Ted Bundy

Ted Bundy: A Date with Danger

Intro:

Murder is not about lust and it’s not about violence. It’s about possession (Biography.com Editors).  This statement is very true about murder, particularly regarding  murder at the hands of serial killer. Ted Bundy admitted to 36 killings of young women across several states in the 1970s, but experts believe that the final tally may be closer to 100 or more (Biography.com Editors). Ted's murders were meticulously crafted and executed to perfection, his long stretch of of murders and escapes across America made him one of the most legendary serial killers of all time.

Bio:

Ted Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont on November 24, 1946, starting life as his mother's secret shame (Biography.com Editors). Shortly after, he moved to live with with his grandparent who claimed to have adopted him. They told him his mother was his older sister(Biography.com Editors). Later Ted and his mother moved to Washington and Ted began to develop an obsession for knives. Years later Ted attended the University of Washington where he got a degree in psychology and fell in love(Biography.com Editors). But after his rough break up people began to go missing. Eventually Ted Bundy attended law school in Utah and was rather skilled, but people went missing here as well.  He was first arrested  in 1975 for kidnapping a woman who escaped from him. Acording to Biography.com "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 (Biography.com Editors)."

Capture and Kill:

In December of 1977 Ted Bundy escaped from prison again and fled to live in Florida. He lived under the name Chris Hagan where he regularly attended college lectures (Montaldo).

According to Charles Montaldo "on Saturday, January 14, 1978, Bundy broke into Florida State University's Chi Omega sorority house and bludgeoned and strangled to death two women, raping one of them and brutally biting her on her buttocks and one nipple. He beat two others over the head with a log (Montaldo)." Later Bundy kidnapped a twelve year old girl and mutilated her. However, he was driving a stolen car and was arrested (Montaldo). Ted Bundy was given the death sentence twice. "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 he adored (Montaldo)." A day before his execution Ted admitted to over 50 murders and said he partook in necrophilia and said he kept some of the heads.

In the News:

As you could expect Ted Bundy struck fear throughout America while on his murderous rampage. Especially since he a very specific type of victim. He targeted women around college age with brown straight hair. This is because they looked like his former girlfriend. The media attempted to warn everyone by putting sketches and pictures in the paper. This was hard to do because Ted Bundy was always changing his look and often his victims didn't recognize him in some of his different pictures. Before he was executed he agreed to do an interview. the interview was conducted by a psychologist James Dobson (Ted Bundy's Final Interview). during this  conversation "he especially blamed pornography and movies filled with sex and violence for turning him into the monster who tortured, raped and killed dozens of young women (Digrassi)."

MO:

Ted Bundy was a very educated killer. This meant he left nearly no evidence behind sometimes separate investigators would go months before they realized they were hunting the same person. He even acted as his own lawyer. In addition to being very intelligent he was actually pretty attractive. Ellise Torres said "He was genial, handsome, and charismatic — the same traits he used to lure girls and young women to their deaths(Torres)."  Perhaps his most interesting feature is the ability to almost change his appearance on demand. Judge Stewart Hanson, Jr. said that a slight change in Bundy’s expression “would so change his whole appearance that there were moments that you weren’t even sure you were looking at the same person.(Torres)." This fascinating ability is what separates Ted Bundy from the average killer. 

Conclusion:

Ted Bundy is a legendary serial killer whose methods and attention to detail horrified America during the 1970's. While his lack of morals and upbringing have been blamed for his unthinkable behavior that may not be true. What if Americas culture of glorifying sex and violence through movies and other forms of media are to blame?   Thats what Bundy blamed in his final interview.