Charming Beast. The story of the maniac Ted Bundy

19 March 2014, 15:13

He is tall, brown-haired, and has regular and harmonious facial features. Ted Bundy is handsome. In the photo he looks as seductive as a succession of American actors of that time. One of his former employers will say that he was as charming as Cary Grant.

He is also smart and courteous. He always looks great and it doesn't cost him anything to charm anyone. He is the type of person in whom you can immediately trust. But he is a big pretender and manipulator. Under a wonderful mask hides the most terrible psychopath.

Theodore Robert Bundy was born in November 1946 in Birlington, a small town in Vermont, in the northeastern United States. His life began with a big lie, which may have turned his whole life upside down. His mother, Eleanor Corwell, gave birth in a shelter for “unmarried women.” The fact that she was pregnant was carefully hidden from everyone. Her parents wanted to avoid scandal at all costs. After little Teddy was born, the mother returned to her old life, and Eleanor’s father and mother were announced as the baby’s parents. Bundy himself for many years believed that his mother was his older sister.

When Ted was four years old, his “big sister” went with him to Washington state, where she married cook John Bundy, who adopted the boy and gave him his last name. Shortly before his execution, Ted Bundy said that that time remained in his memory as “the happiest period of my life, when everyone loved each other.” He also added that “the family attended church regularly, and there were no cigarettes, no alcohol, no games, no quarrels at home.”

A quiet childhood was followed by a less happy youth. Ted Bundy was completely insecure. He considered himself timid, unable to form relationships with girls his age. He dreams of climbing the social ladder and mocks his grandfather, whom he considers an uncouth redneck because of his Southern accent. One day, he learns that his "older sister" is actually his mother, and the Corvals, whom he thought were his parents, are actually his grandparents. He experienced this discovery as a real betrayal, such was its effect on him. Psychiatrists later agreed that it was this discovery that awakened in Ted Bundy all those hidden traits that might never have been realized if he had not known about this “betrayal.” All his life he will feel deceived and abandoned.

At the age of 20, he fell in love with the beautiful Stephanie Brooks, a long-haired blonde. She was from a good family, so to speak, from high society, and Ted had the chance to climb the social ladder, which he had so dreamed of. He tries to impress her, shamelessly lies about everything, wanting to make himself look better than he really is. But Stephanie is not as stupid as Bundy thinks, and about a year after they met, she cuts off all contact with him. This is the second time he feels humiliated and betrayed by a woman. Now he hates them all, and in each of his future victims he sees his mother and the girlfriend who abandoned him, whom he dreams of destroying. Later, psychiatrists will notice that all of Bundy’s victims will be very similar in appearance to Stephanie Brooks, the girl who made him suffer so much.

Convinced of his irresistibility, Ted came up with an image for himself: a smart, serious and purposeful student. In 1968, he found a job in the campaign headquarters of Art Fletcher, a candidate for governor of Washington State from the Republican Party. Soon, having changed many hobbies, he received a diploma in psychology and began working in a specialized center for providing anonymous assistance to potential suicides. Then, before finally deciding on a profession - jurisprudence, he again enters the service of another Republican candidate. But he fails to complete his education and become a lawyer. This makes him feel even more like a complete failure.

From this time his “career” began serial killer. To gain the trust of his victims, he uses techniques famous swindler Frank Abagnale*, who were beautifully shown in the film “Catch Me If You Can”: he seems to put his charm and good looks on display for everyone to see, they say, admire me, I’m open to you. But it's not just charm that Bundy uses. No joke, he uses one more technique in his practice - pity. He appears before his victims either with a supposedly broken arm or with a crutch, which he has to use because he “had an accident”**. He is rarely refused help. Sometimes he introduces himself as a police officer, medical worker, or firefighter. He knows how to inspire confidence in himself - young women follow him without any fear. And away from prying eyes, Bundy does not spare all these unfortunate people and kills them with particular cruelty. It comes to the point that he cuts off the heads of four women and keeps them as trophies in his apartment. Investigators and experts also noted numerous cases of necrophilia that Bundy carried out with the corpses of his victims.

It travels across the western United States and is rampant in the states of Oregon, Utah, Idaho and Washington. When he is finally arrested in Colorado, he escapes from prison twice. The first time he is caught six days after his escape. The second time, after making a hole in the ceiling of the cell, he flees to Florida.

It's 1978, and Ted Bundy is on the FBI's list of most wanted and dangerous criminals. In Florida, he rents a room in a modest hotel, under a false name, of course.

On the night of January 1, 1978, he breaks into a girls' dormitory in Tallahassee and brutally beats three girls with a baton and kills two more.

