1989: Ted Bundy, psycho killer

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It was 20 years today that Ted Bundy, the signature sexual psychopath in a golden age of serial killers,* rode the lightning in Florida’s Starke Prison.

Executed Today is pleased to mark the occasion with a conversation with Louisville crime writer Kevin M. Sullivan, author of a forthcoming2009 book on Ted Bundy … and a man who knows how the world looks from inside Bundy’s ski mask.

Ted Bundy is obviously one of the most iconic, written-about serial killers in history. Why a book about Ted Bundy? What’s the untold story that you set out to uncover?

The desire, or drive, if you will, to write an article about Ted Bundy and then create a 120,000 plus word book about the murders, was born out of my crossing paths with his infamous murder kit. Had Jerry Thompson [a key detective on the Bundy case -ed.] left Bundy’s stuff in Utah that May of 2005, well, it would have been an enjoyable meeting with the former detective, but I’m certain it would have all ended quietly there. Indeed, I doubt if I’d even considered writing an article for Snitch [a now-defunct crime magazine -ed.], much less a book about the killings. But it was having all that stuff in my hands, and in my home, and then being given one of the Glad bags from Ted’s VW that made it very real (or surreal) to me, and from this, a hunger to find out more about the crimes led me forward.


Ted Bundy’s gear, right where you want it — image courtesy of Kevin M. Sullivan. (Check the 1975 police photo for confirmation.)

Believe me, in a thousand years, I never would have expected such a thing to ever come my way. I can’t think of anything more odd or surreal.

ET: You mentioned that you think you’ve been able to answer some longstanding questions about Bundy’s career. Can you give us some hints? What don’t people know about Ted Bundy that they ought to know?

I must admit, when I first decided to write a book about the crimes, I wasn’t sure what I’d find, so the first thing I had to do was read every book ever written about Bundy, which took the better portion of three or four months.

From this I took a trip to Utah to again meet with Thompson and check out the sites pertaining to Bundy and the murders in that state. Next came the acquisition of case files from the various states and the tracking down of those detectives who participated in the hunt for the elusive killer.

Now, no one could have been more surprised than me to begin discovering what I was discovering about some of these murders. But as I kept hunting down the right people and the right documents, I was able to confirm these “finds” at every turn. And while I cannot reveal everything here, It’s all in the book in great detail. Indeed, you could say that my book is not a biography in the truest sense, but rather an in-depth look at Bundy and the murders from a vantage point that is quite unique. I wish I could delve further into these things now , but I must wait until it’s published.

The Bundy story has a magnetic villain and a host of victims … was there a hero? Was there a lesson?

The real heroes in this story are the detectives who worked day and night for years to bring Ted Bundy to justice. And if there’s a lesson to be learned from all of this, it is this: It doesn’t matter how handsome or articulate a person might be, or how nicely they smile at you, for behind it all, there could reside the most diabolical person you’ll ever meet! We need to remember this.

But how can you act on that lesson without living in a continual state of terror? Bundy strikes me as so far outside our normal experience, even the normal experience of criminality, that I’m inclined to wonder how much can be generalized from him.

Actually, (and I might say, thank God here!) people as “successful” as Ted Bundy don’t come our way very often. I mean, the guy was a rising star in the Republican Party in Washington, had influential friends, a law student, and certainly appeared to be going places in life. Some were even quite envious of his ascension in life. However, it was all a well-placed mask that he wore to cover his true feelings and intentions. On the outside he was perfect, but on the inside a monster. He just didn’t fit the mold we’re used to when we think of a terrible killer, does he?

Now, there are those among us — sociopaths — who can kill or do all manner of terrible things in life and maintain the nicest smile upon their faces, but again, just beneath the surface ticks the heart of a monster, or predator, or what ever you might want to call them. Having said that, I’m not a suspicious person by nature, and so I personally judge people by their outward appearance until shown otherwise. Still, it’s difficult (if not impossible) to see the “real” individual behind the person they present to us on a daily basis.

You worked with case detectives in researching your book. How did the Ted Bundy case affect the way law enforcement has subsequently investigated serial killers? If they had it to do over again, what’s the thing you think they’d have done differently?

