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. Hi all–

    Jason — You know, I got the feeling that some of these investigators really believed they were on to something, and I don’t mean in the sense that they were trying to rule Bundy out in these crimes. Quite to the contrary, by the time these reports were written, it was clear to most of these folks Bundy was guilty. I don’t know what they were trying to do with this gay thing, but as I said earlier, it disappeared rather quickly. This means they came to the conclusion that despite his occasional trips to gay bars, he wasn’t gay, and whatever crimes he was involved in, had nothing to do with these trips. That’s all I can figure out from the record, and of course, It’s not in my book, as it has no relevance to the case.

  2. Barry, i never thought of that, good thinking!

    That last part about Ted leaving the bars hand in hand with another guy, cracked me up, lol. I can just picture it (not.)

    Well, Kevin, is there something you are not telling us?

  3. Ha i never thought we would be talking about ted being gay on this discussion LOL a killer of 36 women labelled gay LOL But anyway yeah Monica i believe u may be correct in that assumption of why ted went to gay bars. It was prob just a place for him to hide out in where no one would ever suspect him.

    Yet another reason could be that there may have been gay women who went there also which bundy probably took an interest in and could talk to them more easily and gain their trust as they would believe he was gay so thay would have no reason to feel suspicious around him.

    Unless Kevin has spoken to witnesses who seen bundy leaving the bars hand in hand with a guy LOL

  4. Great answer, thanks, Kevin!

    It is news to me too that Ted frequented gay/bars clubs, and i think the author of the article is spot on when guessing his real motives for being there, quote: ‘what better place for a serial killer of women to hide than in a homosexual bathhouse.’

    Remember, everything Ted did was carefully thought out, plotted and planned. I doubt he went to such places because he thought gay people were ‘nice’ or ‘happy’ and so enjoyed being in their company. He ‘wanted’ investigators to think he was a closet homosexual, yet another reason to doubt that the good-looking, articulate, smartly dressed, charming, intelligent law student and former worker in politics, could possibly be a sexual sadist, and serial killer of young women and girls.

  5. I`m curious about Bundy`s political views. I mean, he seemed to be fairly liberal and yet he was a Republican. What did Bundy think about the economy, foreign policy etc.?

  6. Kevin: –

    I can understand why the certain investigators would try and find out whether Bundy was gay because if they found out that he was, then there would be little chance that he would of been involved in any of the assaults and murders of girls since they were sex related. I remember reading in Bob Keppel’s book that one of the witnesses who heard Bundy talking to Janice Ott at Lake Sam said he sounded like a ‘fag’, which obviously means someone who is gay. If you couple this with the fact that he frequented gay bars/clubs with friends and was at ease with those around him, I think it would make anyone wonder whether he was gay or bisexual.

  7. Richard– Yes. Bundy’s statement is contained in one of the thousands of pages of documents I have. Also, it is clear (in Washington State, anyway) that certain investigators were trying to determine if Bundy was gay, as their internal memorandum makes this quite clear. What’s funny about this, however, is that it goes absolutely nowhere. It just dries up, and (as far as I know) never surfaces again. One document details the conversations between a detective and two individuals (one of whom is a retired cop) working with Bundy at one of Ted’s Washington State employers (maybe the DES) and they are both convinced he’s gay. Now when I read this, I remember thinking what a wrong tree these detectives were barking up, and the sooner they dismissed it, the better off they’d be. Well, it apparently did get dumped at some point after all this, but I still don’t know why they suspected him of this in the first place . It just didn’t make any sense to me.

  8. Bundy’s admission to investigators is news to me. Did you dig this up during your research?

  9. Hi Monica–

    Well, a lot of people in Seattle and the state of Washington knew Ted, as did a good number of people in Utah. However, unless someone can absolutely prove the connection with Bundy, it’s still difficult to prove they didn’t know him. The lady who recently mentioned at this site that she knew Bundy from the U of U law school, well, that story has the ring of truth to it.