A month later, Bundy kidnaps a 12-year-old girl, Kimberly Leach. This happens near the college where Kimberly attends, in the town of Lake City, Florida. First he mutilates her and then cuts her throat. That same night, as a result of a routine roadside check, he is detained by the police. When the policeman took a closer look at the driver of the car, who was intoxicated, he unexpectedly recognized him as Ted Bundy, wanted by police in all states on suspicion of murdering 36 women.

Local police establish a clear resemblance between Bundy and the dormitory killer. Then, a little later, evidence emerges indicating that it was he who killed little Kimberly. In June 1979, he was tried in Florida for these two crimes. First one process, then another...

In court, as before with the police, he denies his involvement in these murders. Without batting an eyelid, completely unfazed, he rejects all the grisly and bloody evidence that is presented to the shocked jury: photographs from murder scenes, victims' clothes covered in their blood. Bundy, who previously wanted to become a lawyer and studied law, is defending himself. However, he is sentenced to the electric chair twice. He remains on death row for another 9 years.
Until his very end, he tries to manipulate the police and justice, and, trying to prolong his life, promises to indicate the places where the bodies of his other victims are hidden.

Over these 9 years, four orders for his execution were signed. Three times he managed to defer the execution of the sentence, but on the fourth time he still got his due.

A few hours before his execution, in January 1989, Ted Bundy agreed to have an in-depth interview with Dr. James Dobson. During the conversation, he said, in particular: “I am a scoundrel like you have never seen in your entire life. I deserve the most severe punishment that can exist. You are going to kill me as if that will protect society from me. Society expects to get rid of me and people like me, but society must protect itself from itself.”

This and other techniques used by Bundy were featured in the films Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon and Hannibal. Bundy served as the inspiration for serial killer psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins, who won an Oscar for Best Actor in The Silence of the Lambs.

Updated 19/03/14 16:08:

During the trial of Kimberly Leach (the 12-year-old girl he killed), on February 9, 1980, Bundy used an old Florida law that allowed a “declaration” to be made in court to establish a legal marriage. Bundy proposed marriage former colleague Carol Ann Boone, who moved to Florida to be near Bundy, is in the courtroom during her questioning from behind the stand. She readily accepted him, and Bundy announced in the courtroom that they were married. After numerous conjugal visits, Bundy and his new wife gave birth to a daughter in October 1982. However, in 1986, Boone moved to Washington and did not return to Florida. The current whereabouts of Boone and her daughter are unknown.

Interesting fact:

In the early 1980s, Bundy periodically advised police investigating the Green River Killer. He made a good one psychological portrait killer, but the police did not listen to him properly - Gary Ridgway, who killed 48 women, was brought to trial only in 2003, when his guilt was proven through DNA testing.

P.S. And yes, in some social networks entire communities are dedicated to this maniac, where his biography and almost the cult of personality of Ted Bundy are discussed in detail.

Updated 19/03/14 16:13:

Bundy helped police search for the Green River Killer. The question is - why? Here's why: having grown up in the same places where his fellow countryman operated, Ted, whose official number of victims was 36, did not want his more successful colleague to outdo him in the number of killed. His professional, so to speak, pride protested against the fact that the Green Killer was calmly walking free, doing his dirty deeds, and Bundy himself was caught pretty quickly.

Theodore Robert Bundy(English) Theodore Robert Bundy) (November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) - American serial killer, known by the nickname " nylon killer». Exact number its victims are unknown: it ranges from 26 to more than 100, total quantity crimes - 35. Bundy was found guilty of dozens of murders and executed by electric chair in Florida.

Childhood

Ted Bundy was born on November 24, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont, in a home for single mothers. His mother, Louise Cowell, was from an intelligent and respected family. Ted never knew his father, a World War II veteran - his affair with Louise ended in a breakup even before Ted was born. The birth certificate lists the father as Lloyd Marshall. Louise would later say that she was seduced by war veteran Jack Worthington. Her family didn't believe the story and expressed suspicion that it might be Samuel Cowell, Louise's abusive father.

However, Bundy's maternal grandparents, Samuel and Eleanor, began to claim that this was their son to avoid public condemnation. Bundy grew up believing that his mother was his older sister. Bundy biographers Stephen Michaud and Hugh Ainsworth wrote that Bundy found a copy of his birth certificate at home when he was in high school. True Crime writer Anne Rule, one of Bundy's lovers, believes it happened around 1969, shortly after Bundy's painful breakup with his college girlfriend.

As a child Bundy lived with his mother in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After living in her parents' house for 3 years and unable to withstand the constant reproaches, Louise Cowell decided to radically change her life and moved with her son to a town called Tacoma, changing her last name from Cowell to Nelson. At a 1951 singles night hosted by the First Methodist Church of Tacoma, she met military hospital cook Johnny Culpepper Bundy. They got married in May and had four children. Ted was adopted by his stepfather and his last name was changed to Bundy. WITH new family He had a good, smooth relationship.