They all agree that today, DNA would play a part of the investigation that wasn’t available then. However, in the early portion of the murders, Bundy made few if any mistakes, as he had done his homework so as to avoid detection. As such, even this wouldn’t be a panacea when it came to a very mobile killer like Bundy who understood the very real limitations sometimes surrounding homicide investigations.

I can’t help but ask about these detectives as human beings, too. Clearly they’re in a position to deal with the heart of darkness in the human soul day in and day out and still lead normal lives … is a Ted Bundy the kind of killer that haunts or scars investigators years later, or is this something most can set aside as all in a day’s work?

They are, first of all, very nice people. And you can’t be around them (either in person, or through numerous phone calls or emails) for very long before you understand how dedicated they are (or were) in their careers as police officers. They are honorable people, with a clear sense of duty, and without such people, we, as a society, would be in dire circumstances indeed.

Even before Bundy came along, these men were veteran investigators who had seen many bad things in life, so they carried a toughness which allowed them to deal with the situations they came up against in a professional manner. That said, I remember Jerry Thompson telling me how he looked at Ted one day and thought how much he reminded him of a monster, or a vampire of sorts. And my book contains a number of exchanges between the two men (including a chilling telephone call) which demonstrate why he felt this way

How about for you, as a writer — was there a frightening, creepy, traumatic moment in your research that really shook you? Was there an emotional toll for you?

Absolutely. But the degree of “shock”, if you will, depends (at least for me) on what I know as I first delve into each murder. In the Bundy cases I had a general knowledge of how Bundy killed, so there wasn’t a great deal that caught me by surprise, as it were. Even so, as a writer, you tend to get to know the victims very well through the case files, their family members or friends, and so on. Hence, I’ll continue to carry with me many of the details of their lives and deaths for the remainder of my life. And so, lasting changes are a part of what we do.

However, I did a story a few years back about a 16 year old girl who was horribly murdered here in Kentucky, and this case did cause me to wake up in the night in a cold sweat. Perhaps it was because I have a daughter that was, at the time, only a few years younger than this girl, and that some of what transpired did catch me off guard, so to speak, as I began uncovering just what had happened to this very nice kid.

Watch for Kevin M. Sullivan’s forthcoming The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History from McFarland in summer or fall of 2009.

* In fact, the term “serial killer” was coined in the 1970’s by FBI profiler Robert Ressler, as an improvement on the sometimes inaccurate category of “stranger killer”.

Additional Bundy resources from the enormous comment thread:

On this day..

Possibly related executions:

8,544 thoughts on “1989: Ted Bundy, psycho killer”

  1. KYGB –
    It would of been nice if we could of seen the Leach trial uncut because there were other instances where Bundy was making such outbursts. One example is when the leach verdict was announced, he blurted out ‘Tell the jury they’re wrong!’

    http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/54/Ted_Bundy_3.jpg

    Another side note is that people tend to believe that the picture of Ted Bundy with his mouth wide open and with one hand in the air is from the Leach trial when he heard the verdict. The picture was actually taken from the Chi O trial after Judge Edward Cowart left the court. A possible glimspe into the madman.

  2. Thought I’d comment further on Ted’s behavior in court on that U-Tube clip. The scene where he becomes very angry and agitated is during the Leach trial during examination of prospective jurors. In Polly Nelson’s book, this incident is gone into in-depth.

    Donald Kennedy was a staff guy for the Public Defenders office during this trial. Kennedy reported that Ted was drunk and under the effects of Antivan and/or Valium at this time. Bundy spent a great deal of the Leach trial in a drug induced stupor. This was done to quiet him and keep him from bothering his own lawyers.

    The scene where Cowart chastizes him is a separate clip from the Chi O trial.

    Most of the attorneys involved with Ted in both trials reported he did nothing to help his defense and/or appeal. In fact, he was a handicap in those efforts.

