A Case Study on Serial Killer Ted Bundy
Theodore Robert Bundy was responsible for the murders of at least thirty women during his lifetime. Bundy was executed by electric chair on January 24, 1989 at Florida State Prison. Ted Bundy grew up in an average American home and did very well in school. He was considered a good student who was active at his church, and was a boy scout. Traits that most would never associate with a psychopathic serial killer. Bundy’s mother Eleanor Louse Cowell was a typical mother who had some past secrets she kept from Ted. For example, his birth certificate lists his father as a “Lloyd Marshall, but Bundy’s family did not believe this story. Many of her family members voiced suspicion toward Louise’s violent father, Samuel Cowell that Lloyd Marshall was not the father. Another tragic secret that Ted’s mother kept was that while growing up Bundy did not know that Louise was his mother. He was told growing up that Louise was his older sister.
Later it was believed he learned the truth that Louise was his mother not his sister sometime in his high school years. A few years before he learned of who his mother was Ted’s mother married a man named Johnny Bundy. Shortly after the marriage Johnny tried to bond with his step-son, but Ted remained emotionally detached from him. Tragically, Bundy struggled with an addiction to pornography and violence in his childhood. However, it is believe that Bundy’s actions likely coincided with his mental condition more than his addiction. Many have argued that his mental condition was partly brought on by the fact he learned who his real mother was and that he never really recovered from the shock of learning that who he thought was his sister was in fact his own mother.
Ted fell in love with his girlfriend and tried hard to impress her to the point of grossly exaggerating his own accomplishments. He tried to gain her approval with a summer scholarship to Stamford, but the result was less than impressive. By 1968 she decided Bundy lacked any real future and was not husband material. She ended the relationship and broke Bundy’s heart and his obsession toward her haunted him for years.
Shortly after his traumatic love experience some of the traits demonstrated by Bundy included a lack of emotional attachment to his step-father. Also Bundy stopped developing socially in high school, he was quoted saying, “I don’t know what made things tick.” He also said that he did not know what made people attracted to one another. Many question whether Ted Bundy was a psychopath. A psychopath is a mental disorder with symptoms such as immoral behavior, antisocial behavior, and lack of the ability to love, unable to establish meaningful relationships, extreme self-centeredness and failure to learn from experience.
After the murders Bundy admitted to a lack of guilt on his part. He said that “guilt doesn’t solve anything”. He also said, “I guess I am in the enviable position of not having to deal with guilt.” Which is one of the most common psychological diagnoses of Bundy is Antisocial Personality Disorder. People with this disorder tend to disregard rights and boundaries of others. Something that was clearly apart of Bundy’s personality. Bundy at first was a peeping tom. He would often late at night sneak outside young girls houses and watch them from through their windows. Eventually he started to sneak in their homes and attack them. After a while he started to murder the girls he was stalking.
Bundy was extradited from the Utah prison to Colorado for the trial. Serving as his own lawyer allowed him to appear in court without leg irons, plus it gave him an opportunity to move freely from the courtroom to the law library inside the courthouse. In an interview, while in the role as his own attorney, Bundy said,
“More than ever, I am convinced of my own innocence.”
In June 1977 during a pre-trial hearing he escaped by jumping out of the law library window. He was captured a week later. On December 30 Bundy escaped again from prison and made his way to Tallahassee, Florida where he rented an apartment near Florida
State University under the name Chris Hagen. College life was something Bundy was familiar with and one he enjoyed. He managed to buy food and pay his way at local college bars with stolen credit cards. It was just a matter of time before the monster inside Bundy would resurface.
The symptoms of this disorder include the ability to act witty and charming. The person will have flattery skills and the ability to manipulate others. Often they repeatedly break the law and have a disregard for the safety of self and others. In many cases they have problems with substance abuse such as alcohol. They often have a habit of lying and stealing, and later have a lack of guilt or remorse. Lastly, people who suffer from this disorder often are arrogant and have strong anger issues.
On Saturday, January 14, Bundy broke into Florida State University’s Chi Omega sorority house and bludgeoned and strangled to death two women, raping one of them and brutally biting her on her buttocks and one nipple. He beat two others over the head with a log. They survived which investigators attribute to fellow roommate Nita Neary, who came home and interrupted Bundy before he was able to kill the other two victims. Nita Neary came home around 3 a.m. and noticed the front door to the house was ajar. As she entered she heard hurried footsteps above going toward the stairway. She hid in a doorway and watched as a man wearing a blue cap and carrying a log left the house. Upstairs she found her roommates. Two were dead, two others severely wounded. That same night another woman was attacked and the police found a mask on her floor identical to one found later in Bundy’s car
It is clear to many that Ted Bundy indeed suffered from Antisocial Personality Disorder. Many will argue that he also suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Ted Bundy before his execution made comments that proved he was indeed suffering from Antisocial Personality Disorder. For example he stated:
“There are lots of other kids playing in streets around this country today who are going to be dead tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day and month, because other young people are reading the kinds of things and seeing the kinds of things that are available in the media today.”