Bundy spent most of his time with his family. Johnny Bundy tried to include his stepson on camping trips and other activities in an attempt to become like family to him, but the boy remained distant from his stepfather.

He later said that he “hit a wall” in high school and was unable to understand social behavior, stunted social development. He built the foundation social activity, but could not interact with other people:

As a teenager, Bundy borrowed from libraries and read literature about crime, focusing on special attention books and magazines that described sexual violence and there were photographs of corpses. At school, Bundy showed himself to be a shoplifter and a kleptomaniac. He loved skiing, once stole skis and forged ski lift tickets

University years

Bundy graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1965. After receiving a scholarship from the University of Puget Sound, he began taking courses in psychology and oriental studies. After 2 semesters, he continued to study at the University of Washington. While he was a student, he worked at the Safeway store in Queen Anne's Hill and also worked at various places from time to time.

During this time, Bundy did not stay in any job for more than a few months, and although he was never known to steal while on the job, he was viewed with some suspicion by his employers. As part of his studies in psychology, he later worked at night shift volunteer at the helpline crisis center Seattle for suicides. He met and worked with former officer police, and then by writer Ann Rule, who would later write one of the most authoritative biographies of Bundy and his crimes, " The Stranger Beside Me ».

He began a relationship with university student "Stephanie Brooks" (a pseudonym), whom he dated while she enrolled at the University of Washington in 1967. She ended the relationship after graduating in 1968 and returned to her home in California, fed up with what she described as Bundy's immaturity and lack of ambition.

Bundy was devastated by her refusal and soon dropped out of college and headed east. Rule writes that at this time Bundy decided to visit his homeland of Burlington. There he visited the local secretary and finally learned the truth about his origins. In 1967, he dropped out of law to take an elective course Chinese language at Stanford University.

After this, Bundy became more focused and a confident person. Returning home to Washington, he managed Nelson Rockefeller's 1968 presidential campaign in Seattle and attended the 1968 Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida, as a supporter. He re-enrolled at the University of Washington as a psychologist. Bundy became an excellent student and a favorite of the professors. In 1969, he began dating Elisabeth Kloepfer (aka Bundy Meg Anders or Liz Kendall), a divorced secretary with a daughter in love with him. They were together for more than six years until he went to prison for kidnapping in 1976.

Bundy graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in psychology in 1972. Soon after, he went back to work for the Washington Republican Party and formed close ties with Governor Daniel Evans. During the campaign, Bundy followed Evans' Democratic opponent throughout the state, tape-recording his speeches and delivering them personally to Evans. A minor scandal later erupted when Democrats recognized Bundy posing as a student. In the fall of 1973, Bundy entered law school at the University of Puget Sound, but did poorly academically. He began skipping classes and finally dropped out in the spring of 1974. At the same time, young women began to disappear in the Pacific Northwest.

During a business trip to California in the summer of 1973, Bundy returned to his ex-girlfriend "Stephanie Brooks" with a new outlook and attitude; this time it was a serious professional accepted into law school. Bundy also continued to date Kloepfer; nothing is known about other women. Bundy courted Brooks all year, and she accepted his marriage proposal. Two weeks later, shortly after New Year's 1974, he unceremoniously broke up with her without returning her phone calls. A few weeks after this breakup, Bundy went on a murderous rampage.

Maniac

Nothing in Ted Bundy's appearance or manner suggested that he was cruel and merciless. killer. Handsome, well-educated, unusually talkative, Bundy immediately aroused the sympathy of those around him. His manners and conversations exuded high culture, his humor was immediate and infectious. Bundy easily made contact with people, made acquaintances and gained the trust of his interlocutor. Women found him very attractive.

For more than forty young women, meeting him turned out to be fatal. They were all brutally killed...

In early 1974, in the western United States, several young women reported to the police that they had been attacked. At the same time, several women disappeared. The first victim was Seattle resident Sharon Clark, who was attacked in her bedroom while sleeping. Her head was smashed with a metal rod. She suffered skull fractures but survived and the rod was found in her room. The attack was unexpected, and its motives were unclear. Clarke couldn't even tell if the perpetrator was a man or a woman.

While the police were puzzling over this strange case, university student Linda Ann Haley, who lives in one of the neighboring houses, strangely disappeared from her rented apartment. It happened on January 31, 1974.

Over the next seven months, young women disappeared with terrifying regularity. Donna Gail Manson, a college student in Olympia, PC. Washington, March 12, 1974 went to a concert and disappeared. Susan Rancourt, a student at the University of Washington, disappeared in Ellensburg on April 17, 1974. On May 6, 1974, Roberta Kathleen Parks, an Oregon State University student living in Corvallis, disappeared. Brenda Bell was seen at a restaurant near the Seattle airport with an unknown person at 2 a.m. on June 1, 1974. Needless to say, she also disappeared? On the evening of June 11, 1974, in Washington, D.C., Georgann Hawkins broke up with her boyfriend and was never seen again.

