The Life and Crimes of Ted Bundy

Childhood -

Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell on November 24, 1946 to Eleanor Louise Cowell at the Elizabeth Lund home for unwed mothers in Burlington, Vermont. His father's identity was never determined although, many family members believe it was Eleanor's father. No material evidence was found to confirm or deny those claims.

For the first three years of his life, Bundy lived with his paternal grandparents to avoid the social stigma that accompanied birth outside of wedlock at the time.

Ted occasionally exhibited disturbing behavior, even at an early age. Ted's aunt Julia recalls awakening from a nap surrounded by kitchen knives with, then three-year old, Ted standing near the bed, smiling.

In 1950, Louise changed her surname to Nelson and moved to Tacoma, Washington. A year later, she met Johnny Bundy at an adult singles night at a local church. They married later that year and Johnny formally adopted Ted, making his legal name Theodore Bundy. Johnny and Louise conceived four additional children together.

Snow skiing was Ted's only significant athletic avocation, he usually pursued this by using stolen equipment and forged lift tickets. During high school, Bundy was arrested twice on suspicion of burglary and auto theft, the incidents were expunged when he turned 18.

University Years -

After graduating high school in 1965, Bundy spent a year at the University of Puget Sound before he transferred to the University of Washington to study Chinese. In 1967, he became romantically involved with fellow classmate Stephanie Brooks. In 1968, Bundy dropped out of University, shortly afterwards Brooks ended their relationship. Devastated by her rejection, Bundy traveled to Colorado, Arkansas and Philadelphia before he enrolled for one semester at Temple University. Bundy returned to Washington in the fall of 1969, where he met Elizabeth Kloepfer. Their stormy relationship would continue well past his incarceration in Utah in 1976.

In mid 1970, Bundy enrolled at the University of Washington, this time as a psychology major. He became an honor student and was well regarded by his professors. In 1971, Bundy took a job at Seattle's Suicide Hotline Crisis Center.

After graduating from UW in 1972, Bundy joined Governor Daniel Evans' re-election campaign. In early 1973, Bundy was accepted into law school through the University of Utah. During the summer of 1973, he rekindled his relationship with Brooks but, dated Kloepfer as well, neither woman knew of the other. In January 1974, Bundy abruptly cut off contact with Brooks without warning. By then, Bundy had begun skipping his law classes, by April, he stopped attending entirely, as young women began to disappear in the Pacific Northwest.

The year the murders began, Bundy was the assistant director of the Seattle Crime Prevention Commission and wrote a pamphlet for women on rape prevention.

First Two Series Of Murders -

There is no consensus on when or where Bundy began killing women. He told different stories to different people and refused to divulge the specifics of his earlier crimes, even in the days leading to his eventual execution. According to Bundy, he attempted his first kidnapping in 1969 in New Jersey but didn't kill anyone until 1971 in Seattle. Circumstantial evidence suggested he abducted and killed 8-year old Ann Marie Burr of Tacoma when he was 14-years old but, he's repeatedly denied this claim.

Shortly after midnight on January 4, 1974, Bundy entered the basement apartment of 18-year old Karen Sparks, a dancer and student at UW. After bludgeoning the sleeping woman with a metal rod from her bed frame, he sexually assaulted her with either the same metal rod or a metal speculum, causing extensive internal injuries. She remained unconscious for 10 days but survived with permanent physical and mental disabilities.

In the early morning hours of February 1, Bundy broke into the basement apartment of Lynda Ann Healy, a UW undergrad who broadcasted morning radio weather reports to skiers. He beat her unconscious, dressed her in blue jeans, a white blouse and boots, then carried her away. Throughout the first half of 1974, female college students continued to disappear at about one a month. On March 12, Donna Gail Manson, a 19-year old student in Olympia went to attend a jazz concert on campus, but never arrived. On April 17, Susan Rancourt disappeared while on her way to her dorm in Ellensburg. On May 6, Roberta Parks left her dorm at Oregon State to get coffee with friends, but never arrived. There was no physical evidence to connect these disappearances.

