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Introduction and Announcements ---

Elyse: Welcome back to Case of the Sunday Scaries. I'm Elise, and thank you for joining me for the final part of our Ted Bundy series. I know it's been a while, and if you're watching on YouTube, you might notice this new background. Let me know what you guys think. I do like my little skully over here, but I need to figure out a name for her.

She's very pretty with a little pearl in her eye. But! I have some news, because thanks to you, the listeners, for sticking with me on what has been a very crazy journey when starting this podcast, and for sharing it with your friends and growing it, because I'm excited to announce that I've joined some of my favorite podcasters.

Favorite true crime podcast on the audio boom network. This doesn't change anything for you You can still listen to me on any streaming platform. You can watch me on youtube But this partnership is a huge step forward and will help the [00:01:00] podcast grow reach new listeners And allow me the opportunity to focus more time on creating episodes for you guys I just want to say how incredibly grateful I am.

I truly mean that Every single one of you who takes time out of your week to listen, I know that asking an hour of your time is no small favor and it means the world to me. So thank you. I'm really excited for what this partnership will bring and hopefully it's going to allow me to continue sharing a lot more of these stories with you.

But speaking of your time, I don't want to waste any more of it because today's episode is shaping up to be a long one. And honestly, I think we are all. Actually, I should only speak for myself. I am excited to get out of Ted Bundy's twisted mind. So let's wrap up this series, shall we? [00:02:00]

Ted Bundy's Final Escape ---

When we left off, Ted had escaped prison for the second time. Ted then got on a flight, and yeah, yeah, you heard that right. A flight. A fugitive is just hopping on board a flight. And it's wild to think how much times have changed since then, right? These days, trying to hop on a plane while on the run would be completely idiotic.

With all the security at the airport, you would need a fake ID and some serious luck. Also, if you're wondering how Ted managed to afford a flight in the first place, well, rumor has it that someone smuggled the money to him while he was in prison. I've mentioned this person before, and I said that we will get to her, and I promise, we will.

But not just yet.

So Ted's on this flight from Colorado to Chicago, and then he hops on a train down to Michigan.

The Chi Omega Murders ---

And from there, he steals a car and drives all the way down to Tallahassee, Florida, where months of suppressing his sick, violent urges where would erupt into a killing [00:03:00] spree that truly horrified the nation.

Now Ted claimed that he tried to go straight, that he knew he'd probably stay under the police radar if he just laid low and didn't commit any crimes. But I mean, come on, maybe a sober, linear thinking Ted Bundy brought that for a hot second, but let's be real. Why would he rent a room using a stolen ID next to a college campus?

College campuses are basically Ted Bundy's hunting ground. He couldn't get a job without a legitimate government ID, and so he went right back to stealing from people and shoplifting to survive. And honestly, I call total bullshit on his claim that he tried to stay out of trouble. He was in Florida for just a week, one week, before he would give in to his urges.

In the early hours of January 15th, [00:04:00] 1978, Ted Bundy skittered through the night like the rat he was, making his way to the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University. Now some might chalk him choosing this house in particular as just some terrible luck for these women. But let's be real, this wasn't a random target.

I suspect that Mr. Straight and Narrow, Ted, had been watching and stalking these women for a while. watching them go in and out of the house. So it's not like it was a surprise for him when he found that the back door had a faulty lock. He probably knew from watching them. And he let himself in while the sorority sisters were snoozing away peacefully, completely unaware of the nightmare that was about to unfold.

Ted first entered the room of Margaret Bowman. She was just 21 years old and a student there, and he attacked her with a piece of, well, basically it was a piece of firewood that he had found outside their home. He hit her repeatedly while she slept, and I can only [00:05:00] pray that that first hit was enough that she never woke up or felt any pain.

He then strangled her with a nylon stocking he found in her room.

He left Margaret's room and proceeded down the hall to Lisa Levy's room. She was just 20 years old. By this point, I think we can all agree that Ted Bundy has long since abandoned any shred of humanity he might have had at one point in his life. But on this night, Ted Bundy.

He was beyond that. He acted like a rabid animal in a complete frenzy.

Ted entered Lisa Levy's bedroom and beat her unconscious before strangling her as well. But then, instead of just leaving her be, He mutilated her body, um, removing a portion of her chest, and then he bit into her left butt cheek and proceeded to assault her with items that he found in her room.