In Lake Sammanish, Washington, on July 14, 1974, several attractive young women were approached by a dark-haired young man calling himself Ted. His hand was bandaged and he asked for help loading the sailboat into the Volkswagen. One woman agreed and went with Ted to the parking lot, but when he told her that the boat needed to be loaded at a house on the hill, she refused. Others did the same. Janice Ott, Denise Nasland and several other women were seen talking with a handsome young man with a bandaged arm, after which they disappeared. On September 7, 1974, the bodies of Janice Ott, Denise Nasland and one unidentified woman were discovered near the lake by two hunters.

The police began a large-scale investigation and soon a woman was found in Ellensburg who reported that a young man with a bandaged arm had tried to meet her on the very night that Susan Rancourt disappeared. A Seattle resident recalled a young man with a bandaged arm in a Volkswagen who asked her to help load the boat, and when she refused, he shrugged and got into the car, holding the steering wheel with both hands. Another woman reported that a man with a bandaged hand came out onto the sidewalk, trying to block her path and invited her into a Volkswagen, but she managed to get away from him.

During the investigation, the remains of two more young women were found. The body (or rather, what was left of it) of one of them was discovered on the border between the states of Washington and Oregon, and remained unidentified. Another, found on the northern outskirts of Washington, has been identified. It was Carol Walenzela from Vancouver who disappeared several months ago.

The police by that time had several suspects.

One of the suspects was a young man - Warren Forrest, a park employee identified by the woman he was trying to kill. In a deserted part of the park, he tied her up, taped her mouth, stripped her naked, and pierced her chest with a metal rod. Forrest raped her, then strangled her and left her, thinking she was dead. The woman, however, survived and later identified the perpetrator.

Another suspect was previously convicted Gary Taylor, who was accused of kidnapping women in Seattle.

In addition, a woman who did not identify herself called the police and said that the man who killed young women in Seattle was Ted Bundy.

Women continued to disappear. On October 2, Nancy Wilcox disappeared. On October 13, Melissa Smith, the daughter of the local police chief, disappeared in Midvale, Utah. Her body was found on October 27 in the mountains east of Saltlake City. In Orem, Utah, Laura Aimee disappeared on October 31st.

On November 8th, at a store in Saltlake City, a young man claiming to be a police officer approached Carol Daronch and asked for her car license plate number, explaining that someone had tried to steal it. Carol walked out of the store with him and made sure that everything was in order with the car. However, the "detective" convinced her to accompany him to the police station to examine the suspect. She got into his Volkswagen. When they were on a quiet street, the impostor stopped the car and, taking out handcuffs, quickly fastened one end to Daronch's wrist. Carol screamed. The criminal put something to her head and demanded that she shut up. Daronch, however, managed to open the door and jumped out of the car. The criminal rushed after her with a tire iron in his hands. He tried to hit her on the head, but the girl managed to dodge. She saw a car approaching and jumped out onto the road. The driver stopped the car and thereby saved her life...

The impudence knew no bounds. Even after failure, knowing that he could now be identified, he tried to kidnap a young teacher French high school, but she refused to go with him. A little later, Debbie Kent, who went to the skating rink to meet her brother, disappeared. Seattle detectives gave Saltlake City police the name of Ted Bundy, who by this time had become suspect number one. However, Carol Daronch, when shown a photograph of Bundy, stated that this was not the man who tried to kidnap her.

Soon, Laura Aimee's body was discovered in the canyon.

The killings continue

Murders didn't stop. On January 12, 1975, Dr. Raymond Gadowsky contacted police in Snowmass Village, Colorado, to report the disappearance of his fiancée, Caryn Campbell. Her remains were found on February 17. She was raped and her head was smashed. In the resort town of Vail, Colorado, Julich Cunningham disappeared on March 15.

A little later, the remains of Susan Rancourt and Brenda Bell were found on Mount Taylor, Washington.

On April 15, Melanie Cooley disappeared in Nederland, Colorado. Her body was found on April 23, a dozen miles from home. Unlike the other victims, she was dressed, but her trousers were pulled down to her knees, confirming that this time the attack was aimed at raping the victim. Her head was smashed by a stone found nearby.

On July 1, Shelley Robertson disappeared in Golden, Colorado. Three days later, Nancy Barid, a gas station attendant in Golden, disappeared from her workplace. On August 23, Shelley Robertson's body was found in a mine in Berthoud Pass, Colorado.

On August 16, 1975, Ted Bundy was arrested by a patrol cop in Saltlake City. However, nothing was found either on him or in the room he rented in Saltlake City that could prove his involvement in a series of murders. The search revealed only a pile of maps and brochures of the state of Colorado. Bundy explained that he was a psychology student living in Seattle.

