Katie Ring (11:59)
After Ted Bundy transferred to the University of Washington, it seemed like the move to Seattle was a fresh start. He decided to study Chinese, thinking he could work in the State Department someday as a liaison to East Asia. It might seem like kind of a random choice, but with Ted, everything was calculated in his mind. Working for the government was the kind of position that would give him the authority and control he wanted so badly. The change of scenery also helped Ted get something else. He wanted a girlfriend. It wasn't long before he hit it off with a classmate named Diane Edwards, a beautiful, driven young woman from a wealthy California family. When they started dating, it seemed like Ted finally found everything he wanted. But the problem was he didn't feel like he was good enough for Diane. She expected a lot from a boyfriend, and he tried to live up to those expectations by dressing better and improving his conversational skills. But he couldn't handle the pressure. Sometime in 1967, when Ted was 20 or 21, he was starting to question everything, including his career goals. His grades took a nosedive, and he was still overcome with unhealthy sexual desires. Ted thought that having a loving girlfriend would stop him from fantasizing about violence, but now he was afraid that those thoughts would never truly go away. Things only got worse when Diane dumped Ted after about a year of dating. The breakup confirmed his worst insecurities, and instead of proving them wrong, he gave in to them. The next year, in 1968, Ted dropped out of college. He spent the next few months traveling aimlessly around the country, not doing much of anything. But Ted hadn't completely given up on making something of himself. So when an old friend suggested getting involved in politics, he gave it a chance. Just like his dream of working for the State Department, being in politics would give Ted some of the authority and control he was so desperate for by giving him something to be in charge of. He started out by volunteering for Arthur Fletcher's campaign for lieutenant governor of Washington. Fletcher didn't win, but Ted loved the experience anyways. It gave him the sense of purpose he'd been missing ever since his breakup with Diane. So he decided to give a career in politics a real shot. In 1969, when Ted was 22, he enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia to pursue a degree in urban planning. But even with his renewed sense of purpose, he still struggled with the darkness inside of him. He went back to his old habit of peeping, wearing a fake mustache and a wig while he stalked the campus at night. By this point, his sexual fantasies had become even more disturbing. Now he wasn't just thinking about abducting the women he stalked. He wanted to sexually abuse them and kill them too. And at some point during his first semester in Philadelphia, Ted decided to give in to those desires. One night in 1969, the 23 year old drove to Ocean City, New Jersey and tried to approach approach a young woman outside of a bar. His plan was to kidnap her once her guard was down. But apparently the conversation didn't go the way he planned. Eventually, Ted tried to grab the woman, but she was thankfully able to escape. Meanwhile, Ted rushed back home and managed not to get caught. Tragically, the experience only made him more determined to try again. After only a couple months at Temple University, Ted moved back to Washington with a new scheme. By day, he would work hard to appear as normal as possible, to seem like he was above suspicion. Once that image was in place, he could unleash his dark side at night. A Persona he called the entity that was the real Ted Bundy. The one he'd been struggling to contain all his life. And now he was ready to embrace it. The first step of Ted's plan was to find another steady girlfriend. In September of 1969, he met a divorced single mother named Elizabeth Klepfer at a bar. 24 year old Elizabeth was smart and mature. She had to be to take care of her three year old daughter all on her own. From the moment they started dating, Elizabeth was clear she was looking for something serious. So if Ted expected to stay with her, he would need to get his act together. That played right into Ted's hands. He told Elizabeth he was planning to go back to college, then law school after he graduated. And Elizabeth took him at his word. She had so much faith in him, she even paid his tuition. When he went back to the University of Washington in 1970, Ted's twisted plan had finally given him the motivation he needed to succeed. He became an honor student, got involved in local politics, and was seen as a rising star in the community, which was exactly what Ted wanted people to think. Nobody Suspected that this clean cut, respectable young man was going out at night, watching young women in bars and following them home. Sometimes he went up to his targets while they were still at the bar and took them out on dates if they were interested. He cheated on Elizabeth constantly with multiple one night stands. On top of that, he loved to steal from people just for the thrill of it. He robbed homes and shoplifted from businesses, taking things out like clothes, stereos, and even an eight foot tree from a local nursery. Elizabeth never knew about the cheating, although she did pick up on the rampant theft. It bothered her, but she mostly dismissed it as a small flaw in her otherwise perfect boyfriend. It actually distracted her from prying into what he got up to at night. They didn't live together, but whenever she noticed he was out late, she assumed he was going around saying stealing rather than doing something much worse. So for the next few years, Ted kept living his double life. In 1972, he graduated from the University of Washington and was accepted to a couple of law schools. At 26 years old, he finally felt like he was making something of himself. But it still wasn't enough. Ted's impulses were getting even darker and it wouldn't be long before he unleashed them. He'd later describe the dark feeling inside of him as an intense pressure in his gut, Like a tension that kept winding tighter and tighter. He was consumed with rage, and no amount of peeping, stealing or fantasizing could make it go away. Ted wanted to up the ante even more, but he'd learned from his first attempt to kidnap a woman that things might not go the way he planned. Ted was a planner, and as always, he wanted to be proportional, prepared for every possibility. To make sure he didn't get caught, he decided to learn everything he could about how the police operated. So Ted deferred his law school admission and used his political connections to get a job with the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Commission. Working there gave Ted access to all kinds of data on violent crime. He learned about the investigative techniques detectives commonly used and that communication between different jurisdictions was limited. After About a year, 26 year old Ted felt like he'd learned what he needed. He left the crime commission and enrolled at a local law school in the fall of 1973. But his concentration was starting to waver. His desire to dominate and destroy was overwhelming him. And in early 1974, Ted took it to another level.
