Ted Bundy is known to be the worst serial killer in U.S. History. In the 1970's, Ted raped and murdered women in at least five different states. Bundy eventually confessed to thirty murders, although the actual total remains unknown. Theodore Robert Bundy was born on November 24th, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont to Eleanor Louise Cowell, a 22 year old single woman. Ted's mom never told him much about his father other than that he was in the armed forces and that they never were really together. Bundy had a difficult childhood and was pretty much an wanted by his mother. After being left in foster care for two months, Eleanor decided to have her parents raise Ted and make him and everyone believe that they were his adopted parents and …show more content…
He also found that his dad was listed on there, named Lloyd Marshall. Bundy waited until the fall to resume his studies at the University of Washington where he excelled greatly than before. He ended up in honors classes and became engaged in local politics, where he transcended in. Ted Bundy graduated from Washington with a degree in psychology. In the summer of 1973 Ted got accepted into the University of Utah Law School. Everything still going smoothly for Bundy and seemed to be headed for abundant things.
No one will ever really know what happened to set Ted Bundy off, but around 1973 he began raping and murdering women at a surprising rate. No one really knows exactly when and how many woman he had murdered but he was a prime suspect in many unsolved murders. Kathy Devine was last seen getting into a green pick-up on November 25, 1973, which was later found that Ted Bundy had the same green pick-up at the time. Fifteen year old Divine's decomposed remains were found on December 6 with her jeans cut open in between her legs. Her throat was cut and the investigators concluded that she was murdered right after she disappeared and there were no leads or evidence to bring someone to justice for the acts they have committed on this poor girl.
In early 1974, two girls with similar acts of crimes against them were committed in less than a month time span. They were reported to have been beaten over the head and had a metal rod stuck up
He consistently fought for his life against the courts, giving confessions in an attempt to receive less of a penalty, or at least delay his death. He confessed to 8 killings in Washington that had taken place in 1974(“Bundy Details…”), and indicated that he had killed anywhere from 40 to 50 women(Tilstone). Although the actual number of his victims is unknown, it is believed that Ted Bundy could have killed up to 100 women, 36 of which he admitted to(Biography.com). In the book Serial Murder, by Ronald M. Holmes, it is stated that Ted was questioned about whether he had killed the 36 women, to which he replied “Add one digit to that and you’ll have it.” This could mean a number of things, like which digit do we have to add, and where? Did he murder 136 women? 361? We might not ever find out. His last minute confessions would help to close up to 23 pending cases of women that were either missing or had been found dead(Lamar). Of all of the open cases, there were three major investigators surrounding the killings of Ted Bundy. Bob Keppel of the King County Police Department in Seattle, Jerry Thompson of the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and Michael Fisher of the Glenwood Springs District Attorney’s Office in Colorado. Fisher and Thompson noticed similarities in the disappearances and murders that they both had in their areas, and connected them to the same suspect(Holmes). After all of his arrests and all of the evidence piling up against him, Ted Bundy was sure to lose the many cases against
As stated before, Bundy had killed over 30 women. This vast number of killings would qualify him to be considered a “serial killer”. Although serial killers are not common among society, the act of killing another person intentionally, or homicide, is fairly common. Homicide is a crime that usually always shocks the public when they hear of it because it is not
The police cooperation was the first initial process of the investigation. The murders had started in Seattle, Washington on January 31, 1974. Ted Bundy was living in Seattle and attending school at the University of Washington at that present time. The first reported victim was a twenty-one year old by the name of Lynda Ann Healy. She had been abducted from her apartment and the officers could only find her nightgown that was neatly hung up in her closest with blood on it and her sheets also had traces of blood. The police conducted searches but was unable to find Lynda. On March 12, Donna Gail Mason at Evergreen State College located in Olympia, Washington was last seen leaving her dorm to attend a concert. She was later reported missing and was not located. In Ellensburg, Washington at Central Washington State College Susan Elaine Rancourt disappeared from her campus on April 17, 1974. The
Ted Bundy was an intelligent man who knew how to take advantage of his victims’ vulnerabilities, but just like an addict he became desperate. His demand to feed his psychotic break encouraged him to abduct women sporadically. He would fake an injury and convince his victims into helping him to his car. Then when they had their back towards him, he would knock them out. He would restrain them and sexually assault them. After putting them through misery, he would then strangle his victims to death and enjoy the girls last moments alive. His disposal method included that he hid the corpse of his victims in locations that he could revisit them if he wanted to. When the bodies became of no use to him, he would mutilate them and bury them so that
Ted Bundy was an American born rapist, a necrophile; a serial killer and a kidnapper who assaulted and murdered several young women during the 1970’s. The criminal kept on denying the charges for more than ten years and later confessed of having committed the thirty homicide crimes in seven different states before his execution (Rule, 2009). Bundy’s handsome and charismatic appearance made it possible for him to easily win the confidence of young women who were always his targets. He broke into the dwellings of his victims at night and bludgeoned them as they slept. He also approached young women in public places where he impersonated as an authority figure or feigned injury on his victim before empowering and assaulting at a
Theodore Bundy was an infamous American serial killer who preyed upon numerous young women during the 1970s and possibly earlier. He was associated with at least 30 counts of homicide and suspected of an estimated one hundred or more. Beyond homicide, he also made it apparent that he was capable of other sinister crimes such as rape, kidnapping, and necrophilia. His most frequent method of killing was an attack with a blunt weapon to the head. However, he did not merely kill his victims; evidence concludes that each were also sexually assaulted and sodomized. It is reported that he even revisited his crime scenes to further engage in sexual acts with the decomposing corpses. Moreover, at least 12 of his victims had been decapitated .