    Now, as to the article, I have no way of knowing the validity of said article. However, Bundy did admit to investigators that he enjoyed going to gay bars occasionally in Salt lake City. When he was questioned as to why he did this, he said something about them being happy people or nice people, or something like that.

    Of course, there are many people who simply must “prove” a connection to Bundy. It isn’t enough to simply have lived in the same geographic area of the the country, or whatever; they want some kind of personal link to the killer. As I’ve said before at this site, I have a friend here in Louisville who believes that he saw Bundy hitchhiking in the eastern portion of the city when Bundy came through Louisville on his way to Florida. When I tell him he couldn’t be correct about this (as Bundy had a stolen car with him and only stopped to eat in the downtown section of the city before heading back on the freeway), he doesn’t want to believe me. Kinda strange.

  10. KYGB, killed the thread? I don’t think there’s any chance of that, lol.
    I can see this discussion (on all things Ted Bundy related ) continuing for many years to come. And, once again i would like to say how grateful i am that this thread exists, and for Kevin’s input and the questions and comments from other regulars who post here, who are equally fascinated by the subject. Very interesting it is; the most thorough debate of this topic on the internet.

    Going back to previous (but recent) comments regarding quotes that Ted made and his confessions, either as himself or in the third person, i must say they have made me feel sick to my stomach. I had always assumed (or hoped) that Ted did not torture his victims, that, at the very least, they were unconscious when he carried out his depraved/perverted acts, but obviously this was not so. The sheer terror and agony they must have suffered during the last moments of their life here on earth, is too painful to even contemplate. And to think, at least two of them were children? Hearing these things and seeing Ted in a completely new light, any sympathy i may have felt for his plight/his condition, has gone out of the window. This may be a strange thing to say, but i wish i could pay my respects to his victims in some way, they will always be in my heart/ my thoughts.

    Kevin, always interested in hearing from those who at one time have met, or claim that they have met the diabolical character that was Ted Bundy, i came across this comical piece recently, and am wondering what your thoughts are on it. Do you think it is for real or not?

    http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews34_05/page7.cfm

  11. Hi Monica, Barry, KYGB, and all-

    No, those are not Bundy victims. I have seen some Bundy victim photos (no, not the Chi O ones floating around) and these will probably never see the proverbial light of day, as far as the internet is concerned. Those who still have them do not release them easily.

  12. Barry, Kevin, Monica, Thanx fer postin’! Thought I killed the thread somehow, for awhile there.

    Barry, I don’t believe any of those victims had anything to do with TRB’s homicides. The 3rd victim in that series is a photo from the Sharon Tate crime scene, for instance. The only Ted victims that were left at the scene were the unfortunate Chi O girls.

    There are some pretty good pictures in that video, but the whole thing is pretty amateurish. Lots of spelling errors, inaccuracies, etc.

  13. Hey kevin i was watchin a youtube video on ted where someone posted some crime scene photos in the video. He said there were the victims of ted bundy, some of them ive never seen before, be good if u could confirm if u have seen these pics before and if they were really ted victims.

    Here is the link. The crime scene pics start from 1:16 to 1:44 in the video.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6BnA5aUYXs

    Thanks again

  14. Hi Kevin and the gang!

    Karen, wow, i can’t believe you actually met Ted. You say his eyes seemed to glow like a “homing beacon”, smart choice of words. I have noticed that too in certain pictures of him and interview footage, what’s that all about , i wonder? Maybe it is the look of someone possessed. I am curious to know, did you not feel any strange vibe from him at all, did you feel completely at ease in his company?

  15. Hi Barry–

    I don;t know if any of his siblings came to see him in prison, but I know he felt a special closeness for his mother and his younger brother Richard. Of course, as a mobile, predatory killer, Bundy was often alone, and he liked it that way. He didn’t have a lot of time for people in general, but when he did make time, it was often for a girlfriend and her family, or perhaps a few friends, rather than his family in Tacoma.

    See ya

  16. Hi Kevin Hows Things

    I was just wondering kevin about teds brothers and sisters that he had, i know he hadnt much to do with them. just curious if you know much about them or if ted kept in contact with them in anyway. During his time in prison did any of his brothers or sisters come visit.

