Theodore “Ted” Bundy Essay, Research Paper

Theodore “Ted” Bundy was something of a celebrity throughout the 70’s and 80’s. He

allegedly killed 36 women, but by his own admission, there were at least 100 more

unaccounted for. His trial was marked by alot of pomp and arrogance on his own part,

and the media and public ate it up. He went out with a bang in 1989, when he was at long

last, executed by electrocution. Below is the list of women he murdered. Katherine

Merry Divine, 15. Disappeared: Nov 25, 1973, from Seattle Wa. Found: Dec.6, 1973, in

McKenny Park, Wa. A couple found her body laying face first in the sodden forest.

Decomposition had made it hard to determine exact cause of death, but evidence

suggested she’d been sodomized, and she had been strangled. It’s possible that her throat

was also cut. Before his execution, Bundy admitted to picking up a hitchhiker in 73 and

leaving her body near Olympia [where Devine was found] but he couldn’t remember

where exactly. Joni Lenz, 18. Attacked: early January 1974 Joni had gone to sleep in her

basement room of a big house which several young people rented from. The next

afternoon, after she hadn’t appeared all morning, her housemates went to check on her

and found her lying in her bed, her hair and face matted with dried blood. She’d been

beaten with a metal rod broken from the bed frame, and when they pulled the covers

back, they were horrified to find the rod had been brutally jammed into her vagina. The

incredible thing is, this poor girl lived through the attack. It left irreparable damage to her

internal organs, and she was left with no memory of the attack. It had also left her

severely brain damaged. She was a shy, friendly girl with no enemies, and it was

determined to be a random act of savage violence. Lynda Ann Healy,21 Disappeared:

Jan 31, 1974 Seattle, Wa Found: March 3,1975 Taylor Mountain, Wa A tall, slender

beautiful girl with long dark hair and blue eyes. Upon investigation, the police pulled

back her bedcovers and found a heavily blood stained pillowcase and blood-soaked

sheets. Her nightgown was found stuffed in her closet, the neck lined crusted with dried

blood. The clothes she’d worn that day were missing. Not one trace of the attacker or her

body could be found. A year later, during a thorough investigation of what came to be

known as Bundy’s graveyard, Lynda’s skull was found, bearing the unmistakable marks of

vicious battering. Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution. Donna Gail

Manson, 19 Disappeared: Mar 12, 1974 from Evergreen State College, near Olympia

Found: Bundy claimed a part of her was found Mar 3, 1975 at Taylor Mountain, Wa In

March of 74, she was very depressed. She wasn’t reported missing for 6 days because of

her habit of taking off on whims.March 12, she’d left her room around 7 pm to walk to a

campus jazz concert. She was never seen alive again. Bundy confessed to her murder

before his execution and said her remains were part of those unidentified bones found

Mar 3, 1975 on Taylor Mountain, Wa Susan Elaine Rancourt, 19 Disappeared: April

17,1974, Central Wa. State College, Ellensburg Found: Mar 3,1975 Taylor Mountain, Wa

She never went anywhere alone. It was dark, but the campus was hopping with students.

The meeting ended at 9, and she’d planned to meet a friend to see a German film. The

friend finally went alone when Susan never showed. Susan was last seen leaving the

advisor’s meeting. On a rare occasion she took a chance and hurried into the dark alone.

And never came back. Investigators found only her skull as they excavated Taylor

Mountain, Bundy’s apparent graveyard of severed heads. It was brutally fractured.Bundy

confessed to her murder before his execution. Brenda Baker, 15 Disappeared: May 25,

1974–ran away from home in Redmond, Wa Found: June 17, 1974 in Millersylvania

Park {several miles from where Kathy Devine was found} Her badly decomposed body

was found in the park, and cause of death was impossible to determine. She’d run away

from home, and no personal info is available at this point. Roberta Kathleen Parks, 20

Disappeared: May 6, 1974, from OSU in Corvalles, Oregon Found:Mar 3, 1975 Taylor

Mountain, Wa May 4th she’d had an argument with her father on the phone, and her sister

called from Spokane on May 6th to tell her their father had suffered a massive heart

attack. Her sister called later with the good news that their father would recover. It’s

speculated that Kathy was feeling terrible guilt over the argument and the heart

attack that followed. That night, she agreed to walk to another dorm hall to have coffee

with friends. She never arrived. Her skull was exacavated with the others on Taylor

