Ted Bundy was born November 24, 1946, in Burlington, Vermont. In the 1970s, he raped and murdered young women in several states. He was connected to at least 36 murders, but some thought he had committed one hundred or more. He was executed in Florida's electric chair in 1989. His charm and intelligence made him something of a celebrity during his trial, and his case inspired many novels and films about serial killers. On November 7, 1974, Carol DeRonch, 18, was in a Utah Shopping Mall when she was approached by Bundy, who told her that someone had been trying to break into her automobile. She thought that he was a police officer and Bundy later showed her a badge. Bundy asked her to accompany him to the car to see if anything was missing. Upon reaching the car the girl looked in and determined nothing was missing. He eventually asked her if she could go to the station to make a complaint. Bundy drove her in his Volkswagon, and pulled over on the way and forcibly placed a pair of handcuffs on her wrist. She screamed and fought her way outside the vehicle and eventually got away. Nine months later, Bundy was arrested fleeing police and handcuffs were found in his car. Bundy was convicted of Aggravated Kidnapping after waiving a jury trial and received a 1-15 year sentence. He escaped while in custody but was recaptured 6 days later. He escaped a second time and fled to Tallahassee, Florida, staying at a rooming house near the Florida State University Campus. During the early morning hours of Sunday, January 15, 1978, Bundy entered the Chi Omega sorority house and brutally attacked four women residing there. Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy were killed, and Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler sustained serious injuries. Within approximately an hour of the attacks in the Chi Omega house, Bundy entered another home nearby and attacked a woman residing there, Cheryl Thomas. All five women were university students. All were bludgeoned repeatedly with a blunt weapon. Bundy was identified by a resident returning home to the Sorority House, just as he was leaving with a club in his hand. Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman were killed by strangulation after receiving severe beatings with a length of a tree branch used as a club. Margaret Bowman's skull was crushed and literally laid open. The attacker also bit Lisa Levy with sufficient intensity to be identified as human bite marks. Bundy was arrested a month later in Pensacola. Of critical importance was the testimony of two forensic dental experts who testified concerning analysis of the bite mark left on the body of Lisa Levy. The experts both expressed to the jury their opinion that the indentations on the victim's body were left by the unique teeth of Bundy. Bundy was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder, and two counts of burglary. For the two crimes of first-degree murder the trial judge imposed sentences of death. On February 9, 1978, Kimberly Leach, age 12, was reported missing from her junior high school in Lake City, Florida. Two months later, after a large scale search, the Leach girl's partially decomposed body was located in a wooded area near the Suwanee River. There were semen stains in the crotch of her panties found near the body. Two Lake City Holiday Inn employees and a handwriting expert established that Bundy had registered at the Lake City Holiday Inn the day before her disappearance under another name. A school crossing guard at the junior high school identified Bundy as leading a young girl to a van on the morning of the disappearance. Bundy was again convicted of murder and sentenced to death. This death sentence to be carried out a decade later.

• published: 24 Mar 2016
• views: 22841