Forensics found hair in Bundy's car that was identified as Melissa Smith's. There was also a witness who claimed to have seen Bundy in Snowmass Village on the day Karin Campbell disappeared.

Bundy was accused of murder and booked into the Aspen, Colorado jail to appear in court soon. His influence on those around him was amazing. He was so endearing that he was able to literally charm not only his jailers, but also his accusers, willingly cooperating with them. He came across as an intelligent young man who could be anything but a sexual killer. Everyone around him was very polite to him, he was fed on a special diet.

He was even allowed to appear in court without handcuffs. Bundy refused a lawyer and said he would defend himself. He was provided with all the law books he required. Witnesses, however, claimed that Bundy was a habitual liar who would do anything to achieve his goal. Carol Daronch, who did not recognize Bundy from the photo, saw him and immediately pointed to him as the man who attacked her. While the court hearings were going on, Bundy was allowed to visit the library in Aspen. While under guard, Bundy managed to open the library window and escape. He was captured eight days later in an abandoned shack on Smugler Mountain and was returned to Aspen, where he was now held under heavy guard.

Bundy claimed that he was a victim of circumstances, that he happened to end up in the same places where women disappeared and that there were many young people like him. Turning out to be experienced in jurisprudence, he delayed various investigative actions under various pretexts. He was biding his time and preparing to escape. Somehow Bundy received a saw, which he used to saw through the bars of the grill and escaped on December 30, 1977. He headed to Chicago, then to Ann Arbor, Michigan, from there to Atlanta and finally stopped in Tallahassee, Florida, where, under the name Chris Hagen, he rented an apartment next door to the Florida State University dormitory.

On the night of January 15, 1978, Ted Bundy burst into Nita Neri's dorm room and hit her in the head with a club. Nita's roommate, Katie Kleiner, was also attacked. In another room, police found two students, Liz Levy and Margaret Bowman. Both girls were raped. Bowman was dead, the rapist had strangled her with pantyhose. Liz Levy received severe injuries head and died on the way to the hospital. Just hours later, student Cheryl Thomas was attacked in another residence hall and left with serious injuries, but she survived.

Arrest of a maniac

The police began searching killers . However, the descriptions of the perpetrator were so vague that the police were unable to find anyone who matched the descriptions. On February 9, 1979, 12-year-old Kimberly Leach walked out of her Jacksonville school and disappeared. A few days later, Bundy stole an orange Volkswagen and was detained in Pensacola by a police officer who identified the vehicle as stolen from the license plates. Bundy tried to escape, but after a warning shot, he stopped. He identified himself as Chris Hagen and was arrested on charges of stealing a car and credit cards. Soon his identity was established. Detectives tried to link Bundy-Hagen to series of murders in Tallahassee. The tortured body of Kimberly Leach was discovered. The girl was raped and strangled.

Bundy still denied any involvement in murders. The police could not prove his guilt.

On April 27, 1979, Bundy was brought in for questioning. When he realized that the police were going to take a wax imprint of his teeth, Bundy resisted violently. Half a dozen people struggled with it and opened its mouth to take a print. Bundy knew what it was for. The imprint of his teeth turned out to be absolutely identical to the bite marks found on the buttocks of the murdered woman, Lisa Levy. This became the only evidence in the hands of the investigation.

Accused of murder Levy and Bowman, Bundy stood trial in Miami. He again refused a lawyer and defended himself. He smiled at the jury and bowed affably to the judge. He again proved himself to be an outstanding lawyer, familiar with the various intricacies of litigation. Bundy endeared himself to the jury; they did not believe that the defendant had committed such brutal crimes. He would never have been convicted. When the prosecutor told the jury about the murders Bundy committed in different cities USA, he ironically remarked: “Sometimes I feel like a vampire.” Only the testimony of a dental expert, who compared Bundy's teeth imprint on wax with bite marks on Liz Levy's body, tipped the scales in favor of the prosecution and convinced the jury of Bundy's guilt.

Judge Edward D. Cowart Bundy was sentenced to death . The judge expressed regret that Bundy "took the path of crime." He told the condemned man: “If you were not a complete man, I would like to see you as a practicing lawyer.”

For a decade, this vile murderer delayed the execution of the sentence, filing endless appeals, skillfully addressing the press and citing excerpts from various publications in his statements. When all means had been tried, Bundy, hoping for a pardon, began detailed description everyone murders which he did. On January 24, 1989, Bundy was finally taken out of his cell and led to his execution. His last words were: "Send my love to my family and friends." He was placed in an electric chair and electrodes were attached.

Witnesses to his death then described his condition. " Bundy I was very scared. He couldn't move, but his eyes were spinning rapidly. He was very pale and scared."

At 7:07 a.m., 2,000 volts shot through his body and four minutes later he was pronounced dead.

Outside the prison walls, a huge crowd roared with delight at this news. One Florida representative, hoarse from shouting, told a reporter: “I've waited eleven years to finally find out that the bastard got fried...”

