Ted Bundy: A Killer in the Archives

The Aspen Times, 1977-1978

A collection of Aspen Times clippings from 1977 and 1978.

Weekly World News, 1989

The February 21 and 28 editions of the Weekly World News tabloid, which published gruesome photos of Ted Bundy's burned corpse after his execution and autopsy.

The Feb 28 article seems a bit defensive to me... 

Bundy's Appeal Notes, December 1988

Bundy was still actively trying to appeal his case on the merits in December 1988. Here are some of his handwritten notes, attacking the veracity of Anderson's witness statement in the Leach case. It seems like he was assisting his attorneys in preparing the brief for the US Supreme Court. I've attached a final copy of that too. It would prove to be his last filing before begging for a stay of execution.

Feb 22, 1978

The final interview Ted allowed with Florida investigators Bodiford, Patchen, and Chapman. Bodiford seems to be trying to convince Ted that he could be a victim of multiple personality disorder in a last attempt to compel a confession. Bundy has completely withdrawn from his earlier, more malleable state of mind: 

"I mean, I do truly believe I’m innocent. And I sit up in my cell and I believe it. And I also believe that I can deal with, uh… the difficulties that I’ve had in t...

Dear Bob, 1984-1988

“In your letter you constantly referred to or inferred about the cases in the mid-70s. I don’t blame you. However, I made it very clear in my initial letter to the Task Force that I was in no way interested in discussing these cases. I meant it. I wasn’t playing games with you. This initiative on my part was not and is not some subtle or subconscious way of easing into a discussion about the mid-70s cases or any other cases, except Green River…”

Ted wrote to the Green River Ta...

Interview with Jim Sewell

"I went upstairs, and at that point, the only one we were sure was dead was Margaret Bowman. I went into her room to confirm, and she was indeed dead. Lisa was not pronounced yet. The EMTs made the decision to keep working on her all the way to the hospital, but we lost her...
The only way that I've been able to describe what I saw that morning is to say it looked like a shark frenzy. Blood spatter everywhere, the whole nine yards..."

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Jim Sewell was a 27-year-old sergea...

Ann Rule Interviews

A compilation of Ann Rule interviews from 1986, plus an additional appearance in a serial killer story from 1991.

Interview with Stephen Michaud

"So what would happen was, he would go into a sort of state where he seemed to be reliving whatever we were talking about. I didn't happen a lot of times because he was really resistant, but when he did, he would get a kind of far away, detached voice, and this welt would start right across the orbit of his eye. But it would not follow the cheekbone as it were. It was closer to that... I don't know if you ever saw the movie... The Exorcist. With Linda whatever her name was. But do you remembe...

Ben Masterson, 1978

"Francis, Masterton and Bundy sang together one afternoon in the hallway of The Oak. Masterton said that he and Francis were sitting in the hallway in front of room 12, singing tunes from a Beatles' songbook that Francis had bought that afternoon, "I was playing my guitar, and we were singing, when Bundy came out of his room, drinking a beer, and sat down with us. He wouldn't sing loud, but he did join in on the chorus of "I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends" and "Getting Better..." 2023-06-10 06:33:04 +0000 UTC View Post

1989 FBI Conference

The agenda for the February 1989 Bundy conference, hosted by the FBI in Quantico, Virgina. 

Jack Bowman Letters, 1979

"...I believe it has become necessary to express our feelings to you directly on a certain event regarding the trial of Theodore Bundy.

We strongly object to the press conference which Bundy was allowed to casually conduct in the courtroom last week. The man is a proven dangerous criminal and should be treated as such. A courtroom situation allowing this man the freedom to banter with members of the press is totally inappropriate...

My family believes that execution is the only ...

How did you find me?

An updated survey to sate my curiosity about how you found my Patreon. Please let me know, even if you already responded to the first poll. 

Thanks! -TJ

New Logo Poll

I'm trying out a new logo for profile image thumbnails, etc. I'm not great at Photoshop so these are the best I could come up with. (If you have graphic design experience and wanna help me out, lmk!)

Let me know in the comments which one you like best- I captioned them in order,  #1, 2, and 3.

Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman Autopsy Reports

The brutal damage done to these innocent young women's bodies.

Louise Cowell, 1942

“My mother and I, and this well may go for all the kids, didn’t talk a lot about real personal matters. I don’t resent it, but I don’t know why this is. There’s something in her background that prevents her from opening up. ‘What’s going on? What’s happening with life?’ There’s this log jam of feeling in her that she doesn’t explain. I don’t think it’s necessarily a conscious avoidance of putting into letters newsy, gossipy kinds of things. She just doesn’t even th...

Nancy Baird

Hi friends! I wanted to share that I was featured in the Cold podcast and news story out of Salt Lake City on the Nancy Perry Baird case. She's known as an "unconfirmed victim"- one who has been linked to Bundy by circumstance, but not much else. You can listen to the podcast here: 

https://thecoldpodcast.com/season-3/bonus-the-convenient-alternative/ 

and watch ...