Mountain, so far away from her Oregon dorm.Bundy confessed to her murder before his

execution. Brenda Carol Ball, 22 Disappeared: May 31, 1974, Burien, Wa Found: Mar 1,

1975 in the thickly wooded Taylor Mountain Brenda stood 5 ft 3, 112 lbs, with lively

brown eyes. On the night of May 31-June 1, she’d gone to the Flame Tavern alone. She

told friends that day, she would see about getting a ride to Sun Lakes, on the eastern side

of the state, to meet them there later. She stayed at the tavern till 2 am, then asked a

musician for a ride, but he was going the other way. She was seen last in the parking lot,

talking to a man with his arm in a sling. Because she was such a free spirit, her friends

thought nothing of her absence, and didn’t become suspicious until almost 19 days after

she was last seen. March 1 of 1975, college students working on Taylor Mt, discovered

the first of several skulls on that mountian, and it proved to be that of Brenda Ball. Bundy

confessed to her murder before his execution. Georgeann Hawkins, 18 Disappeared:

June 10, 1974 UW in Seattle, Wa. Found: According to Bundy, one of her bones was

found Sept 6,1974 nearly 2 miles from Lake Sammamish State Park On June 10th, Many

students were cramming for exams that night, so Georgeann was hardly the only one

awake at 12:30 am. She visited her boyfriend, borrowed some Spanish notes, then headed

for the street. A friend called out of a window to her, and they chatted for a few minutes.

She said goodnight and walked 30 feet away before he stuck his head back in through the

window. 2 other male friends remembered seeing her cover the last 20 feet before

disappearing around the corner. She only had 40 feet to go in the brightly lit alley.

Georgeann’s roommate knew something was wrong when she didn’t arrive 2 hours later,

and she called Georgeann’s boyfriend and learned she had left his place at 1 am. She

woke the housemother, and together they waited for the girl. They called the police in the

morning, and because of the other disappearances in the area, the Seattle police took

action immediately. They later learned that a housemother had awaken to a high scream.

She’d thought it was a few of the students hoarsing around as usual, and went back to

sleep. Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution, and though he was foggy on

the details, he remembered how trusting she was. He’d asked her for help carrying his

briefcase to his car because of his fake cast, and she’d trustingly obliged. He knocked her

out, stuffed her into the car and sped away. She came to before he killed her, and in her

confused ramblings, said she had thought he’d been sent to help her with her Spanish

exam. He knocked her out again, then pulled over and strangled her. Before his execution

he claimed that part of her remains were found Sept 6,1974 nearly 2 miles from Lake

Sammamish State Park. Janice Ott, 23 Disappeared:July 14, 1974 Lake Sammamish

State park, Wa Found: Sept 6,1974 nearly 2 miles from the park A newly wed of a year

and a half, July 14th was a sad day for her. The job she’d worked so hard for had taken

her away to Washington, leaving her husband behind in his own practice in Riverside Ca.

She was missing him very much the day of her disappearance. She left a note for her

roommate and told her she’d be home by 4, then biked to the park. Witnesses later said

she got up to help a friendly man in a cast, and that was the last Janice Ott was ever seen

alive. Workers discovered some of her remains in a wooded area where other victims had

been dumped. Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution. Denise Naslund, 18

Disappeared:July 14, 1974 Lake Sammamish State park, Wa Found: Sept 6,1974 nearly 2

miles from the park Denise was studying to be a computer programmer, working part

time in an office to pay her way through night school. She and her boyfriend of 9 months

had planned a picnic that day at the park with another couple. They roasted hot dogs,

then the men fell asleep in the sun. Denise walked off to the bathrooms around 4:30 pm.

She never returned. Her friends started to worry after a while, and searched for her.

