Crime and Justice Atlas

How Justice Is Served
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Landmark Case

Ted Bundy Case

Behavioral Profiling and Offender Psychology

Theodore Robert Bundy was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978, beginning in Washington state and extending his crimes to Oregon, Colorado, Utah, Idaho and Florida. The multi-state span of his crimes forced investigators in different jurisdictions to compare notes: in November 1975 the three principal Bundy investigators, from Utah, Washington and Colorado, met in Aspen, Colorado, and exchanged information with thirty detectives and prosecutors from five states. After escaping custody twice in Colorado in 1977, Bundy was placed on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on February 10, 1978, and was arrested five days later in Pensacola, Florida, following a further attack at a Florida State University sorority house. Forensic odontologist testimony matching Bundy's distinctively crooked teeth to a bite mark left on the body of victim Lisa Levy was decisive at his 1979 trial, one of the first major American murder convictions secured substantially on bite-mark evidence, a forensic discipline that later came under sustained scientific criticism. Bundy was convicted, sentenced to death and executed in Florida's electric chair on January 24, 1989. The true scope of his crimes remains disputed: he was confirmed to have murdered at least twenty women and girls, confessed to about thirty killings shortly before his execution, and investigators have long suspected the true total exceeds thirty-six. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Case YearSourced to the subject's own account
1978 1
LocationSourced to the subject's own account
Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Idaho and Florida, United States 1
Investigative or Reform SignificanceSourced to the subject's own account
One of the first major American murder convictions secured substantially on forensic bite-mark evidence, a discipline later subject to serious scientific criticism; the case's multi-state scope also drove early cross-jurisdictional cooperation among homicide investigators. 2
Case StatusSourced to the subject's own account
Closed; convicted and executed. Bundy was sentenced to death and was executed in Florida's electric chair on January 24, 1989. 1
Case Status
Case Status (category)Sourced to the subject's own account
Closed / Convicted 1
Case Status (category)Sourced to the subject's own account
Executed (post-conviction) 1
FAQs

What forensic evidence was decisive in convicting Ted Bundy?

At his 1979 trial, forensic odontologist testimony matched Bundy's distinctively crooked teeth to a bite mark left on victim Lisa Levy's body. It was one of the first major American murder convictions secured substantially on bite-mark evidence, a forensic discipline that later came under sustained scientific criticism.
Connections

Associated With

Keppel was the lead King County (Washington) homicide detective on the original Bundy investigation and later corresponded with Bundy on the Green River Killer case from death row (Keppel, The Riverman).

Source Wikipedia: Ted Bundy

Exemplifies

Kidnapping, Offenses
Source Wikipedia: Ted Bundy
Murder, Offenses
Source Wikipedia: Ted Bundy
Rape, Offenses
Source Wikipedia: Ted Bundy
Source Wikipedia: Ted Bundy

Investigated By

Placed on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list on February 10, 1978, after escaping Colorado custody; arrested five days later.

Source Wikipedia: FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s

Open Questions

Source Wikipedia: Ted Bundy

Used In

Bite-mark testimony matching Bundy's teeth to a bite left on victim Lisa Levy was decisive at his 1979 trial.

Source Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry: The Most Infamous Bite Mark Case
In the Other Atlases

Took Place In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject took place.

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Ted Bundy
  • Lead section
    was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978
  • Manhunt and arrest section
    the three principal Bundy investigators, Jerry Thompson from Utah, Robert Keppel from Washington and Michael Fisher from Colorado, met in Aspen, Colorado, and exchanged information with thirty detectives and prosecutors from five states
View the Source
2. Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry: The Most Infamous Bite Mark Case
Case summary
Quote, Case summary
This mark was ultimately what convicted Bundy in 1979 of the murder of Levy and the other sorority woman he killed.
View the Source
Wikipedia: FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, 1970s
Investigated By: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Theodore Robert Bundy entry, number 360
Quote, Investigated By: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Theodore Robert Bundy entry, number 360
wanted for escaping from jail twice, once on June 7, 1977, and on December 30, 1977, while being held on a murder charge
View the Source
Open Questions (1 open question)
How Many People Did Ted Bundy Murder?

Bundy was confirmed to have murdered at least twenty women and girls, confessed to about thirty killings shortly before his January 1989 execution, and investigators have long suspected the true total exceeds thirty-six; no single confirmed complete count of his victims exists.

What would resolve this A confirmed complete list would require either further verified confessions (none possible after his execution) or forensic identification, by DNA or dental record, of unresolved missing-persons cases from the mid-1970s Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain corridor that match his known travel and offense pattern.
Forensic identification and cold-case DNA analysisWikipedia: Ted Bundy

Take a Related Quiz

Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.