Did Richard Speck have breast surgery as shown in the Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story?

On October 3, 2025, Netflix's Monster: The Ed Gein Story, the third part in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's anthology series about infamous murderers, premiered. The series is centered around Ed Gein, the Wisconsin killer and grave robber whose criminal record had inspired Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Silence Of The Lambs.

Charlie Hunnam portrays Ed Gein as a reticent man plagued by schizophrenia and adversely affected by a cruel upbringing under his mother, Augusta, who Laurie Metcalf plays. The cast includes Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock, Vicky Krieps as Nazi criminal Ilse Koch and Elliott Gould as photographer Weegee. 

The eight-episode series traces Gein’s descent from an abused child to a killer crafting lamps from human skin, ending with his 1957 arrest and schizophrenia diagnosis. A subplot in Episode 8 introduces Richard Speck, the Chicago killer, as a prison pen pal sending Gein Polaroids of his hormone-altered body. This raises the question: Did Speck actually undergo breast surgery as depicted?

No. Richard Speck did not have breast surgery. In prison, he developed breasts as a result of smuggling in and taking female hormone pills, not from a surgical procedure. This was shown in a 1988 prison video that was made public in 1996.

Did Richard Speck have breast surgery?

Richard Speck did not have breast surgery. The idea stems from a shocking 1988 prison video leaked in 1996, which Monster: The Ed Gein Story dramatises. Speck, who murdered eight student nurses in Chicago on July 14, 1966, was serving a life sentence at Statesville Correctional Centre in Illinois. In the video obtained by journalist Bob Greene, Speck appears shirtless with noticeable breasts, snorting cocaine and engaging in sexual acts with other inmates. He said,

“If they only knew how much fun I was having in here, they would turn me loose.”

The breasts sparked rumours of surgery, but medical examinations after his 1991 death confirmed they resulted from smuggled estrogen pills, not surgical implants.

Estrogen, likely obtained through prison black markets or pilfered from the infirmary, can cause gynecomastia in men, leading to breast tissue growth. Speck’s use was recreational, possibly to enhance drug effects or gain favours in prison, not part of any gender transition. The video, aired on WBBM-TV in Chicago, exposed lax prison oversight, prompting investigations into Statesville’s security. Speck’s breasts became a tabloid sensation, overshadowing the tragedy of his victims: Patricia Matusek, Pamela Wilkening, Suzanne Farris, Mary Ann Jordan, Merlita Gargullo, Valentina Pasion, Nina Jo Schmale, and Gloria Davy, all aged 20 to 23, killed in a brutal three-hour spree.

In Monster, Speck’s appearance is fictionalised. He’s nicknamed “Birdman” for his prison habit of keeping canaries, and the show imagines him writing to Gein, sharing Polaroids of his altered body and crediting Gein’s crimes as inspiration. There is no evidence to support such correspondence in real life.

The show uses Speck to mirror Gein’s own delusions, particularly his fascination with wearing women’s skin, as seen in The Silence of the Lambs’ Buffalo Bill. Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan frame this as a commentary on how violent images and untreated mental illness ripple across generations of killers. Speck’s real-life hormone use wasn’t about identity but chaos, a detail the show amplifies to question society’s role in enabling such figures.

Illinois abolished parole for Speck’s crimes after public outcry, ensuring he died in custody on December 5, 1991, from a heart attack. His body, unclaimed, was cremated..

All episodes of Monster: The Ed Gein Story are streaming on Netflix.

Stay tuned for more such updates!