Disclaimer: "I am in no way trying to condone or justify the crimes these people have committed. My heart goes out to the families that lost loved ones to these killers. I am not trying to embodied them as a hero or a villain. I am trying to embodied them as a human. These posts are simply here to get a better understanding as to why they could do such awful crimes. Maybe one day we can put an end to this horrific lifestyle."Ted Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell to Louise Cowell on November 24, 1946, at the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers in Burlington, Vermont. Elizabeth moved back in with her parents in Philadelphia to raise her new son. For the first few years of his life, Ted thought his grandparents were his parents and his mother was his sister. Hmmm... maybe that was the start of the craziness??? In 1951 Louise and Ted moved to Tacoma, Washington and Louise married Johnnie Bundy, a military cook.
Ted was well behaved and grew into a handsome young man that was liked by many in his school. After high school, Ted enrolled into the University of Puget Sound and continued to do well academically. Unfortunately, Ted began to feel uncomfortable around his peers who seem to be a lot richer then he was. Later in his sophomore year Bundy transferred to the University of Washington to escape the uncomfortable feeling of his financial inadequacy. Although Bundy had friends, he never seemed to fit in comfortably while participating in social activities. This was a result of Bundy's acute shyness that made him appear socially awkward.
Bundy hardly ever dated but lucky for him, in 1967 Bundy met the woman of his dreams. She was smart, pretty, wealthy and sophisticated. Pretty much everything a guy looks for in a girl Bundy got in this woman. Atta boy! To top off this wonderful relationship made in "Heaven." They both shared a skill and passion for skiing and spent many weekends on the ski slopes. Bundy fell hard for his first love and tried desperately to impress her by over exaggerating his accomplishments. He won a Summer Scholarship to Stamford but his time there wasn't impressive enough to swoon her. She decided that Bundy lacked certain important qualities and he wasn't husband material so she ended the relationship and broke Ted's heart. His obsession towards her went on to haunt him for years.
Because of the break up, Ted suffered from extreme depression and dropped out of school. During this awful time he learned that his sister was really his mother and his parents were his grandparents. Bundy got the reputation that he was a petty thief. Because of that he decided to return to college, excelled in his major, and earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. A little while later, Bundy became involved with another woman by the name of Elizabeth Kendall (the pseudonym she used when she wrote "The Phantom Prince: My Life With Ted Bundy") who was divorced with a young daughter. Elizabeth fell head over heels in love with Bundy. Even though she had suspicions that he was seeing other women, she continued to stay by his side and her devotion to Bundy grew stronger. Ted wasn't interested in marriage but he allowed the relationship to continue even after reuniting with his first love who was attracted to the new confidence that is Ted Bundy.
Bundy worked on the re-election campaign of Washington's Republican Governor Dan Evans. Evans was elected and he appointed Bundy to the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Committee. Bundy's political future seemed secure, when in 1973 he became assistant to Ross Davis, chairman of the Washington State Republican Party. It was a good time in Bundy's life. He had a girlfriend, his old girlfriend was once again in love with him, and his footing in the political arena was strong. Ahhh yes. Things were looking up. If only Bundy could of kept this going. young women began vanishing from college campuses around Washington and Oregon in 1974. Later that year two women were approached by an attractive man at a Seattle state park. He introduced himself as Ted and asked if they could help him with his sailboat but they refused. Later that day two other women were seen walking away with him then they were never seen alive again.
In the fall of 1974 Bundy enrolled in law school at the University of Utah and he moved to Salt Lake City. Oh shit. Carol DaRonch was attacked in November at a Utah mall by a man who was dressed as a police officer. Lucky for her she managed to escape. She provided police with a description of the man, the VW he was driving, and a sample of his blood that got on her jacket during their fight. Within a few hours after DaRonch was attacked, 17-year-old Debbie Kent disappeared.
Around the same time, a few hikers found a graveyard of bones that happened to be the missing women from Washington and Utah. Both state troopers got together and made up a sketch identifying the man known as Ted. The man who would approach women asking for help, usually appearing helpless by wearing a cast using crutches. That's how he got them. He knew women were programmed with the maternal instinct and couldn't pass up on helping a person in need without feeling extremely guilty about it. Sometimes guilty enough they go back and help them anyway, despite the funny feeling they have in their stomach.
Each state that had missing women compared similarities of the women disappearing. They were both white, skinny and had long hair that was parted in the middle. The dead women found in Utah appeared to be hitten over the head with a blunt object, raped and sodomized. I guess he likes back door play. The women were also kidnapped during the evening hours. The police knew they were dealing with a sick and twisted serial killer that had a way to travel from state to state. On January 12, 1975, Caryn Campbell vanished from a ski resort in Colorado while on vacation with her fiance and his two children. A month later Caryn's nude body was found lying a short distance from the road. An examination of her remains determined she had received violent blows to her skull. Over the next few months five more women were found dead in Colorado with similar contusions to their head, possibly a result of being hit with a crowbar.