On June 1, Brenda Ball, 22, disappeared after leaving the Flame Tavern in Burien. On June 11, UW student Georgann Hawkins vanished while walking down an alley between her boyfriend's dorm and her sorority house. The next morning, Seattle homicide detectives combed the alley and found nothing. Witnesses came forward and reported a man with crutches and a leg cast in the alley that night. The man asked one woman to help carry a briefcase to his car, a light brown Volkswagen Beetle. During this period, Bundy was working in Olypmia at the department of emergency services, a government agency involved in the search for missing women. There, he met and dated Carole Boone who, six years later, would play a very important role in the final phase of his life.

The pacific northwest murders culminated on July 14, with the broad daylight abductions of two women from a crowded beach at lake Sammamish State Park, located 20 miles east of Seattle. Five female witnesses described an attractive man wearing a white tennis outfit with his left arm in a sling, speaking with an accent, introducing himself as Ted and asking for help unloading a sailboat from his tan Volkswagen Beetle. Four refused, on couldn't see a sailboat and fled. Three additional witnesses saw him approach 23-year old Janice Ott with the sailboat story, and watched her leave the beach with him. Four hours later, 19-year old Denise Naslund left a picnic to use the bathroom and never returned. According to Bundy, Ott was alive when he returned with Naslund and he forced one to watch as he murdered to other. Bundy later denied this claim on the eve of his execution.

The King County Police had a detailed description of the man and his car, a sketch was published in newspapers and broadcasted on local tv. Elizabeth Kloepfer, Ann Rule, a DES employee who worked with Bundy, and a UW psychology professor all reported Bundy as a suspect. Detectives, having received 200 tips a day, thought it unlikely that a clean-cut law student with no adult criminal record could be the perpetrator they were looking for.

On September 6, two hunters stumbled across the skeletal remains of Ott and Naslund near a service road, two miles east of Lake Sammamish. An extra femur and several vertebrae found at the site were later identified by Bundy as belonging to Georgann Hawkins. Six months later, students from Green River Community College discovered the skulls and mandibles of Healy, Rancourt, Parks and Ball on Taylor Mountain, where Bundy often hiked. Donna Manson's remains were never recovered.

Idaho, Utah and Colorado -

In August 1974, Bundy moved to Salt Lake City, Utah to attend law school for the second time, leaving behind, then girlfriend, Kloepfer. Although they spoke regularly, Bundy dated at least a dozen other women.

A new string of murders began the following month, including two that would remain undiscovered until Bundy confessed to them, shortly before his execution. On September 2, he raped and strangled a, still unidentified, hitchhiker in Idaho. On October 2, Bundy seized 16-year old Nancy Wilcox in Salt Lake and dragged her into a wooded area, where he raped and, according to Bundy, "Accidentally strangled her in an attempt to silencer her screams." Her remains, according to Bundy, were buried near Capitol Reef National Park but, were never found. On October 18, 17-year old Melissa Smith disappeared from Salt Lake after leaving a pizza parlor. Her nude body was found in a nearby mountainous area nine days later. Postmortem examinations indicated she may have remained alive for 7 days following her disappearance. On October 31, 17-year old Laura Aime disappeared, 20 miles south, after leaving a cafe just after midnight. Her nude body was found by hikers in American Fork Canyon on Thanksgiving Day. Both women had been beaten, raped and sodomized as well as strangled. Years later, Bundy shared that he also shampooed their hair and applied makeup on both women.

In the late evening of November 8, Bundy approached 18-year old Carol DaRonch at Fashion Place Mall, less than a mile from where Melissa Smith was last seen. He identified himself as "Officer Roseland" of the local police department and informed DaRonch that someone had attempted to break into her car. She entered his vehicle to accompany him to the station, when DaRonch pointed out that they weren't going the way of the station, Bundy pulled over and attempted to handcuff her. During the struggle, he accidentally put both handcuffs on the same wrist, allowing DaRonch to open the car door and escape. Later that evening, 17-year old Debra Kent disappeared after leaving a theatre production to go pick up her brother.

In November, Elizabeth Kloepfer called the police a second time after she read that young women were now disappearing near Salt Lake City. In December she called again and repeated her suspicions of Bundy being at fault. In January of 1975, Bundy returned to Seattle and spent a week with Kloepfer, who did not mention that she had reported him to police. She made plans to visit him in Salt Lake in August.

