Photos, interviews of nurses slain by Speck

[rashore]

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Editor's note: This story was first published on April 28, 2016, and is being republished to mark the 50th anniversary of the murders. 

A couple of days after his basement flooded, John Schmale finally mustered the energy to head downstairs and investigate the damage.

In the basement's dim overhead light, a big, brown cardboard box caught his eye, a box so soggy its bottom was ready to fall out. He lugged it upstairs. He opened it.

Inside sat four square, off-white boxes labeled "Kodak," and on top of them lay a sheet of thin pink paper. He instantly recognized his mother's cursive handwriting.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-richard-speck-chicago-mass-murder-victims-20160421-story.html

[+OverSword]

That's something that always bothers me.  Everyone knows who Ted Bundy was but can you name one of his victims? 

[rashore]

Most people cant name Bundy's victims or Specks victims. Or most other instances where the victims go over 2, maybe 3 people. It's just not within modern folks normal memory capabilities to remember lists of names like that. We don't memorize anymore like we did a century or two  ago. And it's also easier to remember the monstrosity of one person, rather than the victimization of the group. Because most people don't remember the details of the crimes either, just a general gloss if they remember anything at all. Like with Speck, his victims are known at "the nurses", but a lot of people don't recall what happened to them other than Speck killed them.

Maybe in a way it's collective memory instinct. Like with a poisonous snake, you might not remember who got bit and died, but you sure remember that snake- and in collective memory we all remember that poisonous snake and not those that died from the bite. Likewise with a killer, we remember the danger and not so much those that already fell to the danger, only that there were enough victims for that danger to remain stuck in our memory.

In a way, that changes with a single victim. We have the tendency to remember a single victim much better, and the details- and sometimes we almost forget the killer in light of remembering the lone victim. Familicide seems to tend to stick in our memory differently too, and we have the tendency to remember the family entire rather than have a disconnect in memory between killer and victims.

[Careful_perspective]

18 hours ago, OverSword said:

That's something that always bothers me.  Everyone knows who Ted Bundy was but can you name one of his victims? 

I personally don't, even though I'm a True Crime aficionado. But I do remember the circumstances surrounding some of his victims.