Ted Bundy

 

Ted Bundy

By the time he was captured by authorities in 1979, Ted Bundy had become one of America's most infamous killers. Before his execution in 1989, he had admitted to killing 36 young women, but authorities believe that he had taken the lives of many, many more. 

In order to lure his victims in, Bundy would wear a fake cast on his arm and ask the women for help loading books into his car. These females usually resembled Bundy's former college girlfriend, who devastated Bundy by ending the relationship, with long, brown hair parted down the middle. Before killing his victims, and sometimes, even after, Bundy would rape them. 

His first victim was Joni Lenz. On January 5, 1974, Bundy broke into her apartment, and attacked her and sexually assaulted her with a metal pole he took from her bed frame while she slept. A month later, on February 1, Bundy struck again. This time, abducted his victim, Lynda Ann Healy, from her apartment. Her body was never found.

By the end of the summer of 1974, Bundy had already taken the lives of 10 victims in the Pacific Northwest. In the fall, he moved to Salt Lake City to attend law school at the University of Utah. And as he gets there, women start disappearing. Bundy started to spread out to Colorado in the winter of 1975. Also around that time, skulls of Bundy's early victims are found in the mountains of Washington state by authorities still investigating the disappearances of the young women from when Bundy first started his attacks. 

In August 1975, Bundy was pulled over by Utah Highway Patrol Sergeant, Bob Hayward, who found burglary tools in Bundy's car. With the tools, and eye-witness accounts placing Bundy at the scene of the crime, he was placed under arrest for the kidnapping of Carol DaRonch. He is found guilty of the kidnaping, and sentenced to his first stint of jail time, with 1-15 years in prison in March 1976. During this sentence, he was charged with the murder of  Caryn Campbell. 

In the summer of 1977, Bundy made his first escape attempt, and was free for 6 days before being apprehended. Months later, he escapes again, this time, however, he ends up in Tallahassee. 

It was here that Bundy committed the Chi Omega murders. After entering the sorority house, Bundy attacks four girls, killing two of them. Karen Thomas and Kathy Kleiner survive, but are severely wounded. Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman aren't so lucky. After fleeing the house, Bundy attacks another victim, Cheryl Thomas.

His final victim, however was very different form the others. 12 year old, Kimberly Leach, was taken from her school by Bundy. Her body was found a year later. Bundy was caught six days after killing Leach. 

During the ensuing trials, Bundy defended himself. He was found guilty, and was sentenced to death in both trials

He was finally marked for death on January 17, 1989, nine years after the Kimberly Leach trial. He was executed in the electric chair on January 24, 1989 at 7:16 am. 

Ted Bundy has appeared on screen many times. Mark Harmon, of NCIS fame, portrayed the killer in the television movie, The Deliberate Stranger. Zac Efron will play him in the upcoming film, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, which began filming in October. The conversations between Bundy and Robert Zeppel, one of the investigators, also inspired the interactions between Hannibal Lector and Will Graham. 

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