“You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!”
“Sometimes I feel like a vampire.”
Many will argue that it was clear that Ted Bundy indeed suffered from this mental condition, however it is debatable on what exactly brought on his illness. Some will argue that his addiction to porn and violent media help him to develop the illness while others will claim that his personality regardless of addictions would have been the same and the he was programed to be who he was.
When Ted was asked why he murdered he often stated it was about possession. He was fascinated by having the control over the women he murdered. For him this was not an act of passion but an act of control over others. He was in essence addicted to murdering young girls and controlling their last moments of life.
One of the reason that Ted was so difficult to capture was that he was studying how the police would investigate him. He was also very good at changing his appearance. The only reason he was originally arrested was because he was arrested for suspicion of beggarly. After a deeper investigation he was found to have killed someone in another state and was sent to prison for 15 years. However, he escaped prison one New Year’s eve. After his escape he immediately started killing again. He changed his appearance and moved to Florida and stared murdering girls on campus. His very last murder was the murder of a 12 year old girl who he assaulted and then murdered.
Once he was arrested he represented himself in court. After months of trial he was found guilty and sentenced to death. For nine years he filed motions to delay his death, however in 1989 his luck ran out and he was executed by electric chair on January 24, 1989. Up until his last day Ted Bundy thought he could beat the system and avoid his death.
He was attractive, smart, and had a future in politics. He was also one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history. Ted Bundy screamed his innocence until his death in the electric chair became imminent, then he tried to use his victims one more time to keep himself alive. His plan failed and the world got a glimpse of the true evil inside him.
Throughout his years in high school and college, Bundy suffered from acute shyness that resulted in his appearing socially awkward. He rarely dated and kept to himself. But in 1967 Bundy met the woman of his dreams. She was pretty, wealthy, and sophisticated. They both shared a skill and passion for skiing and spent many weekends on the ski slopes.
Bundy went on trial in Florida on June 25, 1979 for the murders of the sorority women. The trial was televised and Bundy played up to the media when on occasion he acted as his own attorney. Bundy was found guilty on both murder charges and given two death sentences by means of the electric chair
. On January 7, 1980, Bundy went on trial for killing Kimberly Leach. This time he allowed his attorney’s to represent him. They decided on an insanity plea, the only defense possible with the amount of evidence the state had against him. Bundy’s behavior was much different during this trial than the previous one. He displayed fits of anger, slouched in his chair, and his collegiate look was sometimes replaced with a haunting glare. Bundy was found guilty and received a third death sentence.
During the sentencing phase, Bundy surprised everyone by calling Carol Boone as a character witness and marrying her while she was on the witness stand. Boone was convinced of
Bundy’s innocence. She later gave birth to Bundy’s child, a little girl who Bundy adored. In time Boone divorced Bundy after realizing he was guilty of the horrific crimes.
Bundy, still thinking he could beat a guilty verdict, turned down a plea bargain whereby he would plead guilty to killing the two sorority women and Kimberly LaFouche in exchange for three 25 year sentences Bundy was forced by court order to give a dental impression. Forensic dentist Richard Souviron declared the outline of Bundy’s front teeth, which were chipped and misaligned, an exact match to the pattern on the transparent overlay. This proved to be a major piece of evidence for the prosecution
Bundy went on trial in Florida on June 25, 1979 for the murders of the sorority women. The trial was televised and Bundy played up to the media when on occasion he acted as his own attorney. Bundy was found guilty on both murder charges and given two death sentences by means of the electric chair. On January 7, 1980, Bundy went on trial for killing Kimberly Leach. This time he allowed his attorney’s to represent him. They decided on an insanity plea, the only defense possible with the amount of evidence the state had against him.
Bundy’s behavior was much different during this trial than the previous one. He displayed fits of anger, slouched in his chair, and his collegiate look was sometimes replaced with a haunting glare. Bundy was found guilty and received a third death sentence. During the sentencing phase, Bundy surprised everyone by calling Carol Boone as a character witness and marrying her while she was on the witness stand.
Boone was convinced of Bundy’s innocence. She later gave birth to Bundy’s child, a little girl who Bundy adored. In time Boone divorced Bundy after realizing he was guilty of the horrific crimes.
After endless appeals Bundy’s last stay of execution was on January 17, 1989. Prior to being put to death Bundy gave the details of more than fifty women he had murdered to Washington State Attorney General’s chief investigator, Dr. Bob Keppel. He also confessed to keeping the heads of some of his victims at his home plus to engaging in necrophilia. In his final interview he blamed his exposure to pornography at an impressionable age as being the stimulant behind his murderous obsessions. Many directly involved with Bundy believed he murdered at least 100 women
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