Bundy was not innocent of every single crime he was accused of. I'm sure he had some involvement. But was he solely responsible for all of these crimes? No. Was he even involved in some of the crimes? No.
Intelligence Connection
China obsession - After spending the summer working for Tacoma City Light, a local electrical utility company, Bundy began to attend the University of Puget Sound after receiving a scholarship. Both his mother and his uncle worked there. Luis as a secretary and his uncle Jack as a professor of music. Not much is said about this year of Ted's life, though it does hold an important event for him, one that would change the trajectory of his life. Here in Puet Sound, he discovered his interest in the Chinese language, something he previously showed no interest in. And by 1968, he once again showed no interest in. Really, it was a practical interest in China itself. In its relations to the US and seeing it as the rising power that it was, he figured he could latch himself onto this developing situation and make a career being involved in their relations. After finishing the year at Puget Sound, he applied for a transfer over to the University of Washington, specifically to begin a program of intensive Chinese. In fact, he majored in Chinese studies, and Louise would recollect when being interviewed years later that Ted would come home and begin speaking Mandarin to them. Coming back to Seattle for the fall quarter, we are told Ted gave up his interest in Chinese studies. He attempted to move into a different field, but it was full. By advice from his school counselor, he moved into urban planning, but struggled at that. And so, just before the year came to a close, Ted dropped out.
MK Ultra - In the fall, he moved into McMahon Hall, began his studies earnestly, and did quite well. months later and in the springtime of 1967, he met a girl named Diane Edwards. Diane was from a wealthy California family. She was up in Washington for school, of course, though we have no details on what she majored in or what field of work she was looking to get into. She ended up working at a brokerage firm, so we may presume her studies were in relation to this. Still, very little is known about her. In fact, for many years, she went by a pseudonym in each book she appeared in. Though we know little about the woman herself, we know the impact she had on Bundy. In fact, many speculate his later killing spree was a result of what's about to happen. In the short time they knew each other, they apparently had become very attached to one another. Ted, in the summer of ' 67, would actually be in San Francisco, while Diane stayed up in Washington. As the summer went by and his time in California was coming to a close, it became clearer and clearer to Ted that when he returned to Washington, his relationship with Diane would be over. In his own words, in this clip, he states he can't remember what happened in the summer, that this time in his life is blank, and he doesn't remember what the hell he did.
But why was he in San Francisco? And why does this matter? Maybe Ted is just being melodramatic and making the breakup seem worse than it was. Well, Ted was actually attending school at none other than Stanford University. In fact, he was there under a summer program for his studies into the Chinese language and culture. Now, Stanford has a certain history of being involved in mind control experiments during this time and a future serial killer being there under somewhat odd circumstances. Being involved in a program for an interest that would never appear in Ted's life again and leaving California with a blank spot for the entire summer is certainly not a good look.
Criminality - The last and potentially most important thing we'll cover here is in relation to Ted's criminal past and his possible criminal connections right around the time of his being recruited to be Art Fletcher's bodyguard. As the work the only living witness would have it, Bundy came back to Seattle in the spring of ' 68 after his trip across the country. Right here is when he meets a man named Richard, who introduced Bundy to burglary. Following his return to Seattle, he made a friend named Richard, a sometime thief and drug user whose life at the fringe of society fascinated Ted. At age 21, Ted hadn't been exposed to an outlaw element more sinister than the circle of ski lift ticket counterfeits he knew in high school. Now he would encounter the possibility of illicit excitement on a higher plane. Stealing, especially shoplifting, came naturally to Ted. The unsocialized child within him wanted things, expensive, shiny things such as rich people owned, and Ted had no adult compunctions about acquiring them illegally. Moreover, theft was an adventure. a game, a kind of advanced variation on hideand seek, not unlike tapping people on the shoulder and then disappearing. One night, Ted and Richard sneaked down to a beach near Seattle where landslides had pulled down a cliffside house. They were after anything they could find. "We went down there in the dead of night," Ted told me. The house was full of shit I still have some luggage from there. It was really thrilling. Ted was not a thief in any ordinary sense. He didn't take money and he wouldn't take merchandise for the purpose of selling it. The need was much closer to kleptomania and it was overpowering. This account would have it that this thievery was more opportunistic than anything. The house was pulled down. This Richard character appears and disappears in the story right here where just this once Ted would be stealing from a home. Not even for the monetary gain of selling their expensive items. No, it was just for the thrill. Yet, we know from rules account Bundy before the age of 18 had already been picked up for burglary and car theft. So, we've got these pieces of the story here. Well, we also have the account from Sybil Ferris that Ted was spending a lot of time with a man who was out of prison and who sold antiques. Sybil knew Ted from the yacht club. So, this is actually from the time in which Ted just came up from San Francisco in ' 67. Diane in the police files said Ted was actually in this time living above an antique store with people who were into drugs, whatever that might mean.
So, let's put this all together. Bundy was living with a man who was out of prison, who owned an antique store and who was into drugs. Right at the same time he was burglarizing homes with a guy named Richard. This was all for the thrill. We are told there could not be any potential operation going on here in which Ted was stealing from homes and then fencing the items in the very shop below his room. Right. Well, as it turns out, Richard here is actually the owner of the antique store. Meaning Ted didn't just make a friend randomly in 1968, right after his mysterious travels. He knew him from at least his time in the yacht club and was already spending a great deal of time with him. Well, what did this Richard guy go to prison for exactly? For stealing antiques. In fact, according to Liz, who also knew Richard, she says he has owned multiple antique stores in the past and again affirms Ted lived with Richard for a time. Given Liz also knows Richard and has met with him, this would make at the very least Ted and Richard's relationship 2 years old, though it seems it went on much longer than that. Ted being at the yacht club in 1967 and his meeting Liz at the tail end of 1969, knowing Richard all this time, living with him, and very clearly burglarizing homes with him and fencing the stolen goods in his antique shop just below his house. Now, why would Sibil say she felt Ted was running drugs? And what did Diane mean when she says Ted was living with people above the antique shop who were into drugs? We'll come to that in just a bit. for Richard. Well, it seems he would run into some bad luck as according to Cibil, his store would eventually burn down and Bundy would get a job as a bodyguard for Art Fletcher while he was still associated with this criminal ring.
Bundy working in politics - On the surface, Ted was nothing more than a bus boy in the day and a Safeway worker at night. That was until just a few more months into the year when he met a friend who worked for Art Fletcher, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor. This friend apparently tossed out the offer to Ted that if he'd like to work for Fletcher in some unknown capacity, he could. According to the only living witness, Ted already had several mutual acquaintances working for the man. In this time, Ted also worked on the campaign of Nelson Rockefeller. After Fletcher won the nomination in September, or perhaps leading up to it, Ted would become his driver. Anne Rule adds that Ted actually served as Fletcher's bodyguard. Interestingly, when Diane spoke of this time with Dr. Al Carile, she leaves little separation between Bundy's time in politics and his association with, as she calls them, drug users. Just before being appointed as arch driver, Ted was in Florida of all places, the favored spot for both tourists and serial killers. He attended the Republican National Convention from August 5th through to the 8th of ' 68 as a Rockefeller delegate. Art did not win his race in the end, and Ted would have to figure out what he was going to do again. Once more, he decided on a trip all the way across the country.
After Art Fletcher's loss, Ted picked up a job at a department store, but he wouldn't stay there for long. He apparently saved up some money, proceeded to sell his Beetle, and use this money to take another trip to Philadelphia, this time staying there for almost half a year. He in fact enrolled in Temple University at the very beginning of 1969. His major was political science. He only stayed there for the one semester before once again transporting back to the West Coast, but this time he was headed straight for San Francisco. He got in contact with Diane and they spent almost a week together before Ted would head back up to Seattle. He would move into a place owned by an older couple in the university district during the summer of 1969. And in September, he would meet the most well-known romance of Bundy's, Liz Cloer, who now goes by Kendall. She was a divorced single mother from Utah whose ex-husband was a convict. Then she just fell into the arms of Bundy. They began seeing each other regularly after they met. Ted would describe staying at her place weeks at a time, though he had his own. He even went to Utah with her for Christmas to meet her family. Ultimately, it would seem she would be the main factor in getting Ted back into college. In the summer of 1970, he went back to the University of Washington and majored in psychology. He succeeded at this more than any other subject thus far, eventually graduating in 1972. In between these times is when Ted would actually work at a crisis clinic, helping those who were not thinking very good thoughts. This is where he met Anne Rule, who would go on to author her own book about Ted, the most well-known one, The Stranger Beside Me. Rule is an interesting character that will likely appear throughout each episode, as somehow she finds herself interjected in certain parts of the story. Whether these points at which she finds herself in Ted's story are true or exaggerated, we shall see. In the spring of 1972, he graduated and in May, he left the hotline. He wasn't out for long as according to rule he spent the summer working as an intern in psychiatric counseling at Harborview, the huge county hospital complex.
Ted would work for the Evans campaign in Seatle. He made many connections during this time and he became really close friends with Ross Davis who was the chairman of the Republican party for the whole state of Washington. Once the campaign was over, it came out that Bundy was acting as a sort of spy. recording the speeches of the Democratic opponent Albert Rosalini while under the guise of being a Democratic party supporter. He would then take these speeches back to his party where they would use this info for their own plans. The re-election efforts were a success and Evans would retain his position as governor. As a reward, it would seem Bundy would be hired by the city of Seattle's Crime Prevention Advisory Commission. In fact, he would at one point be considered for the role of director, though he never had and never would have any schooling or experience in law enforcement. He was not selected for the role, and as multiple books confirm, he left the commission in January, just after his rejection. Not out of work for long, though, as per another job he acquired through his connections, he was now working at the King County Law and Justice Planning Office. Later in the same year, he would end up the assistant to Ross Davis, the chairman he was so close to. During this time, he would eat dinner at his house weekly and even babysat his kids on multiple occasions. In this same year, he also applied to the University of Utah's law school with a letter of recommendation from Governor Dan Evans. Ted would be accepted, though later in the year, he would have to tell them he couldn't attend due to a car accident he was in, though this was not the real reason he didn't go. The car accident is reported to have been minor. There remains no solid reason that we know of for why he didn't immediately go to Utah. Instead, he ended up at Puget Sound in the fall for night classes.