    Thanks again

  17. Thanks a lot for your comments, Karen.

    Always interesting to hear from people who were acquainted with TRB.

    Couple questions. Some people have reported that Ted affected a “continental lilt” in his speech. That he almost sounded like he had a British accent. Did you ever hear this or did he sound normal to you?

    Others in his law classes have said that he was usually a pretty sharp dresser. But at other times he appeared disheveled. One guy saw scratches on Ted’s face after one of his re-appearances. Did you see him looking sloppy or “beat-up” at any time?

    Thanks in advance for your responses.

  18. Creepy indeed, Karen! The fact that you knew him, made you a bit safer, but not by much.

    Did you, or any of your friends, ever take any pictures of him?

    Take care,

    Kevin

  19. I worked at the U of U College of Law during the ’70’s. When Ted transferred down from Seattle, I was dating another law student who invited Ted into his study group. As the student body was small, I spoke to Ted pretty much on a daily basis. Nothing really deep just ‘hey how are ya’ and so forth. He was always somewhat detached. The Deliberate Stranger description was Ted to a T. On occasion he would just disappear for a few days here and there, always returning to the study group in the nick of time. His grades were always up.

    I recall one snowy cold day after he’d been gone for a week or so and gently drilled him on where he had been. He would said ‘oh I’ve been around.’ One day I pushed a little too hard as he was walking down the hall to class. He turned around walking backwards and stared through my soul with his blue eyes that seemed to glow like a homing beacon and told me how beautiful I was that day. I can totally see how most of his victims went right to him. In retrospect I think he was giving me a warning.

    The last time I saw Ted was when he was out on bail after the attempted kidnap of Carol DaRonch. I ran into him late one night at the school as he was researching his case. He said hello Karen — nice to see you — and for a lack of anything else to say I told him good luck — creepy.

  20. Creepy beyond imagination, Richard, lol!

    Just think, if I took the green garbage bag I have from Ted’s car to Washington, D.C. and tossed it inside, that would be the first time those two artifacts had been together since August 16, 1975. Too surreal to even think about, LOL!

  21. I hope nobody has plans to put the murder kit back in the VW. That would really be creepy.

  23. I thought the same and also that there are some very weird people who post on the site http://gallery.skcentral.com – women who think Ted has sad eyes, men who obviously admire someone with a psychopathic streak as wide as the Grand Canyon – weird, as I said.

  24. Hi Topelius–

    No, I hadn’t seen that video, but I have seen a picture of that guy and the car. As I have always said, I’m glad the car still exists, as it’s an historical piece, and displaying it for future generations is a good thing. But I’ve got to tell you…it seems (even from the photographs) that the VW still has a lot of odd energy around it. There is something really creepy about that car, and without getting all mystical here, it’s like it contains some type of left over residue or something. What can I say. CREEPY!

  26. Ted Bundy’s VW is now on display at the National Crime Museum in Washington, DC. It’s on loan from its new owner, a man named Arthur Nash (I think his first name is Arthur?).

    If you go to today’s (Feb. 19) edition of the Washington Post, there is an article, complete with 2 photos of the car. One picture shows the inside of the car with the passenger seat removed, and this is a vantage point not ofter seen, as most published pictures are of the outside of the car only. We have often read about this, but its odd to actually to see it in this condition.

  27. Thanks, Barry, for the kind words about the interview. I can say that it was a lot of fun doing it, and yes, we were able to laugh at a few things, despite the diabolical subject matter of Ted Bundy!

    If you go to Google Books, and type: The Bundy murders: A Comprehensive history, you can see a limited preview of the book. I believe they will allow you to read the preface, and it speaks of the Burr abduction. And yes, Bundy all but admitted to Ron Holmes that he was responsible for her murder.

    I personally believe Bundy did kill prior to January1974, but how many, we can’t say with any degree of certainty . But no matter how many Ted may have killed in those earlier years, his launch into murder in January 1974 was very different indeed, for he was in essence giving himself over to a life of unabated and continual murder. And this life of murder would rule his thoughts and actions like nothing else, and it became the only real desire he had. At that time, Bundy was 100% a predator, and his only real desire was to murder as many young women as possible. He had completely crossed over to fulfill his dark and violent fantasies, and he was happy to say good bye to everything else in life.