  3. Hi Kanchana–

    Glad you liked the book! As to pages per book, McFarland places a lot of words on each page, which can make the book seem smaller than one might think it should be. I’ve read hardback books, with fairly large margins surrounding the text, with more spacing between lines than is necessary, to give the impression that the book is larger than what it actually is (a trick, if you will, that publishers employ to make a book appear larger, and I’m embarrassed for them every time I see it!), but the astute eye will catch this. It’s all about word-count, and what you do with it. This is very common in the publishing world.
    When I sent the manuscript to the publisher, the book ran at just a hair over 100,000 words. If you check page count for a book in that range, you will find the page count can be anywhere from 280 pages to 400 pages (according to the site I visited) so it’s all about how the publishing house arranges the book, really. An academic press such as McFarland does not concern itself (In my view) with such tactics, and I applaud them for their decision. Anyway, this is my take on it.

    No other updates that I know of. If I happen to learn of anything about the families, or anything “Bundy related” I’ll inform everyone here at this site.

    Take care,

    Kevin

  4. Received your book from Amazon.com last week and just finished reading it..What can I say..I loved it!!

    I was kinda hoping for a much thicker book though..

    Any updates on the other familes of Ted Bundy’s victims besides Laura Aime’s,Denise Naslund’s & Debra Kent’s?

  5. KYGB–

    During my telephone interview with David Yocum (the Salt Lake County prosecutor in the DaRonch case) he mentioned having a chance to meet Judge Cowart when, years later, he came to Utah, and how much he liked him. I think everybody who knew the judge liked him, and it’s too bad he had passed away when I was interviewing folks for the book, for it would have been a pleasure to speak with him.

  6. Fiz–

    I just saw your post about the girl who thought Bundy was okay….well, Ted would certainly like hearing it; he’d give a ride anytime! Unbelievable!!

  7. Fiz –

    It seems to me she either has a great liking for Bundy or simply cant accept the fact that he was a sadistic murderer. It just shows that even today, people buy into the Ted Bundy myth which I believe is based on one’s ignorance.

    lol..just my opinion

  8. Judge Cowart might not have been the greatest jurist to come down the pike, but he could run a trial, dern it!

    An ex-cop, he wasn’t about to let a punk weasel like TRB take over a trial.

    That “Don’t shake your finger at me”! was heartfelt, boy.

  9. Hi everyone

    This is one rare great clip here i got where ted gets really angry in court. Ted thought that the cameras in court werent recording at that time and so we get a glimpse of the real ted come out. This is the Ted he didnt want the public to see. Great stuff. copy link below to view.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caZUk2qiHP4

  10. There’s a 19 year old female moron on Ann Rule’s website saying Bundy was Ok and Ann had exagerated how bad he was and everyway, everybody “has secrets”.WTF???? (Sorry, Jason and Kevin, but really!)

  11. Kris–

    I don’t think anyone can fully understand “this possession thing”.
    Bundy saw women as objects; objects he wanted to sexually assault and murder. What made him a sociopath? A monster? Who knows? But no, he had no feeling for those he killed, and he didn’t possess the normal feelings most of us do. That’s all I can say.

  12. Hi, I think my questions got missed:
    I would like to understand more this “posession” thing. How would you describe this Kevin? I read in the Michaud book some years ago about posession but never fully understood. Maybe you have to be a psychopath to really get it. In general terms, does it mean that the killer feels like a god because they took a life?
    What good is that if the victim meant nothing?
    This is sort of a double edged sword.
    If TB had no feeling whatsoever for any of his victims, then why would he care about posessing their lives? He didn’t think anyone would care if they were dead, least of all him.
    So what really was the posession? The fact that he had killed a living human being who meant nothing more to him than an apple hardly seems like a form of posession.
    It seems a killer who is obsessed with another and kills for that purpose does this so that nobody else can have that other person. The killer was the last person to have any type of interaction with them. This was because the victim meant something to the killer and the killer wanted to “have them” like nobody else ever could. In TB’s case, the victims meant nothing to him. So if you wouldn’t mind explaining your though processing on this, I would like to hear it.

  13. Hi Lori–

    Thanks for the nice words about my book!

    Okay, here’s the deal about pictures of the detectives: The only picture I have of any of them is one of Jerry Thompson and myself
    taken by my good friend Jim Massie back in 2005. However, that was one picture the publisher decided not to use, and because they are holding on to the package I sent them for awhile, they have all my photos and disks. Now you might be thinking: “Why wouldn’t he back up everything onto his PC, so he could e-mail photos to folks and burn disks when needed?”
    Well, I did! But soon after I finished the book (and mailed everything off) my PC crashed and died. So, even with the one picture (and I’m not sure you would want one from 2005)
    I have no way of getting it to you; at least not until I receive the stuff from McFarland.