I realize that many of Ted's victims were never found or had decomposed heavily before being found. But this just seems so [00:06:00] disorganized. Of course, I'm not saying that in the way of, Oh, someone is disorganized because they left their laundry on the floor or lost their homework. No, no, no. In the world of serial killers, there are generally two types.

Disorganized and organized. Up to this point, Ted had been very organized, methodical even. He planned everything out, removing the front seat of his car and using specific tactics to lure his victims.

Ted Bundy's Disorganized Frenzy ---

But just like his spree in Colorado, we're seeing him become increasingly disorganized. There are so many variables at play here, so many risks that he's taking.

If just one girl had woken up, and let's say she screamed in the middle of her attack, she could have alerted every other person in that house, and he could have ended up caught or, well, I don't know, gotten the you know what beaten out of him. These murders seem so frantic and so manic. I wish I knew the why for that change.

Was it just that his lust for [00:07:00] killing and assaulting women had built up so much during his time in jail that whatever he, possessed that controlled and calculated his evil plans, did that just break when he was back on the hunt?

Or maybe it's more simple than that. We know that Ted Bundy would often drink before committing his crimes. And maybe that night he had quite a bit more. Or maybe his tolerance while being in prison was diminished so he's just acting out of this pure predatory instinct that he has since his judgment was clouded over with booze.

I don't, I don't know. And I don't think we'll ever really know. But changes in behavior patterns like this always leave me wondering why. After Lisa had succumbed to her attack, he then attacked Kathy Kleiner, cutting into her shoulder and breaking her jaw. He broke her jaw in three places. This was a very violent attack.

A police officer who responded to the scene said, her [00:08:00] jaw was actually just hanging off on one side. Only one hinge was still attached. She was totally incoherent and in shock. And I have to wonder if the girls were starting to wake because of all this commotion, because thank the Lord, he did not kill Kathy.

He moved on to the next room and attacked Karen Chandler, breaking her jaw to the point that she lost her teeth, her finger was crushed and her arm broken, and she had a concussion from the beating that Ted gave her. It's believed that Ted was possibly scared off when headlights outside lit up the bedroom he was in, and Ted went out the way he came in.

slipping out the back door back into the night leaving absolute destruction in his path.

Because Ted Bundy is Ted Bundy, that wasn't enough for him. He had just killed two women and beat two others in what police estimate was just 15 minutes. You heard that right. He was in that [00:09:00] home for 15 minutes. He killed two women, assaulted them, beat two others, I mean, 15 minutes, the amount of fury and rage it would take to commit this level of destruction in just that time that I've, about the same time that I've been talking to you today.

Nope.

The Attack on Cheryl Thomas ---

That wasn't enough for him because just five blocks away, Ted was climbing through the kitchen window of 21 year old Florida State University student, Cheryl Thomas. She lived in a sort of duplex situation, it seems. One side of the house was hers, and it seemed like the other side, separated by a wall, was rented by a girl named Debbie.

And Debbie said this, I woke up to this loud pounding. It was a real loud banging sound. I could hear Cheryl moaning, whimpering. I called Cheryl, but we could hear the phone ringing, because the wall was so thin, but she wasn't answering her phone. Debbie then called the [00:10:00] police, and when they entered, I'm sure they were so shocked to see this scene.

Cheryl had been beaten and assaulted so badly, and she was just lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Her shoulder had been dislocated, her jaw fractured, and her skull was fractured in five places. When she woke up in the hospital. Yes, she survived this attack. She had no idea what had happened and you know, thank God for that because I wouldn't want her to have those memories. Unfortunately, YouTube often flags certain words, and so, let's just say that Ted had left a particular type [00:11:00] of male specific stain on her bed, as well as one of the creepy pantyhose masks that he made to conceal his identity.

I can't imagine what it was like to wake up in this community or on this college campus the next morning. I mean, every shred of safety that you felt just tucked away into your bed the night before would have been stripped from you. Three girls were hospitalized with severe injuries. Maybe these are girls that you went to school with, that were in your biology class.

And two more of your peers were assaulted and killed while they were just sleeping in their home. There's a photo of a sorority sister that I put on the screen, and she's peeking out the window of the Chi Omega house the morning after the murders, and it is such a haunting photo. I can't really describe the look on her face.

It seems to be a mix of sorrow, confusion, and frankly, just terror. This particular spree [00:12:00] drew some really terrifying parallels, at least to me, of the Idaho murders that happened just a few years back. I just remember the outrage and confusion that we all felt when that news broke. And that's the only thing that I think would be comparable to how the students and the people in this community felt.