On January 12, 23-year old Caryn Ellen Campbell disappeared while walking down a well-lit hallway at the Wilwood Inn, 400 miles southeast of Salt Lake City. Her nude body was found a month later next to a dirt road near the Inn. She had been killed by blows to her head from a blunt instrument that left distinctive linear grooved depressions on her skull, her body also bore deep cuts from a sharp weapon. On March 15, 26-year old Julie Cunningham disappeared while walking to a restaurant to meet a friend. Bundy later confessed that he approached her on crutches and requested help loading ski equipment into his car, where he handcuffed and clubbed her, then assaulted her at a secondary location. Weeks later, he made the 6-hour drive from Salt Lake to revisit her remains.

Denise Oliverson, 25, disappeared near the Utah-Colorado border on April 6, while riding her bike to her parents house. Her bike and sandals were found near a railroad bridge. On May 6, Bundy lured 12-year old Lynette Culver away from her junior high school in Pocatello, Idaho, 160 Miles from Salt Lake City. He drowned and sexually assaulted her in his hotel room, before disposing of her body in a nearby river. In mid May, three of Lundy's DES coworkers, including Carole Ann Boone, visited him in Salt Lake City and spent a week at his apartment. Bundy spent a week in Seattle with Kloepfer in early June, when they discussed getting married the following Christmas.

On June 28, Susan Curtis vanished from Bringham Young University, 45 miles south of Salt Lake. Curtis's murder became Ted's final confession, which would be recorded moments before he entered the death chamber. The bodies of Wilcox, Kent, Cunningham, Culver, Curtis and Oliverson were never found.

In August or September of 1975, Bundy was baptized although he was not an active member. He would alter be excommunicated following his 1976 kidnapping conviction.

Arrest and First Trial -

On August 16, 1975 Bundy was arrested by a Utah Highway Patrol officer in Salt Lake City. The officer observed Bundy cruising a residential area in pre-dawn hours, Bundy fled the area at high speed when he noticed the patrol car. When searching the Volkswagen, the officer recovered a ski mask, a second mask made from pantyhose, a crowbar, handcuffs, trash bags, a coil of rope, an ice pick and other items initially assumed to be burglary tools. A detective matched Bundy and his vehicle to the description from the DaRonch kidnapping and his identity to Kloepfer's phone calls.

The police did not have sufficient evidence to detain Bundy, and he was released. Bundy later said that detectives missed a collection of polaroid photos of his victims, which he destroyed after he was released.

Salt Lake police placed Bundy on 24-hour surveillance. Detectives confirmed Bundy hadn't been in the company of Kloepfer on the nights of any of the Pacific Northwest kidnappings nor when Ott and Naslund were abducted.

In September, Bundy sold his Volkswagen to a mid-vale teen. Utah police impounded it, dismantled and search it. They found hairs matching samples obtained from Campbell's body. Later, they also identified hair from Melissa Smith and Carol DaRonch. Lab specialists from the FBI concluded that the presence of hair strands in one car, matching three different victims who had never met each other would be "A coincidence of mind-boggling rarity."

On October 2, detectives put Bundy into a lineup. DaRonch immediately identified him as "Officer Roseland." There was insufficient evidence to link him to Debra Kent, whose body was never found, but more than enough evidence to charge him with aggravated kidnapping and attempted criminal assault in the DaRonch case. He was freed on a $15,000 bail, which was paid by his parents. He spent most of his time before the trial living at Kloepfer's house.

On February 23, 1976, Bundy stood trial for the DaRonch kidnapping. On the advice of his attorney, Bundy waived his right to a jury due to negative publicity. On March 1, after a four day trial and a weekend of deliberation, he was found guilty of kidnapping and assault. On June 30, he was sentenced to serve 1 to 15 years on the Utah State Prison. In October, he was found hiding in some bushes in the prison yard carrying an escape kit, which included a map, airline schedules and a social security card, he spent several weeks in solitary confinement. Later that month, Colorado authorities charged him with Caryn Campbell's murder. He waived his extradition proceedings and was transferred to Aspen in 1977.