    I know that in the first edition of “The Only Living Witness” there is a good picture of Jerry Thompson, Mike Fisher, Keppel, and I believe Pete Hayward. But I don’t think they have any of Bob Hayward. Where you may obtain copies of these, I have no idea. But I think you can purchase a copy (maybe) of Officer David Lee from the State Archives of Florida. If they have a copy, the cost will be minimal, so give ’em a call or check their website.

    I wish I could help you more, and good luck with the class!

    Take care,

    Kevin

  14. Hi Barry–

    I believe the victim you’re referring to is Nancy Wilcox of Utah. Now, I cover this in my book, but Bundy told Michaud & Aynesworth about his intentions to rape her only, but I do not believe him. He also stated he wasn’t sure she was dead when he left her, but that’s absurd and I cover that too in my book.

    By the time Bundy reached Florida, he was not the refined killer of 1974 – 1975, where he could talk a young woman out of her life with a smile on his face. In Florida he was a different person, and many women just didn’t like the vibes flowing out of him. Therefore, when he tried to pick up women at Sherrod’s, a disco next door to Chi Omega, they shunned him. However, he soon decided to attack the coeds of Chi O, and that was that.

  15. Hi Kevin,
    I thoroughly enjoyed your book and am hoping for some help from you. I am doing a term paper in my criminal justice class on Bundy and have been desperately seeking pictures of the Detectives involved. I have only been able to locate Bob Keppels picture and am looking for:
    Michael Fisher, Chief Criminal Investigator in Colorado;
    Jerry Thompson, Utah;
    Bob Hayward, Utah Highway Patrol;
    and Pensacola Patrolman David Lee.

    I hope you can help me out, thanks so much!

  16. Hi again Kevin

    I saw a short documentary on ted where a guy said that Ted only really wanted to rape a girl and not really murder her at the beginning. But since he committed rape he is left with this sticky situation that she could identify him so he had to kill her. So he must of enjoyed the killing and continued to get this thrill. Wat u make of that conclusion?

    It also said that before the chi omega murders Ted went to a local soritiry disco in the student campus, but was angry when he bought a drink for a girl at the bar but she never sat and drank with him. So he took his anger out in the chi omega moments later. Did ted believe that he wasnt good at picking up woman. He said that he would hate seeing couples holding hands together the time he escaped prison.

  18. Wow, what a bunch of retards! Stop analyzing everything this guy ever did. Find some type of closure with the situation WITHIN YOURSELVES. Better yet, move on with your lives. That would be healthy.

  19. I think, Gray, you’ll probably have to order it from their website. I think you’ll enjoy the book (I am) even if you come away from it believing Bundy didn’t kill in GA.

  20. Bundy claimed to have stopped in Atlanta, Georgia on his way to Florida, but the fact that his description of what he saw there was in error lead Wilson/Kleiss to conclude he went to Columbus, Georgia instead.

  21. I’m probably in the sceptic camp too, Kevin, about the premise of the other new Bundy book,but would like to read it for sure. Do you know why I haven’t been able to find record of it at Borders? Obviously it exists because others are reading it. My scepticism comes from the fact that I don’t think Bundy mentioned being in the state (Georgia?) the authors are claiming he visited.

  23. Oh yeah,

    I’m headed to Seattle next week and wouldn’t mind going to some of notorious Bundy spots. If anyone has suggestions with addresses, it would be greatly appreciated. I will share pictures!

  24. Regarding the Dobson interview:

    I think Ted had a few motivations behind doing this.

    A) His family. He wanted to make it clear to the world that it was not his family’s fault. He made if very clear that he came from “a good Christian home” and that nothing in his past was out of the ordinary. He probably also wanted some sympathy from his family as well. I’m sure his mom wasnt’ all that thrilled with the news of the confessions. I would say this was a way of trying to let his mom know that it wasnt’ his OR her fault kinda thing.
    B) Anne Rule? He clearly states that “detective magazines” were a contributing factor. As he said this ,he looked at the screen as if he were actually looking at Anne (and had a strange look in his eye)…he was mad at her for getting paid off his story and most likely wanted her to feel guilty/responsible in some way.