In August 1975 police attempted to stop Bundy for a driving violation. He aroused suspicion when he tried to get away by turning his car lights off and speeding through stop signs. When he was finally stopped his VW was searched and police found handcuffs, an ice pick, crowbar, pantyhose with eye holes cut out along with other questionable items. You never know if those things were part of his role play in love making. People have strange obsessions, it's possible. They also saw that the front seat on the passenger side of his car was missing. Police arrested Ted Bundy on suspicion of burglary.
The police compared things found in Bundy's car that DaRonch described to them. After she picked Bundy out of a line-up they felt they had enough evidence to charge him with attempted kidnapping and they felt confident that they caught the guy responsible for the tri-state murder spree that went on for more than a year. In February 1976, Bundy went on trail for the attempted kidnapping of DaRonch. After waiving his right to a jury trial he was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison. I guess all that practice with back door play will finally come in handy. ;) While Bundy was in Prison police were investigating links to Bundy and the Colorado murders. According to his credit card statements he was in the area where several women vanished in early 1975. In October 1976 Bundy was charged for the murder of Caryn Campbell.
Bundy was extradited from the Utah prison to Colorado for the trial. Serving as his own lawyer allowed him to appear in court without leg irons plus gave him an opportunity to move freely from the courtroom to the law library inside the courthouse. In an interview, while in the role as his own attorney, Bundy said, "More than ever, I am convinced of my own innocence." In June 1977 during a pre-trial hearing he escaped by jumping out of the law library window. He was captured a week later. On December 30Th Bundy escaped from Prison and made his way to Tallahassee, Florida where he rented an apartment near Florida State University under the name Chris Hagen. He enjoyed the college life and was happy to be back. Even his fun, happy times in College couldn't hide the reality and it was a matter of time before the monster inside Bundy came out.
On Saturday January 14Th, Bundy broke into Florida State University's Chi Omega sorority house where he bludgeoned and strangled to death two women, raping one of them and viciously biting her on her buttocks and one nipple. He beat two other girls over the head and before he could kill them, their fellow roommate Nita Neary who came home early and caught Bundy in the act. Nita Neary came home around 3 a.m. and noticed the front door to the house was ajar. As she entered she heard hurried footsteps above going toward the stairway. She hid in a doorway and watched as a man wearing a blue cap and carrying a log left the house. Upstairs she found her roommates. Two were dead, two others severely wounded. That same night another woman was attacked and the police found a mask on her floor identical to one found later in Bundy's car.
On February 9, 1978, Bundy killed again. This time it was 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, who he kidnapped then mutilated. Within a week of the disappearance of Kimberly, Bundy was arrested in Pensacola for driving a stolen vehicle. Investigators had eyewitnesses who identified Bundy at the dorm and at Kimberly's school. They also had physical evidence that linked him to the three murders, including a mold of the bite marks found on in the flesh of the sorority house victim. Bundy, still thinking he could beat a guilty verdict, turned down a plea bargain whereby he would plead guilty to killing the two sorority women and Kimberly LaFouche in exchange for three 25-year sentences.
Bundy went on trial in Florida on June 25, 1979 for the murders of the sorority women. The trial was televised and Bundy played up to the media when on occasion he acted as his own attorney. Bundy was found guilty on both murder charges and given two death sentences by means of the electric chair. On January 7, 1980, Bundy went on trial for killing Kimberly Leach. This time he allowed his attorney's to represent him. They decided on an insanity plea, the only defense possible with the amount of evidence the state had against him. Bundy's behavior was much different during this trial than the previous one. He displayed fits of anger, slouched in his chair, and his collegiate look was sometimes replaced with a haunting glare. Bundy was found guilty and received a third death sentence.
During the sentencing phase, Bundy surprised everyone by calling Carol Boone as a character witness and marrying her while she was on the witness stand. Boone was convinced of Bundy's innocence. She later gave birth to Bundy's child, a little girl who Bundy adored. In time Boone divorced Bundy after realizing he was guilty of the horrific crimes.
After endless appeals Bundy's last stay of execution was on January 17, 1989. Prior to being put to death Bundy gave the details of more than fifty women he had murdered to Washington State Attorney Generals chief investigator, Dr. Bob Keppel. He also confessed to keeping the heads of some of his victims at his home plus to engaging in necrophilia with some of his victims. In his final interview he blamed his exposure to pornography at an impressionable age as being the stimulant behind his murderous obsessions.
Many directly involved with Bundy believed he murdered at least 100 women.
The electrocution of Ted Bundy went as scheduled amid a carnival like atmosphere outside the prison. On January 24, 1989, Theodore Bundy died at around 7:13 a.m. as crowds outside cheered his death.
My thoughts on Ted Bundy are, he's been "wronged" by women in his life. He thought his real mother was his sister and his grandmother was his mother. His first real love dumped him because he didn't have the qualities she wanted. He felt like he needed to get revenge on women since every time he sees a woman he remembers all the pain and hurt he suffered because of it. Ted Bundy showed America that even pure evil can look damn good.
Be sure to check out the previous post of
A Killer Saturday!!
Ed Gein
.JPG)
