Ted Bundy: A Killer in the Archives

Hard times

Hi all. I wasn't intending to post again until October, but the current situation needs to be addressed. 

As many of you know, both my HIT Facebook page of nearly three years and my Instagram were reported and shut down last week. I appealed and was denied, for reasons they wouldn't explain, and now I have multiple restrictions on my personal account too.

I have good reason to suspect I am being deliberately targeted. An unfortunate acquaintanceship with someone several year...

"The Serial Killer and the revelations of Ted Bundy"

Based largely on Bill Hagmaier's interviews with serial killer Ted Bundy, this 1990 article profiles the motives and methods of serial killers. Several interesting pieces of MO information in here.
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"According to Hagmaier, Bundy's attacks on women centered around control and total domination. Bundy wanted his victims to be totally submissive and in some instances Bundy performed necrophilia shortly after killing them. 

Hagmaier stated that most of the murders that Bundy...

Updates

Sorry I haven't been posting as much lately. I've been quite busy with my full time job and traveling for work. On top of that, after being reported 7 times in a row last week Facebook shut down my HIT page which had 6.8k followers. I've been fighting and appealing that but I don't know if I'm going to win. If I lose, 3 years of hard work will be gone. It's depressing.

Frankly, I'm feeling burned out and overwhelmed. I have so much Bundy stuff sometimes I don't even know what to post, o...

Appellant Brief, 1988

"The court ignored the record and instead adopted [the State's] speculative interpretations of what the indicia of Petitioner's incompetency 'really' showed. Typically the court found Bundy's plainly irrational conduct to be evidence either of a 'diabolical' cleverness or to be a reasonable, if unsuccessful, effort by him to influence the course of his trial. Thus, Petitioner's bizarre and irrational behavior at the plea proceeding becomes in retrospect an astute lawyerly subterfuge; his suic...

Evidentiary Hearing, 1987

"After hearing all of the testimony, the Court now concludes that he probably is the most competent serial killer in the country at this time. The evidence shows that he was a graduate in psychology with distinction. The Court notes that two of the courses in which he received As were in deviant behavior. The letters and the writings that are in evidence, the videotape, the exhibits by the witnesses point out very clearly that he is a most intelligent, articulate, complex individual. This Cou...

Front Page Detective, September 1975

This article has been generously shared with us by HIT friend and fellow Bundy researcher JB.  In his words:

"As an artifact it’s especially interesting due to its content and date. It posits the theory at the time that the Ted murders and the Santa Rosa Hitchhiker murders were committed by the same killer, and/or possibly by the Zodiac Killer, and/or part of a witchcraft or Satanic cult circles. Though of course they are not connected, it’s not difficult to see how investigato...

Depositions of Det. Norm Chapman, 1978 and 1979

To the best of my knowledge, the significant thing that we talked about was the fact that Mr. Bundy wanted to go back to Washington and be close to his family and spend his time in prison.

Why would he want to go to prison?

Well, evidently at that time, he felt like that was where he was going to spend the rest of his life.

Did you ever discuss what he would be going to prison for?

Well, some of the problems he’d had.

Now, this is where his “problems" come up...

"Why Can't We Kill Ted Bundy?"

"Repugnant as the public may find Bundy, the fact that he's still alive is not some bureaucratic error. It can't be blamed on bleeding heart liberals, who love criminals.

The U.S. Constitution is keeping Ted Bundy alive. At the very heart of America's greatness, is... Ted Bundy. Smirking.

Says Larry Helm Spalding, who runs the state office that represents death row inmates: 'very few knowledgeable criminal attorneys don't see a lot of problems with those cases... They are weak. Ve...

Membership Update

Hi patrons,

Dropping a note to let y'all know of some upcoming (August 1) changes in the tier structure.

To preface, and I don't like to harp on about myself for long, but I easily work 30-40 hours a week on Bundy. So when I'm not posting here, I can guarantee you I'm doing research, or some long form writing that y'all will see eventually. I already have an unrelated full time job, and Ted study has become another. A job I really enjoy, which is why I don't ask for much in return...

Rug Cleaning/Repair Receipt, 1974

On July 25, 1974, Ted delivered a Kurdish rug to the Seattle shop Pande-Cameron for cleaning and repair (two splits). This was 9 days after he murdered Janice Ott and Denise Naslund, abducted on the same day from Lake Sammamish. He picked it up on August 13, about two weeks before he left for Salt Lake City. No idea what it looked like, but I've attached an example in roughly the same size and age (at the time).

Anyone know what "Kurd SA 4x5x8x0" means? I'm assuming the rug was Kurdish ...

Carol DaRonch's Report, 1974

Carol's initial report to police on November 8, 1974.

“...He said he was going to take me down to the police station. I asked him for his ID. He didn’t show me, he just kind of laughed like I was stupid or something. I felt kind of dumb, but then I told him again I wanted to see his ID. So he opened up his wallet and showed me a gold badge. I couldn’t see any writing or nothing on it. He put it back in his jacket, then we walked to his car.

He was really nice, polite, ope...

A Conversation About the Riverman, 1984, Part 10

“Over the years when I receive newspapers or clippings from the Pacific Northwest, I read of the bodies of young women turning up with relative frequency. And I don’t know what it is, I don’t know if it’s just because I’m paying so much attention to the Pacific Northwest or if there’s something about the Pacific Northwest that seems to... uh, encourage this kind of activity, because I know it doesn’t seem to be as frequent down in this part of Florida as it is up in Seattle-Taco...

Leach Trial Statement and Sentencing

"Now, you're going to pass sentence on me today, but the sentence was passed months ago, and, as a result of publicity and suspicion and fear and a desire for vengeance, this sentence was passed months ago, Your Honor. And while I may bear the awesome consequences of what you are about to do, I bear none of the guilt and I bear none of the responsibility, because I did not kill Kimberly Leach."