    Take care,

    Kevin

  28. Hi Kevin

    listened to those radio interviews u did there, they were great and u seem like such a cool person. The radio presenters also had a good laugh too. you summed up a good lot of stuff about Bundy and it was great change to hear ur voice talk about it as opposed to on here.

    The one thing i most appreciate is your effort to research stuff on bundy that no other book had mentioned. You put a lot of work into it getting in touch with people. So im definately going to get a copy of your book as soon as i can.

    You mentioned in your post above that ted admitted in third person to the murder of ann marie burr. I thought that ted never spoke about that murder, but its seems he did now and i believe now that he did indeed murder her.

    Now if ted commited his first murder back then when he was 15 well isnt it any wonder he came on to be the man he was. And im sure its very possible ted killed lots of times before his actual recorded murder at 27, dont u think kevin?

    I mean to keep his muderous urges in check for a decade later doesnt seem likely but who knows seein Ted only knew that monster within himself.

    Well ill look forward to more interviews to give kevin in the future. keep up the good work. cheers

  29. I’m not an advocate for abortion either ( I agree with it if it saves the mom’s life, and in case of rape or incest) but in the case of Adolf Hitler…well, maybe…LOL!

    Yes, the remaining family members of murder victims have certainly been “killed” as well. But it’s another kind of death which takes place; a death which forever transforms the outlook, or view of life, of those family members forced to walk through it. And sometimes (as in the case of Laura Aime’s dad) a parent or other loved one will die prematurely.

    I too feel sorry for Louise Bundy (Johnnie has passed away, but he suffered horribly as well) and all the rest of the family. They were victims of Ted’s rampage too.

  30. Kevin,
    Thank you for the reply! I guess we don’t know what a baby is going to be like when it’s born so I’m not advocating abortion. It’s tempting to wish an individual was aborted if that person turned out evil.

    The pictures in the book really help to picture the scenarios. I was troubled by the Viewmont High School scene and Julie Cunningham and the way the families of the victims were destroyed and died prematurely.

    It’s also amazing how when the name “Ted” or “Bundy” is mentioned people think immediately of Ted Bundy.

    I feel very sorry for his mother. To have had a child turn out that way must be very painful indeed.

  31. Hi Marie–

    First, thanks for the kind words about the book!

    I don’t think Bundy could have made things ‘work’, so to speak, even if he’d married ‘Stephanie’ the first time around, He was heading in the direction of murder, and because he very much wanted to kill women and perform the things I talk about in my book, it just couldn’t have lasted, as he needed much alone time for the kind of things he wanted to do.

    I never spoke to Louise Bundy (or any member of the Bundy family, for that matter) so I can’t say what she would have done. But, abortion is legal today, and some women opt to do that, while others wouldn’t think of it. So it’s pure guess-work here as to what she would do. And no, I don’t think Bundy died a Christian, either.

    Take care,

    Kevin

  32. Hello,
    Ted Bundy was somewhat before my time because I was in a high school Psychology class when we were shown a video on serial killers and he was the main one of the show and he was already on death row. I’ve been reading Kevin’s book and it is an excellent account of Bundy and the victims and how cruel he was with them.
    I was wondering if his life would have been different if he had married “Stephanie” his first love instead of trying to get revenge but I guess that shows his poor character? Also, I get disturbed when some pastors claimed that Bundy became a Christian because I just don’t see that. What do you think? I wonder if abortion had been legal if Louise would have had one?

  33. Pingback: ExecutedToday.com » 1994: Andrei Chikatilo, the Butcher of Rostov

  34. Hello all and a Happy Valentines to everyone on here.

    Well its very late and i just came on to read the new posts which are very interesting and ave sum questions to ask. im too tired now so ill do that 2morrow.