I mean, just imagine you're a parent of someone at that college campus waking up to hear this news. It would be awful. Like, everyone I'm going to go on a little bit of a tangent, but I think that's what really doesn't get talked about enough. Is that yes, there are victims of these crimes and we should always remember their names and what happened to them and their stories.

But also the community and the families, and I think about enough. Because yes, we want to remember the victims and their families and their stories, of course. That is always the forefront of my mind when I'm telling these true crime stories. [00:13:00] However, what doesn't get talked about is how the community is also a victim.

They have to pass by that house knowing what happened there. They have to, you know, sit in class with an empty chair next to them where their friend or just an acquaintance sat. It's just so far reaching beyond just the victim. This is why these stories are so hard. The police were doing what they could, but they didn't really have a lot to go on, except some descriptions of a man the eyewitness saw leaving the Chia Omega house. But remember, this was in the middle of the night. No one got a great look at him. Ted Bundy had no real ties to Florida, and while he was, at this time, on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list.

This spree didn't even match the type of killings he had done previously, or at least what he was alleged at this point to have done previously. So I completely understand why he was not initially tied to these crimes. No one even knew he was there.

The Murder of Kimberly Leach ---

[00:14:00] Before we get to Ted's final victim, I just want to pause and say that his last victim is a young child. And the details of this are awful. Just plain awful. So if you want to skip this part, I completely understand. I will make a mark in the show notes, as I usually do, to when you can come back and continue on with the rest of the episode.

On February 8th, not even a month after Ted had murdered the two girls and severely beaten three more, Ted was in Jacksonville, Florida, back to being a total waste of space on this earth. And he approached a 14 year old girl, pretending to be, of all things, a firefighter. Attempting his old ruse of playing injured or that he was a trusted member of law enforcement to gain her trust.

But thank God that this girl had an older brother and he was watching what was happening and thought, um, absolutely not. Back off, Creeps McGee. And he got his sister away from [00:15:00] Ted.

The next morning, roughly 60 miles away at Lake city junior high school. Yeah, I said junior high school, a 12 year old girl named Kimberly Leach disappeared from school in the middle of the school day. This bright, honestly beautiful girl was found deceased seven weeks later. Her remains were found in an abandoned pig shed.

This 12 year old baby girl had met a horrific end. She had been assaulted before her throat was cut and her female organs were mutilated with a knife.

And I swear, whatever you personally feel about the death penalty, I don't think there's many people who would not make an exception to make sure that this barbarian was not walking the earth a second longer.

Later in an interview with Dr. James Dobson, who, if you grew up in the Christian church around the time I did, is a name that you probably recognized. He was a very [00:16:00] famous religious leader. And if you're like my family, you also listened to Adventures in Odyssey, which he was part of the creation of.

In fact, we listened to it and got the new tapes every Christmas morning, but that's neither here nor there. So Dr. James Dobson did an interview with Ted, and he asked him directly about killing Kimberly. Ted responded, quote, I can't really talk about that right now. I would like to be able to convey to you what that experience is like, but I just won't be able to talk about that.

He pretends to have this sorrowful, remorseful look on his face. And again, I'm just going to call BS. S. Ted Bundy, because if you are watching this on YouTube, I'm going to play the clip. And if you're just listening on audio, I will put it on our Case of the Sunday Scaries Instagram story so that you can watch it as well.

And what I want you to notice is just this quick flicker where he changes. He's doing this, Oh, I'm so [00:17:00] remorseful. I'm so regretful. He has his eyes closed. But then right at the very end, you see it just for a second. The dark eyes that his survivors talk about, a lot of his survivors would talk about how his eyes just switched almost like to that of a shark where they go all black and you see it just for a second how cold he really was when he was not practicing mirroring the human emotions that he saw reflected in others that he clearly was not capable of.

[00:18:00] did you see it? Did you catch that 0. 5 second flicker where you really see who Ted Bundy is?

I don't want you to give Ted any credit for not discussing the details of killing a 12 year old girl. It's not because, in my opinion, it's not because he wanted to protect the family from hearing the details. It wasn't because he felt remorse because Ted Bundy doesn't know the meaning of remorse.

I think he just didn't want to talk about it because he knows that whatever he said about killing a 12 year old girl in the eyes of the public that was going to watch this interview, and certainly at the time in the eyes of one of the most well known Christian leaders who was conducting the interview, they would be I am appalled at how Ted Bundy really felt when he was assaulting and snuffing the life out of a defenseless, innocent child whose only misstep was trusting an adult who [00:19:00] probably asked her for help, and her misstep was that she was kind enough to extend that kindness.