    I also think that perhaps he wasn’t lying about pornography, and perhaps this was indeed one of the threories that he had come to actually believe himself. He stated that perhaps a small percentage of the population are “predisposed” to pornography and “slasher flicks” having a negative influence.

    Is alcohol to blame for people becoming drunks? Of course not. But people are “predisposed” to it. Maybe it is true that pornography does have this kind of effect on a small % of the popultation, in that they need to keep elevating the thrill until eventually they cross the line. Who knows? It’s an interesting subject.

  25. I would like to understand more this “posession” thing. How would you describe this Kevin? I read in the Michaud book some years ago about posession but never fully understood. Maybe you have to be a psychopath to really get it. In general terms, does it mean that the killer feels like a god because they took a life?
    What good is that if the victim meant nothing?
    This is sort of a double edged sword.
    If TB had no feeling whatsoever for any of his victims, then why would he care about posessing their lives? He didn’t think anyone would care if they were dead, least of all him.
    So what really was the posession? The fact that he had killed a living human being who meant nothing more to him than an apple hardly seems like a form of posession.
    It seems a killer who is obsessed with another and kills for that purpose does this so that nobody else can have that other person. The killer was the last person to have any type of interaction with them. This was because the victim meant something to the killer and the killer wanted to “have them” like nobody else ever could. In TB’s case, the victims meant nothing to him. So if you wouldn’t mind explaining your though processing on this, I would like to hear it.

  26. Hey KYGB–

    An interesting aside, Tim and his wife actually live in Louisville now.

    I think you’ll like the Wilson/kiess book, and from the moment you see it, you’ll know what I mean. Apart from their theory (which I believe will be a ‘hard sell’ for most people familiar with the Bundy story) the book offers a unique story that I believe many will find entertaining. As I have said in some above posts, I don’t really believe Bundy committed these murders, and after reading the book, I’ll no doubt feel the same. However, I’m not the type of person who becomes so dogmatic that I can’t read something apart from the “norm” of a given subject. And having started the book last night, I’m finding it a pleasure to read.

  27. I commented on this months back. Tim Wilson’s book is the reason I got on this site. I was driving thru Louisville and was listening to WHAS, the major radio station in that city. Tim Wilson was on the radio discussing the new Bundy book he had co-authored.

    Wilson can rock a mike and his presentation of the material was quite compelling. They hadn’t mentioned Tim’s name at the end of the broadcast, so when I got back to my computer, I Googled “Louisville author Ted Bundy”. I was directed to this site. I thought Wilson was from KY, but instead I got fellow KY native Kevin Sullivan from the computer search.

    Eventually I ran down Wilson’s book and between the two, my first purchase was “The Bundy Murders”. I heartily agree with Kevin that there is plenty of room for more Bundy work. But Tim, if you are out there, I love the research, but you got some “splaining to do” about your conclusions.

    I won’t comment further, but I will after I get my paws on Tim Wilson’s book.

  28. Jason–

    I hit the submit button by accident.

    Now, I’ll continue…

    …that Ted killed in Columbus, GA. I don’t believe he did at the moment, and I am doubtful I’ll believe it after I finish the book. But I’m going to say something that might surprise you: No matter if they’re right or wrong about the theory, I’m glad they wrote the book, as it’s no different than the theories you’ll find concerning, say, the long-ago killer Jack the Ripper. So there is plenty of room for their book too! These guys worked very hard on it, and I’m glad I have a copy. But still, I’m doubtful I’ll agree with the theory.

  29. Jason–

    I believe Bundy used this “fuel” to carry him forward BECAUSE it was there to use. He just didn’t need it as stated earlier.

    The Wilson book is well researched, and like all nonfiction books, was laborious to write. However, I will withhold judgment as to their conclusions til I’ve read the book. But I believe I told Tim during our phone conversation, and certainly in the above response to his kind words about my book, I’m not certain he’ll be bringing me into the camp of believers that Ted killed

  31. Kris–

    I would assume Bundy kept the heads for sexual acts only. He could have easily buried the heads far away and they never would be found. Also, I believe it was the Parks skull which had the front teeth (perhaps upper teeth) and I do believe Bundy did use the heads (read mouth here) for oral stimulation. I believe this to be fact, but it’s only my opinion.

