Ted Bundy-The American Psycho–Warning:Gory Details Ahead
Ted Bundy
(November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989)
Murderer, Necrophile, Rapist, Kidnapper
Confessed to at least 30-40 murders soon before his electric chair execution in 1989 in a Florida prison.
“We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow.” -Ted Bundy
FAMILY & EDUCATION
Growing up, Ted was unsure for quite some time who his father was. There were suspicions that his father may actually have been his own grandfather; (his mother’s father). Family, friends, and the public thought this to be true for a long time. He later found out this was not true. Ted held resentment towards his mother for never fully being honest about who is father was.
Ted’s mother eventually met a man with last name Bundy and married him. He adopted Ted. They conceived four children of their own but Ted’s relationship with his stepfather was distant.
As a young shy boy, Ted liked looking at pictures of naked women which is nothing out of the ordinary. His behavior started to gradually change. As a teen and into his college years he started to become interested in reading sexually explicit stories and consumed alcohol on a regular basis. He would walk the streets at night peeping into windows hoping to find women undressing. He was also intrigued by stealing.
He started dating in college and fell in love with his first girlfriend but she left him because he seemed unmotivated and immature. Ted became depressed and dropped out of school. The break up drastically changed him. He decided after this point to become another Ted. He enrolled in college and received a degree in psychology. Bundy was soon accepted into law school and received a stunning amount of letters of recommendation. He later got a job with a government agency which worked on missing women cases. He was a bright with an excelling career. But this was all a facade.
HIS VICTIMS
Bundy was handsome and very smart, He lured women in using these traits because he knew women would be attracted to him. He would hang out in public places where he would pretend to be a police officer or a figure of authority. He also at times faked injuries to lure women and then began assaulting, raping, and mutilating them. After he killed these women, he would sometimes go back to the bodies and perform sexual acts with them once they started to decompose. He would also keep the heads of some of his victims.
All of Bundy’s known victims were 15-25 years of age. They were all white females of middle class and most of them in college. In addition, many of his victims are said to have a physical resemblance to his college girlfriend, although Bundy protests against this theory. He states that they are all just young and attractive woman which was vital in his selection. This is questionable since Bundy was known to consistently be in denial and shifted blame to make himself feel better about what he’s done.
Overall thoughts
Of course like many killers, Ted took pictures of most of his victims. He felt like the women he killed were his possessions. Possession was a motive. Ted believed that if you want something you need to take it. The pursuit of ‘taking’ became an evil adventure for him and turned into a sadistic way of life for Ted. Normal on the outside, serial killer on the inside. It reminds me of the movie American Psycho a little bit.
Something interesting that I came across about Ted is that he would always drink alcohol before approaching his victims. He is known to have stated that this is necessary in doing what he does. According to him, the alcohol aids in clouding his moral demons and keeps the ‘old Ted’ from taking over. He was seen as heartless, sadistic sociopath but on the other hand, he needed to drink in order to do what he did. His history contains a lack of validation from women and failed relationships. No wonder why his victims were all female. And that explains why he wanted to possess them for himself. He wanted to take back what he lacked: Control. This gave him back the power that he believed he never had with the women in his life. He was frequently in denial and made up excuses for his actions. This looks to me like a man who feels guilty about something. He may have looked like a sociopath but I think that was a facade as well.
Also, like Gain’s family history, Bundy had issues with his mother. This is an interesting pattern and i’m intrigued by it. I’m excited to see who else has mommy issues.
Sources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy
http://www.dirjournal.com/info/americas-famous-serial-killers/
http://crime.about.com/od/serial/p/tedbundy.htm