Ted Bundy

Ted Bundy was an American serial killer who was active in several states in the mid to late 70s.

Background
Ted was born in Burlington, Vermont to Eleanor Louise Cowell. His father remains unknown. For most of his life, Bundy was raised to believe that his grandparents, Samuel and Eleanor, were his actual parents, and that Louise was his older sister. He didn't find out that "Louise" was his mother until his college years. This was done to avoid any social stigmata placed on Louise for being an unwed mother.

Bundy lived with Louise in Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. There, Louise had Ted's surname changed from Cowell to Nelson. Later, when the two moved to Tacoma, Washington, Louise met a man named Johnny Culpepper Bundy at a local church function. They were soon married, and Johnny adopted Ted, thus changing his surname to "Bundy". Johnny treated Ted well, including him in the camping trips and other outdoor activities he often took with he and Louise's own children. Despite this, Ted remained distant from his step father.

During high school, Ted was often isolated from other kids his age. He couldn't seem to understand teenage social behavior, but was skilled in "faking it"--indicating a propensity towards psychopathy. He stated once that, "I didn't know what made things tick. I didn't know what made people want to be friends. I didn't know what made people attractive to one another. I didn't know what underlay social interactions." It was during this time that Bundy developed a compulsion for thievery and shoplifting. He typical stole skiing equipment and forged ski lift tickets to support his interest in the sport.

In college, Bundy studied Psychology and Asian studies. He worked at various jobs (never longer than a few months at a time), such as bagging groceries, stocking shelves, and working at a suicide hotline. During this time, he met writer Ann Rule, with whom he became friends. Ann would later write a defensive biography of Ted entitled, "The Stranger Beside me".

After a breakup with a fellow student--who cited immaturity and lack of ambition as her reasons--Bundy became depressed and dropped out of school. He returned to Burlignton and, doing a search of public records, discovered his true parentage. After this, he became more focused and dominant. Returning to Washington, Bundy became Campaign Manager for Nelson Rockefeller's campaign for Presidency. He enrolled in the University of Washington as a psychology major, and became an honor student who was well-liked by professors and students alike. Bundy's personality underwent a major paradigm shift; from shy and introverted, to confident and social.

Modus Operandi
Bundy's method of obtaining victims varied; sometimes he would use an elaborate ruse, and sometimes he merely relied on his looks alone. The latter method was successful for Bundy because of the fact that women considered him to be good looking and charming. In fact, this characteristic even allowed him to successfully abduct women in broad daylight, even if they were aware that a serial killer was present in the area. His facial features were also "unremarkable"; that is, though attractive, not especially memorable. This allowed him to completely change his appearance with only minor adjustments; a mustache, different hair style, a hat, etc.

Sometime Bundy would use a fake to play on a potential victim's sympathy. He would ask them for assistance of some kind, such as helping him put something in his car or asking for directions. Whatever the method, his initial attacks were typically blunt force trauma to the head with a crow bar. He would later kill his victims by strangulation and would sometimes decapitate them. In one case, he cremated the severed head in a fireplace.

Bundy would often visit his victims, whom he dumped at a site in Taylor Mountain. He admitted to applying make up to the corpses, having sex with them, and would lie with them for hours afterward. Bundy also kept a collection of photos of his victims.

Pathology
Dorothy Otnow Lewis, a psychologist who interviewed Bundy for seven hours, diagnosed him as a manic depressive. She concluded that his murders took place during his depressive episodes. His pathology may have been due to his relationship with his grandfather, Samuel Cowell, a church deacon, who was described as a "tyrannical bully". Samuel was a known bigot, who hated blacks, Hispanics, Italians, Catholics and Jews. Bundy stated that Samuel also tortured small animals, including neighborhood dogs and cats, and kept an extensive collection of "odd" pornography in his greenhouse. It would later be revealed that the pornography was of a violent nature; rape, torture, and mock-snuff.

Bundy's grandmother, also named Eleanor, suffered from depression as well. She was described as a very timid and obedient wife who regularly received shock treatments for her depression.

1974

 * January 4: "Joni Lenz" (pseudonym) (survived). University of Washington first-year student who was bludgeoned in her bed as she slept.
 * February 1: Lynda Ann Healy (21). Bludgeoned while asleep and abducted from the house she shared with other female University of Washington students.
 * March 12: Donna Gail Manson (19). Abducted while walking to a jazz concert on the Evergreen State College campus, Olympia, Washington. Bundy confessed to her murder, but her body was never found.
 * April 17: Susan Elaine Rancourt (18). Disappeared as she walked across Ellensburg's Central Washington State College campus at night.
 * May 6: Roberta Kathleen "Kathy" Parks (22). Vanished from Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon while walking to another dormitory to have coffee with friends.
 * June 1: Brenda Carol Ball (22). Disappeared from the Flame Tavern in Burien, Washington.
 * June 11: Georgeann Hawkins (18). Disappeared from behind her sorority house, Kappa Alpha Theta, at the University of Washington.
 * July 14: Janice Ann Ott (23) and Denise Marie Naslund (19). Abducted several hours apart from Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, Washington.
 * September 2: Unknown teenage hitchhiker, Idaho. Confessed before his execution. No remains found.
 * October 2: Nancy Wilcox (16). Disappeared in Holladay, Utah. Her body was never found.
 * October 18: Melissa Anne Smith (17). Vanished from Midvale, Utah, after leaving a pizza parlor.
 * October 31: Laura Aime (17). Disappeared from a Halloween party at Lehi, Utah.
 * November 8: Carol DaRonch (survived). Escaped from Bundy by jumping out from his car in Murray, Utah.
 * November 8: Debra "Debby" Kent (17). Vanished from the parking lot of a school in Bountiful, Utah, hours after Carol DaRonch escaped from Bundy. Shortly before his execution, Bundy confessed to investigators that he dumped Kent at a site near Fairview, Utah. An intense search of the site produced a human patella (knee cap), which matched the profile for someone of Kent's age and size. DNA testing has not been attempted.[131]

1975

 * January 12: Caryn Campbell (23). Campbell, a Michigan nurse, vanished between her hotel lounge and room while on a ski trip with her fiancé in Snowmass, Colorado.
 * March 15: Julie Cunningham (26). Disappeared while on her way to a nearby tavern in Vail, Colorado. Bundy confessed to investigators he had buried Cunningham's body near Rifle, Garfield County, Colorado, but a search did not produce remains.[132]
 * April 6: Denise Oliverson (25). Abducted while bicycling to visit her parents in Grand Junction, Colorado. Bundy provided details of her murder, but her body was never found.
 * May 6: Lynette Culver (13). Snatched from a school playground at Alameda Junior High School in Pocatello, Idaho. Her body was never found.
 * June 28: Susan Curtis (15). Disappeared while walking alone to the dormitories during a youth conference at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Her body was never found.

1978

 * January 15: Lisa Levy (20), Margaret Bowman (21), Karen Chandler (survived), Kathy Kleiner (survived). The Chi Omega killings, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida.
 * January 15: Cheryl Thomas (survived). Bludgeoned in her bed, eight blocks away from the Chi Omega Sorority house.
 * February 9: Kimberly Leach (12), kidnapped from her junior high school in Lake City, Florida. She was raped, murdered and her body discarded in Florida's Suwannee River State Park. It was the Leach murder for which Bundy was actually executed.