You can read the full transcript in a previous post (search for Kim Leach) as well as Ted's t...

Rich Bundy Interview Bonus Clip

I left this clip out of the final cut of our interview because I couldn't make it "flow" with the rest of it. Rich tends to go off on tangents, lol. 

But I thought y'all might be interested to hear Rich's brief recollections of his Uncle Jack Cowell and cousin John Cowell. (Photo is John in 1963)

Interview with Rich Bundy, 2022, Part 2

Thanks for everyone's patience while I've been working on this. Audio editing is actually pretty hard when you don't know what you're doing, but I did the best I could. It probably doesn't help that I'm also a perfectionist. So again, thanks for hanging in there.

In Part 2 of our interview, Rich shares several memories of Ted, and how his family dealt with the aftermath of the tragedy. He also discusses the Bundys' relationship with Carole and Ted's daughter Rosa. Finally, Rich ans...

Interview with Belva Kent

An episode of a podcast by the Mormon Church, interviewing Belva Kent, the mother of Utah victim Debi Kent, about her life.

"Belva Kent's life was rich, fulfilling, and good. On November 8, 1974, her 17-year-old daughter, Debi, was kidnapped. For 16 years little was known of her whereabouts, until serial killer Ted Bundy confessed to taking her. Ten years after Debi's disappearance, Belva's son Bill was killed in a car accident. In the wake of this second grief, Belva learned that she h...

Sara A. Survivor

Some letters from "Sara A. Survivor" to the King County Sheriff in 2017. She was a Daffodil Princess in 1972, but not with Georgann Hawkins (she was a Princess in 1973). Make of her story what you will...

Report Cards, 1954-1967

June 11, 1954

Teddy understands numbers 1 to 20 and knows the meaning of 100. He is at ease before the group and expresses himself well relating events in proper sequence. Teddy enjoys singing with the group. Teddy shows good sportsmanship on the playground. This is an asset to both him and the group. Teddy understands and enjoys the stories we read and reads voluntarily in various classroom activities.In the area of social studies and science Teddy contributes good ideas to the plannin...

God's Warrior, 1990

"State attorney John Tanner sees pornography consuming this nation in a hellish blaze, and he aims to stomp it out. His methods have drawn ardent admirers, harsh critics, and national attention. But he's not about to stop the fight. Not as long as he sees the fire still burning…

Modern politicians are soft. They are indecisive. They are scared of their own shadows. They are everything that this man pedaling at 20 mph is not. A politician would not have prayed with and counseled serial...

A Letter Between Friends, 1975

Not long after Ted was publicly arrested for kidnapping in Utah, gossip among the political circles of Seattle was in full swing. A social acquaintance of Ted's, Larry Voshall, wrote to another politico in Europe with the big news. Tim Clancy had been a good friend of Ted's in 1968 when they both worked for the Republican party, and they had even traveled to Miami together that summer for the national convention. In his response to Larry, Tim had some interesting memories to share from his da...

Kerry Hardy-May; 1972

The unconfirmed case of Kerry Hardy-May, explored in depth on the blog for patrons only.

Front Page Detective, July 1980

Another detective magazine article about Bundy titled "Ted Bundy Convicted in New Child's Sex Murder" published in July 1980.

Captain Poitinger's Deposition, 1979

The question was asked why he liked Volkswagens, because he had stolen some Volkswagens. And he said, “Well, you can take out the front seat.”

“Well, why would you want to take out the front seat?

There was a suggestion that it would be easy to carry a body in the car that way. He said, “I don’t like to use that terminology… Cargo. It’s easy to carry cargo.”

“Why is it easy to carry cargo?”

“You can control it better.”

“Is the cargo aliv...

Jan. 24, 1989: King County Police Regrets

In this KIRO special released the day of Bundy's execution, members of King County law enforcement share their regrets about the "Ted murders" investigation. Bob Keppel, Roger Dunn, and the King County ME who lost the Issaquah remains are interviewed.

An Interview with Rich Bundy, 2022; Part 1

Update: Transcript attached.

Earlier this month I interviewed Ted Bundy's youngest brother, Richard Bundy. In this first part, we discuss Rich's memories of early life and adolescence, when Ted got arrested in Utah and everything changed. He also describes his life since Ted, what it was like participating in the Amazon documentary Falling for a Killer,  and his thoughts on survival and forgiveness.

Rich is still gratefully accepting assistance here: 2022-04-18 22:31:47 +0000 UTC View Post

Times and PI, 1981

Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer clippings from 1981.

Help Rich Bundy

Hi friends,

I have a special request— and a special offer. Please read to the end.

Rich Bundy needs our help. For those unaware, Rich was Ted's youngest brother. He was only a young teenager when Ted was arrested and grew up with his brother in the national spotlight for the worst, most heartbreaking reason.

I've gotten to know Rich over the past few months and he's really having a hard time right now. I requested his permission to create a fundraiser and he [hesitantly...

Letters from Prison, 1976

Several letters from Ted to Judge Stewart Hanson, who sentenced him to the 90-Day Diagnostic evaluation, then to prison in Utah. Ted's letters portray a spectrum of pleading, bargaining, sulking, and anger.

Could Ted Bundy Have Killed 36 Girls?

An article in the November 1979 issue of Official Detective magazine. 

(I'll be selling this on eBay shortly, DM me for the link if you're interested in purchase)

Feb 21, 1978- Ted Arrives in Tallahassee

*Reuploaded*

Sheriff Ken Katsaris reviews Ted's circumstances at the Leon County Jail in Florida. Footage of Ted's arrival in Tallahassee on Feb. 21, 1978 and accompanying media frenzy. The cop lighting his cigarette because he's handcuffed amuses me.