Richard Speck’s ex-wife: Who was Shirley Annette Malone?
You might recognise Richard Speck as the notorious mass murderer who killed eight student nurses in Chicago. However, long before his brutal killing spree, he was a young husband with a wife and child. But who was married to such a dangerous man?
Meet Shirley Annette Malone. Speck married Malone in January 1962, when she was just 15 years old, and he was 20. By then, his life was already becoming increasingly more troubled. He had struggled at school, developed problems with alcohol and had begun a pattern of delinquent behaviour that would eventually escalate into serious crime.
Crime+Investigation examines Shirley Annette Malone's marriage to a man whose violence toward her was a warning sign of the horror to come.
How did Richard Speck and Shirley Malone meet?
Shirley Annette Malone was just 15 when she met Speck at the Texas State Fair in October 1961. Speck was 20 at the time and working as a labourer at the 7-Up bottling company in Dallas.
Their relationship moved very quickly. According to sources in Speck's life, Shirley became pregnant after they had been dating for only around three weeks. Just a few months after they met, the couple married on 19th January 1962.
Married life
For Shirley, marriage meant entering a relationship with a man whose behaviour would become ever more frightening. There were red flags from the get-go, especially Speck’s drinking and troubling behaviour.
The newlyweds initially moved in with Speck's sister Carolyn and her husband. Speck's mother was also living there at the time, following her separation from his stepfather. The marriage therefore began in a crowded family home, rather than with the independence and stability you might expect of a newly married couple.
The pair had a young daughter, but family life did little to settle Speck. Accounts of the marriage describe a relationship marked by violence and abuse, with Speck repeatedly beating Shirley and sexually assaulting her at knifepoint. He was also abusive towards her mother.
A pattern of abuse
Speck's behaviour towards Shirley was happening alongside a serious criminal record. He drank heavily and struggled to hold down a job. His criminal activities became more frequent and more serious, eventually leading to a prison sentence in 1965 after he robbed a woman.
By this stage, his marriage was deteriorating. Shirley was living with a man who was not only violent towards her but repeatedly found himself on the wrong side of the law.
Why Shirley Annette Malone walked away
By this point, Speck was spending much of his life either in trouble with the law or behind bars. His relationship with Shirley had deteriorated badly, and the couple eventually separated.
In January 1966, Shirley filed for divorce. Their marriage was formally dissolved in March that year. Speck was 24, and Shirley was only 20 when their relationship ended.
That means their entire marriage had lasted just four years, but within that time Shirley had gone from being a 15-year-old meeting a young man at a state fair to becoming a teenage wife and mother, living with a violent and criminal husband.
The violence continues
The timing of the couple’s divorce is particularly chilling, as only a few months later, Speck murdered eight nurses in Chicago.
After his divorce, Speck worked intermittently as a merchant seaman but continued drinking heavily and committing offences. By the summer of 1966, he was living in Chicago and had become isolated from the family life he had once shared with Shirley.
On the night of 13th July, Speck entered a Chicago townhouse where student nurses lived. He initially told the women that he wanted money, but the situation quickly became horrific. Over several hours, he murdered eight young women.
One woman, Corazon Amurao, survived by hiding underneath a bed. Her account helped police identify Speck and launch a nationwide manhunt. He was eventually found in a Chicago hotel after attempting suicide.
Warning signs
Speck later died in prison. As for Shirley? Well, leaving the relationship meant escaping a man whose behaviour had become increasingly dangerous. She and their son managed to escape and start a new life.
Although her experience doesn’t explain why Speck committed those murders, it did give his young wife a glimpse into the man he was and his history of violence. His criminal behaviour would continue to escalate even after their marriage ended.
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