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America's Most Infamous Crimes with Katie Ring
Ted Bundy’s Final Rampage: The Chi Omega Sorority Murders Pt. 3
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- [00:00]
Katie Ring
Foreign. This is Crime House. Ted Bundy escaped from prison not once, but twice. While authorities scrambled to catch him. The killings did not stop, they only escalated. But one chance encounter brought everything to an end. And what investigators found was more horrifying than anyone expected. Every crime tells a story about the people involved, the system that tried to stop it, and the nation that couldn't look away. Some cases are so shocking, so deeply woven into who we are, that decades later, we're still asking, how did this happen? I'm Katie Ring and this is America's Most Infamous Crimes. Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I'll take you deep into cases that have a lasting imprint on society and still haunt us today. I want to thank you for being part of the Crime House community. Please rate, review and follow America's Most Infamous Crimes wherever you get your podcasts and to get all episodes at once ad free. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. Before I get started, please be advised that this episode contains descriptions of physical and sexual assault and murder. So please listen with care. This is the last episode of our three part series on Ted Bundy, one of the most notorious serial killers of all time. Today I'll tell you how authorities finally zeroed in on him, Ted's desperate attempts to escape, and his final downfall.
- [01:39]
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Katie Ring
I think we should call a doctor Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust.
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- [02:27]
Katie Ring
By January of 1975, 29 year old Ted Bundy had been murdering young women for a year straight, claiming at least 11 victims. For a while he'd managed to avoid detection, but news of his brutal rampage made it harder for him to keep killing. Even after he moved to Salt Lake City, people were less willing to chat with strangers, and there weren't as many hitchhikers looking for rides. With that in mind, Ted moved his hunting grounds again. In early 1975, he headed to the mountains of Colorado, where he blended in with the tourists at upscale scale ski resorts. Using the tactics he'd perfected over the previous year, Ted abducted and killed at least three young women between January and April. Karen Campbell, Julie Cunningham, and Denise Oliverson. As winter turned into spring, he shifted gears again and cast an even wider net. His next two victims, 12 year old Lynette Don Culver and 15 year old Susan Curtis, were killed in Idaho and Utah. By the end of June 1975, Ted Bundy had killed a staggering 17 girls and young women over the span of 18 months. Back in Washington, the local authorities realized their current approach to the case wasn't working. So they decided to use an unconventional method to sift through the mountains of tips they'd received. Using an old payroll computer, they built a primitive database to cross reference the victims with their classmates, known sex offenders, registered Volkswagen Beetle owners, anonymous tips, and more. The database was revolutionary for its time. Thousands of suspects were fed into the computer, and out of all of the names, only 26 appeared on more than four lists, making them the prime suspects. One of them was Ted Bundy. But just like the last list he'd been on, it would take a while to get to him. While investigators dug through their latest findings, Ted was still on the hunt. In the early hours of August 16, 1975, the 29 year old cruised through a Salt Lake City suburb looking for his next victim. Around 2:30am Ted parked his Volkswagen on the side of the road and sparked up a joint. While he smoked in his car, a pair of headlights suddenly appeared in his rearview mirror. The lights startled Ted, and without thinking, he slammed on the gas and peeled out with his headlights off. That was the worst thing he could have done because the headlights belonged to a highway patrol car. The officer turned on his siren and pursued Ted to a nearby gas station. He could smell the weed as he approached the suspect's car and expected to find a scared teenager inside. Instead, he met Ted Bundy. He looked disheveled, but otherwise calm. Ted turned on the charm, apologizing for his reckless driving as he handed over his papers. But no amount of sweet talk could distract the officer when he read the name on the license. For months, every cop in Utah had been after a Man named Ted, driving a tan Volkswagen. The officer wasn't ready to jump to any conclusions just yet, but it did make him take a second look at Ted's vehicle. He scanned the inside of the car, and in an interview, he said that the passenger seat was all the way back. Ted claimed it was broken and stated that he just needed to get it fixed. But the officer thought it was incredibly suspicious and was enough space to fit a body. He then searched the car and found a ski mask, gloves, handcuffs, a rope, and a