    We can’t ascertain with any degree of certainty what Bundy did upon returning to the decaying bodies. But I would assume just being at the spot and viewing the body in whatever form it remained, would be used for masturbatory purposes at the very least.

  32. kris,

    I believe Bundy kept skulls to delay identification of his victims,rather than for sexual purposes.

    Regards,

    Robert.

  33. kris,

    I believe the reasons behind Bundy keeping skulls,were to delay the discovery of his victims,rather than for sexual purposes.

    Regards,

    Robert.

  34. One more question to add to my last post #1214.
    Why do you think TB survived for a decade in prison? Was he completely isolated the entire time? I’m surprised that the prison didn’t find a way to say “oops, an inmate somehow managed to get at him” during a prison move or something like that. It’s obvious that they wern’t letting him leave FL alive, so why do you think he managed to survive 10 years in prison?
    Are all serial killers kept away from general population? Jeffrey Dahmer’s prison let him get killed.
    Thanks!

  35. Kevin –

    So do you believe that fear was just something that Bundy simply enjoyed but not neccessarily needed to carry him forward? That makes sense. In terms of the Julie Cunningham situation, it states the following in Bob Keppels book ‘The Riverman’ the following: –
    ‘Again, much like the murder of Georgann Hawkins, Bundy was desperate to get away from his victim’.
    Also based on his confessions (whether they are to be believed or not), Bundy and Julie got into a scuffle at the location and he knocked her unconscious and then he felt quote ‘the sense of urgency, sense of panic, urgency, being in a hurry to get it over with and get away from there’. These points tend to suggest that causing the victim to experience fear is not something that he desired even though the opportunities for him to do so were there. I do believe that this is the typical Bundy M.O (with a number of exceptions) where the less he spoke and made contact with the victim, the better for him to go through with their murder.

    Ok sounds good. It would be interesting to see what your thoughts are on the book. After seeing a number of reviews on the book, it does seem to be speculation driven but still a good read nonetheless.

  36. jason–

    I’m not looking at my book at the moment, but I believe I said that Bundy used it as a type of fuel, and I believe he did. I do not believe he needed it to carry him forward, one might say, but I do he enjoyed it to the max! Now, if one were to link this to sex (as Ted was a sexual sadist) it is just this sort of thing which caused him to have an even greater experience sexually (I must be delicate here) and he may have found his satisfaction level increase greatly due to this; but no, it wasn’t needed to propel him forward in the sense that you mean it.

    Also, he didn’t panic when Julie Cunningham awoke, but he was not pleased when Georgann Hawkins awoke, and this is clear from the Keppel / Bundy conversations.

    Check out comment 1179 and 1180 concerning Tim and Roger’s book. BTW: Tim called me a number of weeks ago, and we had a long conversation. He’s a really nice guy, and we ended up exchanging books. Indeed, I’ll start reading
    their book tonight!

  37. to Jason, thanks for chiming in on this too. It just appears that TB wanted to knock out his victims as soon as possible and then get them to secluded location to finish them off. What is also really odd here is that TB must have known the blow to the head might kill the victim. If he wanted them alive to experience the thrill of their fear and even the killing during sex/strangulation, he probably would have had a different m.o. to assure they would be alive and ready to fear him during their last minutes.

    to Richard, I have seen that Dobson interview and its still makes little sense to me. TB obviously didnt care about warning the world on the dangers of porn addictions. He had no feeling for people (other than family) so his spending some of his last minutes trying to desperately convey his warning message just makes no sense.
    I understand what you say Kevin that maybe he was trying to paint a better picture of himself at the end but even that seems odd because as a sociopath, he didnt care what people thought. He knew that most people didnt give a darn about anything he had to say, they just wanted him dead. So why give them the satisfaction of acting like he was doing something good? He told M&A that he didnt care what people thought of him at all so why waste time trying to paint a better picture? The whole thing is just baffling.

