A “serial killer” is an individual who kills three or more people over a period of time. With having poor relationships with their family members, a serial killer’s childhood could have caused their madness and frustration to take it out on others. Their childhood may have started a behavior problem or mental disorder that became out of control and started their addiction to killing innocent people. A serial killer is usually laid down in their early life experiences with their broken families having a history of behavior problems such as alcohol, drug, and sexual abuse. Individuals may think they can tell these murderers apart from normal people, but honestly, they can look as average and as sane as anyone else. This can be a problem when getting to know new people and not being mindful of who they are and what they can do. Although Ted Bundy did not experience a traumatic childhood like most serial killers, his disconnection with others and antisocial character caused his fascination over women, his sexual attraction towards them, and his obsession to kill them for his erotic pleasure.
Ted Bundy was born on November 24, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont. He was raised by his grandparents and was told that his real mother was his sister to hide the family shame of having him at a very young age. He did move with his real mother, Eleanor, to Tacoma, Washington and had an usual interest with knives at the age of three. “As he grew older, he began to wander the streets looking for discarded pornography and open windows to spy on women” (Crime Museum). Ted Bundy also had an extensive juvenile record for theft that was dismissed once he turned eighteen. He attended and graduated from the University of Washington in Seattle and fell in love with a pretty girl from California. Stephanie was a year older than Ted, so as her graduation began to come closer, she believed around that time was perfect to end their relationship.
Bundy began his murderous rampage around the year 1974, after him and his college girlfriend, Stephanie Brooks, broke up. That year, young women began to disappear. He often wore his arm in a sling or his leg in a fake cast while walking on crutches to get women’s attention. “He would use his charm and fake disability to convince his victims to help him carry his books or unload objects from his car” (Crime Museum). He would even impersonate police officers or firefighters to gain his victim’s trust before he attacked them. Once they would get to his car, he would hit them over the head with a pipe or crowbar and force them into the vehicle after handcuffing them. Ted had removed his passenger seat in order to leave an empty space for his victims, so they would be out of anyone’s sight as he drove away. He usually strangled his victims as well as mutilating them after their death. Ted would even return to visit the corpses at the dump sites or take them home with him in order to gain his sexual pleasure. “Bundy would sometimes display their decapitated heads around his apartment and sleep with their corpses until the smell and deterioration became unbearable” (Crime Museum).
“As body counts rose and witness descriptions spread, several people contacted authorities to report Ted Bundy as a potential suspect” (Crime Museum). Police consistently ruled him out as a suspect because of his sharp appearance and outstanding character. He was able to avoid being caught for so long by learning how to leave no evidence that could be traced by the forensics techniques of the 1970s. In 1974, Bundy moved to Utah to attend law school and was unexpectedly pulled over and arrested for possession of burglary tools such as a crowbar, face mask, rope, and handcuffs. At the time of this arrest, he was let go without a charge, but authorities supposedly kept an eye out for him as they started to link him to more crimes. In 1975, he was arrested for the kidnapping of Carol DaRonch and two years later, was charged for the death of a Colorado woman and acted as his own lawyer in this case. While taking a “trip” to the courthouse library, he made his first escape and was captured eight days later. In December of 1977, Ted Bundy escaped once again and had a huge, head start to Tallahassee, Florida, while authorities did not notice he was missing for over 15 hours. During this escape, he climbed out of a hole he made in the ceiling of his cell and lost more than thirty pounds to be able to fit through the small opening. “On January 14, 1978, Bundy broke into the Chi Omega Sorority house at Florida State University and attacked four female residents, killing two of them” (Biography). On February 9th, Bundy kidnapped and murdered a twelve year old girl named Kimberly Leach. These several crimes he made had marked the end of his murderous rampage as he was pulled over by police that February. “The most striking evidence connecting Ted to the Chi Omega murders were the bite marks authorities found on one of the bodies” (Biography). In July of 1979, Ted Bundy was convicted for his crimes while receiving the death penalty three times.
Bundy usually looked for victims at places where young women gathered such as colleges, beaches, and discos. He preferred women with long, dark hair that was parted down the middle just like his ex-girlfriend from college, who he was madly in love with. Some say their breakup devastated him and began his horrific lifestyle. Despite the fact that Ted Bundy did not have a damaging childhood, he still grew up to be a manipulating psychopath that preyed on women for his own enjoyment. Bundy’s good looks and charm made him something of a superstar during his trial, while women treasured him and always sent him love letters. He fought for his life to appeal the death sentences that he was convicted of and even offered information on some unsolved murders to avoid Florida’s electric chair. He was executed on January 24, 1989 around 7 A.M. at Florida State Prison while crowds cheered and set off fireworks at the time of his death. At the time of his execution, Ted Bundy confessed to over 30 murders, although the actual number of his victims remains unknown. Sadly, his appearance not only blinded women from seeing his true self, but put them in danger from not knowing what he was capable of doing. Killers like Ted Bundy are all around, blending in with innocent people as they make their next move. Today, individuals need to be more aware of these situations and take precaution of the kinds of people living in this world.
