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The Crime of the Century

Richard Speck and the Murders That Shocked a Nation

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The Crime of the Century

Auteur(s): Dennis L. Breo, William J. Martin
Narrateur(s): Christina Delaine
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À propos de cet audio

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 Amériques Crime Meurtre True Crime États-Unis

Ce que les critiques en disent

"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)
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The book starts a bit slow as it follows Richard Speck's rather dreary existence. This speaks more to Speck's aimless shamble through life than it does to the authors. The pace remains much the same as the book describes the murders, but again this isn't a fault of the authors. Little is known of what actually occurred and the authors don't try to inject any melodrama. In the courtroom however, the storytelling really takes off! Here the authors have real facts and documents to wield with great effect.

But Christina Delaine’s narration of this novel is sublime. Ms. Delaine punches up the dialogue with regional and cultural accents. The listener is keenly aware of a witness’ trepidation, the prosecutor’s fervor, the murder’s callousness, without the narration ever becoming heavy-handed. It’s not easy for a female narrator to provide a variety of male voices. While you’ll never think you’re hearing a man speaking, you’ll find yourself immersed nonetheless. Ms. Delaine gives the impression that she’s truly emotionally invested in her narration, but never skews her tone outside of the actual character dialogue.

A professional delivery of a deeply moving narrative. Authors Dennis L. Breo and William J. Martin, and narrator Christina Delaine really do justice to this horror story that needed to be told.

A slow burn to a breath-taking courtroom drama

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Investigative Reporter Dennis L. Breo presents an exhaustive documentation of the crime, capture, trial, and conviction of mass rapist-killer Richard Speck. Every conceivable detail is included in the narrative and direct quotes are delivered to dramatic effect. Breo doesn't hold back, either - including startlingly graphic moment-by-moment descriptions of the rape + murders of eight student nurses in 1966 Chicago. He leads readers systematically through literally *everything* that investigators & courtroom observers witnessed. I felt like a juror.
Less fortunately, prosecuting attorney William J. Martin - who co-wrote the book - is so focused on court procedures that we are schooled over and over on technicalities like jury selection and venue considerations. Breo & Martin also spend hour after hour following surviving nurse Cora Amurao - while she enters witness protection, negotiates possible book deals, and talks to Philippine consulate officials.
The endless implications for jeopardizing admissibility of testimony are interesting to a lawyer, I guess, but I found the discussion mind-numbingly boring. An aggressive Editor could have cut 50% of this book without affecting it at all (in fact, improving it markedly)

As to presentation: Reader Christina Delaine overenunciates the text, delivers cartoonish dialogue where called for (her southern drawl for Speck is cringeworthy), and is disappointingly melodramatic throughout the recording (near tears at times). I have heard worse, but this is a subpar reading performance overall.

Altogether, 'The Crime Of The Century: Richard Speck and the Murders That Shocked a Nation' merits 6.5 stars out of 10. It was a reasonable distraction for a couple of quiet afternoons for free.. but not worth your Credit.

[Note: the author repeatedly discusses contemporary headlines - who scored the most touchdowns in that year's Super Bowl, for example - to provide context, I guess. Be prepared for such baffling irrelevancies as weather forecasts and Senate votes on the Vietnam War]

Packed With Detail But Glacially Paced

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