Dr. Donna ShraMM was a co-orker of Bundy's while he was at the Seattle Crime Commission, the job he got just after helping Evans with his campaign. She supposedly met him in June of 1972. But given her statements, it seems she only worked with him while he was at the commission. In fact, she says Patricia Lunborg was the one to recommend Ted for the job. As previously mentioned, Ted was even considered for the director of the commission, even though his credentials certainly did not match the qualifications. He was not selected and soon left after that. But it is in this time that he was there that we can presume Donna learns what she later tells police about Bundy. She is the one who told them about Ted stealing the files of McDermott. But she also tells of Ted doing more than just recording the speeches of Albert Roselini. As she tells investigators, Bundy was actually spying on him to gather sexual blackmail. "Sram believed that Bundy was not the innocent Rosalini follower the news media was portraying because she knew him to be watching extrammarital sex relations of Rosalini. I'd say that's a bit more clandestine and a bit more serious than simply recording his public speeches. Though again, all of this comes from one person. I don't think someone with Dr. Shramm's background would call the police to lie to them, but I guess you never know.
Bundy work in psychology - First, let's look into what exactly Bundy was up to during his time in psychology at the University of Washington. Bundy was working under a man named Scott Frasier who was overseeing a program for severely disabled children called Camelot House. In fact, Ronald Smith, another professor Bundy worked with, said Ted did his honors thesis with Frraasier. Another student from the time, remembered having a class with Ted that had to do with deviant behavior of children. His own class records show him taking a class for deviant development. So, it's safe to say Bundy was at the very minimum involved with the study of children, likely children with mental deficiencies. And most importantly, this was in regard to their behavior. Well, this becomes interesting when detectives get a hold of Bundy's faculty adviser in the psychology department of the University of Washington. Patricia Lunborg, an APA associated faculty member, was asked what relationship, if any, did Bundy have with Camelot House. She quickly denied Bundy had anything to do with Camelot House, and in fact said he had no interest whatsoever with children and was only interested in the psychology of politics. This very clearly goes against the fact he was told by another professor to be working on his thesis with the man who ran the very program she denies Bundy was involved in something that was not missed by investigators. Quote, "To her knowledge, Bundy was never associated with Camelot House, even though he did research with Dr. Scott Frasier. As Bundy's faculty adviser, she would know more than most about Bundy's activities. So to see her lie to police that Ted had no interest in children at all when one of his classes plain as day is titled deviant development is certainly strange. It is perhaps the connection one of Ted's future victims had to Camelot House that was the reason for this behavior. She ended the conversation with the investigator by saying she believes Bundy is falsely charged and she would in fact stand as a character witness if asked. If this was anything clandestine, anything unethical he was involved with here for a certain group of people, for a certain agency, then perhaps we may see Ted doing other clandestine and unethical things, perhaps for these same people. Well, when Ted graduates, as previously said, he heads straight into the Harborview Medical Hospital. Here, Ted was a counselor to the mentally unwell. Ted is described both in his job here at the hospital and his job at the crisis clinic as being cold and harsh, telling people calling the hotline to pull themselves together. And at Harborview, it was described that Ted again was less than caring towards his patients. A woman he had an affair with here said Ted didn't even follow the schedule and came and went as he pleased. It seems Bundy was not very interested in his job or even very interested in keeping it. Why it would be important to know whether or not he was there for the right reasons is because if he wasn't then we could say his time at these places served a separate function. One less disconnected than it might seem. One following along a path more clearly set out than we on the outside could glean. Perhaps a continuous line of work instead of a young man fresh out of college jumping from one job to the next. Well, we know in his near future he has some spy work ahead of him. But perhaps it would surprise you that he already had a history of clandestine work.
Dr. Donna ShraMM was a co-orker of Bundy's while he was at the Seattle Crime Commission, the job he got just after helping Evans with his campaign. She supposedly met him in June of 1972. But given her statements, it seems she only worked with him while he was at the commission. In fact, she says Patricia Lunborg was the one to recommend Ted for the job. As previously mentioned, Ted was even considered for the director of the commission, even though his credentials certainly did not match the qualifications.
Linda Healey herself was specifically involved in Camelot House that again was supervised by Scott Frasier, the man another professor of Bundy said Ted was doing his thesis with. Why exactly Linda was targeted is unknown, but unlike most of the other victims, she at least could have had contact with Bundy prior to her disappearance. Given he took her boots, it could be gathered whoever took Linda had not killed her right away, but at the very least had planned for her to be on her feet eventually, taking into account what we will be covering when Bunny goes to Utah. I don't think Linda was killed right away, and she was likely kept alive for weeks.
Jim Mcdermott - In fact, while he was at Harborview Medical Hospital, he had stolen the files of another man, Jim McDermott. Jim was another Democratic opponent to Dan Evans at the time, but he was also a former Navy man. Quote, after earning his medical degree, McDermott served in the Navy medical corps as a psychiatrist during the Vietnam War. Now, what exactly was he doing at the um Harborview Medical Center? We don't know. Why do we not know that? Because Ted Bundy stole his files from there. Specifically, his files. And it just so happens he's a military doctor from the US Navy. And they're infamous for doing experiments on their own troops and being hooked in with doing experiments for the government regarding things like MK Ultra. And those were performed in over 80 facilities throughout the United States. that included universities, medical facilities, mental facilities, and prisons. And that was all being wrapped up and hidden because they knew the MK Ultra information was coming out as the Nixon administration was collapsing. And you had people like the head of the CIA, Richard Helms, collecting and destroying or hiding the files of MK Ultra. And this would include operatives going into the various facilities throughout the United States to collect whatever files they needed to from those facilities, which would implicate many different people. Now, this info comes from the police files, but specifically from a woman named Dr. Donna ShraMM, a co-orker of Bundy's while he was at the Seattle Crime Commission.
Bundy would later room with a man named John Muller. Müller was a roommate of Bundy's from August 73 to September 74, right when Ted would leave for Utah. Police learned that Muller and Bundy were close enough for Bundy to help Jon pick up women. But according to the other roommates, they weren't all that close in general. Getting girls wasn't the only thing Jon needed help with, though. Apparently, as Liz states, Ted went to a warehouse with Mueller that was owned by Muller's father. The extent of their relationship becomes of interest as Muller was in some way acting as security for the State Department. In fact, he gave the impression to one roommate that he was CIA. When police investigators finally tracked him down, he was in Australia on a base that was involved with Operation Deep Freeze. His involvement in this operation was not confirmed. In fact, what his exact role is remains unclear in the documents. He ultimately said he found nothing about Bundy strange.
