—
—
Transcript Provided by YouTube:
00:00
He was the all American boy.
00:01
Handsome.
00:02
Smart.
00:03
Charming.
00:04
In fact, Theodore Robert Bundy was the stereotype of what every American boy ought to be like
00:08
and what every American parent wanted their sons to aspire to.
00:11
Above all, Ted Bundy was charming; he had a winsome way that could entrance people.
00:15
Yet, this same college wunderkind snuffed out the lives of scores of beautiful young
00:20
women.
00:21
He was a charismatic killer whose Jekyll and Hyde personas were so vastly different that
00:25
he fooled his closest associates for years, many of them still not believing that their
00:30
“Ted” could commit the atrocious crimes that were piling up alongside his name even
00:34
as the evidence became overwhelming.
00:36
He made a mockery of law enforcement, running rings around their attempts to catch the world’s
00:40
first ‘serial’ killer.
00:41
Bundy’s brilliant mind made him a master predator, with his abductions being as well
00:45
planned as a military action.
00:47
He has gone down as the most infamous serial killer in US history.
00:51
Today, decades after his execution in the electric chair, he is held up by many as a
00:55
macabre celebrity, the poster boy for mass murder.
00:59
His story is a paradox.
01:00
In his past there were no signs of the deviant behavior that would manifest itself in an
01:04
insatiable blood lust.
01:06
He was, in fact, on track for a brilliant career on the other side of the law – as
01:09
a prosecuting attorney.
01:10
His performance in his own defense showed what great promise that career held.
01:15
Upon sentencing Bundy to die, Judge Edward O. Cowart summed up the feeling of so many
01:19
that knew and were affected by Bundy . . .
01:22
It is a total waste of humanity that I have experienced in this court.
01:26
You are a bright young man.
01:27
You’d have made a good lawyer.
01:28
I’d have loved to have had you practice in front of me.
01:31
But you went another way, pardner.
01:32
In examining Bundy’s story, we may get closer to answering the question as to why he chose
01:37
the way he did.
01:38
But, then again, we may never know.
01:48
Formative Years Theodore Robert Bundy was born to 22-year
02:07
old Eleanor Louise Cowell on November 24th, 1946.
02:11
His father was a sailor who never hung around to meet his newborn son.
02:14
When he was four, Ted’s mother, who he was told was his older sister, took him 3,000
02:18
miles away to Tacoma, Washington to live with family members.
02:22
Ted was heart-broken to be taken away from his grandfather, with whom he had developed
02:26
a special bond.
02:27
Although no-one ever replaced his grandfather in his affection, Ted some became close friends
02:31
with his two cousins, Jane and Alan Scott.
02:34
Meanwhile his mother was making a friendship of her own.
02:36
Eleanor was now going by the name of Louise.
02:38
She joined the Methodist Church and soon crossed paths with a young man by the name of Johnny
02:42
Culpepper Bundy.
02:44
Johnny Bundy stood only five foot tall.
02:46
He was a cook and came across as a shy, reserved kind of guy.
02:50
But Louise sensed that he was kind and dependable.
02:52
Soon a romance had blossomed.
02:54
After a whirlwind of Methodist social functions, Louise and Johnny were marred on May 19, 1951.
02:59
The family bought a home near Narrows Bridge.
03:02
While Johnny kept on working as a cook, Louise turned her hand to secretarial work.
03:06
Children followed; two boys and two girls.
03:08
As he grew up, Ted was often pressed into babysitting service.
03:11
He willingly complied, even though it would usually mean missing out on outings with his
03:16
friends.
03:17
Although the family dynamics were stable, Ted was to grow up in an environment of untruths
03:20
and uncertainty.
03:22
He was still being fed the line that his mother was his sister and that his grandparents were
03:26
actually his parents.
03:28
During his years at high school, he ran with kids who had connections, whose parents were
03:31
rich or who were big noters in the school environment.
03:34
Ted could never match up.
03:35
As a result, he was often teased.
03:37
Where others were outgoing, Ted came across as shy and reserved.
03:40
Ted never warmed to his father-in-law, despite Johnny’s acceptance of him and attempts
03:44
to build a relationship.