I am appalled. I hate this man, and I really try never to use the word hate. It is a very strong word. But my blood boils when I talk about this. This is why I'm excited to be done with this series, because he is one of those that after watching hours of interviews with him, it just, it's, he's evil. He's evil, and I hate him.

And come to mention it, actually, we're on this topic of why did he feel comfortable talking about certain murders, but really, you know, got quiet, head down, didn't want to talk about the details of Kimberly Leach. And I think I, I think I'm almost giving him too much credit, if I'm being honest. Maybe it wasn't this well thought out thing.

Maybe his number one priority Bundy is just himself, and we all know that men that hurt women and especially children that end up in [00:20:00] prison don't fare too well. So if any of these people heard about his crimes and he goes back into prison, maybe he was just protecting his own ass.

Ted Bundy has now killed his youngest confirmed victim, and he's feeling like the police may be closing in on him. I honestly don't really know why he thought that, because police did not think he had any ties to Florida, and had not yet linked him to the Chi Omega murders at this point, and certainly not to Sweet Kimberly's murder.

I mean, she hadn't even been found at this point. So Bundy wanted to get out of Dodge and on February 12th, just a few days later, he stole yet another vehicle and left Tallahassee.

Ted Bundy's Arrest and Trial ---

But on the morning of February 15th, really bright and early in the morning, he was stopped by Officer David Lee near the Alabama State Line when the car that he was driving, the license plate, came up stolen.

Officer Lee tried to put him under arrest, but Bundy, of course, tried to get away. He kicked out the [00:21:00] officer's legs from under him and took off running. The officer fired two warning shots into the air and then caught up to Ted and tackled him to the ground.

In Ted's vehicle were three IDs of female Florida State students. Twenty one? Twenty one stolen credit cards and wouldn't you know it, a pair of dark rimmed glasses and plaid slacks. Which was exactly the disguise that he approached the 14 year old girl in before her brother intervened. Ted would not tell the officer his name.

I mean, he's just, I don't know who I am. Mm mm, not me. Don't know. So Officer Lee is bringing in this perp, not realizing that the man in the back of his police car is one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives.

Bundy was heard mumbling from the back seat, I wish you'd just killed me when we get to the jail. If I run away, will you shoot me then? Get over yourself, Ted. No one feels sorry for you, and [00:22:00] frankly, many of us, well, I'll just speak for myself, I almost wish that he had killed you when you assaulted him and tried to run off, because then the families of these victims would be saved from the absolute circus that this trial was about to become.

[00:23:00]

After Ted's arraignment, according to Mike Minerva, a member of his defense team, a pre trial plea bargain had been negotiated on Ted's behalf. If Ted would plead guilty to killing Levy, Bowman, and Leach, he would get a 75 year prison sentence. Basically, you know, at that point he would die in jail, but he would escape the death penalty.

And that would save everyone from a trial, from the survivors having to testify, and the families of the victims having to relive their loved one's deaths over and over every day in that courtroom. And at first, Ted actually agreed to it because he thought of it as a tactical move. He figured if he waited just a few years then the evidence might be disintegrated and perhaps the witnesses would move on, you know, be scared to come back and testify, die, or retract their testimony at all.

And he could appeal for an acquittal. I think if Ted was banking on evidence disintegrating, he would have been awfully surprised when [00:24:00] DNA testing would become possible not that long after his conviction.

However, at the very last minute, Ted Bundy refused the deal because the thought of admitting his guilt publicly? Nah. Ted could never do what was right. He couldn't admit to being guilty. So on June 25, 1979, the trial for the Chai Omega murders began. And ever the narcissist, Ted Bundy felt that even though he had five court appointed attorneys on his team, he felt he could do a better job than any of them could.

He had, after all, went to law school for a time. [00:25:00] I also personally think that Ted Bundy was getting a kick out of the spectacle and attention his case was getting. The news was so hungry for this story. A serial killer who escapes prison twice just to go on another murderous spree. Like it, the news writes itself with this case.

Ted Bundy's trial would actually become the first nationally televised trial ever.

I think he really liked the idea that he, representing himself, would also have the opportunity to attempt to pull the wool over America's eyes as well, to finesse [00:26:00] and charm his way out of this. Because let's be honest, at this point, he's pretty much gotten away with everything and when he is put in jail, he finds a way to get out.

