Ted Bundy

Theodore Robert Bundy (November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) born Theodore Robert Cowell, was an American serial killer.  He was charged with 30-35 counts of murder. He is suspected to have killed more than 100 people. He got the nickname ‘’The Lady Killer’’.

Name:                           Theodore Robert Bundy (Cowell)
Other names:             Chris Hagen
                                       Kenneth Misner
                                       Officer Roseland
                                       Richard Burton
                                       Rolf Miller
Nickname:                  The Lady Killer
Born:                             November 24, 1946
Died:                             January 24, 1986 (aged 42)
Cause of death:         Electrocution (executed)
Penalty:                       Death
Convictions:               Aggravated kidnapping
                                      Attempted murder
                                      Burglary
                                      Murder
Method of murder:  Beating with a metal bar
                                      Strangulation
Victims:                       35+
 

Early life:

Eleanor Louis Cowell, Teds mother, was 22 years old and unmarried when she got Ted. Who Teds father is, remains a mystery to this day. Eleanor always told her family that she was seduced by a war veteran. However, her family never believed that.

Ted grew up with the lie that his mother, Eleanor, was his sister. And his grandparents were his parents. Ted’s grandfather, Samuel Cowell was a violent, abusive man. Yet, Ted looked up to him.

For the first few years of his life, Ted and his mother, who he still believed was his sister, lived in Philadelphia. In 1950 they moved to live with relatives in Washington. In 1951 Ted’s mother met Johnny Culpepper Bundy, A year after they met they got married. This changed Ted Cowells name to Ted Bundy.

Ted was a very good student and a very intelligent man. He had good grades in high school but Teds file was filled with notes from his teachers about his explosive temper. When he studied at the University of Washington (at this time he also worked at a suicide hot line), Ted had a girlfriend. She had brown shoulder length hair and she had everything Ted was looking for. He was shocked when she broke-up with him. Ted did everything he could to get her back, and it worked. She took him back and then Ted then broke it off with her. His victims resemble his ex-girlfriend. Attractive, young students with long, dark hair.

The Killings:

When Ted started killing, detectives quickly found a pattern. All the missing girls were young, attractive and had long, brown hair parted in the middle. Ted had a very smart way of luring girls with him. He would carry one arm in a sling and act like he was hurt. He would then ask girls to help him because he couldn't do anything with his arm in the sling. Some girls would feel bad for him and go with him, they would never be seen again. This happened on July 14, that day two more girls went missing. But, the police now had a lead...

Eye-witnesses said that the girls left with a man, the day they went missing. The guy had his arm in a sling and introduced himself as Ted. With this report detectives went to find female witnesses who were approached by Ted that day. He had asked the girls to help him secure his sailboat to his car. Those girls had no idea how lucky they were to decline this offer. But the girls who did go with him ended up to where his small Volkswagen Beetle was parked. However, there was no sign of any sailboat.

Police now had a fair description. The published references led to Ted Bundy. The authorities checked Ted. He was a law student and Young Republican active in law-and-order politics, so Teds name was filed away with countless others, momentarily forgotten. The police kept searching.

On October 2, 1974 terror came to Utah, girls went missing. A girl named Carol Da Ronch got attacked at a shopping mall, she escaped her attacker and ran to the police with handcuffs still on her wrist. Authorities in Utah kept communications open with police in other states, including Washington. They might have noticed that Ted Bundy was attending school in Utah at that moment. But they were looking for a madman, not a well-groomed law student who seemed to have political connections. So once again, Ted was forgotten.

With the new year, Colorado joined the list of disappearing girls. The girls who went missing, still matched the profile of the earlier cases. This year, however,  Ted Bundy was arrested in Salt Lake City for suspicion of burglary. The police searched his car and found things like handcuffs and a pair of pantyhose with eyeholes cut out. The suspicion of Teds involvement in the attack at the mall grew, so they let Da Ronch come back to the police station. She identified Ted as her attacker. It seemed to be game over for Ted but in fact, the game just began.

Escapes: 

After the first time Ted got arrested, he wanted to be his own lawyer. Lots of people now say that it was a stupid decision, but it may have been one of the smartest things he has ever done. He asked permission to use the courthouse library, and they allowed him to. So Ted jumped out of the window and ran. He stole food from campers and he tried to get through the woods. Six days after escaping he was re-captured. 

However, on December 30, 1977 Ted escaped again. He got a hacksaw from another inmate and he went to work, cutting a one-foot square hole in his cell ceiling that led to a crawl space. Since Ted lost 35 pounds he could fit through it. His escape wasn't discovered until 17 hours later. By then Ted was in Chicago heading to Florida. When he was in Florida he killed again but his luck ran out and he was re-captured again.

Bite Marks on the body of the victim proved to be Ted's, this was the biggest evidence against him. He was given death penalty and he was executed by the electric chair.

Quotes:
“We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow”
“You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!”
“I’m the most cold-hearted son-of-a-bitch you’ll ever meet.”
“What’s one less person on the face of the earth, anyway?”
“I don’t feel guilty for anything. I feel sorry for people who feel guilt.”
“I just liked to kill, I wanted to kill.”
“I’m as cold a motherfucker as you’ve ever put your fucking eyes on. I don’t give a shit about those people.”

Fact: Around the age of 3 Ted became very interested in knives. His then 15-year-old aunt claimed that 3-year-old Ted once woke her up in the middle of the night. He stood across the room with a weird grin on his face looking at her as she woke up with several knives lying around her.
Fact: 'Ted Bundy is a striking contrast of the general image of a ''homicidal maniac'': attractive, self-assured, politically ambitious, and successful with a wide variety of woman.'


Source:
Philbin, T., & Philbin, M. (2009), The Killer Book of Serial Killers. Canada: Sourcebooks, Inc
Newton, M. (2006), The encyclopedia of Serial Killers Second Edition. New York: Checkmark Books