03:46
When Johnny became a scout leader and organized camping trips, Ted would usually find some
03:50
excuse as to why he couldn’t attend.
03:52
In adolescence Ted grew rapidly, but he found it very hard to put on muscular size.
03:56
He was too skinny to play football, though he did join the track team at Hunt Junior
04:00
High.
04:01
However, it was the classroom, rather than the track field, where Ted felt most comfortable.
04:06
He maintained a B average, taking his schoolwork and homework very seriously.
04:10
Ted graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1965.
04:13
While he was making solid progress academically, he was also beginning to build a reputation
04:17
that was not so favorable.
04:20
He had already been in trouble with the law in relation to some petty burglaries.
04:23
He was also proving himself to be an unreliable worker.
04:26
After graduating high school, Ted began working for Tacoma City Light.
04:30
His plan was to attend college and he enrolled in the University of Puget Sound for the 1965-66
04:36
year.
04:37
Twelve months later he transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle.
04:40
He began living on campus in a dormitory room at McMahon Hall.
04:43
At the University of Washington, Ted’s winning personality began to manifest itself.
04:47
He was charming, well dressed and came across as educated.
04:49
His professors thought that he was a brilliant, studious individual with enormous potential.
04:54
Ted’s charm and good looks made people see beyond the emptiness that was at his core.
05:00
Stephanie It was during his freshman year at Washington
05:03
U that Ted first fell in love.
05:05
The object of his desires was a beautiful, dark haired girl that lived nearby.
05:09
She was, as he would later describe her, the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.
05:13
He found out her name, Stephanie Brooks.
05:15
From a distance, Ted admired her, studying her like a specimen under a microscope.
05:20
He stared at her in the lunchroom, fantasizing from afar.
05:23
It soon became apparent that Stephanie was into the football jock crowd and Ted became
05:27
despondent.
05:28
Despite their differences, there was one thing that Ted and Stephanie had in common.
05:32
They were both skiers.
05:34
Perhaps this could be his in.
05:36
Showing signs of overcoming his insecurities, he took the bold step of asking if he could
05:40
hitch with her to the ski slopes east of Seattle.
05:43
She readily agreed, happy to have some company.
05:45
This was the start of an unlikely romance.
05:48
The pair started spending more time together.
05:50
Stephanie seemed to enjoy his company and sought him out.
05:52
As for Ted, he had become besotted with Stephanie.
05:54
He was besotted with her.
05:55
Soon they were lovers.
05:56
Stephanie was 21, Ted 20.
05:58
She was from wealthy California stock; he was illegitimate.
06:01
She grew up in the midst of money; he didn’t have anything.
06:03
Yet, their relationship worked and they went steady for the next year.
06:07
For Stephanie, the year with Ted was an enjoyable extended fling.
06:10
She was in love with him, sure, but not in the way that he was with her.
06:14
She had known from the start that the relationship was never really going anywhere.
06:17
They’d spend some time together, enjoy themselves and then go their separate ways.
06:21
After all, there was no way that Ted could ever fit into her society.
06:25
Stephanie’s graduation in June 1968 seemed like the opportune time to end the romance.
06:29
She’d be moving to San Francisco to find work while Ted stayed on in Seattle to finish
06:33
his studies.
06:34
To say that Ted took the rejection from Stephanie badly could well be the ultimate understatement.
06:40
He was absolutely devastated.
06:42
Crime author Anne Rule, who worked with Ted on a Seattle Crisis hotline, believes that
06:47
the breakup of his relationship with Stephanie was the catalyst for everything that followed
06:51
in Ted’s life.
06:52
Ted could not accept that the relationship was over.
06:55
He immediately set about finding ways to woo Stephanie back.
06:58
He also immersed himself in law and politics, as if to drown out the agony of losing her.
07:02
Ted’s despondency spread to his academic life.
07:04
The once brilliant student was now struggling.
07:07
By the fall of 1968, he had dropped out completely.
07:09
After several months of wallowing in despair, he re-enrolled at the University of Washington,
07:14
taking papers in psychology that included deviant personality and deviant development.
07:18
Throwing himself into his studies, he impressed his professors as an honor student who was
07:22
truly gifted.
