Unmasking Richard the Birdman Speck in Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story widens its lens beyond Gein, pulling in Ted Bundy and Richard the Birdman Speck—raising a chilling question: who was Speck, and why does his prison infamy loom over this chapter?
I know the title says Monster: The Ed Gein Story, but the show pulls in more than just Gein. Ted Bundy shows up. So does Richard 'Birdman' Speck. If you found yourself asking who the Birdman is and why he matters here, let me lay it out.
Who Richard 'Birdman' Speck is in Monster
In the series, Richard Speck is played by Tobias Jelinek. He is the guy who murdered eight nursing students in 1966, was arrested, and became one of those names you hear whenever people start listing notorious American killers. The show frames him as someone who sees Ed Gein (played by Charlie Hunnam) as a sort of twisted role model, which, yes, is a choice.
Why he is called 'Birdman'
The nickname comes from an ugly little prison story. As told in John E. Douglas's book 'Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit,' Speck once nursed a sparrow back to health after it flew into his cell. When a guard told him pets were not allowed, Speck allegedly chucked the bird into a fan and delivered this line:
'If I can't have it, no one can.'
It is exactly as grim as it sounds, and the nickname stuck.
How Speck connects to Ed Gein (show vs. real life)
In real life, there is no documented connection between Gein, Speck, and Ted Bundy. They were active in different decades and did not overlap in any meaningful way.
On the show, though, the writers stitch them together through prison letters. Here is the chain reaction, simplified:
Bundy (played by John T. O'Brien) writes to Speck, saying Speck's murders inspired him. Speck then writes to Gein from prison to say thanks for the influence. It paints Gein as the unwitting godfather of a whole generation of killers. The finale, pointedly titled 'The Godfather,' leans into that idea and uses it as a plot device: Gein works with the FBI to help track down Bundy. That is pure narrative invention, but it is the kind of inside-baseball flourish this show lives on.
If you want to see how the series plays it, all eight episodes of Monster: The Ed Gein Story are streaming now on Netflix.