Ted Bundy: A Killer in the Archives

Dennis and Jan

Among the many strange coincidences in the Bundy case is this one: victim Susan Rancourt's older brother Dennis attended the same high school as victim Janice Ott, and even took her to prom.  

Ted's Weekly-Minder, 1973

Ted's daily appointments for 1973, plus acquaintance contacts. 

Interestingly, he must have had this with him in jail in Colorado, as he left an enigmatic note to the FBI on May 23, 1977. That was the original target date for his first escape, which he abandoned and postponed to June 7.

Diane Edwards

A King County Police interview with Diane Edwards in 1975.

"...Ted told her he'd gotten involved with another girl and he was trying to get loose of it, but it wasn't going to work out. Ted said that the girl had had an abortion (because of him) and that she called every so often. Diane didn't know the girl's name..."

Status update

Hi all, just to let you know we had a major storm last week which knocked out power to my neighborhood, as well as hundreds of others around the city.

As of today it’s still not fixed. No power means no internet, which makes uploading anything from my laptop difficult (I’m on my phone right now using data). I’m able to charge my phone with my car thankfully.

I’m going to try to find a coffee shop with power to do some Bundy work this evening; we’ll see if I’m success...

Ted to Liz, 1978

On June 15, 1978, six weeks before his famously public indictment for the Chi Omega murders, a jailed Ted Bundy composed a bitter, melodramatic letter to his ex-girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer. The letter was then (mistakenly?) addressed and delivered to Carole Ann Boone, who was still living in Seattle at the time. Carole dutifully forwarded it on to Liz, and included a brief, facetious note:

“Dear Liz,

Enclosed is *your* letter. Either old Bun is slipping or he's playing a pran...

Letter from Dick Larsen, 1988

A friendly letter from Dick Larsen, the author of the Deliberate Stranger and writer for the Seattle Times. They had known each other in political circles prior to Ted's problems with the law. Here he seems to be proposing a Hail Mary effort to save Ted's life, about six weeks before the execution.
.
.
"I'm aware of the status of the writ petition and the probable outcome. And I'm trying hard to figure out an alternative to that death sentence implementation...

Ted, I know you...

Seattle Crime Scenes, 1978

A 1978 local news spot touring the Hawkins and Healy crime scenes, as well as Bundy's rooming house.

(reupload)

Aspen 2022

Photos from the mountains outside Aspen, where Bundy hiked and hid during his first escape in June 1977. More info in the captions, and read more about the first escape here: https://hiimted.blog/the-cbi-escape-investigation-1977/

Glenwood Springs

These crime scene photos were taken the day after Bundy's second escape, showing downtown Glenwood Springs, Colorado. I've also uploaded the photos I personally took while in Glenwood Springs last November. The bridge, railroad tracks, river, and some buildings remain the same, 45 years later.

More info in the captions.

Dear John, 1987

In 1981, a delusional John Hinckley Jr. attempted to assassinate President Reagan,  wounding the president and several members of his entourage. A Washington, D.C. jury found Hinckley not guilty by reason of insanity and sentenced him to residential treatment. Five years later, the failed assassin applied for a major privilege-- an Easter holiday home visit. Government prosecutors were vehemently opposed to the idea, and in April 1987 a D.C. District Court judge granted arguments from bo...

A Normal, Active Boy

Louise Bundy interviewed in her home, October 1975, shortly after Ted's arrest for kidnapping in Utah.

"We still don't believe it. It just can't be. I keep shaking my head day after day, saying how can this be? Our son is the best son in the world. A very normal, active boy."

The Caryn Campbell Abduction and Murder, On Location in Snowmass, Colorado

If you're not following my YT channel, please do!  https://www.youtube.com/@killerinthearchives

This is my first on-location video, filmed in November 2022 in Snowmass, Colorado. My friend Vince Lahey is local to the area, and kindly took me on a tour of several Colorado Bundy sites last month. Here he offers his knowledge and theories on the Campbell case. (I've never edited videos before, so this...