    I agree with you Kevin that pornography does not lead you to cut off victims heads for sex and blaming pornography just seemed to simple and silly for such a bright and articulate killer. Was it ever determined if TB was actually having sex with the skulls? Like, did he insert his penis into the skull’s crevises to get off? Did he just use them to masturbate to? If he kept heads at home for periods of time, he must have been using them for something. he would return to some of the bodies and have intercourse with them until they were too deteriorated to do anything with, didn’t he? Or did he just return to the kill spots for a power trip?

  38. Also what are your views on the book Ted Bundy and the Columbus Stranglings?? I am not sure whether to purchase this book as I am not sure whether it was based purely on speculation or if there is evidence to support the authors theories???

  39. Kevin: –

    Yeah that is correct that Bundy used alcohol to give him the jump start but you stated in your book that Bundy used fear as a type of fuel. That would indicate that he could be able to use the fear of his victims as something which gave him greater pleasure in the events before he murdered them. But evidence tends to suggest otherwise. Like in the case of Julie Cunningham. once she was accosted into his VW and she started to regain consciousness after being knocked out, (apparently) Bundy started to panick as he did not want his victim to see him in his predatory mode. The only problem is that we do not know all the sequence of events that happened in the majority of Bundy murders (since he kept alot of secrets to himself and ultimately to his grave) so it is hard to make any decisions. It is possible that once Bundy arrived at the remote locations he selected with his victims, he could torment them physically and mentally and thus elicit fear from his victims but given that he prefered his victims to be unconscious and dead, i am sure this happened little more than often.

  40. Kris – regarding Dobson, do as Dobson suggests and watch Bundy’s eyes during the interview.

  41. Jason–

    Bundy didn’t need the fear to “jump start” himself in the murder (he did use beer, wine, etc, to do this) but he did enjoy watching his victims as they experienced it, as it intensified the entire experience for him. But yes, this would not have been the case while traveling with the victim (Georgeann Hawkins).

    Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but according to the M&A interviews, I believe he alluded to the fact that he convinced Parks to leave with him, and that on the outskirts of town he took control of her. Stopped the car, made her undress, (he spoke of his voyeurism here) and had sex with here. I believe he restrained her at this point, and I’m not at all certain he struck her in the head until he arrived in WA, and I believe he said he had sex with her again after returning home, and she was probably unharmed at this time too. Now, I’m recalling this from memory when I was writing this portion of the book, so it’s been awhile since I read this from the M&A books, but I believe I’m fairly correct about the sequence of events here.

  42. Kanchana–

    Read my book (and the others!) and most of these questions will be answered. If they’re not, they probably can’t be answered without a great deal of investigation; at which point, I’d turn it over to you to discover for yourself.

  43. Here is a partial list of aliases used by Ted

    Theodore Robert Bundy
    Ted Bundy
    Theodore Robert Cowell (True name)
    Ted Cowell
    Chris Hagen
    Richard Burton
    Officer Roseland
    Rolf Miller
    Ken Misner

    Ted lived a good part of his life as a sneak thief and petty criminal, living by shoplifting and stealing credit cards. The FBI and law enforcement hasn’t published many of these assumed ID”s to protect the theft victims.

    “Ken Misner” was one of these people, but his name was the last assumed ID and was publicized nationwide. Poor guy.

    Ted went by Ted or Theodore. He hated to be called “Teddy”. All of my files on Bundy are labeled “Teddy” because of that.

  44. Kris: –
    Do you know what? I was going to ask the same question yesterday! That was a coincidence.
    I also would like to elaborate on that issue as I also doubt that fear was a type of fuel which Bundy needed prior to committing his murders. It was stated in the Multiagency Investigative Report 1992 (which was posted above somewhere) that Bundy stated if a victim in his car would regain consciousness, he would be able to convince her that she was injured and he was taking her to a hospital. This suggests that even when Bundy was face to face with his victim in his car, he wanted to appear as normal as possible and thus not elicit fear from his victim. Also based on Bundy’s confessions (which may or may not be believed) he would usually hit the victim over the head with the crowbar once he arrived at the scene so he could commit his act of strangulation while having sex with the victim. Since this is all we know based on Bundy’s confessions, there is obviously alot more that he left out. Bundy could have tortured his victims both physically and mentally. But we may never know.

