Ted Bundy was a handsome, friendly and intelligent law student. He was also a psychopathic murderer. Clever as he was, he put his arm in a sling and asked young women for help. In four years he claimed dozens of victims; he was the most dangerous serial killer in the 70s. What is his story?
- Lifecycle
- The first murders
- Arrest
- Escape
- Condemnation
- His story
Lifecycle
Theodore (Ted) Robert Cowell, later Bundy, was born on November 24, 1946. His mother did not know who the father was, and to avoid social disapproval, Ted was raised by his grandparents. Only much later would he find out that these were not his parents but his grandparents, and that his sister was his real mother. In his own words, his father/grandfather was a tyrannical man who regularly used physical and verbal violence. His mother/grandmother was a timid woman who allowed much to happen.
As a child, Bundy stood out for his behavior. He liked to read books with a lot of (sexual) violence and drank a lot of alcohol. He had no friends, he preferred to be alone and often did not understand other people. In college he did get into a relationship with Stephanie Brooks. However, after a year she broke up with him because of his immature behavior. This turned out to be decisive for his future.
He changed universities, and after four years he visited Stephanie again. They started dating again, but this time Ted dumped her. He just wanted to prove to himself that he could have had her.
The first murders
It is unclear when Ted committed his first murder: stories go from 1961, when he was 14, to 1971. The first documented victims were fellow students in February 1974. In November that year, he tried to kidnap Carol DaRonch; however, she managed to escape. Eleven previous victims were unable to do so.
Arrest
In August 1975, Bundy was stopped by a police officer. At that time he was already a suspect in the murder cases, but there was not enough evidence. However, his then girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, helped the police on their way, and after an investigation, hair from 3 different victims was found in his car. When Bundy was also recognized by Carol DaRonch in a ‘line-up’, he was charged with kidnapping and assault. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Escape
In June ’77, Bundy managed to escape by jumping out of a window. He remained out of the hands of the police for six days, but his nervous behavior behind the wheel caught the attention of two officers and he was arrested again. On December 30, he made a second, successful attempt, and in the space of a week he traveled from prison in Colorado to sunny Florida.
On January 15 it started again. In one evening he claimed 5 victims, although three of them survived. His last known victim was on February 9, 1978: the only 12-year-old Kimberly Diane.
Condemnation
Three days after that murder, he was arrested for driving a stolen car. He was arrested, and a year later the huge trial began. One of the key pieces of evidence was bite marks in the buttock of one of his victims, which were matched to his teeth marks. He was convicted of all the victims in Florida, and received two death sentences and two life sentences. He was suspected in many other murder cases, and has admitted to committing many more murders. However, there was never sufficient evidence for this. But on January 24, 1989, after all his appeals were rejected, he was put to death in the electric chair.
His story
How can someone commit such heinous acts? Bundy indicated in interviews that he wanted to possess the women, both sexually and their dead bodies. It had to be completely his. He kept severed heads in his apartment, and had sex with the bodies until decomposition made this no longer possible. Very few will understand how someone can go to such lengths, how someone can do something like that to another human being. Everyone else can only hope that a new Ted Bundy won’t emerge anytime soon.