The Horrific Story of Ted Bundy and His Notorious Legacy as a Charming Serial Killer

Growing up, Ted Bundy believed himself to be raised in his parents’ home alongside his sister, Eleanor Louise. In reality, though, the girl who he thought was his sister was actually his mother and the people who he believed to be his parents were really his grandparents.

Sadly, Ted’s grandparents mistreated him and Eleanor, to the point that they ran away to live with Eleanor’s boyfriend. Unfortunately, life with Eleanor’s lover wouldn’t turn out to be the safe haven they’d hoped for…

At this point, the boy who’d later be known as Ted Bundy was called Theodore Robert Cowell. He gained his now-famous last name when Eleanor married Johnny Bundy, who then adopted Ted. Johnny and Eleanor went on to have four children together and tried to include Ted in their family.

However, Ted wanted nothing to do with his stepfather — which he blamed on the fact that Johnny wasn’t Ted’s true father, and because he was supposedly unintelligent and poor. To this day, no one’s sure of who Ted’s biological father was.

Although Ted himself claims that he was unpopular and didn’t understand social interactions, people who knew him have said otherwise. Several of Bundy’s former classmates recall Ted being well-liked and reasonably popular.

It’s worth noting that Ted’s depiction of his grandparents’ cruelty is also highly debated. He seemed to switch his opinion of them, and the recollections he had, with every interview. In fact, pretty much every aspect of Bundy’s life was clouded in secrets and mystery.

Despite Ted Bundy getting by in his younger years, there were always signs that something was slightly off with him. He used to look through trash cans, trying to find photos of unclothed women.

Bundy would also walk around trying to sneak glimpses of women through windows or he’d follow women in the streets. That being said, Ted later denied all of the above, despite the fact that he’s the one who made the original claims.

In 1968, Bundy was a university student studying psychology when he learned the truth about his upbringing. One of Ted’s cousins was mocking him, saying that his sister was actually his mother, and eventually proved it by showing Ted his birth certificate.

Ted never forgave his mother for lying to him and for refusing to let him know who his real father was. What happened next seemed to only pour salt onto Bundy’s wound…

At this point, Bundy was in a romantic relationship with a woman named Diane Edwards (she’s often referred to as Stephanie Brooks in Ted Bundy’s biographies).

After roughly one year together, Diane broke up with Ted due to feeling “frustrated” with his “immaturity” and “lack of ambition.” Over the course of his relationship with Diane, Bundy had dropped out of college and began working a series of minimum-wage jobs, which could be what led to Diane’s decision.

In 1969, Ted began dating Elizabeth Kloepfer (referred to in his biographies as Meg Anders, Beth Archer, and Liz Kendall). Elizabeth had a then-three-year-old daughter named Molly, to whom Bundy became a father figure.

As an adult, Molly said that Ted began to be inappropriate with her when she was around seven years old. He’d “accidentally” touch and/or hurt her, sometimes referring to it as a “game.” By the time she was 10, he was out of her life altogether due to his arrest.

By the 1970s, Ted had gotten himself together and it seemed as though his life was back on track! He had re-enrolled in college as a psychology major and was doing extremely well in his studies. Bundy was an honor student and was well-liked among his professors.

He worked at the Suicide Hotline Crisis Center, where his coworkers described him as “kind, solicitous, and empathetic.” Overall, it seemed that Ted’s future was bright and, interestingly, no one seemed to have witnessed any disturbing behavior from him at that point.

At this point, Ted had reunited with Diane, who was impressed with how he’d managed to pull himself together. The two got back together but Bundy was still dating Elizabeth. He continued with both relationships but didn’t tell either of the women about the other.

In 1974, Ted cut off all contact with Diane — without any explanation. He later said, “I just wanted to prove to myself that I could have married her.” Diane believes that the breakup was “revenge” for when she had ended things with him years prior.

Bundy attacked his first victim at roughly the same time that he broke up with Diane. At this point, Ted was enrolled in law school but had begun skipping classes. Eventually, he dropped out altogether — and, simultaneously, women began mysteriously disappearing.