And quite frankly, he was finally getting the attention that he so longed for. And I really struggle to say this, but I'm gonna give him the tiniest, miniscule ounce of credit. Because I watched a significant amount of this trial, and Ted Bundy knew how to put on a show.

He even took the stand himself to give his testimony, smiling at the cameras, and as he was being questioned, he would refer to himself as the defendant, basically talking the third person. He was so smug. But, where I will give him a little bit of credit, is that showmanship? I mean, He could have been a good defense attorney, actually.

He knew how to sound quite convincing. [00:27:00] [00:28:00] Something I found incredibly grotesque about this trial was that when Ted Bundy stood up to cross examine the officers who were at the scene of the crime, he kept asking them details to explain the crime scene, the victims, how they were positioned, how they looked, And for someone who routinely visited his victims after their deaths, It felt to me like Ted Bundy was using the courtroom and this cross examination as a way to return to the memories of the crime, to relive it.

[00:29:00]

And it gave me full arm goosebumps listening to it and watching it. During the trial. One of the key pieces of evidence was Ted Bundy's jacked up teeth. And I don't know about you guys, but something I am very attracted to in a romantic partner is a great smile. Like, let me see those pearly whites, baby. But Ted Bundy's teeth were [00:30:00] about as sinister as his personality. He had very distinctive, pointy, crooked teeth, so dental impressions had been made of his teeth, and they matched those impressions to the bite mark left on Lisa.

They also compared those hairs that were found in the knotted pantyhose in Sheryl Thomas room, and microscopically, they seemed to match Ted Bundy's. There was also two eyewitnesses that put Ted Bundy around the sorority house, and leaving it directly after the crimes. Now I gotta say, all of this is pretty circumstantial.

The hair looks like it could be his. because we have access to DNA comparison. For instance, just because you found a long red hair at a crime scene doesn't mean that I was the one that perpetrated the crime just because the red hair looked like, you know, the same color as my hair under a microscope.

We would want to have that DNA for evidence. And the dental impressions That's pretty good evidence, but again, there's room for [00:31:00] error there, and we all know eyewitnesses are not the most reliable of witnesses. Your memory can misguide you, especially in moments of heightened anxiety and fear. I get why Ted thought that there was a chance that he could win this case, and that's the only time that you will hear me say that I agree with Ted Bundy.

However, I After all of his grandiose performances and outbursts and goodness was there plenty of outbursts. A jury of seven men and five women deliberated for less than seven hours before returning the verdict of guilty for the murders of Bowman and Levy, and they attempted murders of Kleiner, Chandler and Thomas.

One week later, Ted Bundy would stand in front of Judge Cowart for his sentencing. And after spending 3 episodes laying out just how much I despise Bundy's actions, I have to admit, Judge Cowart's words hit me a little bit differently.

He managed to sum up all of the complexity, the [00:32:00] contradictions, and the horror of who Ted Bundy was in a way that took me 3 episodes to attempt to do. When it was time to deliver the sentence that would end Bundy's life, Judge Cowart said, quote,

These killings were heinous, atrocious, and cruel. They were extremely wicked, shockingly evil, vile, and the result of a deliberate design to inflict unspeakable pain and show utter indifference to human life. In agreement with the jury, this court imposes the death penalty on Theodore Robert Bundy. On a scheduled date, you will be put to death by electrocution.

A current shall then pass through your body until you are dead. End quote. Then something no one expected. There was a brief moment of compassion, I guess, for Ted Bundy. [00:33:00] now, some people have argued that the judge was way too kind in these final moments of the sentencing, but I personally don't see it that way. I'd like to know what you guys think, of course, but I think he captured very well exactly what I felt after diving into this story. Ted, what he did was deplorable.

There's no question about that. I agree. But it just is so confusing because Ted had everything. Yes, he had some turmoil in his young life, but as far as we know, he didn't come from an abusive household. He was intelligent. He was charming. for goodness sakes, he even for a short time, actually spent some time helping people at the Suicide [00:34:00] Hotline Center in Seattle.

He had all these opportunities to do something good in this world. And he threw it all away in favor of giving in to these destructive and cruel urges that he had. Like, how does someone become this? And Ted Bundy might be the only one where I look back into his past and I don't understand. Was Ted Bundy truly born evil?

And we're probably never going to have an answer to that. But maybe, like Judge Cowart said, we're kind of left seeing Bundy for what he was. It's a tragic waste of potential that snuffed out the potential in lives of so many others. And for what? To feed his own fantasies? To make himself feel powerful?