Indication of multiple killers
Lake Samameish - On April 17th, Susan Rancor's disappearance would play out much the same as the last two, with even less details to go on. Leaving her dorm, she was heading to see a German film on campus, but she never made it. Her belongings were left in her dorm. Her clothes were left in the washer. Her parents were staying in Anchorage, Alaska, and came down to do what they could to find their daughter, but it was to no avail. They soon went back home having found out nothing that would lead to the discovery of what happened to their daughter. Now, I'm going to jump ahead in the timeline here to tell the stories of two other girls who perhaps had a similar experience to Susan. Certainly, they had a similar experience to Janice Aught and Denise Nasland. As once the details came out about what happened at Lake Samameish in July of 1974, these two girls who attended the same college as Susan came forward to describe their encounter that happened under almost the exact same circumstances. Kathleen D. Olivio and Jane Curtis were both approached by a man with his arm in a sling who is carrying books. Jane had her encounter on the 14th and Kathleen had hers the very same day as Susan's disappearance. They described the man being unckempt. Long shaggy hair with no real style says Kathleen. Jane has less detail on the hair but matches the description given by Kathleen saying he was wearing hippie clothes. They were both sucked into the scheme by the man dropping his books. With Jane, the man literally dropped his books right in the path she was walking. They both offered assistance to help the man carry the books to wherever he was going, which turned out to be his car, a Volkswagen Beetle. Here's where the two accounts differ slightly, as Kathleen would deliver the books to the car, but the man dropped his key. So once again, he needed help. Kathleen was suspicious at this point, and instead of going for the key right away, she got the man to step away from the car by having them both step back to see for the reflection of the key. She found it, quickly grabbed it, and handed it off, to which the man simply said, "Thank you." Now, Jane had a much more confrontational experience. Once she arrived at the car, the man pulled out his keys and told her to open the door. She told him no, so he unlocked the door himself. And as he did so, she noticed the beetle was missing the passenger side seat. Those familiar with the Bundy story would know that he later was found to have his passenger seat missing from his car. Specifically, it was removed but laying on its side in the back of the car. How Jane tells it the seat was completely gone. After he opens the car up, he tells her to get in. Get in to start the car for him. She declines, drops the books, and gets away quickly. Now, like with the Lake Seamish incident, which we will come to shortly, here is where the problem lies. Both girls describe this man who very much would fit the method of Bunny, right? He's got the beetle, the seat missing, and has the ability to lure girls. They describe him as being 5'9 or shorter. Specifically, Jane Curtis said that she was around 5'9 when wearing the shoes she had on that day, and that the man was shorter than her. Kathleen said the man could have been 6 foot, but she was more confident that the man was her height, 5'9. Not to get too far ahead of myself here, but this will come up again in the Lake Sam kidnappings. The description of the perp not matching that of Ted Bundy. These two girls had an encounter with someone who followed all the same methods as Bundy. Yet, this man was not him. It of course is suspected to be Bundy, but with the description these two girls give of a man who was the hippie type, disheveled and of course 5'9 or shorter, we can't say this was Bundy, but was someone following the exact method he employed. May 6th, 1974. And the next victim would disappear four hours from Seattle in over 250 miles south on the campus of Oregon State University. Robera Kathleen Parks was found missing that night after she agreed to meet her friend at Sacket Hall and never arrived. Her friend returned to her dorm room to find she was not there. Another friend said she saw her just after 11 p.m. where she appeared to be in a days in a dream. She told her friend she hadn't been to class for a week and was drinking heavily. This was due to problems she was having in life at the time, and her friend offered to talk it out with her in her room, but Kathleen told her she would rather be alone. When she walked away, that was the last time she would ever see her friend Kathleen. Many initially believed she simply left of her own accord. Her psychiatrist told police that it was not off the table that she might have done herself in. Her room was found to have all of her items right where she left them. Her bank account showed no indication she intended for any travels. She just vanished. Much like many of the other girls in the Pacific Northwest. By now, four girls had disappeared without a trace. No witnesses, no leads, nothing to go on. Back in Seattle. And on June 17th, 1974, Brenda Ball was officially reported missing. The girl had vanished the night of the first and hadn't been seen since then. Everything was still there in her apartment and her bank account remained untouched. The last anyone saw of her was at the Flame Tavern where she was asking for a ride home. Once again, there were no witnesses, no description of a man or a car, nothing. But apparently this was not unusual. According to Micho, who says this out of the only living witness, Brenda had spent much of the night of May 31st, 1974 at the Flame Tavern in Burian, a workingclass town wedged between Seattle and SeaTac airport to the south. The Flame was a tough Sidi joint set up in cinder blocks and known for the rough character of its patrons. There were fights there, noise complaints, and a report every month or two of a missing person last seen at the flame. This may be of interest shortly where I will discuss the broader connections regarding Bundy's case. Though the police had just now learned of Brenda's disappearance, they were already about a week into the investigation on the disappearance of Georanne Hawkins. The night of June 11th, she had gone to an end of term party where she drank no more than three beers. Georanne hadn't worn her contacts that night, nor did she bring along her keys. By prior arrangement, she was going to awaken her roommate by throwing pebbles against their room windows. After midnight, she walked partway home from the party with a girlfriend and then stopped for about a half hour to chat with her boyfriend at the Beta Theta Pie house. She left by the fraternity's alleyside exit and stopped for maybe 5 minutes to chat with another Beta brother whose window was open upstairs on this warmish June night. George Anden had less than 300 ft to walk down a brightly lit alley to her sorority house. At about the same hour, witnesses later recalled, a tall man wearing what appeared to be a leg cast and stumbling along on crutches was seen in the vicinity. He had with him a briefcase which he kept fumbling and dropping. Descriptions of the man later offered to police were very similar to the reports which came in later of the stranger with his armload of books who approached Jane Curtis and then Kathleen de Olivio just before Susan Rancor disappeared in Ellensburg. He had come full circle back to his home turf, Seattle's University District. As Georanne walked along, she peered forward intently, her vision without her lenses as poor as Susan Rancourts had been that night in April. Along the way, many students windows were open onto the alley, and at least two groups of people saw Georanne walking down the middle of the alley where the street lights shone the brightest. A single person, a fraternity house mother, reported that she heard a high, terrified scream that night, but no one else saw or heard anything. The very next morning, Herb Swindler would take over as the head of the homicide division. Detectives swarmed into Greek Row, questioning anyone who might have been in the vicinity. During the afternoon, standing in the alley, Captain Herb Swindler, new chief of the homicide and robbery detail of SPD, studied the scene. Beside him, Sergeant Ivan Bon, pointed to the spot where Georanne had stood, talking with Dwayne beneath the window of the Beta House. She was right here. And then she started walking down the alley. There, the sergeant explained. Not far from where she had stood, two people sat in a parked car. They could see her walking almost all the way too, Beatson added. The officers walked the route Geanne had walked. On their left were the rear walls of the fraternity and sorority houses, a mixture of frame and brick with numerous doors and windows. On the opposite side of the alley, to the officer's right, buildings were scattered. There were some open parking areas. Swindler puzzled over it. All kinds of activity in here. Kids up late, windows open, but nobody saw or heard a damned thing. The sergeant nodded. Whoever took her, Swindler mused. She must have gone willingly for some reason. Perhaps she thought it was someone she knew. Or perhaps someone pretending to be a policeman. Well, concluded the captain. I'll bet anything is tied in with those others. I know damned well it is. And we've got another loser. Nobody, nothing. The captain had a personal thought about the special vulnerability of the cheerful, outgoing young women of a college campus. You know, said Swindler, I've got a girl here now. My own daughters a student here. In fact, this daughter dated Bundy back in 1968. Herb Swindler is an interesting character in this case. He has two links to Bundy outside of Ted becoming the prime suspect for these disappearances and as we will find out soon murders. His daughter dated Ted as I just mentioned, but his longtime friend was also a friend of Bundy's that being Ann Rule. Rule in fact has many odd connections in this case. She was either personally involved with or was in close proximity to multiple victims. She would come out of law enforcement to become a true crime writer and incidentally became friends with one of the most well-known serial killers. But not only that, she would also have an odd connection to Bundy before ever meeting him. As explained in this quote from her own book, "We might never have met at all. Logically, statistically, demographically, the chance that Ted Bundy and I should meet and become fast friends is almost too obscure to contemplate. We have lived in the same states at the same time, not once, but many times, but the 10 years between our ages precluded our meeting for many years. Another Bundy Chronicler, Steven Micho, also oddly shared a similar trajectory as Ted. He was born in Vermont and when he was young, had moved to Tacoma. He and Ted even shared friends growing up. >> It turned out that we had a lot superficially in common that we were both born in in Burlington, Vermont, and had moved with our mothers to Tacoma, Washington, a working-class suburb of Seattle. We were quite young. We were not friends, but we actually knew some people in common.
Melissa Smith - On October 27th, the body of Melissa Smith was discovered badly beaten, drained of blood, and with a nylon stocking wrapped tightly around her throat. When Smith was discovered, the medical examiner determined she had died only 2 to 3 days before her discovery. This brings into question how anyone, let alone Bundy, would be able to hold her captive for 6 to 7 days all on their own. Bundy was rooming with others that confirm they didn't see a single victim. Neighbors of Bundy when he lived in this apartment also testified there were no indications that anyone was being held captive or living with Bundy during this time. There was also the fact she showed no signs of being bound. And on the day she was found dead, her nails were freshly done and there were no defensive marks found on her. Another telling fact is Liz, not long after Smith's death, was confronted by her friend who accused Ted of being involved. But when Liz had checked herself when she had disappeared, she was relieved because on the 19th, the very next day, Ted was to go on a hunting trip with Liz's father. She had also talked with Ted the same night over the phone. This being after Melissa was last seen. Specifically, she told police he called her three times that night. Rule has it that Liz received at least one call at 11:00 p.m. Melissa was last seen around 10 p.m. that night. Then there's the fact the body was drained of blood. The wound she suffered would not normally result in this amount of blood loss, meaning it was deliberate. Little to no blood was found at the crime scene, leading investigators to conclude she was killed and had around a gallon of blood drained from her body elsewhere. One might wonder why Bundy would want to drain the body of blood. But more importantly, we might wonder where he did it. In the modern day, a theory has emerged that places multiple victims in a cellar located off the side of the boarding house that Bundy and many others stayed at. Bundy apparently was the only one with a key to the cellar. Strangely though, no one has ever reported anything that might indicate any victims were held there at all. Only one former tenant has come forward to say Bundy had frequented the seller late at night occasionally and made enough noise opening and shutting the door for him to notice. But again, the lack of screams or knocking from a victim that is supposed to be down there for around a week is striking. With all of this laid out in plain to see, it is a question on how exactly Bundi was able to do this, not just once, but twice. The body of Laura Aime was found on the 27th of November, 1974, beaten and strangled, just like the body of Smith. The medical examiner set Laura's date of death to the 20th. But also, just like Smith, Laura wasn't killed as quickly as she was kidnapped. In fact, Aime had gone missing on Halloween night. And once again, like Smith, Aime had shown signs of self-care and no signs of being bound. Or at least, she was never described as showing signs of being bound. She was also drunk at the time of her death. And once again, no explanation is given as to how exactly Bundy, all on his own, would have held Laura captive for almost three weeks.
Brenda Ball - Back in Washington and on March 1st of 1975, community college students had stumbled across the skull of Brenda Ball. Over the next few days, two more skulls and three mandibles were found and identified. In all, they'd ided these remains as Brenda Ball, Kathleen Parks, Susan Rancourt, and Linda Healey. No other bones were found, which was of course noticed by investigators and further fueled the idea for some that these killings might be a cult related. What I find more interesting and more telling is what Bob Keell would later have to say about the skulls on Taylor Mountain: ''The following year in March of 75, we found four people who were missing, but we only found skull parts there. We never found one other bone, which is real unusual. We found animal bones, so we knew we were searching good enough to find bones, but we didn't find a human bone other than just skull parts... They appeared to have decomposed at the same rate. In Other words, you had girls basically that were missing in January, April, two in May. But the leaf fall, the growth of fine maple over the tops of them all kind of had the same look to them. That wouldn't have happened if they were dumped at different times.'' A forensic scientist states Bundy might have stored the skulls of each victim before dumping them all at once: ''It could lead to the conclusion that these individuals were killed and their bodies maintained in a particular place uh kind of stored up uh and then when the perpetrator felt comfortable enough to move these skulls to a particular place, that's what happened.''
