Ted Bundy : one of the most fascinating serial killers in history

Ted Bundy.

Handsome.

Charming.

Who would expect such a respectable and decent man to be a murderer?

Before Ted Bundy, the term ‘serial killer’ had not been coined. It was the rise of Bundy, and the manifold of murders that he committed, that led to the term being coined.

This in itself is reason for Ted Bundy being the most fascinating murderer in history, but there are many more.

For one, nobody knows when Bundy started attacking or killing women. Different people were told different stories - some believe the first victim was Ann Marrie Burr, an eight-year-old who disappeared in 1961. Bundy was 14.

Ted Bundy met with Robert Keppel, who reported:

He described the Issaquah crime scene [where the bones of Ott, Naslund and Hawkins were found], and it was almost like he was just there, like he was seeing everything. He was infatuated with the idea because he spent so much time there. He is just totally consumed with murder all the time.

Another detective, Nelson, reported:

It was the absolute misogyny of his crimes that stunned me. His manifest rage against women. He had no compassion at all… he was totally engrossed in the details. His murders were his life’s accomplishments.

What is fascinating about Bundy is his modus operandi - he was unusually skilled at minimising physical evidence. His fingerprints were never found at a crime scene - in fact, there was no incontrovertible evidence of his guilt. Firearms were always avoided, and he mastered two relatively silent techniques for blunt trauma.

Bundy would return to the secondary crime scenes to dress up the cadavers, claiming, “When you work hard to do something right, you don’t want to forget it.”

Long time friend of Bundy, Ann Rule, who became the biographer of the killer, and the author of the book Stranger Beside Me, stated that she was surprised to hear from numerous women who called to explain that they were deeply depressed as a result of Bundy’s death. It seemed he held correspondences with many women, ‘each believing she was his only one’.

Even in death, Ted damaged women. To get well, they must realise that they were conned by the master conman. They are grieving for a shadow man that never existed.

Even Judge Edward Cowart expressed regret at having to sentence Ted to death:

Take care of yourself, young man. I say that to you sincerely; take care of yourself, please. It is an utter tragedy for this court to see such a total waste of humanity as I’ve experienced in this courtroom. You’re a bright young man. You would have made a good lawyer and I would have loved to have you practise in front of me, but you went another way, partner. Take care of yourself. I don’t feel any animosity toward you. I just want you to know that. Once again, take care of yourself.

During an interrogation after his arrest in Florida, he said, “I’m the most cold-hearted son of a bitch you’ll ever meet.”

When he was arrested and charged with thirty-six murders, Bundy told the police officer to add a digit. Does that mean he murdered thirty-seven?

Or does that mean he murdered one hundred and thirty six?

No matter how many he killed, Bundy is certainly one of the most fascinating serial killers in history - if not the most fascinating.

Source :Ted Bundy