Ted Bundy

Where And When?: Washington State, Colorado, Utah, Florida; 1974 - 1978

Who?: Theodore Robert Bundy was born in November, 1946 to Eleanor Louise Cowell of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Because she was unwed and not proud of the fact, Louise went to a halfway house in Burlington, Vermont to give birth. She and her baby boy returned to Philadelphia for four years. Louise Cowell renamed her child Theodore Nelson  and moved to Tacoma, Washington to be near relatives and to escape the stigma of being an unwed, single mother. There she met Johnnie Bundy and married. The family of three were relatively happy together in Washington state, although step-father and son never formed a strong bond.  Ted Bundy had a name that would remain the same until the day of his death. Ted Bundy was a heavy fantasizer as a child, but showed his intelligence in school. He soon turned his ability to think on his feet to become a habitual liar and a thief. Bundy talked after his arrest about an enormous sex drive, and an addiction to pornography. He stalked the streets of Seattle and Tacoma late at night, peering through bedroom windows to watch young women change their clothes.

The Murders: Bundy progressed to the point of entering a home in January of 1974, and attacked a women he had been watching change. She soon recovered,. However, later that month twenty one year old Lynda Ann Healy would not be so lucky. Bundy entered her student lodging house under cover of darkness, abducted Lynda Healy at knifepoint and drove her to Taylor Mountain, twenty miles outside Seattle, where he bludgeoned her to death after acting out sick fantasies. Bundy would kill four others and dump their bodies at this same location. Ted Bundy used what police call 'lures' to capture victims. He often posed as a man in distress, wearing a cast on his arm and trying to perform some difficult feat, such as carrying a heavy object. Bundy used his good looks and personality to enlist the aid of unsuspecting women. He would abduct them when they came close enough to his vehicle, drove them to secluded locations, and then committed his crimes. Bundy favoured victims who were of college age and spent much time around campuses. He studied psychology at the University of Washington at Seattle and law in Salt Lake City , Utah. As Bundy moved form place to place, an astounding list of young women grew. They had been found dead, or reported as missing. Bundy's Volkswagen car aroused suspicion in Salt Lake City and on August 16, 1976 a police stop found a number of suspect items in the vehicle's trunk. Among the things found were an ice-pick, ski mask, crowbar and a large number of tools. At first, investigators believed they had captured a burglar, but a subsequent search of Bundy's apartment found brochures and maps for places in Colorado where victims had been murdered. A test revealed a match between hairs in Bundy's apartment and hairs found at the murder scene of Melissa Smith. A witness who saw Bundy's photograph then came forward to put him near the scene of a crime in Snowmass, Colorado the previous year. Bundy was extradited to Colorado to stand trial for murder.It is believed that at this point, Ted Bundy had been responsible for at least twenty-five murders. But, the authorities underestimated this psycho, and more was to come. In December of 1977, Ted Bundy escaped from prison near Aspen, Colorado and fled to Chicago. It was his second escape. Earlier, Bundy jumped from a second story Public Library window as he read law books, preparing his own defense. The first time, he was on the lam for eight days. Time number two lasted longer. From Chicago, Bundy headed south to Atlanta, and then arrived in Tallahassee, Florida. He survived by using stolen credit cards, finally taking a room two blocks from Florida State University's student housing district. He had assumed the name Chris Hagen, convinced himself that he was starting a new life, but was mistaken when in January, 1978 Ted Bundy began to kill again. This time he would be caught for good. Bundy's January 15 attack on two sorority houses in one night  is one of the most notorious in American history. Along with murderer Richard Speck, Bundy inspired any number of slaughter-sorority house movies. Bundy left two women dead and three more savagely beaten. On February 8, Kimberly Leach, a twelve year old school girl was abducted from a Florida school. Her ravaged body was found two months later, dumped in Swanne River State Park. This murder was different from the other known Bundy victims. With Kim Leach, Bundy broke the mold of college women as victims. He wasn't being as discriminating. If it's at all possible and as ironic as it sounds, Ted Bundy was actually becoming more dangerous. Police found that car driven by Chris Hagen, a volkswagen as it turned out, was stolen. Upon his arrest, they discovered the true identity of the thief. Further investigation determined that Bundy had been in Tallahassee at the time of the murders, and a gruesome discovery matched bite marks on the buttocks of a sorority house victim to an impression made from Bundy's teeth.

Trial And Outcome: It is believed that Bundy may have murdered 34 or more women. In the end however, he was tried for the murders of his three Florida victims. Bundy led his own defense, using knowledge gained during his studies in Utah and while incarcerated. The judge complimented him for his skills in the courtroom.  Bundy was at home on stage. he loved the attention, going as far as to 'marry' his 'girlfriend' as he stood at the front of the courtroom. Ultimately, Ted Bundy was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to death. He would not return to face charges in the western states where he was wanted. Bundy utilized a plethora of stalling and delaying tactics to stay his execution. For a decade he would talk about the murders, revealing information to detectives to help buy him more time. He never said "I" during these confessions, but instead spoke about "the man" or said "he" when describing actions or speaking of motives. In all, Bundy seemed to admit to murdering 23 victims. Eventually, the Florida justice system tired of Bundy's antics. He died in the electric chair on January 24, 1989.

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