
nru...@ncsa.uiuc.edu
http://ncsa.uiuc.edu/People/nrudins/
Kathy Klein
Nancy Rudins wrote:
The biggest serial murder up to that time but a few months later
my world was shacken for real! A wacko 30 miles distant killed
half his family one weekend after a picnic! Stole and car and headed for
Nebraska, killed severalmore, took a teenage girl hostage and then she
began helping him kill people! They
escaped into Iowa and disappeared. Then suddenly the car was stopped
less than ten miles from where it al started at Sigourney
Iowa. Police found the car ditched, captured the girl, but the
guy vanished. He appeared next 100 miles south in southern
Iowa and vanished into whatwas then the wilderness of so-east Iowa.
Three months he came out early one morning and gave up
half frozen, had been living on the land, right on my grandfather's
north section! We about crapped.
jw
JonesieCat
"Kathy Klein" <klei...@euni.edu> wrote in message
news:45DBF47D...@euni.edu...
Wish you could recall the guy's name.
jc
cro...@earthlink.net
in the movie, called Badlands. their exploits also inspired Natural Born
Killers and Wild at Heart.
read all about them:
http://search.yahoo.com/search?fr=slv2-fp&ei=UTF-8&p=charles%20starkweather
"JonesieCat" <Long Ago & Far Away> wrote in message
news:45dcbaad$0$16554$afc3...@news.optusnet.com.au...
cro...@earthlink.net
<cro...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:Lr3Dh.4369$_73....@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net...
JonesieCat
<cro...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:1Q3Dh.5053$Jl....@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> forgot to mention Sissy Spacek played her
>
Were those killers in Iowa? And I have to say, I've read and/or seen movies
of these killers or their fictional alters, but they run together in my mind
eventually. But I like that the previous poster was so close to the killer
all those years ago, in Iowa. Would like to hear more about it.
jc
cro...@earthlink.net
was in Nebraska.
"JonesieCat" <Long Ago & Far Away> wrote in message
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JonesieCat
<cro...@earthlink.net> wrote in message
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