Susan One of the main things police could confirm is that these disappearances and now murders were in fact all connected and the Ted from Lake Sam would be the same guy responsible for all of them because here next to the remains of Ball and Helen Parks was the skull of Rancourt who was abducted from her campus the same day another girl had been approached by a man with his arm in a sling. The description of the two men being very similar as well as both women from Ellensburg said the man was 5'9 or under and the going description in the police files for the Lake Sam Ted was a very tanned blonde male standing at 5-6.
With her skull being found next to the three other missing women, it built a clear picture in the minds of investigators that the one man was responsible and of course that man would eventually be Ted Bundy. But Bundy was never convicted, let alone charged with any of the murders in Seattle. To this day, the only proof that he killed any of these girls is his confession taken at a time when he was trying to stay his execution by confessing to tens of murders. But for now, Bundy was just a name on a list of at this point in time 200 Teds. And the bodies were just beginning to mount in Colorado.
(November 8th) Aime/DeRonch/Shepherd descrepancy - Oddly, when Bundy was on trial in Florida, Ruth Walsh reported that in fact six weeks before his arrest, Utah investigators focused in on Bundy after King County had informed them Bundy was in Utah. Liz at this point had been trying to warn Seattle and Utah police to no avail. Finally, now that Bundy was in custody, his name had rung a bell. Hearing Bundy's name after his arrest, Thompson remembered this name was given to him by Seattle Detective Bob Kepple. Soon after they gave him a charge on the possession of burglary tools. He also pulled the details on the attempted abduction of DaRonch and the disappearance of Deborah Kent. Deranch was left at the scene with handcuffs hanging off of her wrist. And in the parking lot of the high school Kent vanished from was the key to a pair of handcuffs. But what had to be clear to the detectives looking at both of these cases is that it would have been impossible for anyone, let alone Bundy, to be able to commit both of these crimes. We will now look at the events that happened on the night of November 8th, 1974, just over a week since Laura Aime had disappeared. And still, while very much alive, the supposed same perpetrator was out for more victims. At 7:00 p.m., Carol DaRonch arrived at the Fashion Place Mall. She had only been there for about 10 to 15 minutes before she was approached by a man who presented himself as an officer by the name of Rosland. After sloppily playing out the ruse, the man had DaRonch in his beatup VW. And shortly after passing the Murray police station, which DaRonch noticed he missed, he pulled over and attacked her, slapping a pair of handcuffs on one wrist, pulling out a gun and threatening to kill her. Then after she broke free from the car, he was swinging a crowbar at her before she was saved by passers by. In the further description of the incident, she tells of him having a badge and having the smell of alcohol on his breath. In total, she says she was with the man for 20 to 30 minutes, leaving the time he drove away from the scene in between 7:30 and 7:45.
On the same night, just 20 m north at Viewmont High School, a play was going on. I will let the main witness speak on her experience at the play that night: ''I was teaching dance, English, I was involved with all of the extracurricular activities. We were doing a musical production of the red head and I was helping the kids in the dressing rooms. Then I would run out and take care of the ticket office and just right inside of the front doors to the auditorium, I noticed a man standing over against what was the office at that time. Out of place for Bountiful, um, very welldressed. He came out into the middle of the hall and he said, 'Has anybody ever told you you have beautiful eyes?' I remember he put his hand up and he said, 'I need somebody to come out and identify this car. Have you got just a second?' His eye contact made me very uncomfortable. And I had never been in the presence of anyone that made me feel that way before. And I said, 'If you need some help, I will go get some boys or some men to come and help you.' And he said, 'No, no, no. don't need that. And um left and when I got back to the dressing room, our vice principal was at the back of the stage and I said, 'There's a guy standing out here. Something's a little bit fishy. Don't know what it is.' And he said, 'I'll I'll check it out and see if he needs something.' I said, "I'd appreciate that." And later when I was sitting in the auditorium and he came back in and when I saw this little girl get up and exit, well all of a sudden he stood up and walked out. I never put the two together.''
She now falls in line with the perpetrator being Bundy. But she was just as sure the man was someone else in the time before Bundy was arrested. A more promising suspect was brought to the attention of bountiful police Lieutenant Ira Beal. Based upon accounts from the several witnesses at Vermont High School, Beal had put together a description of the stranger who was seen at the play that night. 10 days following Deborah Kent's disappearance, Beal received a call from the Park City, Utah police. He remembers a Park City cop telling him over the phone, 'This guy looks like the guy you're looking for.' The suspect's name was John Badway, a part-time drug dealer with an arrest record who also happened to drive a Volkswagen that belonged to his girlfriend. At the time, he was working as a waiter in a Park City restaurant. Beal checked into Badway, found nothing that would exclude him as a suspect, then called Railan Shepard, the Viewmont drama teacher who had had the most extensive contact with the stranger the night of Deborah Kent's disappearance. Shepard agreed to accompany Beal in a sergeant to Park City. Before they went, Badway's photo was shown to Carol DaRonch, who said he looked something like her attacker, but she couldn't be sure. On November 25th, the two policemen drove Mrs. Shepard to Park City, an old mining town in popular ski resort area east of Salt Lake City. They arrived and sat together in Beal's unmarked car, waiting for John Badway to come to work. Shepard had been told nothing, but that she would see a possible suspect. When Badway walked into the restaurant, she turned to Lieutenant Beal. 'Is that him?' she asked. 'You tell us,' Beal replied. The two cops and their star witness went into the restaurant to eat. The suspect was their waiter. Throughout the meal, Railan eyed Badway closely. He betrayed no sign that he recognized her. When they got back into the car for the return trip to Bountiful, Mrs. Shepard had made up her mind. Badway's voice seemed a little high. He looked to be a couple inches too tall, and she would have liked to see him in a mustache. Like many witnesses before and after her, Mrs. Shepherd really wasn't sure whom she'd seen. However, she seemed certain. 'That's the man I talked to at Vermont,' she said firmly. Notice the emphasized doubt the witness has now. Like many witnesses before and after her, Mrs. Shepard really wasn't sure whom she'd seen. And notice the emphasis placed on the exclusionary factors in this version. He was too tall. His voice was too high. Yet earlier in the same book, when dealing with the Lake Sam incident, it was the other way around, downplaying the facts that didn't fit Bundy and blowing up the details that do. When the witness statements made were all over the place and far from a clear picture of Bundy, and in fact, as we've went over, pointed away from Bundy, here's how they handled that. The witnesses provided a remarkably consistent portrait of a slim, smoothtalking stranger who could make the unlikeliest story sound plausible or at least inviting. They differed on significant details of his height, hairstyle, and facial features, as if Ted were a chameleon capable of changing his appearance at will. Here you can see they acknowledge the discrepancies only to fold it back into being a stronger identification of Bundy, playing into the wellestablished fact Bundy was always changing his appearance. It gets worse when they leave out details because Shephard was more than sure this was the guy. Here is the full quote from the actual police report: 'Reporting officer and Sergeant Ballentine picked up Mr. and Mrs. John Shepard at approximately 1710 hours and accompanied them to Park City, arriving at approximately 1,835 hours. At this time, we parked our vehicle behind the club car 19. While sitting there talking, we observed approximately eight or nine people walking in the area. Mrs. Shepard pointed out to one of the individuals, stating, 'That is very close. Is that him? We replied, 'You tell us.' A few minutes later, approximately 1900 hours, we entered the club car 19. Mr. and Mrs. Shepard were seated at one table and reporting officer and Sergeant Valentine were seated at another table. The suspect in this case was waiting tables this date. Mrs. Shepard observed the suspect when he approached the table that reporting officer and Sergeant Valentine were sitting at. She again observed him as he was waiting on another table and again as we were preparing to leave. At that time she was standing facing him. We left the club car 19 at approximately 2030 hours. When we returned to the car Mrs. Shepard stated that is the man I talked to in Vermont indicating the waiter. This being Ronald Dennis Auth. Reporting officer inquired as to how she could identify him. Mrs. Shepherd stated there was no question in her mind that he was the man. He looks identical to him. His walk and mannerisms were the same. His voice was the same. She pointed out that his voice was slightly higher when he spoke at reporting officer's table. However, when he waited on another table a few minutes later, he was talking in a lower normal voice. This was the voice she had heard at Vemont. She also pointed out that he was an inch or two taller at this time. However, he was wearing shoes tonight with higher heels. She also pointed out that on his left hand, he had the imprint of a large ring which he was not wearing tonight. Reporting officer asked if there was any question in her mind as to whether or not this was the man. Mrs. Shepard replied, 'Absolutely none.'"
With this positive identification, police began their investigation into Ronald O. Beal and his partner were elated. After a few more days investigation still failed to exclude Badway, they called him in and braced their suspect with Shepherd's identification. No, guys, he answered evenly. I've been to Bountiful, but I'm not involved. He was asked if he'd take a lie detector test. After consulting with his attorney, Badway agreed to do so. He passed the exam conclusively. It was a bitter disappointment. The policeman's main witness had proved unreliable and their hopes for an early resolution to the Kent case melted into despair. They had nothing to go on and wouldn't have for another 11 months. Yes, their witness did indeed prove unreliable, and she would continue to be so, as soon her next identification would be of a man who, if we are to go off of his future conviction, physically could not be there. As previously mentioned, the perpetrator of the DaRonch abduction would have left the scene of the crime at McMillan Elementary at some time between 7:30 and 7:45. While the very first sighting of this man by Railen Shepard would be at 7:45. The problem with this official version of events is that it would have been physically impossible for Ted Bundy or anyone else to have committed both of these crimes.