07:23
Despite his rigorous study schedule, Ted still found time to frequent the bars of the university
07:28
district.
07:29
In September, 1969 the handsome, affable young man caught the eye of a woman named Meg Anders.
07:34
They were both alone at the Sandpiper Tavern.
07:36
Ted made the first move, asking if he could buy her a beer.
07:39
Reluctant at first, she was soon won over by the ‘Ted’ charm.
07:42
Before she knew it, she had given him her phone number.
07:45
Ted and Meg began spending evenings together.
07:47
Meg quickly came under Ted’s spell, falling deeply in love with him.
07:50
In a sense, this was a reversal of Ted’s relationship with Stephanie.
07:54
Meg adored the ground that Ted walked on.
07:56
Yet, he was less committed, his mind often on other things and other people.
08:00
He was still pining for Stephanie but Meg would do in the meantime.
08:03
1969 and ’70 were stable years in the life of Ted Bundy.
08:07
He was focused on his academic progress, impressing his professors and gaining qualifications
08:11
that would lead into his chosen legal career.
08:14
His relationship with Meg was steady, with Ted playing the part of the surrogate father
08:17
to Meg’s young daughter Liane with passion and joy.
08:21
During 1970, Ted was awarded a commendation by the Seattle Police Department when he ran
08:25
down a purse-snatcher.
08:26
A few months later he saved a drowning toddler at Green Lake.
08:29
Ted had transformed himself into the all-American boy.
08:31
In the beginning of 1971, Ted took a part time job at The Seattle Crisis Clinic, situated
08:36
on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
08:38
He did the 9pm to 9am shift a few nights a week.
08:41
On a Tuesday night, between 10pm and 2am, he was partnered with a 39-year-old part time
08:46
crime writer named Ann Rule.
08:48
For ten months they worked together, the crime writer and the future serial killer.
08:51
They worked tirelessly to help solve people’s problems.
08:54
On many occasions they helped save people’s lives.
08:57
Ted was an amazing counsellor.
08:58
Always calm, he had an aura to his voice that put people at ease.
09:02
He reassured, guided, entertained and empathetically listened.
09:05
In April 1973, Ted was awarded the position of assistant to Ross Davis, chairman of the
09:11
Washington State Republican Party.
09:13
Along with the job came a $100 per month salary, use of a credit card and expenses paid travel.
09:18
By this time, Ted had been with Meg for four years.
09:21
Their relationship was steady, although it often felt like Meg was doing more of the
09:25
giving than Ted was.
09:26
Still, he was excellent with little Liane, who adored him.
09:30
Marriage seemed just over the horizon.
09:32
What Meg didn’t know was that Ted still carried an unquenchable desire for Stephanie
09:37
Brooks.
09:38
Even when he and Meg were making love, it was Stephanie’s image in Ted’s mind.
09:42
And so it was that, when he flew to San Francisco on a Republican Party business trip in the
09:46
summer of 1973, he looked her up.
09:49
Ted and Stephanie went out for dinner.
09:50
She was bowled over by the changes he had made.
09:53
Now he was sophisticated, confident and in control.
09:56
And, it appeared he had money.
09:57
Ted’s plan to win her over worked perfectly and, on parting, she agreed to come and see
10:02
him in Seattle.
10:03
She did just that during her autumn vacation.
10:05
Ted took Stephanie to dinner at the home of his boss, Ross Davis.
10:08
He introduced her as his fiancée.
10:10
Then he whisked her off for a weekend at the snow at Cascade Pass.
10:13
He had booked a luxurious condo just for the two of them.
10:16
Over the course of that weekend Stephanie fell in love with Ted all over again.
10:20
When he began talking of marriage plans, she excitedly joined in.
10:23
Future plans were made for a life of domestic bliss.
10:26
Of course, neither Stephanie nor Meg knew of the other’s plans to marry Ted Bundy.
10:30
After his weekend with Stephanie, however, he began to evade talk of marriage with Meg.
10:35
He seemed to be getting very cold feet.
10:37
Towards the end of 1973, Ted managed to coordinate his two love lives so that he could wine and
10:42
dine Stephanie more liberally.
10:43
He brought her to Seattle and they dined at various restaurants throughout Chinatown.