crowbar. There was also a shovel lying in the backseat. There was no way Ted was talking himself out of this one. He spent the night in jail for evading a police officer while they went over the items from his car. It was definitely suspicious, but not enough to hold him on suspicion of being a serial killer. So the next morning, Ted was allowed to leave the station. After he was gone, the detectives called their counterparts in Seattle to see if Ted Bundy was on their radar. In a stroke of luck, or fate or whatever you want to call it, Ted was literally the next person on their list to investigate. The detectives in Utah agreed to keep a close eye on him, and they got a front row seat as Ted Bundy's world unraveled. Once Elizabeth learned that he had been arrested with those disturbing items in his car, she finally broke up with him. Ted tried to tell her it was all a misunderstanding, but she couldn't believe him anymore. She had to do what was best for her daughter and keep Ted away. Ted did not take this well at all. Although he used their relationship as cover for his violence, he was also deeply attached to Elizabeth. In a strange way, the same urges that drove him to murder women also made him desperate for their approval, and he'd always struggled with rejection. After their breakup, he started drinking a lot. And his friends in Utah noticed that he was having dramatic mood swings. But Ted's breakup was about to be the least of his problems. The authorities in Utah got a warrant to search his apartment in Salt Lake City, where they found several pieces of circumstantial evidence. Some of the items included a guide to Colorado ski resorts, a brochure from one of the victim's schools, and the same type of shoes Carol Durant's kidnapper had worn. None of this was definitive proof that Ted was actually a serial killer, but it was enough to place him in a police lineup for Carol Durant. On October 2, 1975. She was able to identify him, and that same day, Ted was charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. But he wasn't going down without a fight.
- [08:02]
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- [08:54]
Katie Ring
of $45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required Intro Rate First Full Price Plan options available Taxes and fees extra. See full terms@mintmobile.com in the weeks following his arrest, Ted frantically wrote to family and friends. He swore the charges were bogus and that it was just all a witch hunt and most people believed him. In an interview with the Mormon bishop who baptized him, he said that they helped raise some money for his bail because at that time they were certain he was innocent. But he sent the most letters to his now ex girlfriend, Elizabeth Kloepfer. He wrote to her almost every day begging her to take him back. As scared as Elizabeth was, she had a hard time shutting Ted down. He told her everything she wanted to hear and by the end of 1975 they were somehow back together with Elizabeth back in his life. 29 year old Ted Bundy walked into the courtroom on February 23rd, 1976. He was feeling extremely confident even though it was a bench trial, which meant he needed to convince a judge instead of just a jury of his peers. And the star witness, 19 year old Carol Durant, was understandably nervous. Ted hoped she could be intimidated into making a mistake during her testimony, but Carol rose to the occasion. She insisted that Ted was the man who tried to kidnap her and the judge believed her. Although Ted was acquitted of the attempted murder charge, he was found guilty of aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison. But if the authorities had their way, he'd be there for much longer. Ted was sent to prison in Salt Lake City while the authorities worked to connect him to the other murders. Using credit card transactions and gas station receipts, they learned that he was in the areas where the victims disappeared. They interviewed multiple witnesses and combed through the wilderness for more bodies. Finally, In October of 1976, they had enough evidence to charge Ted with the murder of Karen Campbell, a 23 year old he'd abducted from a Colorado hotel. The following year, in January 1977, he was extradited to a prison in Aspen. As soon as he got there, the prison's officials could tell he was a different kind of criminal. Ted bored on the charm and became friendly with the guards immediately. He was also able to use his knowledge from law school to help his lawyer with his defense. That gave Ted special privileges most inmates didn't get, like the use of the legal library. Most importantly, it meant that he could appear in court without shackles on. Ted argued that acting as his own lawyer while wearing chains would prejudice the jury against him. The judge granted his request, but it was all just a smokescreen Because Ted had no intention of attending his own trial. On June 7, 1977, he was called out of his cell for a pretrial hearing. The day started out as planned, with Ted delivering some prepared remarks to the judge. When a mid morning recess was called, he shuffled out of the courtroom and into the second floor library. No one paid much attention