Dear girls! If suddenly a nice, tall, imposing young man with a friendly smile and sad eyes meets you, do not rush to open your heart to him. And don’t let the Hollywood appearance of a promising suitor captivate you—there’s a lot in history confirmed facts, when a wolf turns out to be in sheep's clothing, and sometimes a real werewolf!

One of the brightest examples may serve as a biography of the American “werewolf” - the most prominent American psychopath, rapist and murderer Theodore Robert Bundy. Needless to say, the prototype brutal killer It was Ted who served as Hannibal Lector in the blockbuster movie “The Silence of the Lambs.”

I have to admit that it's seductive American Psycho significantly inferior in lethal efficiency to the famous Chikatilo (53 victims) or his gloomy imitator Tkach (80 alleged victims). Officially, he confessed to 30 murders, but the real number of victims remains unknown and could reach 100. He surpassed many maniacs in the manner of carrying out his crimes, in the masterly lure of the victim.

Coroners examining the scene of the “performance” of the ruthless “maestro” initially began to doubt that the victim died at the hands of a human being. The victims were found disembowelled, decapitated, and beaten to death.

He kidnapped some and raped them repeatedly before killing them, and mutilated others. Probably, many girls even began to dream of death, considering it as the only option to escape from the clutches of a predator. However, this was not the case - even after dying, the victim continued to give “pleasure” to his tormentor. Numerous evidence of necrophilia and cannibalism complement the psychological portrait of the killer. During the interrogations that followed the arrest, Ted confessed how he “looked after” the lifeless bodies of the murdered girls - he washed their hair with shampoo, applied makeup, and put stockings and underwear on the cooled corpses. Criminal psychologists believe that this is how the psychopath tried to throw out unspent care, love and affection.

The geography of the murders of the sexual maniac covered the entire western United States - very young students and young women disappeared in the states of Oregon and Washington (1974), Utah and Colorado (1975). Sometimes girls were kidnapped two or three a day - on July 14, 1974, from a park beach in Isaquah, east of Seattle, Ted lured first twenty-three-year-old blonde lawyer Janice Ott to his place for “warm meetings”, and then a couple of hours later brought Denis there Nasland. By that time, the previous victim was still breathing, but Bundy corrected the situation by killing one girl in front of the other.

Numerous witnesses have repeatedly reported to the police that they observed the disappeared women in the company of a young handsome guy with a strong build, either with a bandaged arm or on crutches, who asked to help him load either a suitcase or a stack of books into a Volkswagen Beetle. The responsive victims were then never seen alive again. By the way, the killer sold the infamous car to some teenager in 1975.

Later, the police confiscated this car, adding it to the case, and specialists from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, having dismantled the crew piece by piece, found a lot of evidence in it - the hair of several victims who disappeared at different times.

Judging by how easily Ted Bundy gained the trust of his victims, who often mistook his dubious offers of privacy for flirting, the pretty ripper of women’s hearts should not have had any problems with the female sex. Why did the certified psychologist and failed lawyer so dislike the representatives of the fair half of humanity?

Child of adversity

Fate played a cruel joke on Ted from birth - he turned out to be an unwanted child in a decent and wealthy family, where a “knocked up” single mother was forced to secretly give birth to a child, fearing publicity, in a special shelter. Theodore Robert Cowel (that was his name from the very beginning) was published in November 1946 in Burlington, Vermont. The identity of Father Theodore has not yet been established for certain. The boy was taken in by his grandparents, passing him off as their own child. His real mother, Eleanor Louise Cowell, was present in the boy’s life as his “older sister.” She once admitted that the father of the child was a certain sailor, but evil tongues claimed that Louise became pregnant from her own father.

In any case, the truth about family ties was revealed to Theodore only when he turned 23. According to psychiatrists, who compiled a psychological cast of the killer’s personality based on his interrogations and conversations, the revealed truth caused young man deep trauma and he harbored a grudge against his relatives who had deceived him all these years.

Not without heart trauma - in 1967, Theodore falls in love with a dazzling blonde named Stephanie Brooks. Status girl from high society she was very smart, but demanding of her gentleman. The future serial killer did his best to match his chosen one, but it was all to no avail - Brooks left Theodore, saying that he had no prospects and no ambition. It is not at all surprising that many subsequent victims of a psychopath will be similar to the wayward blonde both in appearance and in their clothing style.
According to Bundy himself, the murderous handsome man began his series of “amorous” adventures with a sad ending for his passions in 1969, taking the lives of two women in Atlantic City. In 1975, Bundy was first arrested on suspicion of murder.

