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𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙶𝙴𝚁 𝚆𝙰𝚁𝙽𝙸𝙽𝙶! Rape, murder, kidnapping
𝚆𝙷𝙾 𝚆𝙰𝚂 𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝙱𝚄𝙽𝙳𝚈? Ted Bundy was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped, and murdered numerous women and girls in the 1970s and possibly earlier. He confessed to 30 murders, but may have committed more.
𝙱𝙰𝚂𝙸𝙲 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾 On November 24, 1946, Eleanor Lousie Cowell (who went by Louise) gave birth to a son out of wedlock. She was 22 at the time. She named her son Theodore Robert Cowell, but called him Ted. The boy's father is unknown, but many claim it to be Lloyd Marshall, an Air Force veteran and a Penn State graduate. Others say it's Jack Worthington, while some rumors had it that his father was also his grandfather.
Ted was raised by his grandparents, believing he was their son, until his mother married a man called Johnnie Bundy in 1951. Louise and Johnnie had several children together, but Ted resented his stepfather. He did, however, take his name, leading to the surname 'Bundy' becoming as infamous as it is.
Ted was an unusual child. Even as a young kid, he was odd. At around three years old, he became fascinated with knives. He was shy and quiet, but a good student. He did not do well with his peers, however.
When he was a teen, Ted liked to look in windows of other people. He gave zero shits about stealing things he wanted. A darker side of the boy had begun to emerge.
Ted studied at the University of Washington at one point. This is where he met a woman named Elizabeth Kendall, also known as Liz. She had everything Ted wanted. Class, influence. Money. When she broke up with him, he was devastated.
By the mid 1970s, Ted had transformed himself. He became more social and outwardly confident. He even got a letter of recommendation from the Republican governor of Washington after working on his campaign.
Bundy confessed to 36 killings of young women across several states in the 1970s, but experts believe that the final tally may be closer to 100 or more. The exact number of women Bundy killed will never been known. His killings usually followed a gruesome pattern: He often raped his victims before beating them to death.
While there is some debate as to when Bundy started killing, most sources say that he began his murderous rampage around 1974. Around this time, many women in the Seattle area and in nearby Oregon went missing. Stories circulated about some of the victims last being seen in the company of a young, dark-haired man known as "Ted." He often lured his victims into his car by pretending to be injured and asking for their help. Their kindness proved to be a fatal mistake.
In the fall of 1974, Bundy moved to Utah to attend law school, and women began disappearing there as well. The following year, he was pulled over by the police. A search of his vehicle uncovered a cache of burglary tools—a crowbar, a face mask, rope and handcuffs. He was arrested for possession of these tools and the police began to link him to much more sinister crimes.
In 1975, Bundy was arrested in the kidnapping of Carol DaRonch, one of the few women to escape his clutches. He was convicted and received a one-to-15-year jail sentence.
Bundy escaped from prison twice in 1977. The first time, he was indicted on murder charges for the death of a young Colorado woman and decided to act as his own lawyer in the case. During a trip to the courthouse library, he jumped out a window and made his first escape. He was captured eight days later.
In December, Bundy escaped from custody again. He climbed out of a hole he made in the ceiling of his cell, having dropped more than 30 pounds to fit through the small opening. Authorities did not discover that Bundy was missing for 15 hours, giving the serial killer a big head start on the police.
Chi Omega Sorority House Break-In
After Bundy's second escape from prison, he eventually made his way to Tallahassee, Florida. On the night of January 14, 1978, Bundy broke into the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University. He attacked four of the young female residents, killing two of them. On February 9, Bundy kidnapped and murdered a 12-year-old girl named Kimberly Leach.
These crimes marked the end of his murderous rampage, as he was soon pulled over by the police that February.
The most damning evidence connecting Bundy to the two Chi Omega murders at FSU were bite marks on one of the bodies, which were a definitive match to Bundy.
Bundy’s good looks, charm and intelligence made him something of a celebrity during his trial. Bundy fought for his life but was convicted and spent nine years on death row appealing his death sentence.
Conviction, Death Sentences and Appeals
In July 1979, Bundy was convicted for the the two Chi Omega murders at FSU. He was given the death penalty twice. He received another death sentence in 1980 for the murder of Kimberly Leach.
Bundy appealed, trying to take his case as high as the U.S. Supreme Court, but he was turned down. He also offered information on some of unsolved murders to avoid Florida's electric chair, but he could not delay justice forever and was executed in 1989.