to him because it was all business as usual. Ted casually walked around the room, edging towards a stack of books sitting near an open window. He leaned against the sill and took one last look to make sure no one was watching. Then, in a single fluid motion, Ted jumped out of the window. On June 7, 1977, Ted Bundy jumped out of a second story window of Aspen's Pitkin County Courthouse. The 30 year old took a hard fall into the bushes below and injured his ankle. But he could still walk. Ted shook himself off, limped towards the tree line and ran into the woods before anyone realized he was gone. Even with his injured ankle, no supplies, and no real plan, Ted broke into a cabin and managed to survive in the Aspen mountains for almost a week. After five days on the run, he stole a car. But by then he was delirious from hunger. He swerved all around the road and it wasn't long before an officer pulled him over and sent him back to prison. Naturally, the failed escape made him look pretty guilty. So once again, Ted's girlfriend Elizabeth cut off all contact with him. This time for good. But beyond that, he didn't face a lot of repercussions. Once Ted was back in prison, the security around his cell wasn't increased and the pretrial hearing started back up. Meanwhile, Ted went to work planning his next escape attempt. He bribed a fellow inmate to get him a hacksaw and ask for money from his friends and family. A former coworker named Carol Boone would visit him a lot, and she gladly smuggled him cash. Carol was one of the many women Ted cheated on Elizabeth with. And her relationship continued even after his kidnapping conviction. Carol was smart, but she was also emotionally vulnerable. Because before she met Ted, she'd been through a rough divorce. And he played on her deep need for love. So by day, Ted spun lies to Carol Boone and chatted with the guards. At night, he steadily sawed a hole in his ceiling. After months of work, it was only about a square foot in diameter. But by starving himself, Ted could just barely squeeze through. On December 30, 1977, after six months of prep, he was finally ready. That night, he wriggled into the ceiling, dropped down into a vacant staff apartment and changed into street clothes. From there, he was able to walk out of the front door to freedom. But after that, he didn't really have a plan. He took a bus to Denver, then grabbed a flight to Chicago using the cash Carol had smuggled him. But Ted was tired of the cold and wanted to be as far as possible away from the Pacific Northwest. So he headed to Florida. He ended up in Tallahassee and used the last of his money to rent a room in a boarding house near Florida State University. By then, a change had come over Ted. The reality of his situation had sunk in. And it wasn't pretty. With his face plastered all over the news, the charming mask he'd perfected was basically useless. Now he was fueled by his violent urges and the simmering rage inside of him. The only thing he had left was murder.
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- [16:10]
Katie Ring
After escaping prison in Colorado, Ted was laying low in Tallahassee for a week. While detectives back in Colorado scrambled to pick up his trail. He kept himself at the boarding house and most of the other residents gave him a wide berth. By January 15, 1978, Ted couldn't handle the isolation any longer. He wanted to become the monster again. He wanted to satisfy his urge to hurt someone. That night he prowled the streets looking for his next victim. At three in the morning, he spotted a sorority house, canvassed it, armed himself with a piece of flower firewood he found at the house, and entered the Florida State sorority house. Through a broken back door. He found 21 year old Margaret Bowman sleeping in her room and pounced on her, beating her and strangling her. Barely stopping to take a breath. He then broke into the next room and beat one year old Lisa Janet Levy to death. But even then, he wasn't done. Ted entered two other bedrooms and assaulted the women inside before fleeing the scene. Luckily, a sorority sister spotted him as he rushed out the back door and was able to call 911 in time to save two of the girls lives. While the cops responded to the scene at the sorority house, Ted broke into another apartment eight blocks away where he assaulted 21 year old Cheryl Thomas. A neighbor heard the commotion through the wall and called for help. Ted ran before they arrived and thankfully Cheryl survived the attack, although it left her with a broken jaw and permanent hearing loss. After that, Ted finally stopped and he holed up in his room and hid from the police. Surviving the next week by stealing credit cards. And on the morning of February 8, 1977, he hijacked a van and traveled east towards Jacksonville. Ted knew he should lie low, but he couldn't control himself any longer. So he went looking for another victim. In the middle of a heavy rainstorm, Ted passed by Lake City Junior High school and pulled over. Through the downpour he could barely see a 12 year old girl named Kimberly Leach running through an open field towards a school. Kimberly was much younger than most of Ted's other