To get back at his, first girlfriend that broke up with him? Like, what? None of this makes sense. I mean, I'm certainly glad it doesn't make sense to me because That means that me and Ted Bundy don't think alike, and I am very pleased about that, but it [00:35:00] just is so confusing.

Now I'm gonna go in a different direction. We're gonna leave Ted alone. And if you remember past couple episodes, I referenced this woman multiple times and said that we would get back to her later. Well, welcome to the studio, Miss Carol Ann Boone. Yay. No, no, we're not cheering for Miss Boone. Well she knew Ted from working with him at the department of emergency services back in Olympia, Washington, and they had formed a platonic friendship at the time.

And of course, She didn't have any idea of what he was up to and that he was already assaulting and murdering women by the time that they had met. When Ted was arrested, the two began exchanging letters, and she even went down to visit him in prison. She was enchanted with him, but she also believed that he could never hurt anyone.

So remember when Ted escaped the second time here in my good old state of Colorado? The escape that [00:36:00] allowed him And afforded him the opportunity to go down to Florida and commit the heinous crimes that we discussed today? Well guess who smuggled into prison the money that aided in his escape?

If you guessed Carol Ann Boone, you would be correct. Now when Ted was arrested for the murders in Florida, did she pause and think to herself, Oh my gosh, is it possible that I had any part of this? That I allowed him and gave him You know resources to get out of jail and commit these crimes and how it's mighty odd now that three Separate states actually four four separate states believe that he is a serial predator and murderer Nope.

Nope. She couldn't even think of that instead She packed up her son and moved down to Florida during Ted's trial when the news caught on to this woman Who is in the courtroom every day supporting Ted? They [00:37:00] asked her if she thought he was guilty, and her response was, Let me put it this way, I don't think Ted belongs in jail.

The things in Florida don't concern me any more than the things out west do.

Miss Boone. The red flags are flagging, and it's the police in three, four, nope, four states, waving those red flags. But in the words of good old Tammy Wynette, Miss Boone was standing by her man. She would visit him and bribe the officers for a little one on one time smoochie smoochie running around the bases, if you get my drift, with a convicted predator, and the two began a very heated affair.

Carol Ann Boone was in love.

After Ted had already been convicted of the murders and assaults at the Chiomega house, he had to go on trial for the murder of 12 year old Kimberly Leach. And Ted decided yet again [00:38:00] to represent himself, because at this point, I mean, are we even surprised? And I guess, what does he have to lose? Ted called Carol to the stand as a witness on February 9th, 1980, and he asked her to describe him.

Basically, he was that girl. If I was a worm, would you still love me? That's the energy Ted was giving off. But Carol said, Kind, warm, patient. I've never seen anything in Ted that indicates any destructiveness towards any other people. He's a large part of my life. He's vital to me. And with that, Ted shocked the courtroom by asking Carol this next question.

Now, if you are rolling your eyes, like, okay, more court room antics, get this. It actually wasn't Ted had found an old Florida law that said, if you declare marriage in front of a presiding [00:39:00] judge in the courtroom, it's legally binding. Like who, who came up with this law?

But just like that little miss Boone left the witness stand in the murder of a 12 year old girl. as Mrs. Bundy shortly after that little stunt the jury didn't need much time to deliberate. Ted received his third death sentence for the murder of Kimberly Leach and was sent back to death row.

But guess what? Carol Bundy, now his wife, kept on visiting him there. She believed he was innocent and two years after his sentencing, she gave birth to

I had no idea until I researched this case that Ted Bundy became a father of an innocent baby while on death row. Excuse me, what? And I'm not going to say the daughter's name because honestly, she obviously didn't ask for any of [00:40:00] this and I cannot imagine what life is like knowing that you share genes with Ted Bundy.

So, we're just gonna leave her out of this.

At some point, Carol finally snapped out of it. Love was no longer blind. She saw him for what he was. And whether that was because she maybe saw him lose his cool, or that his psychopathic charm slipped for just a second, maybe Or, was it that he started doing interviews where he admitted that yes, he did commit these murders.

Maybe that was what she needed to wake up. Well, she divorced Ted a few years before his execution. And she moved away with her son and their daughter and lived a pretty quiet life after that. It's believed that she passed away in a nursing home in 2018. And I don't want to disrespect her memory. We have all ignored red flags in the past.

But seriously. Ladies, let this be a PSA. Set the bar higher. [00:41:00] You deserve better than a guy in prison for killing and assaulting women. And if you're one of those ladies who gets all starry eyed and goo goo ga ga over serial killers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, or I don't know, Wade Wilson recently because they're attractive, honey, instead of picking up the pen to become the pen pal of a prisoner, pick up the phone and call a therapist.