Denise had brought her dog and they hoped she was looking for the dog, but it turned up

alone. Workers discovered some of her remains in a wooded area where other victims

had been dumped {along with Janice Ott’s remains} Bundy confessed to her murder

before his execution. Melissa Smith, 17 Disappeared:Oct 18,1974 Midvale, Utah

Found:Oct 27,1974 near Summit park, in the Wasatch Mountains Melissa was the

daughter of Midvale’s police chief and was a very cautious girl. Midvale itself was a

small Mormon town, very quiet, and though her father worried about his kids and taught

them to be safety-aware, Melissa had little to fear in the tiny community. October 18th,

Melissa had plans to attend a slumber party. She ended up walking to the local pizza

parlor to console a friend who’d had a quarrel with her boyfriend. After this, she left to

pick her overnight clothes up and go to the party. She never made it home, and she never

made it to the party. The teenager who’d gone to comfort a friend in need, was found

battered and nude 9 days later, far from the small town she’d grown up in. Her head had

been severely beaten with perhaps a crowbar, and her body had been battered before

death. She had been strangled, raped and sodomized. Bundy confessed to her murder

before his execution. Laura Aime, 17 Disappeared: Oct 31,1974, Lehi, Utah Found:Nov

27,1974 in the Wasatch Mountains Laura had stood nearly 6 ft tall and weighed a mere

115 lbs, and felt very insecure of her “awkward,” bony appearance. She’d dropped out of

high school and moved in with friends while working small jobs. She was referred to as a

drifter looking for something to grasp in life. She talked to her parents daily, but wasn’t

missed until 4 days after Halloween. She had gone to a cafe on Halloween night and,

bored with the activity there, left around midnight and headed to a park. She was found a

month later on the bank of a river in the Wasatch Mountains. Her face was beaten beyond

recognition and she was found nude. She had been strangled and apparently beaten with

an iron crowbar or prybar. Like Melissa Smith, she had been sexually assaulted. She had

been drinking just enough to be intoxicated, but not so much that she couldn’t scream,

run or fight back. Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution. Carol DaRonch,

18 Attacked: Nov 8,1974, Salk Lake City, Utah It was a rainy day when 18 yr old Carol

DaRonch left home around 6:30 pm and headed towards a Murray shopping mall. While

at the mall, she ran into some cousins and visited with them for a while. Then she made a

purchase and went off to Waldens Books. As she was looking through some books, a

handsome, well dressed man approached her. He asked if she’d parked near Sears, and

she said yes. He asked for her license number and she gave it to him. He then told her

that someone had tried to break into her car, and she needed to come take a look. Young

and trusting, Carol DaRonch didn’t even wonder how he’d found her. He had an

authorititave air that made her assume he was a security guard or officer. She followed

him quietly out of the building, but felt a sudden apprehension as they headed out into the

rainy night. She asked him for some ID, and he only laughed, making her feel stupid for

bothering. They got to her car, and nothing was missing. He then told her she needed to

come to the station to see if she knew the suspect. After much hesitation, she follwed him

to a side building which he told her was a sub station, [it was the back door of a laundry

mat]. He said the suspect must have been taken to headquearters. He then co-erced her

into going to “headquarters.” It wasn’t until they were in his Volkswagon that she smelled

alcohol on his breath. When he told her to put on her seatbelt, she said no, and was ready

to jump, but he’d already driven off and was going very fast. She realized he was heading

away from the police station. Suddenly he screeched to a halt and tried to hand-cuff her,

but in the struggle, connected both cuffs to the same wrist. As they struggled, he pulled

out a small gun and threatened her with it. She fell out of the door into the sodden earth,

and got up as he came at her with a crowbar. He threw her up against the car, and in a

sheer adreneline rush brought on by utter terror, Carol DaRonch broke free from her

attacker and ran wildly to the road. An older couple came upon her just in time and took

the terrified girl to the police station. She was their first living, breathing victim. Debby

Kent, 17 Disappeared: Nov 8,1975 Bountiful, Utah Found: Never Several people who

lived near the school later admitted to hearing 2 short, terrified screams between 10:30

and 11. They described them as coming from someone in “mortal terror.” They even

walked outside and stared into the darkness, hoping to find the source. They saw nothing,

and they reported nothing. Debby’s brother waited at the rink while the crowds thinned at

the high school, leaving her irritated parents waiting til midnight. When they realized

theirs was the only car left in the parking lot, they immediately called the Bountiful

police, who were all to familiar with the recent disappearances in nearby towns. Later, a

father told police he’d arrived late at the play and saw a light colored VW bug racing

away from the school. A small hand-cuff key was found in the parking lot, one that fit the

cuffs Carol DaRonch had brought in. Nothing else was turned up. Debby Kent’s family

faced a tragic, heart broken Christmas, along with Melissa Smith’s and Laura Aime’s

families. Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution. Caryn Campbell, 23