First of all, the descriptions given by witnesses at the two crime scenes differed considerably. Dash described her attempted abductor as having sllicked back hair and the strong scent of alcohol on his breath. Reappearing at the school, the suspect was described as having long brown wavy hair and was said to be handsome and well-dressed and with no hint of alcohol on his breath. It is possible, of course, that Ted could have changed his clothes, washed and restyled his hair, and rid himself of the alcohol smell sometime between the commissions of the two crimes. He would have to have done so, however, while driving a Volkswagen at over 100 mph over rain soaked streets since the two crime scenes were 26 mi apart and only 15 minutes elapsed between his departure from the DaRonch abduction site and his first sighting at the school. These times were recorded in police logs, so it was well known to the members of the Ted squad that it would not have been possible for Bundy to essentially be in two places at once. Nevertheless, they pretended as though both crimes were the work of the elusive Ted, even after a drama teacher at the second crime scene positively identified a drug dealer who was the initial suspect in the Kent case.
Ronald Dennis Auth - The drug dealer would in fact later be busted for smuggling 17 tons of marijuana into Florida with three other men. The hall was worth 34 million in 1979 according to the papers, but O himself was reported to say he estimated his hall was really worth 360 million. The interesting part comes in when after he was sentenced by a jury, a judge overruled his sentencing and instead gave him 5 years of probation. This man was clearly protected here.
In 5 days after his initial arrest, he was brought in again, this time on the charge for possession of burglary tools. The same day, he was interviewed and had his apartment searched. Detective Jerry Thompson and Ben Forbes looked through his apartment and found a few pairs of patent leather shoes. DaRonch said her attacker wore patent leather shoes. Thompson found a Colorado road map and a Colorado ski country guide 74 to75 during the search. He didn't pay much attention to them until he asked Ted if he ever went to Colorado. And Bundy said no. Why, the detective wondered would he deny something so obvious? Also in the apartment was a brochure for a recreation center in Bountiful, a copy of Ted's June 1975 telephone bill, and a copy of his Chevron gas credit card bill. Thompson asked Ted's permission to take the papers back downtown. Bundy consented. The detective then wanted to photograph Ted's VW, to which Bundy also agreed. In his report dated early September of 1975, Thompson described Ted's VW as white or light gray in color. Sergeant Hayward had reported the vehicle was gray, too, and noted that there was a large tear along the top of the back seat. A number of evidentiary disputes would grow out of the search, and Thompson's later investigations, too. Bundy angrily asserted that he never owned a single pair of patent leather shoes, let alone three. He insisted he'd never denied traveling to Colorado. But most crucial was the ski brochure. When it was submitted into evidence, an inked X appeared next to the name of the Wildwood Inn, where Karen Campbell disappeared. Bundy steadfastly denied that the mark was his. In less than a week's time, these detectives already figured Bundy was not just responsible for the Utah killings, but also the ones in Seattle and Colorado. They begin to pass off their findings in Ted's apartments to the respective investigators. And now they also began to show Bundy's photo to all of the witnesses they had. They had already gotten a positive ID from Railan Shepard, but they were having trouble with DaRonch. Only Carol DaRonch could link Ted to an indictable offense, and it had been more than 9 months since the shy girl had encountered Officer Rosland. She had been shown thousands of mugsh shots, which had possibly muddied her memory. DaRonch was in police jargon a fatigued witness who might now be incapable of identifying her attacker in court. Later on in the same chapter on September 1st, 1975, he visited Carol DaRonch at the Mountain Bell office where she worked as an operator. First, he showed her the Polaroid photos he' taken of Ted's car on the early evening of August 21st. She studied them, noting that the tear in Ted's back seat resembled a tear she had seen in Officer Rosland's upholstery. "I believe this could be the Volkswagen," she told Thompson, "But I cannot make a positive identification." Then Thompson offered her a packet of 27 mug shots, including the one taken of Bundy on August 16th. Slowly, Carol sifted through the pictures. When she got to Ted's, she pulled it aside, continued through the rest, and handed them back to Thompson. "I don't see anyone in there that resembles him," she said. Thompson asked her about Ted's picture, which she still held in her hand. "Oh, here," she replied. "I don't know. I guess it looks something like him." Carol DaRonch couldn't be more specific than that. "She really doesn't know," wrote Thompson in his personal notes of the case. "She didn't think she could identify him if she saw him again or not. This is a very poor witness in this detective's opinion, and I don't know if she can identify the individual or if she is scared or what the situation is. The desparing tone of his report reflected Jerry Thompson's central dilemma. To secure a conviction, Carol DaRonch would have to be able to make an unequivocal identification of her attacker. She would have to be able to do so in court, and she would then have to withstand what would undoubtedly be a withering cross-examination by defense council. Thompson clearly doubted that his witness would ever make an identification that was strong enough to stand up in court. He was wrong. Just three days later, a new photo was found. It was Ted's December 1974 driver's license picture taken only weeks after Officer Rosland attacked Carol. It was completely dark, different. Jerry Thompson says he could have been a black man. It was so much different. Ira Beal from Bountiful showed her this picture. In this time, Carol DaRonch was much sherer. She still wasn't totally positive, but admitted Ted's license photo looked a lot like her abductor. Thompson was halfway home. He now had a tentative photo identification. His next critical step was to give Carol DaRonch a look at Bundy in person. Weeks after Bundy's second arrest on the 21st, and here's what the other detectives out of state came up with. On September 8th, 1975, an excited Mike Fiser called Jerry Thompson. Ted's credit card gas purchases placed him in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, some 40 mi north of Aspen and the Wildwood in on January 12th, the day Karen Campbell had vanished. The next day, January 13th, Ted had bought gas in Green River, Utah, which is on the way from Aspen to Salt Lake City. And there was more. Bundy bought gas near Vale, Colorado. On March 15th, the day Julie Cunningham disappeared from there. Again, on April 6th, he had filled up near Grand Junction, the date and place where Denise Oliversson was last seen. Meanwhile, Bob Keell in Seattle had turned up an amazing number of coincidences. Ted, it turned out, had once dated Herb Swindler's daughter. Ted's cousin, Edna Cowell, knew Linda Healey, and Ted had been enrolled in the same psychology class with Linda. A friend of Teds, used to play raetball with Donna Manson at Evergreen State College in Olympia. Terry Storewick, Bundy's boyhood friend, attended Central Washington State College in Ellensburg at the same time as Susan Rancourt. Terry and Susan had even jogged together to this day. Besides his confession, these gas receipts are about the only piece of evidence they have against Bundy in these crimes. But it gets much worse as when Seattle began to look at Bundy's movements. The amount of traveling he did gave me showing Ainsworth pause. The rest of what we were able to establish about Ted's movements during these months comes principally from his own and police records. January 31st, the night Linda Anne Healey was abducted from her basement bedroom, Ted attended his contracts class at UPS in Tacoma. He would have been back in Seattle in the early evening. March 12th, when Donna Gail Manson left her dorm room in Evergreen State College on her way to a jazz concert and was never seen again, Ted Bundy's dated law school notes indicate that he did not go to school. For the preceding months, these notes show a pattern of regular attendance, but they grow sketchy toward the end of March and stop altogether in early April. April 17th, the date Susan Rancourt left her dorm advisers meeting and vanished at Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, a VW similar to Ted's was seen parked at Taylor Mountain, where Ted's third dumping ground was discovered. May 6th, when Kathy Parks disappeared 250 mi south of Seattle in Corvalis, Oregon, Ted filled his VW's gas tank in Seattle, and cashed two checks for a total of $20, sufficient money to cover the cost of a 500m round trip. During this period, Ted's gas credit card slips reveal that he did an extraordinary amount of driving, far more than would be expected of a moneyshore law student whose carpool responsibilities were restricted to a single 60-mi roundtrip from Seattle to Tacoma each week. Of course, with this section, they aim to further solidify Bundy's guilt on very circumstantial evidence, but in doing so point out as well that his travels are suspicious in another sense, that he shouldn't have been able to afford his travels. Of course, Bundy was suspected and accused of being involved with drug running, which would also explain his driving habits and his ability to fund them, but we'll come to this angle again very shortly. The day after the search was done on Bundy's apartment, he was out on bond. He then took the time to extensively clean his car, do some renovations, and then proceed to sell it to a classmate of Melissa Smith. He also moved out of the rooming house he had been in in all his time in Utah. By the time the beginning of October comes, the detectives know all they have on Bundy is the eyewitness identification. If they don't get this, their entire case is built on extremely circumstantial evidence that wouldn't convict anyone. So on the first, they serve Bundy with the subpoena that ordered him to appear in a lineup tomorrow. Showing up for the lineup, Bundy had gotten a haircut, which according to prosecutor Yokum, changed his appearance completely. They then used this as an excuse to swap out the original lineup with police officers who look nothing like Ted. Not only did Carol DaRonch identify Bundy as her attacker, but Railen Shepard and a friend to Debbie Kent both identified Bundy as the man they saw at the school. Again, a physical impossibility.
When they brought me into that lineup, Ted continued, "And the DaRonch girl identified me. I was the only one there who wasn't a policeman. Every other man standing in that lineup was a police officer. You're kidding. No, I'm not. All those other men standing there were police officers. When they walked out on that stage into those lights, they could act really confident. And then I walk out there, I'm obviously different. Anyone in a situation like that is going to act nervous. So, you appear different from all the others. And they're all older than I am. I'm the only one who looks like a college student. And Carol DaRonch was sitting out there in the audience. She'd been shown my photograph. She knew I'm a law student. She knew who she was looking for. And that's their whole case, her identification of me. They lock Bundy up right then and there, and the news of these charges reach all the way back to those he knew in Washington. Some people are shocked. Some people are not surprised at all. But some people, of course, were already cooperating with the police. Liz, in fact, after Bundy's first arrest for evading police and with the new interest in Ted, was interviewed by multiple lead detectives who she related all sorts of odd details to, none of which added to anything really substantial. With the new charges of not only kidnapping, but attempted murder, the police were not the only ones looking to see if Ted Bundy fit the crimes in Seattle. The media was as well. Ted, in fact, blamed them for making the connection so quickly and broadcasting it so widely.
