Serial killer # 1 by Volisa Rings

American serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy was one of the most notorious criminals of the late 20th century.

Ted Bundy Synopsis Ted Bundy was born November 24, 1946, in Burlington, Vermont. In the 1970s, he raped and murdered young women in several states. He was connected to at least 36 murders, but some thought he had committed one hundred or more. He was executed in Florida's electric chair in 1989. His charm and intelligence made him something of a celebrity during his trial, and his case inspired many novels and films about serial killers.

Early Years Theodore "Ted" Bundy started life as his mother's secret shame. Eleanor Cowell was twentytwo years old and unmarried when she had her son Theodore, which scandalized her deeply religious parents. She delivered the child at a home for unwed mothers in Vermont and later brought her son to her parents in Philadelphia. To hide the fact he was an illegitimate child, Bundy was raised as the adopted son of his grandparents and was told that his mother was his sister. Eleanor moved with Ted to Tacoma, Washington, a few years later. In 1951, she married Johnnie Bundy and the couple had several children together. From all appearances, Bundy grew up in a content, working-class family.

Bundy showed an unusual interest in the macabre at an early age. Around the age of 3, he became fascinated by knives. Bundy was a shy, but bright child who did well in school, but not with his peers. As a teenager, a darker side of his character started to emerge. Bundy liked to peer in other people's windows and thought nothing of stealing things he wanted from other people.

An Unexpected Killer While a student at the University of Washington, Bundy fell in love with a wealthy, pretty young woman from California. She had everything that he wanted: money, class, and influence. He was devastated by their breakup. Many of his later victims resembled his college girlfriendâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;attractive students with long, dark hair. His killings also usually followed a gruesome pattern. He often raped his victims before beating them to death.

The exact number of women Bundy killed will never been known. There is also some debate when he started killing, but most sources say that he began his murderous rampage around 1974. By this time, he had transformed himself, becoming more outwardly confident and active in social and political matters. He had graduated from University of Washington with a degree in psychology in 1972 and had been accepted to law school in Utah. Bundy even got a letter of recommendation from the Republican governor of Washington after working on his campaign. Around this time, many women in the Seattle area and in nearby Oregon went missing. And stories circulated about some of the victims last being seen in the company of a young, dark-haired man known as "Ted." He often lured his victims into his car by pretending to be injured and asking for their help. Their kindness proved to be a fatal mistake. Bundy moved to Utah in the fall of 1974 to attend law school, and women began disappearing there as well. The following year, he was pulled over by the police. A search of his vehicle uncovered a cache of burglary toolsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a crowbar, a face mask, rope and handcuffs. He was arrested for possession of these tools and the police began to link him to much more sinister crimes. In 1975, 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-fifteen-year jail sentence in that case. Two years later, Bundy was indicted on murder charges for the death of a young Colorado woman. He decided to act as his own lawyer in this case. During a trip to the courthouse library, Bundy jumped out a window and made his first escape. He was captured eight days later.

Final Crimes In December 1977, Bundy escaped from custody again. He climbed out of a hole he made in the ceiling of his cell and even 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 big head start on the police. He eventually made his way to Tallahassee, Florida. There, on 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. On February 9, Bundy kidnapped and murdered a twelve -year-old girl named Kimberly Leach. These crimes marked the end of his murderous rampage as he was soon pulled over by the police that February. In July 1979, Bundy was convicted for the two Chi Omega murders. The most damming evidence came from his own viciousness. The bite marks on one of the bodies was a definitive match for Bundy. He was given the death penalty twice for those crimes. Bundy received another death sentence the following year in the murder of Kimberly Leach.

Last Years Bundy fought for his life, spending years appealing his death sentence. An infamous national figure since his Florida trials, he remained a source of fascination for many. Actor Mark Harmon even played Bundy in the 1986 television movie The Deliberate Stranger. Bundy tried to take his case as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, but he was turned down. Bundy even offered information on some of unsolved murders to avoid Florida's electric chair, but he could not delay justice forever. On January 24, 1989, Bundy met his fate at the Florida State Prison. He was put to death around 7 a.m. that morning in an electric chair sometimes known as "Old Sparky." Outside the prison, crowds cheered and even set off fireworks after Bundy's execution. In the end, he had admitted to thirty-six killings, but experts believe that the final tally may be closer to one hundred.

Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy, more commonly known as "Ted", was one of the most prolific serial killers in America. He confessed to 36 murders, but nobody really knows how many had been committed or when he began his legacy of horror; the true total could be higher. Ted was born to Eleanor Louise Cowell and a father that had taken off when Eleanor discovered she was pregnant. In 1946, faced with limited options, she gave birth to him in an "unwed mother" facility and began a hopeless charade: as Ted grew up, she told him that her parents were his parents and that she was his sister. It wasn't until 1974 when he realized that his mother had lied to him for so many years. He grew to be a handsome, educated and intelligent man who appeared to be welladjusted and affable. Bundy even volunteered for a crisis telephone hot-line (where he met famed author Ann Rule who was also a volunteer) and had a steady relationship with a girlfriend, one that would fuel his maniacal rage after she left him. Ted was studying psychology at the University of Washington on January 31, 1974 when an attractive female student suddenly disappeared. Over the coming months and years, more disappearances followed. Ted's victims were generally young attractive women with dark hair parted in the middle. His modus operandi was to approach his potential victim feigning injury (for example, by wearing an arm-sling or a cast) ask them to help him carry his books or packages. He led them to a secluded area and when they were alone he would knock them on the head with