Disappeared: Jan 12, 1976 Wildwood Inn, Aspen, Colorado Found: Feb 18, 1975 Owl

Creek Road, Aspen Colorado Caryn was a registered nurse from Farmington, Michigan.

She was engaged to a cardiologist who was 9 yrs older than her, and got along well with

his 2 children. They had gone to Aspen to combine a medical seminar with a vacation.

Later they ate dinner with friends, then returned to the inn where they were staying. They

settled in the lounge, and Caryn remembered a magazine she’d left in their room, and

went to retrieve it. After she had been gone a while, her fiancee went to find her. She

wasn’t in the room, she wasn’t anywhere to be found. He searched frantically for her and

soon brought the police into it. She’d simply vanished into thin air. He had to pack and

fly home with his children, but kept waiting for a call from Caryn, explaining why she’d

walked away from them. She never called. On February 18th, she was found in a

snowbank off of Owl Creek Rd, not far from the inn where she had been vacationing. She

lay in the bloodstained snowbank nude, battered and cut. It was highly likely that she was

raped. Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution. Julie Cunningham, 26

Disappeared: Mar 15, 1975 Vail, Colorado Found:Never Julie was considered to be a

very nice woman, and worked in a sporting good store while also working part-time as a

ski instructor. She had a depressing history with men, often falling for the wrong type,

only to hear the “it was great, I’ll call you sometime” line she’d come to know so well.

The week she disappeared, she’d had the last heartbreak of her life. She’d thought this

was the right one, and had gone to Sun Valley with him for a weekend, only to learn he’d

had no interest in a long term relationship. She wanted marriage and kids, and she was in

the wrong atmosphere for finding a lasting relationship. She returned to Vail, crying and

depressed. On March 15th, she talked to her mother for the last time on the phone, then

decided she needed a break, and left for the local tavern. She would have met her

roommate there, but Julie Cunningham never arrived. Bundy confessed to her murder

before his execution. Denise Oliverson, 25 Disappeared: Apr 6, 1975 Grand Junction,

Colorado Found: Never The pretty dark haired woman had argued badly with her

husband before she peddled off on her bike to visit her parents. Her parents hadn’t

expected her, and when she didn’t return that night, her husband assumed she was still

angry with him and had stayed at their house. He decided to give her some time to cool

off, and the next day, when he called their house, was alarmed to learn she had never

arrived there. Police searched the route she had most likely taken, and found her bike and

her sandals under a viaduct near a railroad bridge. Bundy confessed to her murder before

his execution. Melanie Cooley, 18 Disappeared: Apr 15, 1975 Nederland, Colorado

Found: Apr 23, 1975 Coal Creek Rd, Nederland, Colorado Melanie could have been

Debby Kent’s twin sister, and had walked off from her small town high school that spring

day, never to be seen alive again. County road workers found her body 20 miles away.

She had been bludgeoned on the back of the head, her hands had been tied, and a dirty

pillowcase was left twisted around her neck. No other information is available on the

victim at this moment. Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution. Shelly

Robertson, 24 July 1,1975 Golden, Colorado Found:Aug 21,1975 a mine in Berthoud

Pass, Colorado Shelly was given to hitchhiking for fun to other states, and when she

didn’t show up for work on July 1, friends and family first thought she’d gone off on a

whim again. She’d argued with her boyfriend prior to her disappearance, and no one

knew exactly what she was feeling July 1. The summer passed without a word, and they

realized with dread that the 24 yr old had not gone away on her own. They learned she

had been last seen by friends on June 30th, and on July 1, a policeman had noticed her at

a gas station with a man in a beat up old truck. August 21, her nude body was found

inside a mine by 2 mining students. Cause of death was impossible to determine because

of decomposition. Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution.