Ted Bundy Case Study

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

Looking into Bundy's life, many of the facts and images from his early life stand in stark contrast to the vicious killings he engaged in. The young many Bundy was well behaved and "grew up an attractive teen" that was "generally liked and who performed well in school," according to Charles Montaldo writing in About.com. When he enrolled in the University of Puget Sound, he did very well in his schoolwork but he was embarrassed that he had so little money and the students around him were far wealthier, so he transferred to the University of Washington

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

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

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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

Lynda Ann Healy, was among those who went missing. In July two women were approached at a Seattle state park by Ted Bundy he asked to help him with his sailboat, but they refused. Later that day two other women were seen leaving with him and they were never seen alive again. In the fall of 1974, Bundy moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. In November a woman named Carol DaRonch was attacked and was able to escape. Within a few hours after DaRonch was attacked, 17-year-old Debbie Kent disappeared. Around this time hikers discovered a graveyard of bones in a Washington forest that belonged to missing women from both Washington and Utah. Investigators from both sates started communicating and combining a profile and a composite sketch. Soon the investigators knew that the women found in Utah had been hit with a blunt object, raped, and sodomized. Authorities knew they were dealing with a serial killer that could travel from state to state. On January 12, 1975, another of ted victims was found her name was Caryn’s Campbell. Caryn’s was on vacation with her fiancé and his two children in a ski resort in Colorado. A month later Caryn’s body was found lying a short distance from the road. After the authorities examined her body they found that she had received violent blows to her skull. During the next few months, five more women were found dead in Colorado with similar head injuries as Caryn. Ted