One of Richard Speck’s many mugshots during one of his 41 arrests in Dallas.
In case you some how have missed all the publicity, Netflix’s October breakout series “Mindhunter” follows two FBI agents through a series of interviews with prolific serial killers in the 1970s. It was the foundation of the bureau’s Behavioral Sciences Unit, which revolutionized law enforcement by looking at the intersection of psychology and crime like never before, in attempts to humanize and understand the most horrific criminals America has ever known.
Loosely based on the work of FBI agent John Douglas and the book of the same title, episode nine features Richard Speck, who notoriously killed eight nursing students who lived together in Chicago in 1966. But before that, he was an East Dallas kid, who attended JL Long Middle School and was known to cause trouble at White Rock Lake. He was arrested 41 times in his Dallas days before moving to Illinois. The show offers an interesting glimpse into his childhood from his ego-driven, jilted perspective. We chronicled his time in East Dallas last year, give it a read here.
