“He is male, between the ages of 25-35, and he is white. The majority of the time he will kill white victims. The ages of his victims will vary greatly, depending on his particular “interests.” He is, intellectually average, but often above average. He doesn’t know his victims or have any particular hatred for his victims. His victims never did anything to hurt him in any way...they are normally strangers to him. He doesn’t come from one social class or another--he can come from skid row or Park Avenue...just as his victims. Like many of us, he is often married, has children, and works.” (156)
Although there is a supposed definition of what a serial killer is there is
such a variation between the characters. Each one has a specific preference
in their prey. They have their own way in which they like to kill and their
own rituals they go through.
Schechter and Everitt claim that, “he was a genuine Jekyll and Hyde.”
Theodore Bundy was the all American boy. He was attractive, charming and
seemed to have an abundance of friends. “Young women meeting him for the
first time would climb into his car without hesitation.” (Schechter and
Everitt) However, they would soon realize that they were face to face with a
horrible monster.
Theodore Robert Cowell was born as an illegitimate child on November 24, 1946
to a young girl, Loiuse Cowell who was 22 at the time. His mother, being from
a very strict Puritan family, forced him for the first four years of his life
to pose as her brother in order to hide the family’s shame. He was told that
his grandparents were really his parents while he was growing up. His family
was living in Tacoma, Washington when his mother met and then soon wed
Johnnie Culpepper Bundy. That was when Ted found out about the terrible
family secret that would haunt him for the rest of his life. In High School
he maintained a B average and seemed to be pretty normal. One of Ted’s
friends in High School, Jim Paulus recalls Ted,
“He was well known, popular, but not in the top crowd-but then neither was I. He was attractive, and well dressed, exceptionally well mannered. I know he must have dated, but I can’t even remember seeing him with a date. I think I remember seeing him at the dances-especially the TOLOS, where the girls asked the boys to dance-but I can’t be too sure. He was kind of shy-almost introverted.”
According to another Internet service, Crasscom, he was “allegedly molested as a small child by a male relative, and shown no affection from his mother and he began to mutilate animals and spy on local girls.” He attended the University of Puget Sound in 1965 through 1966 but then transferred to the University of Washington with the money that he had saved up working. At the University he fell in love with a young woman that was a year older than him, Stephanie Brooks. She was part of a very wealthy family in California and hence Ted felt the need to impress her. He worked a series of low-paying jobs to do this and to get his way through college. Ted was very manipulative of people. He would convince people to lend him their cars and money and often never return anything that he borrowed. However they never got upset because he was so sweet and charming, almost a schemer. Soon afterwards Stephanie decided that she was finished with him. She wanted to be with someone who would fit into her picture perfect life back home and she didn’t believe that Ted was the man. This was absolutely devastating to him. She was his first and only love. She personified everything that he wanted. This icy rejection may have triggered the series of violent acts that he took part in. Throughout this time he was involved in a lot of volunteer activities. He shuttled disabled people to and from their homes and he worked on a suicide prevention and crisis hotline. This is where he met a very important figure in his life, Ann Rule. For the rest of his life the friendship that he had with her would prove to be very instrumental. She was a much older woman but they got along very well. They confided in one another and cared very deeply about each other. Ted told her about his illegitimate birth and his relationship with Stephanie. At the University of Washington Ted studied abnormal psychology and then went to law school at the University of Utah. During this time another person became an integral part of his life, her name was Meg Anders. They began a friendship and then an affair. He moved in with her and treated her daughter like she was his own. This was before he moved to Utah. Ted had about everyone fooled. He was a member of the young republican’s club, he participated in community service activities and he expressed genuine care for people. Meanwhile there was another side of him that he kept a secret. According to Ann Rule,
“There seemed to be two Ted Bundy’s emerging. One, the perfect, the University of Washington student who had graduated “with distinction,” the fledgling lawyer and politician, and, on the other hand, a charming schemer, a man who could manipulate women with ease, whether it be sex or money he desired, and it made no difference if the women were eighteen or sixty-five. And there was, perhaps, a third Ted Bundy, a man who turned cold and hostile toward women with very little provocation.” (169)
The great loss that he felt from losing Stephanie must have been
underestimated. Inside the Ted that everyone loved was being choked by a
monster. A monster that would soon take over his body and lead him to kill.