victims, but at that point he was past caring. He wanted to kill and as long as his target couldn't fight back, he didn't care who they were. After Killing Kimberly Leach. Ted fled from town to town, stealing cars and credit cards whenever he could. His body and mind were wearing down and it was only a matter of time before he slipped up. A week after killing Kimberly, on February 15, 1978, a police officer named David Lee found Ted by chance loitering in a car outside of Pensacola, Florida. Lee ran the license plates and realized the vehicle was stolen and asked Ted to step out of the car and lay on the ground. At first, Ted cooperated, but when Lee tried to cuff him, he spun around and kicked the officer's feet out from under him. Then Ted tried to run, but he didn't get far. After another struggle, Lee pistol whipped Ted and got him in cuffs. Ted's only words to him were, I wish you had killed me. That was Ted Bundy's final arrest. In May of 1978, the 32 year old was indicted on four first degree murder charges for killing Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman at the Florida State sorority house. He was offered a plea bargain, but he turned it down at the last minute. According to his lawyers, Ted couldn't face the prospect of publicly admitting guilt. He didn't want to expose himself as the monster he really was. Instead, he used the trial to shape his public image, trying to come off as charming and intelligent even when it sabotaged his own case. He had multiple qualified attorneys. But Ted insisted on leading his own defense, which he was legally entitled to do. At this point, it wasn't about winning. It was about rebuilding the respectable facade he'd obsessively crafted for himself. And Ted got the attention he wanted. His trials were packed with reporters documenting his every move as he played to the crowd. For instance, after Ted was convicted of murdering 12 year old Kimberly Leach, his girlfriend Carol Boone appeared as a character witness at the sentencing hearing and testified about his upstanding moral character. While questioning her on the stand, Bundy asked Carol Boone to marry him. When she agreed, he invoked a Florida statute allowing a declaration of marriage in open court, effectively marrying her during his own trial. According to Florida law, any declaration of marriage in the presence of a judge constituted a legal vow. But the sideshow didn't do anything to change his fate. The next day, on February 10, 1980, 33 year old Ted Bundy was sentenced to death. With any prospect of a good reputation gone, Ted spent the last years of his life looking for infamy instead. As long as he was going down as a serial killer, he was going to lean into it. To that end, Ted gave dozens of contradictory interviews to journalists, psychologists and police officers. It's likely he made up lurid details about his life to play up his image, but he also just seemed to enjoy tricking people. Since then, countless people have pored over these interviews to try and understand the psychology of Ted Bundy. On the surface, he seemed to have so much going for him. He was clever, attractive, and charismatic. So what went wrong? One of the many psychiatrists who examined Ted after His capture was Dr. Emmanuel Tanay, a professor at Wayne state university school of medicine, who concluded that while ted did speak to him freely during their conversations, Meaningful communication between them was pretty much impossible. Ted was more interested in manipulating people than connecting with them. Whatever Ted's angle was, it came to an end on January 24, 1989, when he was executed by electric chair at the age of 42. Since then, he's become one of the most infamous serial killers of all time, the archetype of the charming neighbor hiding a secret dark side. And it's true that Ted's good looks and friendly demeanor drew some of his victims in. But in reality, he always took advantage of people who were empathetic and compassionate. Despite having loved ones who were willing to help him, Ted closed himself off and chose to take his childhood anger out on other people. Ted Bundy spent his life crafting a Persona that was attractive and charming. But the true Ted Bundy was a coward and a liar without any real conscience. He knew the darkness was inside of him, but chose to let it out anyway. And in the end, that's his real impact on American true crime. He was a monster who hid behind a mask of normalcy and who weaponized his knowledge of the criminal justice system to fulfill his own twisted fantasies. He knew that different jurisdictions didn't communicate with each other. He knew how they approached cases of missing women. Then he used that knowledge to murder at least 30 people and go completely undetected. So while we might remember Ted Bundy for being the serial killer next door, let's also remember his victims, the innocent women and girls whose lives were cut short just because they crossed paths with the wrong person who had real futures ahead of them, but never got the chance to experience it. To me, they are the real story, Like we did yesterday. At the end of the episodes, we're going to be taking any questions you may have.