Apology, 1989

"I don't like what happened. I mean, notwithstanding any speculation about the kind of personality that I might be, I, it's not gratuitous for me to say that I feel horrible about it. And not that, sadly enough, won't bring her back, but I do. And it's not enough to say it's an atrocity because it was. And not that anybody cares, but if it should ever occur to you to relate this to anybody, you can tell them that I get no secret joy or pleasure out of it. That my own special kind of hell and ...

Inspiration Requested

So, I think I've mentioned this before, but I often get overwhelmed by everything I have on this case. My Bundy hard drive just keeps growing, and I often don't know what to do with all of it, so I don't do anything. "Analysis paralysis," as it were.

Can you help me out, and tell me what kinds of materials you're most interested in seeing? Please comment below, or send me a message. I'd appreciate it.

Anyway, I found the above letter to Nordstrom department store in Seattle amusin...

The Second Escape Investigation, 1977

On New Year’s Eve, 1977, Ted Bundy escaped from the Garfield County Jail in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. He removed a light fixture in his cell’s ceiling, crawled through the rafters, descended through the jailer’s closet— then walked out the front door.
A few days later, FBI agents interviewed David Sands, a 14-year-old local who had previously been incarcerated in the juvenile cell directly next to Bundy’s. In the subsequent investigation report, David recalled his interactions...

Interview with Martha Stephen, 1978

Stephen: I remember the guy having blue eyes .... a bluish-green color.

Parrish: You definitely remember the blue eyes. Is there any reason...?

Stephen: Not really there isn't. There is one thing that I don't know whether I can explain it enough for a man to understand… another woman would but… I don't know… he gave me a weird feeling. The type of feeling that sometimes I was glad someone was at the station with me and I was not there by myself.

.

.

Here a ...

Senate Committee Hearing on Serial Murder, 1983

This is the transcript of a 1983 Senate committee hearing on the problem of serial murder and the need for a program called VI-CAP to apprehend the killers. Ann Rule testifies as an expert, as well as John Walsh and a representative of the FBI. Their efforts were successful- the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program within the FBI was founded in 1985.
.
.
"Since I have covered more than 1400 murder investigations in the past fifteen years in my work as a fact-detectlve writer, I hav...

Garfield County Jail, 1977

Post second escape footage (no sound) from KOAA News, and Garfield County Sheriff escape documents.

.

.

Memo to: Under Sheriff Robert Hart

From: Frank Perry, Jailer

The following is the absolute happenings of 12-30-77 at 1730 hrs, the date and time of my arrival at the Garfield County Jail. On my way to the Booking Room I stopped and talked to Mr. Bundy, this took place about 1900 hrs, it was just passing the time of day, Mr. Bundy said he wasn’t fee...

Patricia Turner, 1974

"I started walking, and I think his looking at me for such a long time then starting to follow me gave me ideas like he's going to grab me when there's nobody around. I don't know how I got that idea in my head. But after I saw him looking at me and starting to approach me I got scared. Not the fact that he looked mean, he didn't look mean. He made me feel untrustful, like he's going to try something if he can... When he came up to me I felt he was going to ask me and I thought he was going t...

Janice Graham, 1974

"It's really hard to associate his face with what you would think of as a murder/rapist - it just doesn't fit."

After the murders at Lake Sammamish, psychologists Donna Schram and John Berberich were hired by the King County "Ted" Task Force. They were tasked with creating a psychological profile of "Ted," in a desperate attempt to track down the criminal without much other evidence to go on. To this end, they began interviewing the witnesses, those who had encountered "Ted" but were fo...

Hugh Aynesworth Interview, 1980

Hugh Aynesworth interviews Ted in this recording, dated June 24, 1980. They discuss the psychology of "a person" who could have committed the murders, as well as the Chi Omega and Caryn Campbell cases.