    Well just before i head off to bed i just want to say that i dont think i will get over the sick bundy that is described in horrific detail on here and the bundy that smiles and waves in court and laughs at jokes to the camera.

    The human mind is a deadly device

  35. With Georgann Hawkins, he didn’t want to look her in the eyes. This is evident by his statement to Keppel that he hit her with the crowbar again after she started speaking to him in the car (she didn’t even realize what had happened to her, believing instead he was there to help her prep for her Spanish test the next day).
    But in the case of Julie Cunningham, he did want to look into her eyes as she died. On other occasions, he chose to strangle them from behind during the sex act. In the cases of Janice Ott and Denise Naslund (Lake Sam) he killed one in front of the other after sexually attacking them both. I don’t know how he murdered them, but he may have beaten one (or both) with the tire iron, as he alluded to in (I believe) Conversations with a Killer. See how all of these are different, even though Bundy is responsible for them all?

    What you might be doing is reading too much into any one manner he chose to kill. That is, just because he stated he enjoyed doing something a particular way, it doesn’t mean that that is the Alpha and Omega of his MO for murder. He had various ways to murder, and he enjoyed doing different things according to his mood at the time. He wanted NO interaction with Hawkins, but he very much wanted that out of Julie Cunningham. See what I mean?

  36. You’re probably right. He probably did save those heads to have oral sex with them. He must have had some of the most bizarre attitudes toward sex ever. Sex with a severed head! That’s about as perverted and crazy as it gets.

    Now, it is assumed that he typically knocked the victim unconscious and then drove her to a pre-selected remore area. Do you think it mattered to him if they regained consciousness at some times? If he wanted to look into their eyes as they died, I would think that he must have wanted them to regain consciousness, wouldn’t he?

    In his final interview with the defense psychiatrist, Dorothy Lewis, he stated that his operation was usually 1. Take possession or control 2. strip the victim 3. some sort of sexual activity 4. “then it would happen so quickly, beating oftentimes.”

    These are his own words. If that’s the case then wouldn’t that mean he often beat these girls to death while they were still alive?? Or am i reading this wrong? I know strangulation seems to be his mode of choice, but he admitted to beating, which is even more violent.

  37. I’m not sure if he admitted this to Hagmaier or not, but keep in mind, that Bundy would not have wanted to speak of this in the first place, as it made him look like a sicko; and of course, he was just that. But he did admit it to others beside Bob Keppel. Russ Reneau, chief investigator for the Idaho cases, told me Bundy admitted to him that he had sex with Lynette Culver after he killed her at the Holiday Inn. Keep in mind, too, that Bundy’s murders were sex crimes, and that sex would always be a part of his dealings with his victims, alive or dead. Remember how he admitted to having the heads of 4 women in his apt in Washington State? Well, in my opinion, it was for only one reason, and that was oral sex.

  38. Was Georgann Hawkins the only victim that ted ever actually confessed to necrophilia with? Did he admit necrophilia to Bill H or anyone else in his final days?
    I did a quick search on google to find out where he admitted to the necrophila and not one article really named a source. They were all like “he admitted to returning to Georgann Hawkins body for purposes of necrophilia”… I’m guessing the articles that came up are most likely referring to what Bob Keppel had to say.
    He must have admitted it to others in more detail to learn more about why he did it. Any other references to his admitting to this anywhere? To Bill H or Art Norman or anyone else?

  39. Thanks, Jason!

    McFarland is still waiting for reviews from Booklist, Choice, and Library Journal, and I’m thinking that once they are published, more requests for interviews will be forthcoming. I will also be contacting other radio stations and media outlets to see if they’re interested in an interview. So I’ll keep everyone informed at this site.

    Yes, the incidents you’re referring to above would be the Cunningham and Hawkins abductions. Now, I don’t know exactly how Bundy reacted to Cunningham regaining consciousness, but I know from the confession tapes, that Bundy DID NOT want to interact with Georgann Hawkins, and so he quickly whacked her in the head for the second time. So I guess it really depended on his mood or mental condition at the time.

