This is the report I wrote for my school project on Ted Bundy. If you would like to use any parts of my report, please site me in your work. E-mail me using the address at the bottom of the page asking my permission. Thanks. Also, if you would like to see my biblography, send me an e-mail.
Ted Bundy is one of Americas most famous serial killers. He preyed on young females, hunting them down and killing them. He is believed to have murdered 36 women, but it is possible that he killed as many as 100 women. Ted would lure his victims by wearing a fake cast and asked girls to help him with things such as loading his boat onto the back of his VW bug or to help him carry his books. Bundy was able to change his appearance almost at will. If you look at pictures of him over his life, you would never know that they were all pictures of the same person.
No one would have suspected Bundy to have killed so many people. He was an all-around nice guy. He volunteered for the Republican Party and a suicide hotline. He had a degree in psychology from the University of Washington and he went to law school in Salt Lake City. Ted was well liked by the people with whom he worked.
In 1974, he killed his first victim, Linda Healy, a student at the University of Washington. After that, many other women in the surrounding areas started to disappear. When he moved to Salt Lake City to attend law school, he continued killing. Then he went to Colorado and killed at least five more women there. While in Colorado, he attempted to kidnap Carole DeRonch. Ted told her that someone had broken into her car and he needed to take her down to the police station to identify the suspect. When he pulled over to the side of the road and tried to handcuff her, she ran out of the car. Ted sped away in his Bug. An elderly couple picked her up and took her to the police station.
A few days later, Ted was pulled over by a police officer. The officer found an icepick, handcuffs, rope, and a plastic trash bag. Ted was arrested for the kidnapping of DeRonch after she picked him out of a lineup. Ted was convicted of attempted kidnapping and he faced 1 to 15 years in prison. Then he was extradited to Colorado to face charges for the murder of Karen Campbell. While in the prison library, he noticed an open window. He escaped, only to be picked up a few days later. But once again, Bundy escaped from prison.
Ted moved on to Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. He was able to keep his urge to kill contained for a time, but he eventually went back to his old ways. On January 14, 1978, he broke into the Chi Omega sorority house and stabbed 2 girls to death, and injured 2 others. While fleeing the building, one of the sorority girls caught a glimpse of him running away. Ted then went into another building and brutally attacked another woman. Some refer to these crimes as being almost unbelievable in their savageness.
Two weeks later, Ted stole a van and kidnapped 12 year old Kimberly Leach and killed her. Ted was arrested in July of 1978 while driving a stolen VW. He was convicted for the two murders at the Chi Omega sorority house and he was sentenced to death. Then he was convicted of the murder of Kimberly Leach and he was also sentenced to die for that crime.
What caused Ted Bundy to commit such heinous crimes? Why did he kill so many people? Many people believe that Ted was perfectly normal and had no psychological problems. Even Ted believed that he was fine, but there was something terribly wrong with Ted Bundy.
Ted Bundy suffered from a life-long personality disorder. Dr. Emanuel Tanay diagnosed him based on a report filed April 27, 1979. Tanay described Ted’s behavior as, "Someone who was...an impulse-ridden type of individual, prone to acting out and more involved with immediate gratification than any long-term concerns." Tanay described an individual who is impulse ridden as, "Someone who has no control...over his or her impulses" (Nelson, 201).
Personality disorder can be defined as, "A psychological disturbance characterized by lifelong maladaptive patterns that are relatively free of anxiety and other emotional symptoms" (Perrin, 509). There are several different types of personality disorders. Ted had an anti-social personality, which are refereed to as sociopaths or psychopaths. These people are immature, irresponsible, emotionally shallow people who seem to court trouble (Perrin, 509).
Ted fits the anti-social personality profile perfectly. Like others who suffer from anti-social personality, Ted treats other people as objects that can be manipulated for their own gain. Ted also felt no guilt or remorse for his crimes, just like any other anti-social person.
Not only did Ted suffer from a personality disorder, but he also was manic-depressive, which explains Ted’s sudden mood changes. It has been documented that Ted was in a state of mania when he confessed late one night in his cell to committing the Chi Omega murders, then recanting his story a short time later (Nelson, 115). Manic-depressives "alternate between frantic action and motionless despair" (Perrin, 378).
The main argument after Ted’s conviction was whether or not he was competent to stand trial. Until Ted was diagnosed with manic-depression, there was almost no hope of keeping him from the electric chair. But when Dr. Lewis diagnosed him, Ted got his first ray of hope. Dr. Lewis concluded "that he (Bundy) was high as a kite, he was grandiose, his judgment was impaired," referring to Ted’s abnormal behavior during the trial.
Even after Ted was diagnosed with manic-depression, it was not enough to save him from his date with the chair. The courts rejected his plea and he was executed on January 24, 1989. For his final meal, Ted ate steak, eggs, hash browns, and coffee. Although Ted was never diagnosed with anti-social personality, it is obvious that that is what drove Ted to commit so many murders.