Serial Killers: 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.

Throughout history, criminal investigators have encountered different forms of serial killers. One of the many famous serial killers in the twentieth century was Theodore Robert Bundy (Ted Bundy). Ted Bundy was responsible for the Chi Omega killings and many more. When people think of serial killers, they visualize some dirty, crazy, looking individual that would stand out from everybody else. In Ted's case this was different. Ted Bundy was a very smart individual who had attended college at various colleges, studying law and finally receiving his degree in psychology from the University of Washington. He had volunteered for the Republican Party in California for a Governor campaign. His family and friends considered Bundy as

To many Ted Bundy is merely another cold hearted murderer. Is this all that he is or was? Was Ted Bundy’s entire life spent as a maniacal killer? Looking back on his entire the resounding answer is no. While it might seem that murderers are born evil or simply pop up overnight and decide to kill others, it is often times the slow effect of one’s life situations which lead them to commit such violent acts. By looking at the case of Ted Bundy it is possible to see the threats our society has cast upon us when they discredit the importance of family in the upbringing of a child.

“Ask a psychopath what love is and he’ll go on and on, but he has never felt it himself…If you catch him lying, he’ll just shift gears and go on as though nothing had happened” (Goleman). Ted Bundy was one of the most famous psychopaths in the history of the country (Nordheimer). People say he was the perfect killer- handsome, intelligent, witty, and charming (Boynton 25). Bundy was the complete opposite of what people thought a serial killer looked like, so his victims did not fear him (“Ted Bundy”). Robert Keppel, an expert on serial killers, stated, “He taught us that a serial killer can appear to be absolutely normal, the guy next door (“Serial Killers and Mass Murderers”). At one point he was working for a suicide hotline; a friend

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.

Ted Bundy attended college at the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington. During this time, he took on various low-level jobs, such as being a busboy and a shoe clerk. Generally, he did not stay in one position for very long, which caused employers to view him as unreliable. He was always very focused on his studies and grades. In spring of 1967, he entered a life-changing relationship with his “dream woman,” a classmate of his at the University of

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 “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.

This research paper will explore the life of a serial killer named Ted Bundy. We will look at the cause and effects of him becoming a serial killer. We will also discuss the different criminology theories behind Ted Bundy’s actions. Based on what was discovered in the research no one theory can explain the action of Ted Bundy as a serial killer. The remainder of the paper is laid out as follows: biography of Ted Bundy, introduction, discussion of crimes and theories, and the conclusion.

Ted Bundy was described as charming, handsome, charismatic, articulate, and intelligent. He was also known as one of the most horrific murders in the 20th century. Police suspect that he murdered over one - hundred women; all with the common theme of having a small waist and brunette hair. Starting at an early childhood his mother did not find any signs the Ted was anything close to the monster people thirty years later would find him to be. Ted was born Theodore Robert Cowell, born at the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers in Burlington, Vermont on November 24th 1946.

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

Rule’s schedule, by coincidence, meant spending more time with Bundy than any of the other Crisis Center volunteers. If Bundy or Rule felt that a caller was truly suicidal, they would signal the other to trace the call for emergency services. As Rule later wrote of the incongruity, “Ted Bundy took lives, he also saved lives.” Because, of course, the Ted Bundy who Rule encountered was the blandly handsome and purely sociopathic serial killer who was not content to only murder his victims but to make them suffer and degrade their remains in hauntingly inhuman

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