There was also a summit that was held while Bundy was jailed in the middle of November. There, investigators from Utah, Colorado, Washington, and California got together mainly to share the info they had on Ted and see if he was a fit for the unsolved murders they had in their respective states. From what I can see, not much comes out of this meeting. But one interesting thing is mentioned in a Pitkin County report of the summit, and that is that the father of Liz, Dr. Hurst told investigators that Bundy knew many foreign languages.
The case was resting purely on the ability for DaRonch now to hold her own in court and withstand the cross-examination she would face in front of a jury. But Bundy actually wouldn't have his case decided by a jury. After having his bail reduced to 15K and having the charge of attempted murder dropped, leaving just the kidnapping charge, Bundy paid up and flew to Washington and stayed there in Seattle until his trial. For his Utah trial, he would be represented by John Okonnell and prosecuted by David Yokum. In the case, would be presided over by Judge Stuart Hansen. All three men, interestingly enough, old classmates from law school, something Ted may or may not have been aware of when he was advised by John Oonnell to wave his right to a jury and have the judge be the jury. The trial started on February 23rd, 1976. And on March 1st, Judge Steuart Hansen decided Theodore Robert Bundy was guilty of aggravated kidnapping. Sentencing was originally to be decided on March 22nd, but was delayed so Bundy could go through a 90-day evaluation that would factor into his sentencing.
DaRonch had been taken to look at a car by investigators that she confirmed was the car she was kidnapped in, only to say on the stand that in fact the car looked nothing like the one she was kidnapped in. When asked why she identified the car if it looked completely different, she stated outright that she felt it was supposed to be the car. ''That was your testimony also at the preliminary hearing. Was the reason that you identified it was because it was supposed to be the car that was in the picture and you knew the officers weren't taking you up to see the wrong car. Right?''
''Right.''
Then there is this portion of the cross-examination from detective Jerry Thompson, who admitted he felt it was improper to show the witness two photos of the man who was the main suspect in their case before the witness was able to see him in a lineup. Then Okonnell turned to the second photo lineup, the one where Detective Beal from Bountiful showed DaRonch Ted's driver's license picture taken in December of 1974. ''You knew it was improper, didn't you? To show a witness two different pictures of the same individual, to show a witness another picture of an individual after she had made somewhat of an identification. This looks like him.''
''I figured it was improper to show the same photo, but an entirely different one that looked so much different. I didn't feel there was anything wrong with it.''
Police drug ring
The most curious case is that of Linda Miracle, her sons, and their neighbor Pat Botham, because the man said to be responsible is none other than the husband to Pat, Ken Botham. They had their own children at the time who were five and two, both boys. The eldest son maintains the evidence shows his father is innocent. And one of the main details that could point to that being the case is the fact that Linda Miracle had actually had an attempt on her life earlier in the year and Ken was the one to save her life. Along with maintaining his father's innocence, he also runs a site that alleges this whole string of murders was drugrelated and that these women and children were killed in relation to this drug ring. The most damning allegation being that this drug ring was operating inside the Grand Junction Police Department, the police department whose chief of police was Ben Meyers. Regardless of the veracity of these claims, one thing is true, and that is that Ben Meyers was identified at a crime scene attributed to Bundy. But this would only be revealed after Bundy had been arrested, then charged, and then convicted of the attempted abduction of Carol DaRonch.
Ronald Dennis Auth - The drug dealer would in fact later be busted for smuggling 17 tons of marijuana into Florida with three other men. The hall was worth 34 million in 1979 according to the papers, but O himself was reported to say he estimated his hall was really worth 360 million. The interesting part comes in when after he was sentenced by a jury, a judge overruled his sentencing and instead gave him 5 years of probation. This man was clearly protected here.
Ted drug running - Sybil Ferris, who befriended Bundy in 1967s: ''He borrowed things from her to make a date with Diane, but he also had borrowed money that he never paid back. And he also had borrowed her car on multiple occasions. He borrowed my car several times to go out on night trips. I was scared to death when he was gone. There was something up because he just wasn't running true to form of where he was going or what he was doing... I couldn't have him taking my car and keeping it out until 3:00 a.m. or 4:00 a.m. in the morning and telling me he would be back at midnight and me sitting up waiting... He told me he was going on trips. He would be gone all these hours and would come back all he up. He did this two or three times. I thought he might be trafficking dope.''
She says this while Ted was still at the yacht club in the fall of ' 67. She also said at this time that Ted would spend a lot of time with an antique dealer who had been to prison. Ultimately, Ted was fired 6 weeks into the job for stealing food from the pantry in the kitchen, getting caught with the stolen goods in his locker on multiple occasions. Things got worse for Ted as the year went on. It is perhaps here that Diane finally breaks it off with Ted as she describes Ted had to get away after the breakup and that she was the one to drop him off at the airport. This would start Ted's mysterious travels of 1968 that differ in multiple accounts. Ted says he saved up money from being a bus boy to fund this expedition. Other accounts detail that he also borrowed money, likely the money from Cibil. Still, the purpose of the travel remains unclear. Ted himself says he went to Aspen first to ski until he got bored with it and then went to Philadelphia and on his way back stopped in Arkansas for a week to stay with his uncle before finally making it back to Seattle. Misho in The Only Living Witness stars Ted heading to California. and then Aspen matched with the same time spent in Philly but skips the stay in Arkansas entirely. The FBI timeline gives the full account incorporating both Bunny's travel down to San Francisco first then to Aspen and Denver then to Philly in Arkansas and having him back in Seattle by March of 1968. He lied at least once about the true purpose of his travels, telling Cibil he was going to be a ski instructor in Aspen. She says he came back to Seattle, broke in with his uncle's Cadillac. No other account that I have found has him returning home in his uncle's Cadillac, but really, it's unclear how he was able to travel around as he was. Perhaps he really could afford to fly all over the country in quick succession like this on a whim and for the sole purpose of him wanting to. If that's even the reason for his travels to begin with, as again, we don't get an explanation for these movements. We also don't get any details on what exactly took place in California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, or Arkansas. Really, the only thing we do get is the fact Ted became interested in law after a conversation he had with his uncle Jack in Arkansas.
Returning to Seattle, Ted would continue to associate with criminals and drug users. In fact, he once again began to commit burglaries after he met a man named Richard, who, if we are to go off of the book, the only living witness alone, would actually be the one to introduce Ted to burglary. As stated, Richard is also described simply as a drug user. But his relationship with drugs may be more involved than that.
Drugs - Donna Gail Manson disappeared from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington on her way to a jazz concert held on campus. No one heard or seen a thing. She never showed up to the concert and was never seen again. Her disappearance was reported to police 6 days later on March 18th. Donna was known to be a wanderer in a sense, not a very predictable person. She had, according to rule, once hitchhiked far south into Oregon and back. She was into the occult, experimented with psychedelics, and was a pot smoker, which might be why she was associated with a man named Steve Brown. Brown attended Evergreen and also worked for the college at one point in the housing office. He told police he actually checked Manson into her room. Brown also worked at the Thirstston County Juvenile Center as a detention agent. Police were contacting Brown due to his relation to a minor named Jeff Short. See, shortly before her disappearance, Donna had actually told multiple people about a weird guy that she played a game of pool with in the dorm lounge. And she related that she felt the guy might be dangerous. Her closest friend, Megan, was the first to pass this information to investigators. She personally wasn't there, but she knew her friend Mark Vale later had an encounter with the same guy. So, they contact him. He related this guy was a proud thief and was trying to impress him with how bad he was. Mark, in fact, told police that the stranger told him he could get him anything his heart desired. And Mark confirmed this was in relation to drugs. He didn't know his whole name, but he thinks his last name was short. Not long after this, they figure out it was Joffrey Short, who had connections to multiple people on campus due to his run-ins with the law and having spent time in the juvenile center. This is where Brown comes in, who again had both a connection to Donna Manson and Jeff Short. Brown had been seen on campus with Short multiple times by another man who also worked at the Juvie Center and also had a connection with Short. This man was Roger Hine, who was interning there at the center under a man named Bill Doyle. Doyle was actually the one handling Short's case. Roger related to police that the times he seen Short on campus usually had to do with Brown. And on the multiple occasions he had a chance to talk with Short while he was interning, Short would try to impress him with his involvement with drugs. Did you ever have occasion to just sit and talk with Jeffrey? Yes, several times. What was the gist of these conversations? Well, Jeff was always finding excuses for being where he was, in particular, in detention or under some kind of supervision. He would try to lay a lot of exaggeration on me as to his particular involvement with, say, drug activities, especially drug activities, trying to impress me with what a bad man he was, what a hoodlm, this kind of thing. So, Hine related to police the connection between Brown and Short. The next day they interview Brown and he simply confirms the encounter with Manson and Jeff did happen and she did relate to him that she felt he was dangerous. He admits he does know Short and indeed has known him for 2 years. A few days later, they finally get in contact with Short himself, who denies most of what was claimed. He admits to the encounter with Donna and even admits he's a weird guy, so he's not surprised she would get the wrong impression. He admits to doing drugs but doesn't anymore. Specifically, he said he did speed. And this is interesting as in Donna's personal writing, she relates her encounter likely with Shorthair. Paranoid speed freak hanging around waiting. Just waiting alone. He thinks security is after him. Can't roll a joint. Asked a lot of questions. Lived out on Cooper Point Road. Says he's got a lot of hot shit No doubt. Once again, it is related that Short is on campus trying to sell drugs. You have Donna's writing here. Then you have Mark Vale's account, but most importantly, you have a man working for the juvenile center, also confirming Jeff's stated involvement with drugs, the same juvenile center Jeff has been brought to, but also the one his friend Brown works at. But why does all of this matter? What connection does this have to Bundy?