    Kevin, you stated that once Kathy Parks regained consciousness in Bundy’s car, she would have experienced fear which is true. But we know that on many other occasions, Bundy had hit many girls over the head with his crowbar as a means of silencing them which i believe could be true in the case of Parks. Bundy may have been able to use charm, intelligence and looks to win over his victims, but I believe, as Bob Keppel stated that he was a ‘Chicken Shit Killer’ whos aim was to silence his victims, take them to a secluded area and perform acts on the body whilst they were unconscious or dead. But generally, I would say that the element of fear in his cases were abberations and few and far between rather than a type of fuel which spurred Bundy on.

  45. JRJ
    I am not too sure about who Bundy used his fake alias with but I remember reading a report with a list of the fake names that he used. I dont believe it states which girls he used the alias with as this is probably unknown.

  46. Some more questions.

    1.Why are there so many versions of “The only living witness”?Does each book have different details?
    2.Was he ever suicidal?
    3.The book “Ted Bundy:The killer next door”..Is it good?Why is it considered superficial?
    4.IF Ted bundy had been sentenced to life imprisonment,what would have been his state of mind today?Would you have gone to interview him?
    5.Considering his mantra changed from “never do it again” to “don’t ever get caught” why did he leave behind so much evidence at the Kimberly Leach/Chi Omega scenes?Was he in a way hoping to get caught because he was too sick now and desperately needed help to stop?
    6.If he didn’t even have a sense of direction even with all the maps,cars etc..why did he go through so much trouble escaping in the first place?And yet was re-captured
    7.Did he suffer from any STD with his all rapes and necrophilia?
    8.Is it true that his ashes were scattered on Cascades?
    9.Is his brain preserved somewhere because I read on the Net that it is?
    10.What attracted him to Liz and did he really love her?
    So many questions and really sorry to bother you..

  47. Hi Kanchana

    1. Perhaps the kneecap of Debby Kent; never located the head of Georgann Hawkins; not certain about others right now.

    2. Being found guilty.

    3. Yes.

    4. Sick bastard.

    5. He loved killing above all things! There is absolutely no way he would have stopped on his own.

    6. You would have to ask Carol about this.

    7. I do not know the answer to either question, but if the authorities wanted to search Liz’s home, she’d have to give the okay, or they would need a search warrant. And I’m not so sure a judge would have granted them one.

    8. It was creepy because he was a creep, LOL! But no, I have no answer to give you, as this wasn’t important for my book, and I never researched this.

    I’m sure Bundy and Ken had numerous exchanges, but I only focus on one or two for the book.

    These are good questions, and I welcome them.

    Take care,

    Kevin

  49. Sorry one more question :

    Did Ken Katsaris and Ted Bundy have any blow-ups with each other once they were off camera?Any details about it?

  50. Hi..I have ordered your book off Amazon but I am yet to receive it..I have always found Ted Bundy to be the most fascinating of serial killers..He was good looking,intelligent etc.. but pity he went the way he did..Then again normal people wouldn’t do that..

    I have some questions about Ted Bundy..

    1.After his execution,did the authorities discover any more bodies of his victims?
    2.What made him so angry during the Kimberly Leach trial that he out of control-almost?He wasn’t like that during the other trials..
    3.Is Kimberly Leach’s murder discussed in detail in your book?
    4.Sorry to be explicit here:Ted could have had any woman he wanted-sexually so why was there a need for necrophilia?
    5.In Ann Rule’s book(for some reason I liked the book),it’s mentioned that he was in emotional pain..Why didn’t he seek help instead of becoming a serial killer?Was he afraid of what people would think of him?
    6.Carole Boone left him shortly after marrying him..What caused her change of mind about him?I am sure she must have known something about his guilt even before she married him?
    7.Did the authorities do any search in Liz Kendall’s house(where he said he burnt Donna Manson’s skull in the fireplace) for other evidence?Is that house still standing today?
    8.In M&A’s book it’s mentioned that during the re-telling of Kimberly Leach’s murder a man alone in the back of the courtroom,his breath smelling of alcohol was making low noises to himself and fidgeting under his court..That was creepy,do you have an idea on who they was referring to?

    I hope you don’t mind me asking so many questions..Thanks..

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