Personality Analysis Of Serial Killer : Ted Bundy

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

Crime occurs every day, all over the world. Most crime is unreported or is unknown to the vast majority of the populations. Over time, crime has grown to become a normal part of society and typically people are not surprised to hear that a crime has been committed. Most crimes are dealt with and forgotten, however a few crimes grab the media’s attention and are highly publicized, ultimately giving the criminal their 15 minutes of infamy. Ted Bundy was one of these criminals. Bundy was a law student in Utah and during the 1970’s, he assaulted, raped and murdered at least 30 known women with some criminologists suspecting as high as nearly 100 victims. The tactics he used along with the extent of his killings is how Bundy acquired his long lasting infamy and notoriety as one of America’s top 10 most wanted during his time. Our true focus here is explaining why these murders occurred; truly understanding the motivation behind Bundy’s actions and finding the roots of causation which could lead a person to commit such serious crimes.

Looking helpless and using his good looks and charms Bundy was able to lure in his victims and would knock them out with a foreign object or would handcuff them in his car. Once he had the victims he would proceed in kidnapping, sodomizing, raping, and killing them in a brutal manner. In Ted Bundy case agencies from different states worked together in the apprehension of Bundy. The conviction of Ted Bundy was credit towards good criminal investigation; with police cooperation, forensic evidence and the witnesses' statements.

Ted Bundy is known for charismatic personality, good looks, and charm; he is also known as the most organized murderer to have lived. Bundy would lure woman to his car using a number of excuses; he was handicap or else lost. Because he was so charming women would feel at ease around him and go where he asked. Once at his car, Bundy would grab and restrain the woman. He would then drive to a different location where he would beat and rape the woman until death. Finally he would drive to yet ANOTHER location to dispose of the body. In February 1978, Ted Bundy was finally captured and interviewed. As a child, raised by his grandparents, he showed no signs of previous abuse or neglect. He was raised well and sociable during high school where classmates report that he was well liked. After further analysis, Bundy was presumed to have low activity to his orbital frontal cortex; this is the part of the brain in charge of the conscious, and the “right or wrong” factor. This is not to say that Bundy had a deficiency that prevented him from knowing what he was doing. Just merely a common abnormality that should be noted. Bundy’s case supports the idea that an individual’s makeup can have an effect on their actions.

Out of all the Infamous killers in the U.S the two well-known killers that I will be researching are Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy. These two murderers share many similarities such as their backgrounds, Crimes, and Motives. Both Jeffrey Dahmer and Ted Bundy are serial killers who’ve killed over a dozen people each. They’ve committed crimes including rape, murder, and kidnapping. In this research paper I will be comparing and contrasting the two serial killers.

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 .

His first murder is believed to have occurred in 1974, when a young woman was kidnapped from her basement apartment in Seattle. The only evidence that remained was a few blood stains (Salem Press, 2008). Upsurges in abductions of young women, in their college years, around the King County area in Washington followed suit. As time progressed, skeletonized remains of those missing women were later discovered amongst the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. After kidnapping his victims, Bundy would often rendered them unconscious, take them to a remote location where he would then strangle and assault them (Salem Press, 2008).

Theodore “Ted” Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont on November 24, 1946, and later executed by the electric chair on January 24, 1989, after being convicted of a serial murder, rapist, and necrophiliac. Bundy brutally murdered and sexually assaulted 30 women but many believe that number to be higher. He would use his charm to lure these women, before engaging in sexual assault and murdering them. Bundy would also revisit some of his victims to again engage in sexual actions until their bodies would decompose. This essay will look at how the impact of Bundy’s disturbed childhood has one of the key factors of his psychotic behavior using attachment theory.

Ted Bundy killed women in Colorado, Utah, Oregon, Florida, And Washington. To capture his victims, Ted would fake an injury to get help from them. Once they Agreed to help him, he would proceed to knock them unconscious. His method of murder was noted as being with a metal bar and strangulation. “Bundy would often rape his victims before beating them to death.”

The question of whether or not man is predetermined at birth to lead a life of crime is a question that has been debated for decades. Are serial killers born with the lust for murder, or are their desires developed through years of abuse and torment? Many believe it is impossible for an innocent child to be born with the capability to commit a horrible act such as murder. But at the same time, how could we have corrupted society so much as to turn an innocent child into a homicidal maniac? Forensic psychologists have picked apart the minds of serial killers to find an answer as to what forces them to commit such perverse acts. Their ultimate goal is to learn how to catch a serial killer before

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

Schuessler, Karl F., and Donald R. Cressey. “Personality Characteristics of Criminals.” American Journal of Sociology, vol. 55, no. 5, 1950, pp. 476–484. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2772104?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

In The Communications Research Reports segment, “The Bundy Confession and Attitudes Toward Legal Restriction of Controversial Materials”, high-points the arrest of serial killer, Ted Bundy, who suffered from Antisocial Personality disorder. On January 24, 1989, the state of Florida executed serial killer Theodore Bundy. The night before the execution, a well-known religious broadcaster taped an interview with the condemned man. In it, Bundy alleged that exposure to mediated violence, especially sexually violent materials, contributed to the numerous murders he committed of young women (Perry, D. K., & Melson, W., 1989). Individuals who have this disorder are deceitful, and tend to disregard feelings and disrupt the rights of others, and break

     In the late Seventies, America became shocked and outraged by the rape, mutilation, and murder of over a dozen young, beautiful girls. The man who committed these murders, Ted Bundy, was later apprehended and executed. During his detention in various penitentiaries, he was mentally probed and prodded by psychologist and psychoanalysts hoping to discover the root of his violent actions and sexual frustrations. Many theories arose in attempts to explain the motivational factors behind his murderous escapades. However, the strongest and most feasible of these theories came not from the psychologists, but from the man himself, "as a teenager, my buddies and I would all sneak around and watch porn. As I grew