Theodore Robert Bundy (Ted) was born on November 24th, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont. His mother, Eleanor Louise Cowell was 22 years old and unmarried when she gave birth to Ted. His father is unknown with some believing it to be Lloyd Marshall or Jack Worthington. Some rumours even speculate Ted’s father was his grandfather. To hide that he was an illegitimate child, Bundy was raised as the adopted son of his grandparents and believed his mother was his sister. Eleanor moved with Bundy to Tacoma, Washington, a few years later, and soon married his stepfather Johnnie in 1951. Ted resented his stepfather for being too uneducated and working class.
Early Life
To the outside world it seemed Bundy grew up in a content, working class family. However, around the age of 3, he became fascinated by knives and began to argue with his peers. During his teen years, a darker side of Ted started to emerge. Bundy liked to peer in other people’s homes and began to steal.
Many experts believe Bundy’s obsessive behaviour stemmed from his grandfather, Samuel Cowell. Relatives of Bundy stated his grandfather was known for his explosive temper and obsession with pornography. Some say Cowell showed Bundy his large collection of pornography, which included violent sex acts. There are rumours Cowell sexually assaulted Bundy as a child.
Education
Bundy graduated from the University of Washington in 1972 with a degree in psychology. He had also been accepted to law school in Utah, although he would never earn his degree.
While a student at the University of Washington, Bundy met a young woman from California, Diane Edwards. She had everything that he wanted: money, class and influence. They briefly became engaged but split when Edwards couldn’t cope with Bundy’s behaviour. He was heartbroken by their breakup with many of Bundy’s later victims resembling his college girlfriend.
By the mid-1970s, Bundy had become more confident and active in social and political matters. He received a letter of recommendation from the Republican governor of Washington after working on his campaign.
Life Saver or Serial Killer?
Bundy saved lives whilst working at a suicide prevention hotline as well as rescuing a young boy from drowning in 1970. A three-year-old boy left his parents and fell into Seattle’s Green Lake. Witnesses recalled Bundy jumping into Green Lake to save the child from death. This would be around the time Bundy either started his killing spree or immediately before.
Victims
Bundy preyed on young, attractive college women, near his home in Washington, then moving east to Utah, Colorado, and finally in Florida. He would often wear his arm in a sling or his leg in a fake cast and walking on crutches, using his charm and faked disability to convince victims to help him with items. He also impersonated authority figures, such as police officers and firefighters, to gain trust before he attacked. He had what he called an “off-season” where he would pick up different women and then let them go to keep his skills fresh.
Once the women were inside the Volkswagen Beetle, he would strike them on the head with a crowbar or pipe and immobilise them with handcuffs. Bundy removed the passenger seat of his car and stored it in the backseat or trunk, which left an empty space on the floor for the victim to lie out of sight.
These tactics meant Bundy was able to rape and murder lots of women. He typically strangled or bludgeoned his victims as well as mutilating them after death. He then returned to visit the corpses or took them home to gain further sexual gratification. He sometimes put their decapitated heads on display and slept with their corpses.
As more women were found murdered, several people reported Bundy as a potentially matching suspect. However, police consistently ruled him out based on his character and clean-cut appearance. He was able to avoid detection by learning how to leave virtually no evidence that could be traced by the limited forensics techniques of the 1970s.
Bundy confessed to 36 killings of young women across several states, but experts believe that the killings are closer to 100+.
There is still a debate as to when Bundy began killing however most sources believe 1974. Many women in the Seattle and Oregon area began to go missing. Rumours began about victims being in the company of a dark haired “Ted”. Not all his victims died, some even picked Ted out of a police line-up.
His attorney believed Bundy’s first victim was a man, however there is no evidence for this.
The Fall of Ted Bundy
In 1974, Bundy moved to Utah to attend law school, carrying on his murderous rampage. In 1975, he was pulled over by the police and a search of his vehicle uncovered a crowbar, a mask, rope and handcuffs. He was arrested for possession of these tools and the police began to investigate him for more serious crimes.
Bundy was arrested in the kidnapping of Carol DaRonch, one of the few women to escape his clutches. He was convicted and received a one-to-15-year jail sentence.
The Runaway
Bundy escaped prison twice in 1977. The first escape, he was indicted on murder charges of a Colorado woman and acted as his own lawyer. During a trip to the courthouse library, he jumped out a window and escaped. He was captured eight days later.
In December, Bundy climbed out of a hole he made in the ceiling of his cell, having dropped more than 30 pounds to fit through the small opening. Authorities did not discover that Bundy was missing for 15 hours, giving the serial killer a head start on police.
Chi Omega Sorority House Break-In
After the second prison escape, he made his way to Tallahassee, Florida. During the night of January 14, 1978, Bundy broke into the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University. He attacked four of the young female residents, killing two of them. His teeth marks on the victims’ bodies marked him as the killer. On February 9, Bundy kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
Leach was Bundy’s last victim, the police pulled him over that February.
Conviction, Death Row and Appeals
Bundy’s looks, charm and intelligence made him popular during his trial with crowds of people gathering and women swooning. Bundy fought for his life but was convicted and spent nine years appealing on death row. His mother refused to believe the charges for years, although changed her stance after he confessed.
During July 1979, Bundy was convicted for the the two Chi Omega murders and was given two death penalties. He received another death sentence in 1980 for the murder of Kimberly Leach.
Bundy appealed, trying to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, but he was turned down. He also offered information on unsolved murders to avoid the electric chair. During 1984, the FBI created a database which helped catch serial killers through analysing patterns. Bundy helped the FBI to develop this and gave insights into the criminal mind.
The Girlfriend
In 1969, Bundy began a six-year relationship with Elizabeth Kloepfer. Kloepfer was a single mum and struggled with alcoholism.
By 1974, Kloepfer started to get suspicious of Bundy however when she questioned him, he used his charm to deflect her concerns.
Kloepfer secretly informed police with her suspicion of Bundy’s involvement in the murders, however police didn’t believe her. The pair grew distant when Bundy moved to Olympia in 1975. During this time, Kloepfer went to police again, this time with evidence. Bundy had confessed over the phone from his prison cell that he had tried to kill her and couldn’t resist his impulses.
Wife & Child
In February 1980, Bundy married Carole Ann Boone, who he had previously dated. He proposed in the presence of the judge, making the marriage legitimate in Florida. The couple had met six years earlier when they both worked at the Department of Emergency Services in Olympia, Washington.
Boone gave birth to Rose, in 1982, and she named Bundy as the father. Not much is known about Rose today. Boone stopped visiting Bundy during his last 2 years of imprisonment and divorced him three years prior to his execution.
Death
On January 24, 1989, Bundy was executed around 7 a.m. at the Florida State Prison. Outside the prison, crowds cheered and set off fireworks after Bundy’s execution. Some people sold t-shirts while others created “smoked” Bundy burgers.
Bundy’s body was cremated in Gainesville. Bundy requested his ashes be scattered in the Cascade Mountains of Washington State, where he murdered at least four of his victims.
Some sources used –
crimemuseum
historycollection
biography
Dire Diary 