Jenny Gadowski, 1975

(Photo is Greg, Ray, and Jenny Gadowski, 1972)

"First of all, Caryn goes, 'why don't you go get my magazine for me?' and my dad goes, 'why don't you get it, it's your magazine!' And Caryn just goes, 'ok...'

And so Caryn went back up in the elevator, and me and Greg were about to go in with her, and she said, 'just go back with your dad, I'm just going to get a magazine'..."

A Michigan State Police interview with 9-year-old Jenny Gadowski, the little girl who was in Snowmass ...

Personal Statements

"I apply to law school because my professional and community activities demand daily a knowledge of the law I do not have. Whether I am studying the behavior of criminal offenders, examining bills before the legislature, advocating court reform, or contemplating the creation of my own corporation, I immediately become conscious of my limited understanding of the law. My lifestyle requires that I obtain a knowledge of the law and the ability to practice legal skills. I intend to be my own man....

People Weekly, 1989

An article focused on the victims' families in People Weekly magazine, February 6, 1989.

UPDATED the file in much better quality.

Roxborough Review, 1989

"'My father (Samuel Cowell, whom Dr. Dorothy Lewis had described as a demented, extremely violent and frightening individual who had a lasting influence on Bundy) was a very loving man. He loved Ted very much, and was truly broken up when he and my sister (Louise) moved west to live with one of my father's brothers. He had a temper, as many of us, and at times could be feisty, but he was never violent,' she said about Cowell. 'He never even spanked his children. He was a gentle man. We had pe...

Interview 1988

"By the time Ted and I had settled in for the 1988 interviews, the Green River case was six years old and Bundy and I had become something more than pen pals. I was down here at his request because the last of his appeals was running out and his life was being measured in months, if not weeks. I believed that the topic matter of our interview in 1988 was impromptu, but it wasn’t. Ted wanted to teach me how to interview serial killers so I could master the techniques to get his own confessio...

Dr. Ron Holmes

"What Holmes is saying around the country is so patently and outrageously preposterous that anyone who knows about serial murder and/or my background will quickly identify Holmes as a charlatan... I didn't discuss my background or the allegations about me, not so much as a single case, not in the first, second, or third person, not directly or indirectly..."
--Bundy to Bob Keppel, July 6, 1987
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Dr. Ron Holmes was a psychologist and professor in criminology at the University of...

California

Ted admitted to one murder in northern California, but exactly where and when is unknown. He is often named as a potential suspect in the Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders from northern California in 1972-1973, which remain unsolved today. Examining the attached list, however, I can't find any victims who seem to fit his timeline or MO that well. 

I've attached additional lists of missing and murdered women from California, beginning in 1963. Some have since been solved (Leslie Perlov ...

Crime Lab Reports

Excerpts from Tacoma PD Det. Lindsey Wade's interview with the Washed Away podcast:

You know, Ted Bundy was a suspect in the Burr case, just based on really urban legend. I mean, there was no evidence we knew that linked him to the case. His name had always been out there since he was identified as a serial killer and somebody who grew up in the North End of Tacoma, those similarities. And so he was somebody that we knew had been associated with the case, but again, there was nothing co...

Summary of Evidence in Washington

This highly detailed King County Police document summarizes the (circumstantial) evidence tying Ted to the Washington murders. 

Bundy-Cowell Family Tree

I've posted about it before, but in case anyone hasn't seen it-- if you'd like an invitation to view my extensive ancestry.com family tree for the Bundy-Cowell clan, send me a PM with your preferred email address. You should be able to view the tree by creating a free account. 

Prison Incidents, 1979-1988

Nearly ten years' worth of records regarding Ted's prison incidents, complaints, and disciplinary reports. The file represents at least one incident for every year he was at the FSP (with the exception of 1981).

On September 14, 1979, a correctional officer saw various magazine pictures pasted on Bundy’s cell walls. The officer ordered Bundy to take them down, since having anything on the cell walls was a violation of policy. He refused, saying: "The pictures are on the wall sinc...

Bundy's Fingerprints

Taken after his arrest for kidnapping in Salt Lake. Anyone read palms?

Chi Omega Interviews, 1978

Tallahassee police interviewed the Chi Omega sisters shortly after the sorority house attack. In this tape, Helen Haynes and Valerie Duke describe their memories of that terrible night.

Employment Records, 1972-1974

A variety of records from Ted's prior jobs in Seattle. Includes the Crime Commission newsletter (which featured Ted as Assistant Director), job applications, a consultant contract, and travel vouchers. 

Notice the questions about "mental, emotional, or nervous ailments" which he checks "No" to, on May 20, 1974-- two weeks after murdering Kathy Parks.