It’s highly debated when and where Bundy first began killing, as he seemed to give different answers to everyone he spoke to. Ted’s first known victim was Karen Sparks (referred to in his books as Joni Lenz, Mary Adams, and Terri Caldwell), who was 18 years old at the time.

Bundy used to spy on Karen and follow her around. Eventually, he broke into her apartment and attacked the young woman. After the assault, Karen was in a coma for 10 days and, when she did wake up, found herself permanently disabled.

Thankfully, Sparks did survive the ordeal and lived to be 74, passing away peacefully in her home in 2022. Not much is known about Karen’s adulthood as she’s explained, “I wished for private, independent life.”

Shortly after attacking Karen, Ted began to perfect his method of harming women. He’d wear a fake cast or sling, or pretend to be crippled in some other way, and ask for assistance in carrying things to his car.

When the woman would help, he’d attack and leave the body in a designated spot in the woods. He’d go back to visit the bodies, from time to time, and would even bring the skulls back to his apartment as trophies.

In 1974, female college students were disappearing at alarming rates — roughly one woman a month. Police struggled to find a suspect, as there was so little forensic evidence (this was before DNA profiling) and the victims had very little in common with each other.

The only similarities between the women were that they were all college students — white, young, attractive, and with long hair parted down the middle. On top of that, police thought the perpetrator would be someone with a criminal record, rather than a charming and successful law student.

While no explanation can justify these crimes, Ted readily offered one anyway. Bundy has said, “The ultimate possession was, in fact, the taking of the life. And then… the physical possession of the remains […] It becomes possession.”

“They are part of you… [the victim] becomes a part of you, and you [two] are forever one… and the grounds where you kill them or leave them to become sacred to you, and you will always be drawn back to them.”

As more women went missing, and the newspapers saw this as a continuous story, the public began to put more pressure on the police to find the criminal. The police opened a tip line, which received roughly 200 calls a day.

Slowly, law enforcement began to find more similarities between the disappearances. All of the women disappeared at night, usually around exam periods; the women all wore pants when they vanished, and there was often an attractive man wearing a cast or sling standing near a brown Volkswagen Beatle.

When he wasn’t attacking women, Ted Bundy was putting on a show of being a model citizen. He worked at the Washington State Department of Emergency Services, where he was able to get updates on the police’s investigations.

In a horrifying twist, part of Bundy’s job was to write a pamphlet for women on how to prevent themselves from getting attacked. It was also at this job that Ted met Carol Ann Boone, who later became his wife.

As Ted began to get away with more and more, he also got increasingly sloppy. He used his real name when introducing himself to the women he planned to abduct and he began to approach them in broad daylight.

Finally, there were witnesses who could confirm that the missing women were last seen with a man who matched Ted’s description. Bundy’s former college professors, co-workers, and ex-girlfriends (including Elizabeth) all informed the police that they believed he could be the perpetrator.

When Bundy was finally caught and questioned, police were doubtful that they had the right guy. Ted’s pleasant demeanor and upper-class status resulted in law enforcement feeling weary about him being the man who had attacked over 30 women, in seven different states, over the course of four years.

After pulling Bundy over, the police found suspicious objects in his car but still chose to put him under surveillance rather than actually arrest him.

After getting pulled over, Ted sold his car but the police still managed to track it down. When the vehicle was in their possession, police were able to find DNA from three separate women who had gone missing.

They brought Bundy to the station to participate in a lineup, in which one of his victims who managed to escape identified him as her attacker. Ted Bundy was finally arrested in 1975. But, not for long…

Bundy was on the run in Aspen for six days before getting caught and arrested again. This time, the prison guards managed to keep Ted captive for just under six months before he escaped again — this time, to Florida.

After two weeks on the run, Bundy began to attack women again, including a girl as young as 12 years old named Kimberly Diane Leach. One can take some form of solace in the fact that young Kimberly was Ted’s last victim.

The third time did seem to be the charm when it came to arresting Ted Bundy. He was pulled over for reckless driving, at which point the police recognized him as a wanted man. They found the IDs of three of Ted’s victims in his car and immediately arrested him.

Upon being handcuffed, Bundy told one of the officers, “I wish you had killed me.” In a sense, he got his wish, as he was eventually convicted and given the death penalty.

Bundy’s ego seemed to take hold of him during his trial, as he ignored all of his lawyers’ advice and insisted on representing himself. Despite being given five court-appointed attorneys, Ted “sabotaged the entire defense effort out of spite, distrust, and grandiose delusion.”

“Ted [was] facing murder charges, with a possible death sentence and all that mattered to him apparently was that he be in charge.” The infamous trial was the first ever to be televised in the USA, with over 250 journalists present to witness the spectacle.

During his trial, Ted married his on-again-off-again girlfriend, Carole. Carole had been divorced twice before and had a son from a previous relationship. She had a third child, a daughter named Rosa (written as Rose in some publications), with Ted while he was in prison.

Not much is known about Rosa. In 2022, she’s 40 years old and probably changed her name at some point. Either way, she’s managed to stay out of the spotlight and most likely never met her criminal father.

Throughout Ted’s trial, Carole insisted that her husband was innocent. Documentary producer and director Trish Wood has said the following about Carole — “There were so many people who thought he was innocent and being railroaded.”

She continued, “There wasn’t really good evidence against him in any of the cases. So, Carole Boone was surrounded by people who fed her idea that he was innocent, and you know, when you’re in love, you want to be fed that.”

Carole ended up divorcing Ted before his execution. No one’s entirely sure as to why she ended the relationship but many people have educated guesses. Some say that Carole finally realized, throughout the trial’s proceedings, that Ted was guilty.

Others believe it’s because Bundy cheated on Carole with one of his lawyers (this was never confirmed). Regardless, Carole cut off all ties with Bundy and even refused his phone call on the day of his execution. Boone passed away in 2018, in a retirement home, far from the public eye.

While in prison, Bundy finally got a taste of his own medicine. He was consistently harmed by his fellow inmates and it’s rumored that some took it upon themselves to violate Ted in the way he’d violated many women. On January 24th, 1989, Ted Bundy was seated in the electric chair and finally met his fate.

The mother of one of Ted’s victims aptly said, “For everything he did to the girls — the bludgeoning, the strangulation, humiliating their bodies, torturing them — I feel that the electric chair is too good for him.”

To this day, Ted Bundy’s actual number of victims is still unknown. He confessed to multiple killings, which he later denied. He also consistently denied responsibility for specific victims, despite there being evidence that showed otherwise.

The public is certain of at least 30 women who died at Bundy’s hand but most experts suspect that the true number is significantly higher. Since 2011, the FBI has preserved some of Ted’s DNA in the hopes that it can help solve some unresolved cases.

Once Bundy’s crimes became known, those who knew him began to see him differently. The man who was previously perceived as charming, successful, and desirable was suddenly seen for what he really was.

Joseph Aloi, a defense investigator on Ted’s case, said the following about Bundy — “I would describe him being as close to being like the devil as anyone I ever met.” Ted was also largely known as, “The very definition of heartless evil.”

To this day, psychologists try to understand exactly how Ted Bundy turned out the way that he did. Some say that Bundy was a psychopath (true psychopaths are far rarer than we tend to think). Others say that he had multiple personality disorder, which would explain his constant confessions and then retracements.

Bundy himself claims that he became what he was due to the adult content he was exposed to and he warned that other young men who saw the same content would turn out like him.

To this day, Ted Bundy is one of the most notorious serial killers of all time. His story has been retold over and over through movies, books, documentaries, biographies, and TV series.

The world’s lasting fascination with him seems to be due to the fact that there’s still so much mystery involved and so many questions that will probably never be answered. Mostly, it’s the horror that such a person could exist and the fear that someone like him will exist again.