The United States of America has an extensive history of serial killers who have fascinated and intrigued all of us. More than that, there is also the well-known “Golden Age of Serial Killers,” a period that took place between the 1970s and 2000. During this time frame, numerous killers could commit the horrible acts that made them famous because the police didn’t have the DNA technology it has today, so it was a lot harder to identify them. Spoiler: We are going to present you with some of the most disturbing Ted Bundy facts.
There have been many documentaries, movies, and TV series about this topic, but there was one guy out there who terrified the entire US, and his name is Ted Bundy. This man is easily one of the world’s most infamous serial killers, and to this day, there are many people who are still studying his motives for doing such heinous acts.
Stay with us, read on, and find out some of the most mindbending facts about him. Here are the lesser-known Ted Bundy facts that everybody wants to know about.
1. The family of Ted Bundy
If we were to compare Bundy to the rest of his family, we could easily say that he had a better relationship with his mother, Eleanor Louise Cowell. But despite this fact, he always felt unloved, and this feeling stayed with him forever.
Maybe this is because after his mom married his stepfather, she had four more children. This might have triggered a feeling of abandonment for the little Ted Bundy. Also, the fact that he was an illegitimate kid who never met his biological father might have contributed to that.
2. Ted Bundy facts that you should know: He got his surname from his stepfather
Ted was born in Burlington, Vermont, but when he was three years old, he and his mother had to move to Tacoma, Washington, the place where his grandparents lived. There, Eleanor Louise Cowell, his mother, met Johnnie Bundy, who used to work as an army hospital cook, and later, in 1951, the two of them got married.
Following their marriage, Johnnie Bundy adopted Ted, giving him his last name. So, Theodore Robert Cowell became Theodore Robert Bundy, or for short, Ted Bundy.
Unfortunately, Ted and his stepfather didn’t get along because the kid always wanted expensive things that his dad couldn’t buy.
Read on and find out more terrifying Ted Bundy facts!
3. Was his childhood home haunted?
We don’t really know the answer, but some contractors say yes. In 2016, Extreme Contracting began remodeling the childhood home of Ted Bundy. Workers say that some strange things occurred while they were working there. For example, the jingling of the doorknobs, knocking on the doors, and other things that were hard to explain since there was no one inside the house.
During the seven months that the contractors worked in this place, they claimed to have witnessed more than 30 strange occurrences. Some say that they even found some messages in the basement that were written in sawdust and read “leave” and “help me.”
4. He claimed that he came from a perfect Christian home
If we take a look at his interviews, we can notice that Bundy always said that his family was a perfect and good-natured Christian family. It is true that his family practiced the Methodist faith, but we tend to believe that there were a lot of things going on there.
Since the family was quite conservative, when his mother got pregnant, Ted Bundy became the bastard son. Because of this, Ted believed for a pretty long period of time that his grandparents were his real parents.
When he found out the truth, he was hurt, but he still loved his grandparents. We are sure that something like this might have affected the way he sees things, leading to him committing those horrible acts.
Do you enjoy these Ted Bundy facts? Tell us in the comments what you think about them!
5. At first, nobody noticed his crimes
It was 1974 when Seattle and the surrounding area of the city started to feel the fear of what was going to become a national phenomenon. Multiple bodies began to appear out of nowhere, and nobody was sure what was going on.
At first, authorities made no connection between all the strange disappearances and murders, but all of this changed when a witness told the police about a strange man who was wearing a cast.
This man was seen frequently at Lake Sammamish Park, where he would stop random women and ask them if they could help him with something in his car. After this, more and more people announced to the police that they had seen the exact same man doing the exact same thing. All the details matched, and the disappearances of Denise Naslund and Janice Ott contributed to the clarification of this pattern.
6. Who needs a lawyer?
During his trial, Ted Bundy insisted that he wanted to represent himself and that he didn’t need a lawyer. He had studied law in college, and despite the fact that he never became a licensed lawyer, he was pretty good at it.
Bundy believed that his lawyers were not able to do a good job as they were already aware that he was guilty, and because of this, he decided to become his own lawyer. All of this brought a lot of publicity, but it seemed that he was really enjoying it. Also, this whole role of him fighting for his life in the trial was another thing that was thrilling.
From all the Ted Bundy facts, we find this one truly interesting. What do you think about it?
7. The 1968 Volkswagen Beetle
Maybe if you’ve seen the movies or documentaries about Ted Bundy, you know about the Volkswagen Beetle. This little car was used by him to lure his victims. And of all the Ted Bundy facts, this one really scared us.
The most disturbing thing about this Volkswagen is the fact that the car has no front seat since it was removed, and it also has no handle on the passenger side. This is a real death trap that nobody could escape.
The best part, if we could call it that, is that if you are interested, you can visit the Alcatraz East crime museum, where the 1968 Volkswagen Beetle is exposed and everybody can see it.
8. He was extremely charismatic
All of the people who met Bundy described him as a very charismatic individual. He was a handsome gentleman who knew how to talk to everyone. But unfortunately, these traits were also the ones that helped him lure his victims.
And since he repeated this for a long time, Bundy learned all the things he needed in order to master the skill of escaping all the incriminating evidence. Because at that time there was no DNA profiling, Bundy was able to escape a lot of sticky situations.
9. He helped the FBI
After he was caught, Ted Bundy helped the police solve several murder cases. He helped the police catch Gary Ridgway, who is also known as the Green River killer. Bundy examined the psychology and motivations of the killer, and after this, the police were able to locate Ridgway.
Bundy instructed the detectives to wait quietly for the killer to return to a fresh grave, as he would most certainly do it again. The plan worked, and this is how they caught the Green River Killer. More intriguingly, all of this inspired the 1991 thriller film The Silence of the Lambs.
These were some of the most chilling Ted Bundy facts, but if you know more, please share them in the comments section!
You should also read: Top 9 Dark Secrets About Jeffrey Dahmer That Are Less Known