But there is only enough evidence to charge him with kidnapping and assault a year earlier on eighteen-year-old Carol DaRonch. Then, in November 1974, Ted, posing as a policeman, managed to lure a young fool into his Volkswagen and tried to take the victim into the forest. However, the young lady turned out to be unusually well prepared physically - even being handcuffed, she managed to give such a rebuff to the scoundrel that he, having dropped from his hands the crowbar with which he was going to break the unfortunate woman’s head, remained resting on the asphalt, having received a powerful blow to the balls!

One can only be surprised that on the same evening the killer was still able to realize his vile plan by stealing and killing another unfortunate woman - a high school student at Viewmont School, which is located a 20-minute drive from the scene of the attack on Carol.

Insolent with impunity and reveling in the murders, Bundy attacked a women's dormitory, where he took the lives of four girls in different rooms, so that no one heard anything.

His last crime was the murder of his youngest victim, 12-year-old Kimberly Diane Lynch. Her mummified remains were found on a pig farm and they were able to remove fragments of fibers from Bundy's jacket.

Nothing human is alien to him

It is noteworthy that all the time that the “American psychopath” was conducting his “working” activities, he did not stop having a whirlwind romance with his constant girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer, who even contacted the police, suspecting her lover of numerous disappearances of young women in the area. For example, he burned the head of one of the victims in her fireplace.

However, the villain committed himself to a marital oath only while he was already in custody - during numerous interrogations, having made an unexpected proposal to his former colleague from the Washington Department of Emergency Services, where the killer worked as a staff psychologist.

Surprisingly, Carol Ann Boone, twice divorced with two children, accepts a marriage proposal from a brutal killer and even gives birth to his daughter! A heartless killer sentenced to death four times becomes a happy father!

About ten years passed before the authorities carried out the sentence. But during this time he managed to give many interviews and began correspondence with criminal psychologists and psychotherapists. whom he considered colleagues and generally became a star.

Ted Bundy got what he deserved only on January 24, 1989, he finally got what he deserved - he was executed in the electric chair.

On November 24, 1946, nineteen-year-old Louise Cowell gave birth to a son. Theodore Robert Bundy. This happened in Vermont, in the city of Birlington. There were absolutely no housing amenities - the family huddled in a squalid apartment. At some point, the young mother decided to radically change her life and settled with her son in Seattle. There she met Robert Bundy. Soon the couple legalized their relationship. Joni adopted little Tedy and they formed a wonderful relationship. Theodore grew up like an ordinary American teenager. No one teased or mocked him.

Having completed his secondary education, Theodore becomes a student at Seattle University, but soon transfers to the city of Washington to take a law course. Studying continues until 1967. Next, he attends a Chinese language course at Stanford. Theodore attends classes for less than two years, and then, for no reason at all, he graduates and heads to Philadelphia.

In the capital of Pennsylvania, Bundy is again studying law, and in addition taking a course in psychology. Many said that he achieved excellent results in this direction. In the early seventies, Teddy returns to the northwestern United States. It was there that he began his work at a center that helps in the rehabilitation of victims of violence. Later, the colleagues with whom he worked noted his competence and positive qualities. They said Bundy could be relied upon.

A small retreat: later, when the investigation is underway, his girlfriends will say that Teddy was a devotee of sadomasochistic games in bed. The maniac himself claimed that these games awakened his killer instincts.

During a tour of America, Bundy realized that if an individual broke the law, it would not be difficult for him to disappear in the vastness of the great country.

It has already been said that this man seemed completely prosperous and reliable. In addition, he was smart and charming, which undoubtedly helped him plan and carry out crimes. Acting was also familiar to Theodore.

When Teddy was twenty-eight years old, Linda Ann Hilley was discovered. The girl was found by a student who lived next door to her in the dormitory. There was blood all over the pillow and bed. Linda was only twenty-one years old. A month and a half passed and a new victim named Dina Manson was discovered. Following her, Susan Record disappeared. She was eighteen years old at that time. The girl came out educational institution after finishing classes and went to watch a movie. No one saw her again. Then Roberta Parke disappeared, followed by Georgina Hawkins. All these disappearances occurred in just two weeks. Of course, all the victims were killed. The seventh victim was Janice Orr. In mid-July, the girl was sunbathing when she was approached by a young man whose arm was in a bandage. Of course, the girl agreed to help. There is no need to talk about her further disappearance. On the same day, another girl, whose name was Denis Nesland, also disappeared. Only two months later they were found. It was established that both were subjected to severe violence. It was subsequently established that the young man tried to meet no less than ten women. He introduced himself to everyone as Ted.

At the end of August 1974 Theodore Bundy moves to Utah, where he gets a job at a law school in Salt Lake City. As you probably already guessed, girls soon start disappearing across the state. They are subsequently found murdered.

The list of murders in the new state was opened by Melissa Smith, who was raped and killed on October 18th. Lyra Emm was subsequently brutally beaten and strangled (October 31). Debra Kent also failed to escape. Moreover, both girls died on the same day. Carol Smith was lucky - she managed to escape the hands of the maniac who dragged her into the car. He was wearing a police uniform.

