Joliet Prisons

Joliet Prisons

Legislators outraged by Speck tape contents Probe: Prison investigation starts

By Emily Wilkerson. COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

Springfield -- House lawmakers Wednesday painstakingly analyzed scenes from the infamous Richard Speck videotape as their first step in an investigation of sex, drugs and other illegal acts in the state prison system.

Members of the House Judiciary Committee used words like "bizarre" and "disgusting" after watching one of Illinois' most notorious mass murderers model his blue women's underwear, engage in sex acts with another male inmate and sniff what appeared to be cocaine. "We spend phenomenal resources arresting, convicting and sending people into the Department of Corrections for drug usage, for gangs, violence, for sex offenses," said Rep. Tom Johnson, R-West Chicago, chair of the judiciary committee. "It appears that those things we send people to prison for are available within the prison system."

More than 100 legislators, lobbyists and reporters piled into a Statehouse committee room to get a glimpse of the tape that has sparked criticism of the Illinois Department of Corrections. The committee took the unusual step of bringing in a court reporter and swearing in its key witness, WBBM-TV anchorman Bill Kurtis, who obtained the video and aired it about a week ago. During hearings that will stretch into the summer, lawmakers said they want to find out whether the videotape is an anomaly or a glimpse of activities that occur everyday in the state's prisons.

Kurtis said about half of the two-hour video depicts Speck and convicted murderer Ronzel Laramore engaged in graphic sex acts. On the remainder of the tape, Speck -- sometimes stripped down to his underwear -- casually answers an off-camera interviewer's questions about the murders he committed and his views on sex, religion and life in prison. Speck, who died of a heart attack in 1991, admits that he killed eight student nurses in 1966. When asked how he felt after the killings, Speck replied, "Like I always felt. Had no feelings. If you're asking if I felt sorry ... no."

Kurtis said his production crew first became aware the 8-year-old tape existed last summer from "street talk." The tape was filmed by inmates at Stateville Correctional Center in 1988. Kurtis paid $5,000 to obtain the tape from an attorney, who apparently was given the prison-made video by an inmate in lieu of payment. The attorney later returned the money to Kurtis to be donated to a charity. Corrections Director Odie Washington said the department will work with the committee and Attorney General Jim Ryan who announced on Tuesday that he will investigate criminal activity within the prison system. "I'm not only embarrassed, but I'm as shocked as anyone at these tapes," Washington said. "I'm disgusted by it."