Richard Speck was an American mass murderer who killed eight female nursing students in a Chicago town house in 1966. He also raped one of the victims. The following year Speck was sentenced to life in prison. However, after capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1972, his sentence was changed to eight consecutive terms of 50 to 150 years. Speck was refused parole a number of times and died in 1967.