A Charming and Attractive Young Man

You probably know a lot of men that can be described in this same way. However, behind his mask of model citizenship, Ted Bundy had nearly perfected the art of raping and murdering young women and remained forensically unidentified for about a year. His arrest would have been delayed if it hadn’t been for one small amateur mistake. He eventually admitted to killing approximately thirty women between 1974 and 1978. Thankfully, because he was caught the number didn’t get any higher than this.

The Crimes

Every serial killer has a “type.” Ted Bundy’s type happened to be attractive college women. He would pretend to be crippled or have car trouble, which would lure the unsuspecting victims towards his car, giving him the perfect opportunity to quickly hit them with a crow bar to immobilize them. Being a college girl myself, this is extremely unnerving! Most girls feel safe at this age and are open to socializing with other young people, so it is no surprise to me how easy it was for Bundy to pull those women back to his car. With every murder, he strangled or bludgeoned the victim. He often would revisit the dump sites or worse, bring the corpses back to his house until the smell of decomposition became too overwhelming.

For further details regarding his crimes, visit this website.

The Psychological Profile

Often, the tendencies of being a serial killer often develop at a young age. Children who develop into serial killers are typically shy, introverted, and most times come from a broken household. This is definitely the case for Ted Bundy as well. He never knew his father and he believed his mother was actually his sister and his grandparents were his parents for the majority of his adolescence (talk about a broken family dynamic!) Another pattern among serial murders is some sort of traumatic experience in their love life (or a lack thereof). Ted Bundy’s first long-term girlfriend broke up with him after he dropped out of college because he no longer fit her idea for a husband. This could have caused Bundy to become sexually frustrated and develop feelings of inadequacy, which could have pushed him to pursue his sadistic urges.

For a more detailed retelling of Bundy’s life, visit this website.

The End of the Spree

As more and more eye witnesses popped up, the prolific serial killer that had been haunting the country for over a year had been identified with a name, Ted. His car was also identified as a tan 1968 Volkswagen Beetle. People who were close with Ted Bundy didn’t believe it to be the Ted they knew, so no one ever really said anything about it. Police were on the lookout for this car, and one night, as a police officer saw Ted cruising in Salt Lake City after 3am, he tried to pull him over. He fled, anticipating that he had been found out. He was ultimately arrested for evading a police officer, but since there was no previous warrant for his arrest, Bundy would have been let go if he had just initially pulled over. His car was searched and several incriminating pieces of evidence were found inside, such as handcuffs, a crow bar, and masks. Forensic scientists later found 3 hairs that matched three of his victims inside the car as well. His girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer, noticed his odd behavior such as being out late, and reported that as well. After he was arrested, he made several attempts to escape prison while awaiting sentencing. That is when he made it to Florida State University on that notorious occasion and murdered several sorority girls. He was picked back up, and at his trial he was sentenced to death by the electric chair.

Further details regarding his arrest can be found here.