10:48
Strangely though, Stephanie was sensing that something was different.
10:50
Ted was becoming less affectionate.
10:52
He stopped taking about marriage plans.
10:54
He confessed that he had been having an affair with another woman and that she had ended
10:58
up having an abortion.
10:59
He was becoming cold, clinical and uncaring towards Stephanie.
11:03
He didn’t even buy her a Christmas present.
11:05
Despite her attempts to get to the bottom of his strange change in attitude, Stephanie
11:08
was unable to discover why Ted had become so cold toward her.
11:12
But he just wouldn’t let her in.
11:14
When she flew back to San Francisco at the start of the new year, Ted appeared glad to
11:17
be getting rid of her.
11:19
Stephanie waited for Ted to reach out for an explanation as to why he had turned.
11:23
It never came.
11:24
In February, 1974, she phoned him, angrily demanding an explanation.
11:28
He hung up on her.
11:30
Stephanie would never again speak to Ted.
11:33
The Nightmare Begins During the first six months of 1974, eight
11:38
women went missing from college campuses in Washington, Oregon and Utah.
11:42
When you look at photos of these women you can’t help being struck by how alike they
11:47
looked.
11:48
They all had small frames, long hair that was parted in the middle and were good looking.
11:51
Every one of them resembled Stephanie Brooks.
11:53
As the case files mounted, still the killer left no trace.
11:56
Investigators were surprised and immensely frustrated that a man could commit such brazen
12:00
abductions and leave absolutely no trace evidence in his wake.
12:04
Indeed, each attack would be slightly more brazen than the last.
12:08
The abductor would snatch girls who were in closer proximity to others – almost as if
12:11
he was daring anyone to stop him.
12:14
Lake Sammamish Located at the Southern end of Lake Sammamish
12:18
in King County, Washington, Lake Sammamish State Park covers 512 acres and features 6858
12:26
feet of waterfront.
12:27
The level landscape features buttercup filled pastures and is dotted with trees.
12:31
In the summer of 1974 it was a popular bathing spot and sunning for thousands of local residents.
12:36
Lifeguards patrolled and there was a rangers hut on site.
12:39
On Sunday, July 14, 1974 Lake Sammamish was packed with in excess of 40,000 people who
12:44
were eager to make the most of the glorious summer’s weather.
12:47
Among the throngs of sun seekers on that day was an attractive young woman who was sunbathing
12:51
by herself on the beach.
12:52
No sooner had she settled into her tanning session than she looked up to see a man towering
12:56
over her.
12:57
He was wearing white t-shirt and jeans, and his right arm was in a cast.
13:01
“Excuse me, I’m sorry to bother you,” he began, “I was wondering if you could
13:04
help me out.”
13:05
The girl looked him over.
13:06
He was good looking and seemed somewhat nerdy to her.
13:09
She didn’t sense any danger.
13:10
“Help you out with what?” she asked.
13:12
He then knelt down beside her and explained that he needed to launch his sailboat but
13:16
couldn’t do it with his cast on.
13:18
He offered to take her for a ride in the boat and was exceedingly charming.
13:21
Yes, she would go with him, she said.
13:23
As they were walking to where the man said his sailboat was he offered his name, ‘Ted’.
13:28
It was about this time that the girl got cold feet.
13:31
She begged off saying that her parents were waiting for her.
13:33
Two other young women at the lake that day weren’t so lucky.
13:36
Twenty-three-year old Janice Ott and eighteen-year old Denise Naslund went along with ‘Ted’
13:40
– and were never seen again.
13:42
Ted had dramatically upped the stakes.
13:44
Not only had he freely given his name to his potential victim, but he had approached at
13:48
least six women on that Sunday afternoon in broad daylight.
13:51
Clearly, Ted was feeling invincible.
13:53
There was nothing that the bungling law enforcement officials could do to stop him.
13:57
He was way too clever for them.
13:58
Police were able to produce a composite sketch of Ted based on the statements of the eyewitnesses.
14:02
This was circulated up and down the country.
14:04
Three thousand five hundred tips poured in from the public.
14:07
The police compiled a list of potential suspects named Ted.
14:10
Bundy’s name was among the more than 2,000 on that list.