"In our urban society we don't know a lot of people. So, uh… Then I suppose there's also like, "He would've got me if I hadn't got him." Which might not fit into what we have here. But on the other hand, there might be some mass murderers that might say, "Well, she or he would have hurt...

Carlisle Interview, 1977

Re-uploading videos...

In this news clip from June 8, 1977, a KIRO reporter interviews Ted's psychologist, Dr. Al Carlisle, outside the Utah State Prison. Carlisle had written the psychiatric report which Judge Hansen used to sentence Bundy to prison. Ted was on the run at the time of this interview, following his first escape from the Pitkin County courthouse. Includes a lot of B-roll footage from the USP.

Eleanor Rose and the Rancourts, 1986-1989

Re-uploading a compilation of interviews with Eleanor Rose, Brock Naslund, and the Rancourts from 1986 and 1989.

Trial Delay Footage, 1978

Re-uploading some of my previous videos, sadly now watermarked, to the new Patreon Video...

KIRO News footage from October 3, 1978, featuring an interview with Millard Farmer and Bundy "sticking with the man he knows best."

"This man is Millard Farmer, an Atlanta attorney whom Bundy wants to represent him. But Florida courts have barred him from doing so, citing Farmer's history of disruptive courtroom tactics. Farmer says Bundy cannot get a fair trial in Florida, or anywhere in ...

February 18, 1978 12:15am

Another tape from the Florida post-arrest interviews. I've attached the transcript of this portion, but I did notice some errors in this transcript, so listen carefully. The below portion is a small example where my interpretation didn't exactly match the original transcript.
.
.
"I sat down and said some things to my attorney that I've never said to an attorney before. Now, they don't know anything particular but I mean I made some pretty strong statements that I don't think I can m...

Seattle Times and PI, 1982-1983

Seattle Times and Post-Intelligencer articles for 1982 and 1983. The 1983 articles are particularly interesting and include interviews with Bob Keppel, Ann Rule, and a long piece on John Henry Browne by Richard Larsen..

.

.

"Keppel disputes Bundy's main claim that the killer derived more satisfaction from stalking the victims than actually killing them. "Looking at what he had done to those girls, the massive amount of injury he did to their bodies, if he just wanted to kill...

Correctional Compass, 1991

A January 1991 edition of the Florida Dept of Corrections newsletter. This issue focused on a seminar led by FBI Agent Bill Hagmaier for criminal justice groups in Florida. It includes several interesting bits of information from Bill's conversations with Ted.

"Several people have asked Hagmaier why Bundy killed Kimberly Leach, the 12-year-old girl from Lake City, when in the past he had confined his killings to college-age women. Hagmaier said Bundy expressed "embarrassment" over killi...

FBI Forensics, 1976-1977

The FBI forensic analysis reports for Bundy's VW sent to Utah investigators.

Updated to include the FBI's hair specialist Robert Neill's testimony at Bundy's pretrial hearings in Aspen, 1977.

"With respect to the pubic hair which I found to be microscopically like the known sample from Melissa Smith, I noted that it had displayed a root structure which displayed a phallicular tissue which would indicate that the hair had been removed by force..."

Name Change

So, I'm considering relaunching my Bundy "franchise" of content with a new name. Someone suggested "Hi I'm Ted" is too lighthearted of a name for a serious research blog. I suppose that could be true. What do you think?

I'm worried about the "branding" since HIT's been the name since the start. I've come up with a couple ideas, but catchy names aren't really my strong suit. I welcome your input and ideas. 

"Social Control and the Violation of Human Rights: The Relationship Between Sociological Variables and Serial Murder"

Check out this unusual article, written in 1995 by college professor Bernard East and published in the professional journal "Criminology Australia." Most of the stranger information stated as fact in this article originated with the author's personal communication with Florida State Prison inmates, who claimed intimate knowledge of Bundy's murders. Excerpts from the article:

"I suggest that serial killers are most likely to disclose their secrets to those they perceive as sharing their ...