These aren't the misunderstood bad boys from high school. Aim higher, folks. Aim way higher.

as you can imagine, as this was the first ever televised trial, that was televised not only nationally, but I think in like five other countries, people were glued to their televisions. Much like we were during the O. J. Simpson white bronco chase, we all remember that. Wow. Unless you're younger than me, then you don't remember it and Casey Anthony's trial.

Ooh, do I remember that one? I think we were on a family trip to Walt Disney World in Florida And we would go to [00:42:00] Disney World during the day and watch Casey Anthony's trial in the evening Which explains a lot about my personality, doesn't it? Well, as you can imagine this case stirred up a ton of public outrage Everyone had an opinion, and it became a huge media spectacle.

Ted Bundy wanted to capitalize on this. And so as his appeals went to the Superior Courts for Decisions, and his execu, exe, yep, wow, I can't say that, execution date drew near, Ted agreed to do interviews. Very much, I am sure, hoping that if he started talking and confessing, that they might just put off his execution in order to gain confessions from him about the other suspected victims that have been linked to him.

At one point, he even offered his help to the FBI behavioral unit to assist in creating a profile for the Green River Killer. I am not comfortable sharing all that he confessed in [00:43:00] these interviews. But I do want to share some highlights because it gives us insights into Ted Bundy. He said in an interview that much like the items he stole from stores or people's homes, that his reason for his behavior towards women was a need to possess them.

At first, he said that killing his victims was only to eliminate the possibility of being caught, that the sexual assault was his motive, his way of gaining the ultimate possession of his victims. But then in time, the murder became the focus. He wanted to possess their lives, not just their bodies. And when that no longer satiated his sick desires, then the physical possession of their remains became his ultimate possession.

In a chilling quote, he summed up his life of causing unbelievable pain and violence towards women. He said, quote, after a while, murder is not just a crime of lust or violence. It becomes possession. They are part of you, the [00:44:00] victim becomes a part of you, and you two are forever one.

And the grounds where you kill them or leave them become sacred to you, and you will always be drawn back to them. He further loosely hinted that he had thought of himself as an amateur killer before 1974, and that's when he became a predatory killer. Which tells us that he had killed long before the Seattle murders that we started this series on.

He also admitted to horrific, vile, vile acts that he did to his victims after their deaths. Because again, he liked to visit them. And I'm just gonna leave it at that.

Ted Bundy's Execution ---

Less than 15 hours before Ted Bundy was sentenced to be executed for the Chia Omega murders, The Court of Appeals granted him a stay of execution based on technicalities that happened during his trial.

However, and thank God for this, his death sentence for the murder of Kimberly Leach was held [00:45:00] and it was announced that Ted Bundy would meet his true judgment day on January 24th, 1989. all of his appeals finally exhausted. Ted Bundy would admit to the eight murders in Washington and Oregon. But as far as the other States, he would tell detectives that he had killed numerous women, some that the police didn't even know about. And he started sending them on wild goose chases for people's remains.

Most of which turned up absolutely nothing. But because he was confessing, people started petitioning the governor and lawmakers to have Ted's execution stayed yet again so that he could continue confessing, maybe leading these detectives to the bodies so that the family could bring their loved ones home.

But the governor of Florida at the time, Bob Martinez, said, for him to be negotiating for his life over the bodies of victims is despicable. So, [00:46:00] He was over Ted Bundy's bullshit, and so was a majority of the public. On the evening before his execution, people gathered outside of the prison for a sort of execution tailgate, I guess you would say.

And around the country where Ted had committed these crimes, people put on what they called bundy cues. Not barbeque. Bundy Cues where citizens and even the police in some cases who worked on these cases of missing women pulled together to put on barbecues to celebrate his impending death. Now outside the prison.

Wow. It was man. People had camped out there, they were banging on pans, shouting, cheering, burn Bundy burn, and they even sold commemorative t shirts that said Friday, now not F R I D A Y, like Friday the day before Saturday, no. [00:47:00] F R Y D A Y because Ted Bundy was going to be killed on a Friday day. in electrocution chair.

. [00:48:00] Inside the prison, Ted Bundy wrapped up his interview with Dr. James Dobson that we discussed earlier, where he blamed his behavior on porn addiction, of all things, and he spent the rest of the evening in prayer with a minister.