14:16
Utah
14:17
Ted moved to Salt Lake City on Thanksgiving weekend 1974 to attend law school.
14:21
He immediately secured a job as a security guard at the university.
14:24
The initial focus of the Utah killings was one of the small towns that lay within the
14:28
vicinity of Salt Lake City.
14:30
They began on October 2, 1974.
14:32
The victim was 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox.
14:35
She disappeared from Holladay, a small town just out of Salt Lake City.
14:38
Nancy had walked to the store to buy some gum.
14:41
She was last seen by an eyewitness getting into a light brown Volkswagen Bug.
14:45
Ted next struck on October 18th.
14:48
This time the victim was the daughter of the Midvale Police Chief, Louis Smith.
14:51
The third Utah victim was 17-year-old Laura Aime, from Lehi, twenty-five miles south of
14:56
Salt Lake City.
14:57
It was October 31st, Halloween night.
14:59
Laura was a high school drop-out, who had moved out of home and in with friends.
15:02
Bored at the lack of action that night, she had left a local café just after midnight
15:06
and proceeded to walk to a local park.
15:08
She was never seen again.
15:10
Less than a month later Ted abducted an 18-year old girl from a local mall by impersonating
15:14
a police officer.
15:15
Fortunately, she managed to break free from his car moments after he had slapped handcuffs
15:19
on one of her wrists.
15:21
A frustrated Ted drove for another 17 miles before coming to Viewmont High School, where
15:25
a school production was in progress.
15:27
He abducted and killed 17-year old Debbie Kent.
15:30
In 1975, Ted found a new killing zone – Colorado.
15:34
It appears he murdered at least five women during a six-month period, burying their skulls
15:38
in a bizarre graveyard in the Taylor Mountains.
15:40
Caught, But Not For Long In the early morning hours of August 16th,
15:46
1975, the police finally caught up with Ted Bundy.
15:49
A minor traffic violation led to a search of his car which produced a burglar’s kit
15:53
complete with handcuffs and rope.
15:55
Authorities were soon able to connect the dots and charges of aggravated kidnapping
15:58
and criminal assault charges were laid.
16:00
He was found guilt and sentenced to one to fifteen years.
16:04
For the police this was just the start.
16:05
They now set about building a case to hold Bundy accountable for the trail of body’s
16:09
that he had left in his wake.
16:10
Ted was adamant that he would defend himself in the upcoming trial and was given access
16:14
to the Aspen Law Library to do research.
16:17
During a visit at the Law Library on June 7th, 1976, Bundy managed to slip out of a
16:22
second storey window.
16:23
He went straight for the local river bank.
16:25
He took off his court room outfit, to reveal a second set of clothes underneath.
16:28
He then brushed himself off and calmly wandered back into the center of the town.
16:32
As police rushed to set up roadblocks, he wiled away his time browsing in stores.
16:36
It was classic Bundy.
16:37
After a week on the run he was recaptured only to break out again six months later.
16:42
This time he was able to evade recapture and set out for Florida.
16:45
He set himself up in the vicinity of Florida State University.
16:48
For over a year he managed to control his urges, until, on the night January 14th, 1978,
16:53
his demons were unleashed in an orgy of violence that left two girls dead and two more horribly
16:58
beaten at the Chi Omega Sorority House.
17:01
Justice at Last Over the following weeks, Ted continued his
17:06
rampage, killing a 14 year-old girl and attempting to abduct another.
17:09
This girl, the daughter of a police detective, helped police produce an identikit picture
17:14
and that, along with a series of mistakes on Ted’s part led to his recapture on February
17:18
15th, 1978.
17:20
This time there would be no escape.
17:22
After a lengthy trial in which he defended himself, Ted was found guilty of murder and
17:26
sentenced to death in the electric chair.
17:28
He spent a decade appealing the decision but was finally executed on January 24th, 1989.
17:34
By that time the Bundy phenomenon had grown, with a legion of, mainly female, fans, who
17:38
had fallen in love with Ted and who wrote passionate love letters to him.
17:42
They conveniently forgot that he was one of the most cold-hearted killers
18:02
in history.
—
This post was previously published on YouTube.