The next murders by a maniac were committed in Colorado. The gunman said that in the first four months of 1975 he killed four women in this state. It is worth noting that law enforcement agencies negligently reacted to the statements of Bundy's fiancée, who said that her fiancé might be a criminal.

Soon, Theodore Bundy was nevertheless detained. He was accused of kidnapping and murder. Everything could have ended there, but the criminal was soon released. This is where his ability to transform came in handy. While committing crimes, Buddy wore makeup. None of the surviving victims recognized him. On February 23, the verdict was read to the criminal, which stated that Theodore Bundy was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. However, before the sentence was carried out, the prisoner was taken to a Colorado prison. In the state of Colorado they wanted to try him for the murder of Carolyn Campbell. They wanted to add another one to a criminal who already had a sentence. Bundy was practically “outed.” But even in this case, he was able to avoid a long sentence. Theodore received from the prison administration the right to visit the library, from which he subsequently escaped to freedom. It was December 30, 1975. The inattention of prison staff was very costly.

Bundy naturally understood that he had nothing more to lose and now had no chance of salvation. Nevertheless, for a long time he hid from the hands of justice. Now the criminal had nothing to lose, and he began to act even more boldly and harshly. The fifteenth of January 1977 was a truly “productive” day for him. In Tallahassee, he enters the dormitory where the students lived. Barney goes from room to room, stuns the students with a heavy club, rapes them, and finally kills them. Two students died that day, and two more managed to escape from his hands. Although they were maimed and bitten, they still remained alive.

February 9, 1976 Theodore Bundy commits a brutal murder. He killed ten-year-old schoolgirl Kimberly Leach. Then her bitten, mutilated body was thrown to the pigs. This happened in Florida in Lake City.

It can't last forever, and literally next week after that terrible murder A patrol policeman from the city of Pensacola named David Lee detained the maniac. He was immediately charged with the murders. On July 31, 1979, the death penalty was read to the criminal. A short period later, he was sentenced to death for the second time for the murder of Kimberly Leach. The sentence against Theodore Bundy was carried out only nine years later. On the twenty-fourth of January 1989, at just after eight in the morning, Theodore Robert Bundy received his well-deserved punishment. In the electric chair in Gainesville Prison, his heart stopped beating.

(the prototype of Hannibal Lector in the film "Silence of the Lambs")

In the surviving photos and videos, he appears as a smiling and confident handsome guy. However, this is one of the worst serial killers ever to operate in the United States. In the 1970s, he kidnapped, raped and tortured more than 30 young women and even one 12-year-old girl. Arrested in Florida in 1978, this necrophiliac pervert was brought to trial.

Theodore Robert Bundy was born in November 1946 in Birlington, a small town in Vermont, in the northeastern United States. His life began with a big lie, which may have turned his whole life upside down. His mother, Eleanor Corwell, gave birth in a shelter for “unmarried women.” The fact that she was pregnant was carefully hidden from everyone. Her parents wanted to avoid scandal at all costs. After little Teddy was born, the mother returned to her old life, and Eleanor’s father and mother were announced as the baby’s parents. Bundy himself believed for many years that his mother was his older sister.

At the age of 20, he fell in love with the beautiful Stephanie Brooks, a long-haired blonde. She was from a good family, from high society, so to speak, and Ted had the chance to climb the social ladder, which he had so dreamed of. He tries to impress her, shamelessly lies about everything, wanting to make himself look better than he really is. But Stephanie is not as stupid as Bundy thinks, and about a year after they met, she cuts off all contact with him. This is the second time he feels humiliated and betrayed by a woman. Now he hates them all, and in each of his future victims he sees his mother and the girlfriend who abandoned him, whom he dreams of destroying. Later, psychiatrists will notice that all of Bundy's victims will be very similar in appearance to Stephanie Brooks - the girl who made him suffer so much.

From this time on, his “career” as a serial killer began. To gain the trust of his victims, he uses the techniques of the famous swindler Frank Abagnale *, which were perfectly shown in the film “Catch Me If You Can”: he seems to put his charm and good looks on public display, they say, admire, I am for you are open. But it's not just charm that Bundy uses. Without hesitation, he uses another technique in his practice - pity. He appears before his victims either with a supposedly broken arm or with a crutch, which he has to use because he “had an accident”**. He is rarely refused help. Sometimes he introduces himself as a police officer, medical worker, or firefighter. He knows how to inspire confidence in himself - young women follow him without any fear. And away from prying eyes, Bundy does not spare all these unfortunate people and kills them with particular cruelty. It comes to the point that he cuts off the heads of four women and keeps them as trophies in his apartment. Investigators and experts also noted numerous cases of necrophilia that Bundy carried out with the corpses of his victims.