Escapes -

Bundy had elected to serve as his own attorney, and as such, was excused by the judge from wearing handcuffs or leg shackles. During a recess, he asked to visit the courthouse's law library to research the case. Bundy was concealed behind a bookcase when he opened a window and jumped from the second story, spraining his right ankle. After shedding a layer of clothing, he hiked onto Aspen Mountain. Near its summit, he broke into a hunting cabin and stole food, clothing and a rifle. The following day, he left the cabin and continued south towards the town of Crested Butte but, became lost in the forest. For two days, he wandered aimlessly on the mountain. On June 10, he broke into a trailer on Maroon Lake, taking food and a ski parka, he then walked back north, eluding roadblocks and search parties along the way. Three days later, Bundy stole a car at the edge of Aspen Golf Course. He drove back into Aspen, where two police officers noticed a weaving car and pulled him over. He was on the run for 6 days.

Back in jail in Glenwood Springs, Bundy ignored the advice of his legal advisors to stay put and, instead, assembled a new escape plan. During the evenings, while other prisoners were showering, he sawed a hole about one foot by one foot, between the reinforcement bars in his cells ceiling. Having lost 30 pounds, he was able to wiggle through, into the crawl space above. In the week following, he made a series of practice runs, exploring the space. Multiple reports of movement in the ceiling during the night were ignored.

On December 30, Bundy piled books in his bed and covered them in a blanket to simulate his sleeping body and climbed in the crawlspace. He then broke into a jailer's closet, changed into normal clothing and walked out the front door. After stealing a car, Bundy drove eastward towards Glenwood Springs, but the car broke down in the mountains. Prison guards hadn't learned of his escape until 17 hours later, by then, Bundy was in Chicago.

Forida -

From Chicago, Bundy traveled by train to Michigan. Where he stole a car and drove to Atlanta then, on the morning of January 8, he boarded a bus to Florida. He rented a room under the name Chris Hagen near Florida State University campus. He reverted to his old habits of shoplifting and stealing credit cards.

In the early morning hours of January 15, 1978, one week after arriving in Florida, Bundy entered FSU's Chi Omega sorority house. Beginning at 2:45am he bludgeoned Margaret Bowman, 21, with a piece of firewood as she slept, the garroted her with a nylon stocking. He then entered the bedroom of 20-year old Lisa Levy and beat her unconscious, strangled her and sexually assaulted her with a hair mist bottle. In an adjoining bedroom he attacked Kathy Kleiner, breaking her jaw and deeply lacerating her shoulder, and Karen Chandler, who suffered a concussion, broken jaw, loss of teeth and a crushed finger. Detectives later determined that the four attacks took place in less than 15 minutes, within earshot of at least 30 witnesses, who heard nothing. After leaving the sorority, Bundy broke into the basement apartment of Cheryl Thomas, where he attacked her, dislocating her shoulder, fracturing her jaw and fracturing her skull in five places. She was left with permanent deafness and equilibrium damage that ended her dancing career.

On February 8, Bundy drove 150 miles to Jacksonville, in a stolen FSU van. In a parking lot he approached 14-year old Leslie Palmer, identifying himself as "Richard Burton" but retreated when her older brother showed up. At Lake City Jr. High the following morning, 12-year old Kimberly Leach was summoned to her homeroom to retrieve a forgotten bag, but never returned. Seven weeks later, her partially mummified remains were found in a pig farrowing shed, 35 miles away.

On February 12, with insufficient cash to pay his overdue rent, Bundy stole a car and fled. Three days later, around 1am, he was stopped by Pensacola police officer David Lee near the Alabama State line after a "warrants and wants" check showed the the car he was driving was reported stolen. When told he was under arrest, Bundy kicked Lee's legs out from under him and took off running. Lee fired a warning shot followed by a second round, gave chase and tackled him. The two struggled over Lee's gun before the officer finally subdued and arrested Bundy. In the stolen vehicle were three ID's belonging to female FSU students, 21 stolen credit cards and a stolen television set. Also found were a pair of dark rimmed, non-prescription, glasses and a pair of plaid slacks, later identified as the disguise worn by "Richard Burton" in Jacksonville. As Lee transported his suspect to jail, unaware that he had just arrested one of the FBI's ten most wanted fugitives, he heard Bundy say "I wish you had killed me."