A few years later, when Bundy has become a national figure and was officially found guilty for the crimes committed in Florida, Short came forward to police with some very interesting things to tell them. And just so you're aware, before we get into this information Short gave to police, this just appears in the files completely at random. There's no info before or after this. There's no detail on why Short came forward. Nothing. Just his statement which goes like this: Speaking of the time just after Donna's disappearance in the initial police investigation, he related to police that Brown had called him when he was coming back from vacation and told him that they were going to question him about Manson, but Brown assured him he had it under control. Just 30 minutes later and the police were at Short's door, which he figured meant Brown had called the police himself because no one other than his foster parents knew that he was back home.''
The conversation then switches from here to something very interesting. Short related to police that not only was he involved with selling drugs on campus, but that Steve Brown was also facilitating drug sales at Evergreen. Short in fact implicates multiple members of staff in this operation that was according to him split at least between two separate dorm areas. But there was another person involved with the drug sales on Evergreen. According to Short, none other than Ted Bundy was partnered with Steve Brown in this operation. The full scope and complexity of this ring is unclear. And what the exact nature of Bundy and Brown's relationship was is also not clear. What is clear and directly related is that Bundy was not some local pusher of drugs, but was actually supplying Brown. "We had a little business going, which his friend from Tacoma, Ted Bundy, brought the dope to us or bought it for Steve." But that's not all Bundy was involved with, of course, because Short quickly relates that Brown and Bundy were also involved in a murder, a drugreated murder. We went to the student chow hall and ate dinner at this time. Steve indicated he was mad about a bad dope deal, and we talked of it. But when we were leaving, I think he said something about a spot where there was construction and I felt that he meant where they Bundy and him put the body.'' He tells police Bundy and Brown had multiple locations to themselves. "They had an apartment located in Ash where I seen a little of Bundy, also a store and a dorm apartment." Right after police interviewed Short in 1974, Brown was skipping town to none other than Washington DC. He told Short his apartment in Ash was paid up for a while and he was free to stay there. This statement was taken by police on August 3rd, 1979, and this went nowhere. There is no further information related by Jeff Short about this drug ring taking place on Evergreen State College in which he himself and multiple members of staff were involved. Perhaps they didn't think he was credible. Perhaps his info didn't check out. He's not exactly a trustworthy source. And maybe he was holding a grudge against Steve. Maybe he wanted attention. Maybe he thought he could get a reward. Or maybe he was telling the truth. Remember Bill Doyle? Jeff Short's very own case handler. Well, we don't get a full-blown interview transcribed from him, but tucked away in the files with no further mention is this piece of information recorded right in the middle of the initial investigation. ''Bill Doyle 418 1974. Steve Brown, pushing drugs, knows Donna Manson.'' Bundy being implicated here as a drug trafficker is certainly interesting given his previous suspicion of being involved in such activities while he was working at a yacht club, no less, and was described as running his own game, meaning he was not there just to clean tables as a bus boy. His confirmed involvement with a ring of burglar who were into drugs becomes more complex now as the drug involvement these thieves had seems a lot more like they were also involved with running drugs, not selling petty amounts, but actually serving as suppliers. What exactly this might have to do with Donna is unclear. Donna would go on to have many people report sightings of her in the following months. None of them returned anything useful, but one certainly stands out among the rest. A couple guys picked up a girl hitchhiking who needed a ride to a local gas station. During the car ride, she divulged that she and two of her friends were moving to Kenmore, Washington, and renting a place out for $100 a month. But most importantly, she mentioned she was staying with a guy named Ted. This was weeks before anyone named Ted would be publicly associated with this case. Later, both the men identified the girl as Donna from the picture on the flyer. Still, Donna Gail Manson has never been found.
Cover Up
Bundy and Okonnell would be working at an appeal, but there would be other cases Bundy would soon have to face. In fact, just over a week later, he would be facing questioning by Fiser, who interrogated him on his reasons for being in Colorado on the same days as the disappearances of Karen Campbell, Julie Cunningham, and Denise Oliversson. Getting nothing from Bundy, Fischer retreated. But he would soon have enough to bring forward a case that would blow up in front of everyone, leaving most confused, but giving us a potential insight into something much more nefarious. Bundy was determined to be a parole risk from his 90-day evaluation and was sentenced on June 30th, 1976 to 1 to 15 years in the Utah State Prison. Just a few months later, on October 22nd, Bundy would be charged with the murder of Karen Campbell in Colorado. Bundy was arraigned at the end of November and extradited on the 28th of January from the Utah State Prison to the Pitkin County Jail in Aspen for the murder of Karen Campbell. See, as Bundy was being tried and convicted in Utah, Fiser was building his case on Bundy since his very first arrest, re-checking facts and gathering new ones. By the time evidence was being presented to Judge Lure in the pre-trial, this is what he came up with. They had the Colorado ski brochure with the X marked for the Wild Wooden. They had a pattern of wounds on Karen's head that would be consistent with Ted's crowbar or any other like it. They had his gas receipts that proved he was in the state of Colorado on the day she disappeared. They had hairs found in Bundy's car. The one he washed out, repaired, and then sold before it ended up in police custody after they bought it off the kid Bundy sold it to. Yes, somehow these hairs that were microscopically a match for not only Karen Campbell, but also Melissa Smith and Carol DaRonch, yes, they somehow survived Bundy's cleanup, and they also couldn't belong to anybody else. Lastly, and certainly most importantly, they had an eyewitness identification. Soon after Bundy had been arrested, Fiser had taken Bundy's photo to a woman named Liz Harter. She officially IDed Bundy on January 9th, 1976 as the man she had seen next to the elevator, and that she had found suspicious on the night Karen Campbell disappeared. putting Bundy not only in the state the day Campbell vanished, but putting him in the Wildwood in the night she vanished. This, of course, is still very circumstantial, but with the backing of his previous conviction of kidnapping and all the other pieces of circumstantial evidence there, a jury could easily be swayed to see how Bundy fits the picture of a killer. But Liz Harter had a different story about the process of her identification of Bundy. She testified she actually told Fischer about the two men by the elevator when she first spoke to Fischer. He claims she only told him about the two men a year later. She also clarified that out of the two men that were there, she identified Bundy as the man that was furthest from her, and she admitted it was a poor identification on her part. Fischer's response to this was to say his own witness was confused.
But this in fact is not the only occasion in which investigator Mike Fiser has contradicted his own witnesses. In a sworn affidavit, Fiser says a married couple had told him that they were on the same elevator as Karen Campbell while she was going to get the magazine, that they had spoken with her, and that they were familiar with her, and that she got off on the second floor. While the wife, Idot, would testify for pre-trial proceedings. And the next day in the papers, she was reported to say she never spoke with Campbell and in fact did not know what floor she even got off on. This discrepancy was noted in the same paper. Needless to say, it's not a good look to call your own witnesses into question and tell them they are wrong.
John Oonnell and his co-consel Bruce Lubeck were working on the appeal in Utah. And so for Bundy's Colorado case, he was being represented by public defenders Chuck Lightner and Jim Dumas. Before the trial would begin, Ted would be moved to Glenwood Springs to stay in Garfield County Jail, and Ted himself would move to fire his council and serve as his own defense. Bundy anxiously fredded that discovery documents, the details of investigations which had been carried out by police in the Karen Campbell case and other murders were coming into the possession of Lightner. Ted wanted those reports in his personal control. Thus, Bundy made a quiet resolve to undertake his own defense prosay. In a pencile letter on yellow legal stationary, he outlined that proposal to the judge, saying that course of action handling his case is intelligently charted in my own best interests. Linener's reaction to the idea was a miffed shrug of the shoulders. Judge Lur persuaded Bundy to wait until after the important pre-trial show cause hearings scheduled for early April before deciding to undertake the case, serving as his own counsel.
The witness, Lizbeth Harter, was called to the stand to testify her eyewitness account of seeing the two men by the elevator. One of these two men being Bundy the night of Karen Campbell's disappearance. When she was asked to identify the man most resembling the one she saw that night, she identified not Ted Bundy, but the Pickin County under Sheriff Ben Meyers. A shock to everyone at the time, but it didn't lead to any further revelations that might help you draw different conclusions than the ones wanted. It was a crazy moment of confusion and consternation for the prosecution. Blakey did the only reasonable thing. He ended the questioning. It remained possible that some man she'd seen near the elevator resembled Ben Meyers. Perhaps she would remember Bundy as the strange man further away near the refrigeration unit. But Blakey risked no more questions. Ben Meyers being pointed out as a man potentially involved in the murder of Karen Campbell makes more sense when you take into account the allegations made against the Grand Junction Police Department in the 1970s.
We should also take into consideration a noticeable pattern among at least three victims and that is their involvement or connection to law enforcement. Janice Aut was a probation officer and her father had once been an associate of the state board of prison terms and parrolles. Melissa Smith of course was the daughter of a police chief and Karen Campbell was the sister to a Fort Lauderdale cop.
This connection goes deeper after it's revealed later in the early8s that Fort Lauderdale drug runners were speculated by authorities to be using Aspen as a center for drug smuggling. Grand Junction as well was then and is now a major drug trafficking destination given its placement on the US interstate. So perhaps the identification of Ben Meyers at the Wildwood Inn while he was police chief of Grand Junction is not the result of confusion.