Right before 5am, Ted was served his last meal. whether you're watching on Spotify, on YouTube, whatever the case might be, just let me know, what would you pick for your last meal? Because Ted wasn't having any of it. He didn't want to pick a meal. He absolutely refused. So he was given steak, cooked medium rare, eggs [00:49:00] over easy, hash browns, toast with butter and jelly, milk, and some juice. He wouldn't touch any of it, though.

At 7 a. m., Ted Bundy was led to the execution room, and as 42 witnesses looked on, he was asked if he had any last words. He asked his two lawyers who were present to pass along a message on his behalf.

I'd like to give my love to all my family and friends. Not even in his last moments did Ted Bundy show any remorse to the families, to the victims, of all of the people that he had hurt. After he spoke those words, a strap was put around his mouth, the skull cap was put into place, and a black veil masked his face, and 2, 000 volts of electricity surged through Ted Bundy's body.

The [00:50:00] machine was turned off a minute later, and a medic checked for any signs of life. At 7. 16 in the morning, Theodore Robert Bundy was pronounced dead. During Ted's autopsy, his brain was removed and studied and they determined that it looked completely normal. There was no major defects or tumors that could have possibly explained his behavior.

And if you're a little bit confused when I say that, it has been shown that traumatic brain injury, frontal lobe, especially when that's affected, can affect your personality, can cause aggression, things of that nature. So they just wanted to rule it out because no one could understand. Why Ted did what he did.

His body was then cremated in a last moment of something that really grinds my gears with this case. They allowed for his final wishes to take place. Ted's remains were spread all over the Cascade Mountains in Washington. The same mountains that he left the bodies of many of his victims. And [00:51:00] I'm sorry.

I get that people, whether they're in prison or not, have human rights. We shouldn't beat them, we shouldn't treat them poorly, we should honor, their religious practices after they've passed. I'm on board with that. But if we just remember what he said from his own snaggle toothed mouth, that he liked to revisit the sites of his victims, that that was the ultimate act of possession of them, then why are we honoring his final wish?

For his remains to be scattered where he left his victims. They should have taken his ashes. And well, actually, I don't know a terrible thing to do with ashes, but the worst thing that you could do to someone's ashes, that is what should have been done.

And with that, I am so glad to say we are done with this series. we are done talking about this misogynistic, terrible predator.

Remembering the Victims ---

But as we wrap up this story, it's really important to shift our focus back to what [00:52:00] actually matters in these cases. And that's the victims. And while we'll probably never know all of Ted Bundy's victims, he did confess to 30 but didn't name them all, only linking them to the state where they were killed.

The actual number is believed to be much higher than that. So I want to take a moment to honor the memory of the victims that we have talked about throughout these episodes. They're the ones that deserve to be remembered, not him.

So rest in peace to Lydia Ann Healy, Donna Gail Manson, Susan Elaine Rancourt, Roberta Kathleen Parks. Brenda Carol Ball, Georgianne Hawkins, Janice Ann Ott, Denise Mary Naslund, Nancy Wilcox, Melissa Ann Smith, Laura Ann Ame, Deborah Jean Kent, Karen Elaine Campbell, Julie Lynn Cunningham, Denise Lynn Oliverson, Lynette Dawn Culver, Susan Curtis, Margaret Elizabeth Bowman, [00:53:00] Lisa Jeanette Levy, and Kimberly Diane Leach.

I also want to remember the survivors of his attacks. Karen Sparks, Carol DeRonch, who escaped his vehicle and fought for her life against Ted. Karen Chandler, Cheryl Thomas, and Kathy Kleiner, who survived his attack at the Chi Omega house.

Closing Remarks and Future Plans ---

As I close out this series on Ted Bundy, I just want to thank you guys for sticking with me through this very disturbing, what is it now, three part story. It hasn't been easy to cover, but it's important to remember these events so that we can honor the victim's stories and focus on the impact of these crimes, not just the man who perpetrated them.

I promise with spooky season right around the corner today in Denver, it was the first day like there's a little chill in the air. I was so excited. I'm going to be diving into some paranormal and some spooky stories to give us just a moment to exhale after this series. I would really appreciate if you could take a moment to rate, review, and follow wherever [00:54:00] you're listening.

It truly helps more than you know. And YouTube, don't forget to hit the subscribe button so you don't miss future episodes. If you would like to submit a case you want to see covered, or maybe your own hometown story, check out the Sunday Scaries website to submit your case.

Thank you again so much for listening. I will be back next time, but as always, until then.