Florida Trials and Marriage -

Following a change of venue to Miami, Bundy stood trial for the Chi Omega homicides and assaults in June 1979. The trial was covered by 250 reporters from five continents and was the first to be televised nationally in the US. Bundy again handled most of his own defense.

At trial, crucial testimony came from Chi Omega sorority members Connie Hastings, who placed Bundy in the vicinity that evening, and Nita Neary, who saw Bundy leaving the sorority house clutching the oak murder weapon. Incriminating evidence included impressions of the bite wounds on Lise Levy, which forensic odontologists Richard Souviron and Lowell Levine matched to castings of Bundy's teeth. The jury deliberated for less than seven hours before convicting him on July 24, 1979, of the Bowman and Levy murders, three counts of attempted first degree murder ( Kleiner, Chandler and Thomas) and two counts of burglary. Trial judge Edward Cowart imposed death sentences for the murder convictions.

Six months later, a second trial took place in Orlando, for the abduction and murder of Kimberly Leach. Bundy was again found guilty, due to a witness, who saw Bundy leading Leach away from the school. Important material evidence included clothing fibers on Leach's body that matched the jacket Bundy was wearing at the time of his arrest. During the penalty phase of the trial, Bundy took advantage of an obscure Florida Law providing that a marriage declaration in court, in the presence of a judge, constituted a legal marriage. As Bundy was questioning Carol Ann Boone, he asked her to marry him. She accepted and Bundy declared to the court that they were now legally married.

On February 10, 1980, Bundy was sentenced for a third time, to death by electrocution. This third death sentence would be the one ultimately carried out.

In October 1982, Carol Ann Boone gave birth to a daughte, named rose, and named Bundy as the father. While conjugal visits were not allowed at Raiford Prison, inmates were known to pool money to bribe guards for time alone with female visitors.

Death Row -

Shortly after the conclusion of the Leach trial, Bundy began to divulge details of his crimes and thought process.

Bundy recounted his career as a thief, "the big payoff for me" he said, "was actually possessing whatever it was I had stolen. I really enjoyed having something that I had wanted and gone out an taken." Sexual assault, he said, "fulfilled my need to totally possess them." At first, he killed his victims "to eliminate the possibility of getting caught" but later, murder became part of the "adventure." "The ultimate possession was, in fact, the taking of a life", he said. "Then.. the physical possession of the remains." Bundy confided in special agent William Hagmaier of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit. Bundy told him "After awhile, murder is not just a crime of lust, or passion. The victim becomes a part of you, and you two are forever one and the grounds where you kill them or leave them becomes sacred to you, and you will always be drawn back to them."

In July 1984, Raiford guards found two hacksaw blades that Bundy had hidden In his cell. A steel bar in one of the cell's windows had been sawed off and glued back into place with a homemade soap based adhesive. Several months later, guards found an unauthorized mirror hidden in his cell, Bundy was then moved to a different cell. Sometime during this period, Bundy was attacked by a group of his fellow inmates. Though he denied having been assaulted, multiple inmates confessed to the crime, characterizing it as a "gang rape". Shortly thereafter, he was charged with a disciplinary infraction for unauthorized correspondence with high profile criminal, John Hinckley Jr. In October, of 1984, Bundy contacted Robert Keppel and offered to share his knowledge in serial killer psychology in the ongoing hunt for the Green River Killer.

In early 1986, an execution date of March 4th was set on the Chi Omega convictions, the Supreme Court issued a brief stay, but the execution was quickly rescheduled. In April, shortly after the new date, July 2, was announced, Bundy confessed to Hagmaier and Nelson, including details of what he did to some of his victims. He told police that he revisited Taylor Mountain, Issaquah and other locations, often several times, to lie with his victims and perform sexual acts with their decomposing bodies until purification forced him to stop. In some cases, he drove several hours each way and remained the entire night. In Utah, he applied makeup to Melissa Smith's lifeless face and he washed Laura Aime's hair. "If you've got time" Bundy said, "They can be anything you want them to be." He decapitated approximately twelve of his victims with a hacksaw, and kept at least one group of severed heads in his apartment for a period of time before disposing of them.