    Take care,

    Kevin

  40. Just want to say I enjoyed the interview you did on outlawcrime.com. Its one thing reading about Bundy and another when you listen to a discussion on him take place. Have you got any more interviews down the pipline?

    Although there were times where Bundy would revel in the fear experienced by his victims, it is documented in the Multiagency report that when some of his victims regained consciousness after being placed in the VW, he would pretend that he was taking them to a hospital or a place of safety. He was obviously toying with them yet it shows that he could experience the thrill with or without eliciting fear from his victims.

  41. The torture was always psychological, in my opinion, and this he enjoyed very much.

    He didn’t mind Julie Cunningham screaming as she ran from his car, as there wasn’t another soul around for miles, and Bundy knew this. I believe the screaming heightened the thrill aspect for him, providing him with a type of ‘turn on’, and he planned it this way for just that very reason. This was a form of torture as well.

    I think he made mention in “Conversations with a Killer” that gagging might not have been necessary in this case, but I kinda doubt the truthfulness of his statement here. But who knows?

  42. He certainly was an evil sob.
    He had stated to detectives, authors, etc. that he didn’t torture any of his victims. He claims that he tried to do the kills as quickly as possible. Judging from what you said about the Julie Cunningham murder, he didn’t necessarily try to kill the victim quickly. Do you think that he did in fact enjoy torturing on some ocassions?

    Another thing I was wondering about was the Ott/Naslund murders. He made one watch while the other was killed. He must have gagged his victims so that they couldn’t scream, right? If he did keep some of them alive for a while to torture them psychologically (or physically), he must have gagged them so that nobody in the area could hear their screams.

    It makes sense that he would knock the victims out then kill them before they regained consciousness, this way he wouldn’t have to worry about them screaming. It also seems that on some ocassions he wanted to subject the still living victims to a more torture type prekill?

  43. Hi Kris–

    Not every time Bundy committed a murder was it the same. While it is true he had a habit of strangling some victims while having intercourse from behind, he told Mike Fisher (for example) that he had sex with Julie Cunningham after choking her until she passed out (I cover this in my book). Then, he allowed her to run from his VW after she awakened, only to chase her down and strangle her. Now, I can assure you, that in this case, Bundy was face to face with Cunningham as he strangled her to death, and as such, was looking straight into her eyes. And I’m certain she is not the only one to go in that manner.

    Bundy was very much the evil bastard.

  44. I was thinking about a quote Ted once made:
    “You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God…”

    Isn’t it assumed that Ted usually strangled his victims as he penetrated them from behind (either anally or vaginally)? If that were to be true, how could he be looking into their eyes?
    What are your thoughts on that Kevin?

    It’s little details like this that keep us wondering!!

  45. Hi Topelius–

    Actually, Bundy told Holmes that “that person” strangled the Burr child and then had sex with her. This, of course, was standard procedure for Ted. he preferred strangulation as the manner of death (while having sex, as described with his killings of 1974 and beyond) and would also enjoy having sex with the dead.

    So while he used a knife in the leach murder, I kinda doubt that knives played a very big part of his murderous career.

    take care,

    Kevin

  46. And one more thing. Ted had his moments with knives in childhood; placing knives around his aunt at the age of three for instance. My guess: Ted killed Ann Marie Burr with a knife.

  48. Loved the interview. Good marketing for the book!

    Something I thought about today… I know it`s a far stretch, but I find these two quotes from Ted to be rather similar:

    “He (unknown killer) entered her vaginally from the rear, pulled her head back by the hair, and slit her throat. It was the most powerful orgasm this person had ever had.”

    “When he’s 15 (describing the moment of murder) it’d be a much more mystical, exciting, intense, overwhelming experience…than when he’s 50.”

    I believe there`s a consensus that in the first quote Ted talks about the murder of Kimberly Leach. However, my intuition says that both of these quotes talks about the murder of Ann Marie Burr. And not to mention the conversation he had with Ron Holmes (Kevin`s book mentions this one).

    Like I said, it`s a far stretch. But again, why not… 🙂

  50. Kevin usually radio interviews with authors are lame, but this one was outstanding and informative. Thanks

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