I know it’s bad (now that that’s ever stopped me before), but shit, I cannot stop laughing. It’s gonna be one of those things that my mind keeps going back to, inducing uncontrollable laughter at the most inappropriate moments.
“I think that initially this individual this individual perceived just the bluff… where the victim would be under his control, as it were. And the killing of the victim, we would expect, would have seemed a rather extreme act- but one that the individual considered necessary to eliminate the possibility of his getting caught.
I think we see a point reached- slowly, perhaps- where the control, the possession aspect, came to include, uh, uh, within its demands, the necessity… for purposes of gratification- the killing of the victim.
Uh, the using- examining that kind of attitude- that perhaps it came to be seen that the ultimate possession was, in fact, the taking of the life. And then purely, the physical possession of the remains.”
—Ted Bundy speaking in third person about his crimes
(via dahmerzombiebitch)
Brain Injury and Serial Murder
Some researchers theorize that serial killers have brain damage or other biological abnormalities that contribute to their actions. Damage to areas like the frontal lobe, the hypothalamus and the limbic system can contribute to extreme aggression, loss of control, loss of judgment and violence. Henry Lee Lucas, who was convicted of 11 murders, was shown to have extreme brain damage in these areas, probably the result of childhood abuse, malnutrition and alcoholism. Arthur Shawcross, another 11-time serial killer, was found to have had several brain injuries, including two skull fractures. While in prison, he suffered from headaches and often blacked out. Bobby Joe Long, convicted of nine murders, stated at one point, “After I’m dead, they’re going to open up my head and find that just like we’ve been saying a part of my brain is black and dry and dead”.
Ted Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont on November 24, 1946, at the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers. The identity of Ted’s father remains a mystery. Bundy’s birth certificate lists a “Lloyd Marshall”, while Bundy’s mother, Louise, would later tell a tale of being seduced by a war veteran named “Jack Worthington”. Bundy’s adopted family disbelieved this story, however, and expressed suspicion about Louise’s violent, abusive father, Samuel Cowell. To avoid social stigma, Bundy’s grandparents claimed him as their son, giving him their last name; he grew up believing his mother to be his older sister. Bundy would not learn the truth about his parentage until he was in high school.
For the first few years of his life, Bundy and his mother lived in Philadelphia with his maternal grandparents. In 1950, Bundy and his “sister” moved to live with relatives in Tacoma, Washington where Louise had Ted’s last name inexplicably changed from Cowell to Nelson. In 1951, one year after their move, Louise met Johnny Culpepper Bundy at an adult singles night held at Tacoma’s First Methodist Church. A Navy veteran and cook at a local Veterans Administration hospital, Bundy was eligible and lonely much like single mother Louise. In May of that year, Johnny and Louise were married and soon thereafter Johnny willingly adopted Ted, legally changing his last name to “Bundy”.
In time, the Bundy family grew to add four more children, whom Ted spent much of his free time babysitting. Johnny Bundy tried to include him in camping trips and other father-son activities, but the boy remained emotionally detached from his stepfather. In Bundy’s mind, he felt more like a Cowell than a Bundy and saw Johnny and the rest of the Bundy clan as beneath him. He became increasingly uncomfortable around his stepfather and made it clear that he preferred to be alone. Bundy was a good student at Woodrow Wilson High School, and was active in a local Methodist church serving as vice-president of the Methodist Youth Fellowship. He was involved with a local troop of the Boy Scouts.
Socially Bundy remained shy and introverted throughout some of his high school and early college years. He would later say that he “hit a wall” in high school; he was unable to understand social behavior, stunting his social development. He maintained a facade of social activity, but he had no natural sense of how to get along with other people: “I didn’t know what made things tick. I didn’t know what made people want to be friends. I didn’t know what made people attractive to one another. I didn’t know what underlay social interactions.”
Before he was even out of high school Bundy was a compulsive thief, a shoplifter, and on his way to becoming an amateur criminal. To support his love of skiing, Bundy stole skis and equipment and forged ski-lift tickets. He was arrested twice as a juvenile, though these records were later expunged.
Bundy described the part of himself that, from a young age, was fascinated by images of sex and violence as “the entity”, and kept it very well hidden. Later, friends and acquaintances would remember a handsome, articulate young man. While a college student, he worked as a volunteer at a Seattle suicide crisis center, alongside fledgling crime reporter Ann Rule. Ironically, Rule would go on to write the most famous biography of Bundy and his crimes, The Stranger Beside Me.
Bundy had one serious relationship with fellow college student Stephanie Brooks (a pseudonym), whom he met while enrolled at the University of Washington in 1967. Following her 1968 graduation and return to her family home in California, Stephanie ended the relationship. Fed up with what she described as Bundy’s immaturity and lack of ambition, they separated, although he obsessively stayed in touch with her through letters. It was at this time that Bundy decided to pay a trip to Burlington, Vermont, the place of his birth. Making a visit to the local records clerk in Burlington, he finally discovered the truth of his parentage in 1969. Although it is unclear what impact this discovery had on him emotionally, it is clear that following his return from Vermont he began to treat Johnny Bundy with more obvious disdain.
After his discovery, Bundy became a more focused and dominant character. He re-enrolled at the University of Washington, this time with a major in psychology. Bundy became an honors student and was well liked by his professors. In 1969, he started dating Elizabeth Kendall (pseudonym), a divorced secretary who fell deeply in love with Bundy. They would continue dating for over six years, until he went to prison for kidnapping in 1976.
Bundy graduated in 1972 from the University of Washington with a degree in psychology, and soon afterward, he began working for the state Republican Party. While on a business trip to California in the summer of 1973, Bundy came back into Stephanie’s life with a new look and attitude; this time as a serious, dedicated professional who had been accepted to law school. Bundy continued to date Elizabeth as well, and neither woman was aware the other existed. Bundy courted Stephanie throughout the rest of the year, and she happily accepted his proposal of marriage. Two weeks later, however, he unceremoniously dumped her, refusing to return her phone calls. He would later dismiss the proposal and break-up as part of a challenge he undertook, saying, “I just wanted to prove to myself that I could have her.” It was a few weeks after this breakup that Bundy began a murderous rampage in Washington state.
