Ted Bundy

Ted Bundy’s early childhood wasn’t any more problem than the average kids. Ted was a good kid, born in November 24, 1946 at the Elizabeth Lund Home For Unwed Mothers in Burlington, Vermont. Bundy grew up in Philadelphia the home of his grandparents, he grew to believe his biological mother was his sister and his grandparents were his parents. His early school years weren’t easy; he was bullied and made fun of. The author of the book Ted Bund: Conversations with a killer analyzed Ted’s behavior and said he was not like the other children, he looked like them and acted like them but he was haunted by something else: a subtlety of a cat. Despite being bullied Ted maintained a high grade average throughout high school and continue in college.

Ted got popular in his high school years; he was well mannered and well dressed as well. He wasn’t much of a dater; Ted would rather keep busy in extra- curricular activities, he was fascinated with politics.

After Bundy graduated high school he attended the University of Puget Sound and the University of Washington, he was very focused on his studies. Ted had passion for skiing as well. In one of Ted’s skiing trips he met a girl, he became obsessed with her throughout time he started to act strange so she left. It was an unexplainable obsession he felt, after the devastating break up, nothing could lift his spirit up, not school, he felt depressed and eventually dropped out of high school. Soon after the break up Ted found out the reality of who his real mother was. This discovery really messed him up mentally as well as emotionally and it played a big role in his future reputation and acts

Bundy was considered to be a psychopath, he used to steal, people suspected it but didn’t give too much attention. Later on his life Ted met a woman called Elizabeth, she was divorced and had a daughter, Elizabeth worked as a secretary. Ted and Elizabeth were romantically involved for about five years, from the beginning she fell in love with Bundy and said to have found the perfect father figure for his daughter and wanted to marry Ted, but he said he wasn’t ready to be married and felt he had many things he still had not accomplished and planned on doing so. She constantly suspected Ted to be with another woman, she didn’t know about his ex-girlfriend and that they still would see each other secretly. His California girlfriend saw a new man in Ted, he had grown for the better and was setting goals for his future and accepted to a few law schools. Bundy became involved with politics and was each day getting better. His previous lady liked what she saw, and realized he was what she wanted now. Ted eluded her into his world and she fell in love with him all over again, he eventually changed his manners towards her, Bundy had lost interest in her just in a few weeks, he became cold ignorant and despondent. He left and rejected her just like she did to him one day, it was a payback. His plan worked and he eventually cut off all sort of contact with her.

Ted was now a new person, with a new life under a mask. Ted’s first victim Lynda Ann Healy 21 worked at a morning radio station, she attended the University of Washington majoring in psychology. Lynda shared a house with four other girls. Her alarm clock went off at 5:30 am like usual, but this time she didn’t shut it off. When investigators went to the scene, they found her bed made, stains of blood on her pillow, her robe with blood stain hung, on the closet and her top bed sheet was missing. Lynda had vanished, “police realized that an intruder had somehow gotten into the house, removed her nightgown and hung it in the closet, dressed her in a change of clothes, made up the bed, wrapped her in the top bed sheet and carried her out of the house -- very quietly”. Lynda mysteriously vanished. Around that same time, Ted had more preys he had to get to. Ted next victims were found only some remains, such as strands of various colors of hair, five tight bones, a couple of skulls and a jaw bone. Police were able to identify two of the girls, Janice Ott 23 and Denise Naslund. Both victims disappeared the same day July 14th.

Bundy decided to take his crimes to different states, so he would travel and kill, this time he started in Utah. He used excused such as his car wouldn’t start, he had difficulties loading his boat onto his car, he had both a leg and an arm cast he used to make his preys believe him. Melissa Smith 17 another one of his victims was a police chief’s daughter, he often told her to be careful. On October 18 1974 she vanished to be found dead nine days later strangled, sodomized and raped. Thirteen days after Halloween Laura Aime 17 disappeared. Her body was found, on thanksgiving in the Wasatch Mountains lying dead by a river. Laura had been beaten in the head with a crowbar, raped and sodomized as well. Officials believe Aime to have been killed else where due to the fact that the place she was found there was lack of blood and other than the body they had no physical evidence.

The crimes scenes and the victims from Utah and Washington were so similar. Investigators from Utah got in contact with the Washington police, they were frantically searching for the man responsible for these horrible crimes and were piecing the puzzle together. Elizabeth his current girlfriend heard of the terrible news in the papers and agreed that Ted Bundy did resemble the description given to the police by eye- witnesses. Elizabeth got a hold of the police anonymously told them that her boyfriend might be the killer and provided them with recent pictures from Ted, but the witnesses were not able to provide the police with a positive I.D. so her report was eventually filed away. Police decided to focus on other suspects and Ted was forgotten until a few years later. Bundy kept his routine of traveling from state to state and killing. By killing in various states he thought he eluded investigators assuming they wouldn’t be able to compare the cases.

Ted’s attacks would get very risky each time as women would deny to go with him or to help as they would find him suspicious and would later be able to identify Bundy to police and provide them with valuable information about the killer. Ted wasn’t aware he was about to experience his first unsuccessful kidnap. He spotted a very attractive young woman Carol DaRonch 18 at a book store, Ted presented himself as “officer Roseland”. He then approached the young lady telling her that someone broke into her car and escorted her outside to identify the vehicle. The young woman told “the officer” that everything was fine and there was nothing missing. He insisted on taking