Less than 15 hours before the scheduled execution, the court of appeals stayed it indefinitely and remanded the Chi Omega case for review on multiple technicalities, that ultimately were never resolved. A new date, November 18 of 1986 was thens et to carry out the Leach sentence, the court issued a stay on November 17. In mid-1988, the court ruled against Bundy and in December the supreme court denied a motion to review the ruling. Within hours, a firm execution date of January 24, 1989, was announced.

With all appeal avenues exhausted and no further motivation to deny his crimes, Bundy agreed to speak frankly with investigators. He confessed to committing all eight of the Washington and Oregon murders for which he was the prime suspect. He described three additional previously unknown victims in Washington and two in Oregon who he declined to identify. He said he left a fifth body, Donna Manson's, on Taylor Mountain, but incinerated her head in Kloepfer's fireplace. Bundy told investigators, "of all the things I did to her, that is probably the one thing she is least likely to forgive me for." He described in graphic detail his abduction of Georgann Hawkins, how he had lured her to his car before rendering her unconscious with a crowbar, handcuffing her and taking her to Issaquah, where he strangled her, Before spending the entire night with her body and later revisited her corpse three different times. He also admitted to returning to the UW alley the morning after Hawkins' abduction to collect her belongings that were left behind, then left with them, unobserved.

Bundy confessed to detectives from Idaho, Utah and Colorado that he had committed numerous additional homicides, including several that were unknown to police. A new ulterior strategy became apparent, he withheld many details, hoping to parlay the information into another stay of execution. The new strategy, dubbed "Ted's bones-for-time scheme" served only to deepen the resolve of authorities to see Bundy executed on schedule. When it became clear that no further stays would be forthcoming, Bundy supporters began lobbying for the only remaining option, executive clemency. Diana Weiner, a young Florida attorney and Bundy's last love interest, asked the families of several of his victims to petition the Florida governor Bob Martinez for a postponement, all of whom refused. Martinez made it clear that he would not agree to any further delays. "We are not going to have the system manipulated" Martinez told reporters. "For him to be negotiating for his life over the bodies of his victims if despicable."

Carole Ann Boone had championed his innocence throughout all of his trials and felt "deeply betrayed" by his admission of guilt. She moved back to Washington with her daughter and refused to accept his phone call on the day he was executed.

On the eve of his execution, Ted Bundy talked of suicide. Reportedly confessing, that he didn't want to give the state the satisfaction of watching him die.

Death -

Ted Bundy died in the Raiford Prison Electric Chair at 7:16am EST on January 24, 1989 at 42 years of age. Hundreds of revelers, including off duty officers, sang, danced and set off fireworks in a field across from the prison as the execution was carried out. Then cheered as the white hearse departed.

Ted's remains were cremated in Gainseville, and his ashes spread at an undisclosed location in the Cascade Range of Washington State, in accordance to his will.

According to the New York Times, his final words were "Give my love to my friend and family."

Pathology - Bundy underwent multiple psychiatric examinations, then conclusions varied. Dorothy Lewis, professor of psychiatry of the New York University School of Medicine, initially made a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, but later changed her diagnosis more than once. She also suggested multiple personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.

Final Meal -

Having declined to choose his final meal, Bundy received Florida State Prison's traditional final meal, which included the following;

Steak - Cooked medium-rare

Eggs - over easy

Hashbrowns

Toast - with butter and jelly

Milk and Juice

None of which he consumed.

Victims -

The night before his execution Bundy confessed to 30 homicides but, the true total remains unknown.

Washington - 11 (3 unidentified)

Utah - 8 (3 unidentified)

Colorado - 3

Florida - 3

Oregon - 2 (Unidentified)

Idaho - 2 (1 unidentified)

California - 1 ( unidentified)

Artifacts -

Ted's 1968 Volkswagen Beetle was displayed in the lobby of the National Museum of Crime an Punishment in Washington D.C. until it was closed in 2015. It is currently on exhibit at the Alcatraz East Crime Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

Time Line (By Year) -

1947 - Born

1947-1949 - Lives in Philadelphia

1950 - moves to Tacoma, Washington

1951 - Adopted

1965 - Graduates High School

1966 - University of Washington

1968 - Drops out of school

1972 - Graduates college

1973 - Begins studying law

1974 - Attacks and assaults Karen Sparks

1974 - Abducts Lynda Healy