Ben Meyers was placed at the Wildwood in the day Karen Campbell disappeared. But guess who was also spotted at the Wildwood Inn that day? Hugh Joseph Michael Tamos. Tamos had worked at and been fired from various hotels in the Aspen area building up to the 12th of January 1975. In fact, he picked up his last check the next day and left the Aspen area. Fiser during his initial investigation looked into Tamos after he was reported by many that knew him there as crazy. Months later, they caught up with Tamos in Oregon and proceeded to give him a polygraph test, which went like this: ''A maid at the Wildwood end testified she saw Jones near the pool at the Wildwood on the night of the 12th. On the basis of this information, police brought Jones in for a polygraph test. The report finds no indication Jones committed this murder, but the report of this polygraph test also reveals that apparently an unusual situation occurred. Apparently, the test was administered without a blood pressure cuff. A Seattle polygraph expert, while not commenting on this specific test of Jones, takes a dim view of attaching validity to this manner of testing.
If any one of these three elements were omitted, say if you did not attach the blood pressure cuffs, would that give you an accurate reading?
Not necessarily, because we have to use all three components. And that's the important thing and the good thing about polygraph is as well as the breathing, we also have two other components to look at.
So, if a test were administered, say, without the blood pressure cuffs, would you consider it a valid and accurate test?
Well, we just wouldn't do it. No, I don't think I would. Uh-uh.
The agent in Colorado concluded that according to the polygraph, Jones did not commit the murder. And at this point, apparently, the investigation of this man was dropped.''
With that, Tamos was off the hook. After he took a polygraph test that wasn't even administered properly, Fischer would be back in the dark until he was presented with Bundy.
So, to briefly recap before we move on, Meyers, Tamos, and Bundy all moved to roughly the same area around the same time.
Bundy later took the fall for the Campbell murder, but Meyers and Tamos were actually spotted at the Wildwood in the night Campbell vanished, and Bundy wasn't. With the only solid piece of evidence for the prosecution blowing up in their face, they would now have to rely on the brochure, the gas lips, the head wounds, and the hair. But they had another trick up their sleeves. Through routine discovery procedures, he had learned that the prosecution in Aspen planned to call along with such expected witnesses as Mike Fischer, the California eyewitness Elizabeth Harter, and the doctor who performed the Karen Campbell autopsy, Carol DaRonch, Jerry Thompson, Dave Yokum, even Bob Keell from Seattle. What it meant, Ted knew, was that he would have to combat a prosecution strategy based on the doctrine of similar transactions, whereby other crimes exhibiting a common scheme or plan are introduced to bolster the charge at hand. It is a dangerous and murky legal concept, an invitation for abuse by the prosecution and nothing less than a nightmare for the defense.
Bundy escape - After 6 days with no sign of Bundy, he was caught in a traffic stop wearing a disguise trying to leave Aspen. An investigation into his activities during the six days of his escape revealed some interesting details. After climbing a mountain and spending a night in the wilderness, Ted broke into a cabin via the only window that wasn't covered with 3/4in plywood frames. In fact, it was covered by wire mesh that a caretaker would later say would require super strength to pry open. And yet Bundy did just that after spending the night on the side of a cold and wet mountain that he just climbed. Inside was food and clothing and also a rifle that he initially took but then discarded. The night he actually attempted to escape Aspen. He just so happened to find a Cadillac with the doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition. Apparently, this was a common thing back in the day when our country was still high in trust. But this doesn't exclude the fact that the car very well may have been planted there. This in fact will seem much more likely in the very near future. During the days of Bundy's escape, they had set up a draget. According to Chuck Lightner, there was only two ways out of Aspen, and they had both exits covered. During this time, they confiscated over 200 lb of pot either landing there in Aspen or just passing through. In fact, this article reported on the 9th, that 500 lb had been seized. Given this was reported on the 9th, the confiscation likely happened on the 8th, which is just the day after Bundy escaped. Other criminals were brought in too, like a California fugitive who was armed when arrested. The night Bundy found the Cadillac with the keys in the ignition, a girl was assaulted, seemingly in a manner that was meant to point to Bundy. She reported to police that as she walked home early Monday morning, an unidentified asalant who had been following her grabbed her, knocked her down, kicked her, and dragged her by the hair. She said she screamed and struggled until the asalant became frightened by the noise and ran away. The suspect was described as a white male, 19 to 28 years old, 5' 10 in tall, 165 lb, clean shaven with dark blonde collar length hair. He wore a white t-shirt and blue jeans. This assault happened right at the exact moment Bundy was making his escape. Pitken County deputies Jean Flatt and Marine Higgins sped through the darkened streets in answer to a call for help. A teenage girl had been grabbed, knocked down, and dragged by the hair on the town's east end. A city patrol car had radioed for assistance. Aspen was quiet this late Sunday night, and Flatten Higgins did not see any cars until they almost reached their destination. As they rounded the corner, a baby blue Cadillac nearly veered off the road in front of them. Another DWI, Flat thought, and pulled a quick U-turn on the highway. His flashing lights soon brought the other vehicle to a halt. Perhaps this was a random chance. or perhaps a diversion backfired. Regardless, Bundy was back in custody and was now facing new charges.
Witness silencing - After Bundy had jumped from the window, his legal advisers that initially served as his lawyers before Ted decided to defend himself were officially taken off of the case as they now had a conflict of interest with Ted's new crime of escape. They could not be witnesses and defend him at the same time. So Bundy was soon represented by a defense council he actually appreciated. Brown and Bundy were conspicuously pleased when during a post escape hearing, Judge Lure appointed Steven Buzzy Wear, a brilliant Aspen lawyer, a private practice specialist in major crimes defense to represent Ted. Named as We's associate was Kenneth Dresnner. Bundy was also pleased with a discovery he made back in May that he sat on until the time was right. And it would seem that time was now. In August, Ted went public with news that had fired his confidence all the more. During routine discovery proceedings in the preparation of his Colorado murder defense, Bundy had made a heartening strike, a potentially exculpatory police report by Salt Lake City detective Jerry Thompson in the Carol DaRonch kidnapping case. The previously undisclosed report Bundy and his Utah lawyers pointed out in a motion for retrial presented a substantially different version of the way Carol DaRonch had come to identify Ted. Initially, the newly discovered report suggested DaRonch had been far less certain of her ability to identify her asalent than Thompson had testified at the trial. Also, Thompson might have led DaRonch to identify Ted, asking as she held the photo of Bundy in her hand if that was the guy. Finally, Thompson had called DaRonch a very poor witness in this suppressed report. Read the retrial motion, but not in any others. The suppressed report read the retrial motion reflects the frustration of a detective who attempted and failed to get the victim to make an identification of a person he regarded as guilty and dangerous and indicates that those attitudes were conveyed to the victim. The result was a fraud upon the court and the defense. A later comment from Thompson was reported in this news segment that he didn't suppress the report. He just thought it was not important. "This is a poor witness in the detective's opinion. I don't know if she could identify who abducted her." With this, Ted could argue even harder that the DaRonch identification was built by the police. This case, after all, is the most important to suppress.
Perhaps if he had the continued counsel of Buzzy Wear, things might have gone in Bundy's direction. But on August 11th, Wear and his wife suffered a severe motorcycle accident after he sped straight into a rock wall that left his face and skull smashed and fractured and his wife dead.
Kenneth Dresnner remained on Bundy's defense, and they were soon joined by Kevin O'Reilly. Through the following months, Bundy and his team actually beat multiple attempts to make previous cases Bundy was never even charged, let alone convicted for admissible. The prosecution attempted to link Bundy through similar transactions to the cases of Melissa Smith, Laura Aime, and Debbie Kent. Aime, in fact, was never even brought forward because the Utah County Sheriff's Office either tossed out or lost essentially the relevant evidence in her case. Smith and Kent were ruled inadmissible, but the prosecution still had not only the testimony of Carol DaRonch and the Utah police, but the actual kidnapping charge as well. The hearing to introduce the DaRonch case as a similar transaction took place. And here, Bundy actually got to cross-examine DaRonch herself. Bundy marched DaRonch through every aspect of her police interviews and photo packets and then through the lineup itself. Again and again, DaRonch's voice shook and all the skips and lags in her memory were visible. Finally, toward the end of the third hour of testimony, Ted faced her head on. "Is it possible at the lineup that the pictures you had been shown previously had some effect?" "No," DaRonch said. "Are you positive that I was your abductor? You're not really sure that my car is the same car. They told you it was the car in the pictures. You're not really sure I'm the same man, are you? For a second before she lifted her head and called her answer out into the room, Carol DaRonch looked straight at Ted. Yes, she said clearly. I'm sure you can't change your face. >> Did he look different today than as you remember him, Chip? >> He look different every time I seen him. He's changed different all the time. The judge decided not to immediately rule on the admissibility of the DaRonch transaction and put it off until the beginning of the trial, which was supposed to begin in January. Bundy, though, attempted to hold off on the start of the trial by arguing something that did make sense. He pushed for a change of venue given the notoriety he garnered from his escape in Aspen. Judge Laura agreed in short time, but decided to send Ted to Colorado Springs, where the death penalty was almost assured. Ted pleaded for a different location, one that wasn't going to guarantee his death if found guilty, but the judge held firm on his decision. What Judge Lur didn't know was that Ted had already set in motion a plan that didn't take into account the judge's decision. So when 2 days after Christmas lore ruled the death penalty for Ted's case unconstitutional, it didn't really make a difference as just 3 days later and Ted would vanish without a trace.
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By: Semmiot
Raped by: Otto Heckel
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