He killed in Washington, Utah, Colorado, Oregon and Florida. He used very
manipulative ploys to trick women into going with him. Once he got them where
he wanted them he would kill them. He utilized arm slings and crutches, he
used fake English accents and he seemed and looked like a very nice, clean cut
man. Perhaps Ted Bundy thought that he could outsmart everyone. However,
people began to catch on; his closest friends and his girlfriend, Meg spoke to
the police about the thoughts they had about him. They all thought that he
fit the description of “Ted.” Maybe his mistake was using his real name when
he spoke to people that he tried to entice to go with him. Whatever it was,
suspicion was building up towards him and it was only a matter of time before
he was caught.
When Ted went to law school in Utah he attempted to kidnap and kill a woman
named Carol DaRonch, unfortunately for him she got away. Ms. DaRonch went
straight to the authorities and soon they had built a case up on him. She
identified him as her attacker in court and the evidence from the other
murders also lead to him. Ted Bundy was placed in jail. He was given various
psychological examinations and the results from the California Life Goals
Evaluation Schedules Test showed that he had six goals: to have freedom from
want, to control the actions of others, to guide others with their consent,
to avoid boredom, to be self-fulfilled and to live one’s life one’s own way.
While he was in jail he maintained his innocence, “I want you to know, I want
the whole world to know that I am innocent. I have never hurt another human
being in my life. God, please believe me.”
However, Ted did not have everyone convinced. His girlfriend and Ann Rule
were caught in a trap between believing him and believing the police. He
escaped from jail twice and he still didn’t stop. Ted Bundy had
uncontrollable impulses that lead to his demise. Finally he admitted to the
killings of Caryn Campbell, Julie Cunningham, Denise Oliverson, Melanie Cooley
and Shelly Robertson in Colorado. In Utah he admitted to killing Melissa
Smith (17), Laura Aime (17), Nancy Baird (23), Nancy Wilcox (16), Debi Kent
(17), Sue Curtis (15), and Debbie Smith (17). In Oregon he admitted to
killing Roberta Kathleen Parks (20), Rita Lorraine Jolly (17) and Vicki Lynn
Hollar (25). Lastly he confessed to three Florida murders: Margaret Bowman
(21), Lisa Levy (20) and Kimberly Leach (12). Of course there are plenty of
other deaths that lead back to him but he never confessed to them. Theodore
Robert Bundy was sentenced to die on January 24, 1989. Although Ted was
behind bars he was still manipulative as ever. He had lured another woman to
him, Carol Ann Boone. They wed while he was still in jail and she knew that
he was going to die. However, she still proclaimed to love her “Bunnie.”
Either way, he was convicted and ready to die.
It had all caught up to him. Ted’s charm, his good looks, and his
intelligence proved not to be enough to let him get away with murder. He may
of thought that he had everyone fooled but in the end who really won? Ann
Rule describes the day he was executed,
“Ted’s eyes were said to be empty, perhaps the result of no sleep or of large doses of sedatives. Or perhaps because he no longer had any hope or expectation. Ted’s flat eyes locked onto Jim Coleman and Reverend Lawrence, and he nodded. ‘Jim...Fred,’ he said. ‘I’d like you to give my love to my family and friends.’ I watched the television screen in San Francisco. The lights dimmed outside the prison once more. Once again. And then a blurry figure came out from somewhere in the green building and waved a white handkerchief in a wide, sweeping motion. It was the signal. Ted was dead. It was 7:16 A.M.” (493)
By: Kate Denihan (Katethegreat1@msn.com)
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