- [23:54]
Co-host or Guest Commentator
So let's get into it.
- [23:56]
It's understandable that Elizabeth would have a hard time coming to terms with the fact that Ted was a serial killer. But it's pretty wild that he was able to put his guards at Ease enough for him to escape twice. Does that show how charming he really was, or is it more of a reflection on our justice system?
- [24:12]
I think it's probably a mix of both. I think the real thing, unfortunately, is the biases in our justice system. And this is a white guy who is educated, clean cut, and seems very normal and probably is. Guards can probably see a little bit of themselves in him. Honestly, if it was any other person, they probably would have been watched like a hawk and wouldn't have been allowed to, like, stroll the legal library. So I don't think, at least in
- [24:44]
Katie Ring
that first one, he would have been
- [24:45]
Co-host or Guest Commentator
able to get away. I think the second one, again, is a little incompetency. But also, I don't even know how he got a hacksaw into or how anyone got a hacksaw into prison. So, like, I don't think they would expect him to be able to hacksaw into the ceiling. And then the space he created was also so small. So, like, the only thing I think they could really see was how much weight he was losing, which also, you know, maybe you don't like the jail food. So the second one, you know, I think that was just kind of smart of him. But I also think that because the guards could see themselves in him or he was clean cut, white guy, that he wasn't treated the same way some other prisoners would be treated.
- [25:28]
Any thoughts on his switch from not wanting to plead guilty because that would mean admitting to being a serial killer, to then milking it for attention after he was found guilty?
- [25:37]
To me personally, I actually think it wasn't so much. Even though his lawyer said that. I don't think it was as much him not wanting to plead guilty. I honestly think he was arrogant enough to think that he would win this case with all of the evidence they had. And him representing himself was probably the worst decision he could make. But again, he had that arrogance. He was a psychopath who thought that he could trick everyone. And so I think after he was found guilty, then he leaned more into, yeah, I'm a serial killer, I'm this guy. Because, you know, there was no other option. But at first I think he really thought he was gonna trick everyone and denied that plea deal because he thought he could get an innocent plea. And maybe he just thought the jury was gonna think he was hot, which is gross to me. I don't know how people thought he was good looking. And also just like the arrogance of also proposing to someone during the middle of a trial while they're on stand. I feel horrible for those families that had to witness that and go through that and see the popularity, unfortunately, that Ted got through this trial because that's, you know, the sad part. To me, I understand why people have a fascination, especially because, you know, again, as I've mentioned, he seemed so normal, but I hate that they also get this kind of attention.
- [27:01]
What are your overall thoughts for what this means in terms of its long term impact on America and true crime? What does it say that Ted Bundy remains in the public consciousness?
- [27:11]
I think that Ted Bundy's long term impact on America is huge, particularly in
- [27:17]
Katie Ring
the way that people view danger and
- [27:20]
Co-host or Guest Commentator
what a bad person looks like. A lot of people assumed serial killers looked like these obviously crazy people. But the fact that he looked like someone who you could have gone to college with or your neighbor was really eye opening for a lot of people and scared a lot of people because it means you can't obviously know someone is evil right away. And he hid his life so well in terms of, you know, I teach self defense. I have a rule, I call it the Ted Bundy rule that men don't need help from women and children they don't know. So if a man ever asks you for help that you don't know, immediately say sorry. Because your safety is more important than being polite or anyone else's feelings.
- [28:10]
Katie Ring
Thank you so much for joining me for this episode. If you're watching on YouTube, make sure to subscribe below. If you're listening on audio, please rate, review and follow America's Most Infamous Crimes and to get all of episodes at once ad free. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. Come back next week for another deep dive into a true crime that changed America.
- [28:38]
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