Ted Bundy a crowbar, stuff their bodies into his car, strangle them while they were unconscious and then rape the dead bodies (necrophilia). He would then leave the naked body in a wooded area, mostly Taylor Mountain in Washington State, where many of his victims were found. Along with countless other suspects he was questioned by the police but he initially came out clean because he just didn't seem to 'fit the mold' of a maniacal serial killer. Bundy then went to law school at Salt Lake City, Utah where he murdered a police chief's daughter on October 21, 1974. Another murder followed, and another young woman went missing in Bountiful, Utah. In January 12, 1975, killings eerily similar to the Utah murders began popping up in Colorado. On August 16, 1975 he was arrested for being in possession of burglary tools by Salt Lake City police. When his bronze Volkwagen beetle was searched they found handcuffs, stockings and a home-made mask. Bundy was identified from a police lineup by a woman who had narrowly escaped his clutches in November 1974. In January 1977 he was extradited to Colorado to be tried for murder. In June 1977 he fled the Pitkin County Jail by jumping out of an open window. He was captured 8 days later. He managed to escape again from the Garfield County Jail by sawing a hole in the ceiling of his cell on December 30, 1977. This time he traveled all the way to Tallahassee, Florida where he lived under pseudonyms including Christopher Hagen and Kenneth Misner. On January 15, 1978 he invaded the Chi Omega sorority on the Florida State University campus where he bludgeoned four girls and killed two. After he fled the Chi Omega sorority, he broke into the house of another woman and beat her severely before her worried roommates next door phoned the police. The young woman survived the

Ted Bundy attack. She would be his last living victim. On February 9, 1978 he kidnapped 12 year old Kimberly Leach, raped her and sliced her throat. Her body was found eight weeks later in a state park. On February 15, 1978 he was arrested by Pensacola police when they did a check on his license plates and realized his car was stolen. Teeth impressions were made to compare to bite wounds found on one of the Chi Omega victims and the impressions matched the teeth marks on the victim. Bundy conducted his own defense with the help of several attorneys but, of course, it was all for naught; he was found guilty and sentenced to death by electrocution in 1979. A decade later, when death was finally looking down on him, he began confessing to a staggering amount of murders, 36 in total, but some investigators believe that the real total could be higher. He was executed on January 24, 1989 at the Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida. Many spectators cheered and celebrated his death with champagne.

6 LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT TED BUNDY THAT EVERY BUNDYPHILE SHOULD KNOW

You think you know Ted Bundy? Think again. The man known as the “Angel Of Decay” and the “Co-Ed Killer” led an exceptionally dark life, never ceasing to confound the public. These littleknown facts about the prolific serial killer will leave you perplexed, bewildered and naturally, terrified… 1) Bundy’s Father Was His Grandfather Ted Bundy, born Theodore Robert Cowell, grew up living a lie. Ted’s mother, Louise Cowell, was single when she gave birth to him and in the 1940’s that was a serious no-no. Ted’s grandparents took their daughter in, telling young Ted that

his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister. As if that wasn’t messed up enough, Ted’s grandfather, Samuel Cowell, is rumored to be his biological father. Although it was never confirmed, if the rumor is true, that would make Ted Bundy the product of incest.

2) Bundy Kept An Especially Creepy Glove Compartment When Ted Bundy’s longtime girlfriend Liz Kloepfer turned him in to the police, she told authorities about the bizarre items Ted kept in his car. Inside his infamous VW Beetle, Ted stored a lug wrench, crutches, an orient knife in a wood case, and a meat cleaver. Those were just a few of Ted’s “tools of the trade” and not surprisingly, his excuse that he needed them for protection, was not fooling anyone.

3) Bundy Had A Lovechild In Jail While on trial in Florida, Ted Bundy proposed marriage to Carole Ann Boone. And even more shocking: she accepted. The couple’s twisted love affair was one of many Bundy trial antics. In the end, he was unable to convince the jury of his innocence and was sentenced to death row. But while awaiting capital punishment, Bundy claimed to have impregnated Boone. Many question the validity of his claims, but it’s possible that there is a young female Bundy out there…scary!

4) Bundy Helped Take Down “The Green River Killer” It’s surprising to see the words “help” and “Bundy” in the same sentence. In a surprising move, Bundy contacted the detective that helped put him behind bars, Robert D.

Keppel, while he was on death row. Keppel was working on the “Green River Killer” investigation, desperately seeking to stop the infamous killer. Bundy was able to help Keppel understand the inner workings of a serial killer’s mind, ultimately helping the detective identify Gary Ridgway and bring him to justice.

5) Bundy Escaped Police Custody Twice Few people know that Bundy was able to escape police custody twice before his eventual capture in Florida. In his first escape, Bundy was allowed to roam around the court room library unattended (see master manipulator). While roaming free, he jumped from a second story window and ran for it. For his second escape, Bundy got more crafty and many believe employed the help of his girlfriend, Carole Ann Boone. On Christmas Eve, the notorious killer escaped through his prison cell ceiling, exiting from a hole he had slowly been sawing for weeks. He then stole the chief jailor’s clothes and calmly walked out of the prison unnoticed. It’s heartbreaking to think that so many lives would have been saved if Bundy had been kept behind bars — where he belonged.

A Transcript of Ted Bundy's Final Interview