Based on the general idea of Ted Bundy’s background, psychological theory can be applied to his cases of murdering. Psychological theories focus on human’s mind and behavior and the assumption is problems are rooted in unconscious mind and symptoms are manifestations of hidden disturbances or conflicts. According to his childhood circumstances, Ted Bundy’s childhood trauma and abuse played an important role in his serial murders. His father disappeared before he was born and his whole started with the loss of parent. Not only he was living without his father, his mother did not take the full responsibility of him neither. Ted’s mother pretended to be his sister and let his grandparents to be their parents. Although Ted Bundy was
Theodore Bundy was born on November 24th 1946. He was born to an unwed mother who was told that she was his sister. He was raised by his grandparents who portrayed themselves as his parents throughout his early childhood years. According to the article I read Ted’s grandfather was abusive towards Ted and his other siblings (Montaldo). Ted was shy and said to be sociably awkward, but during high school he developed into good looking guy and was liked by many.
Ted Bundys murders took place in the years of 1966-1978. His first victim went by the name of Lonnie Trumball. She was killed in Seattle on June 23, 1966. He began a killing spree around the year 1972. Bundy said he first murder was like a “horrible dream.” Bundys last known victim went by the name Ann Leach. She was believed to be killed on February 9, 1978 in Salt Lake City, Florida. Some people believe that his first victim may have been an eight year old girl from Tacoma. If that was true he would have been fourteen at the age of his first murder, but that statement was not proven true. The majority of his victims were young women who looked like a girl that had ended a long-term relationship with him. Bundy said that when he committed these horrific murders, it felt like being possessed by something awful and alien. Ted Bundy blamed nothing but himself and pornography for his murders.
Bundy was born as Theodore Robert Cowell on November 24, 1946 at a home in Burlington, Vermont for unwed mothers. He started his life as a secret shame. His mother, Eleonor Cowell, also known as Louise, was a 22-year-old unwed woman, whose parents were deeply religious. Bundy was raised as the adopted son of his grandparents and was told that his mother was his sister to hide the fact that he was an illegitimate child born out of wedlock. Bundy later found out that his sister was actually his mother and her husband, Johnnie Bundy, formally adopted him. Bundy grew to be very articulate and intelligent as well as charming. However, when he was younger, Bundy was shy and he didn’t do well with his peers. By the time he was in his teens, he started showing signs of a darker side. Bundy recalled that he wandered the streets looking for discarded pornography and peering into other people’s windows. When Bundy was 18, his extensive juvenile record for theft was dismissed. Eventually, in 1972, Bundy discovered his true passion, which was viciously assaulting his earliest confirmed victim in 1974. Ultimately, Ted Bundy and Charles Manson had completely different upbringings.
He found it difficult to engage with people after breaking up with his girlfriend. This serial killer suffered from Antisocial personality disorder. without any empathy at all, Ted Bundy killed and raped at least 36 people, most of them were college students with brown long hair. Bundy was becoming better on the outside; a murderous rage was building on the inside of him. In other words, Ted’s superficial was charming, engaging, and he was intelligent. He took advantage of people who trusted him because of his appearance. He used double personalities when he was seducing women. The Charming Evil Bundy used to wear a cast on his arm and ask beautiful women to help him with his books to the car, after that he hit them with his crutches and push them into his car. He usually brutally beat, rape, and murder those women without any reason. Ted Bundy was untruthfulness, insincerely, and lacking empathy. Bundy was unable to have an interpersonal relationship because he did not understand the intrapersonal
Ted Bundy's life changed forever in the spring of 1967, when he met and fell in love with the woman of his dreams. She was beautiful, sophisticated and from a wealthy family. She was Ted's first love and possibly his first sexual encounter. She liked him a lot, but did not have the same deep feelings towards him. This didn't discourage Ted Bundy since he would ask her to marry him on several occasions. She was very reluctant to make a serious commitment, because she felt that Ted had no future goals or real direction in his life. Ted began to try to impress her by lying and even winning a summer scholarship from Stanford to try to influence her feelings for him. But the mask of
Described as “THE execution” (Lyons & Trei, 1989, p. Ia) serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy was put to death by the State of Florida at 7.16 A.M. January 24, 1989. During his life he had been convicted of the 1978 rape and murder of a 12 year old, Kimberly Leach in Lack City; and the death of Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman, sorority sisters at Florida State University. Just two days before his execution Bundy also admitted to killing a number of other females of various ages in Washington, Colorado, Utah, Oregon and Florida although he was never tried or convicted for those (Rule, 1989, p. 479-480). In total it is estimated that he killed between 25 and 30 women (Rule, 1989).
In this case study I have focused on Ted Bundy’s case, the most dangerous serial killer of his time at U.S.A. His case is solved through Forensic Odentology and is very famous case. His victims are mostly young and adult females. At the beginning of late 1970s he was considered as highly intelligent but cruel man that involve in murdering of females. He kill approximately 35 females but the exact number of his victims are not exactly known. Bite mark case was the only evidence that shows that Bundy is involved in all these 35 plus murders.