Introduction: Ted Bundy, born in November 1946 in Burlington, Vermont, was a serial killer notorious for numerous accounts of abduction, murder and sexual assault across multiple states. In his late teens, Bundy seemed to live a double life. By day, he was a college student in a committed relationship and, eventually, was admitted to law school. However, by night, Bundy’s rampant, aggressive alter ego emerged. A seemingly handsome and charismatic man, Bundy was able to quickly gain the trust of his young female victims. He typically approached the young women in public spaces while feigning injury or impersonating an authority figure. His common tactics included plastering his arm in a cast and asking for help. Eventually, Bundy would overpower …show more content…
Deceit and manipulation are often associated with this disorder. Those with antisocial personality disorder are impulsive and often feel as though societal regulations do not apply to them. As a result, a wide variety of negative outcomes can be associated with this disorder such as addiction, violent behaviour, murder and imprisonment (Davey, 2008). Seventy-three psychologists from APA Division 42 participated in a study aiming to analyze the personality structure of Ted Bundy (Samuel & Widiger, 2006). The psychologists were provided with information of Bundy’s family life, schooling and crimes. The sample of psychologists was told to classify Bundy’s personality in terms of the American Psychiatric Association’s personality disorder nomenclature. Nearly 96% of the psychologists diagnosed Bundy with antisocial personality …show more content…
Typically, the ego understands that submitting to the urges of the id can often result in self-destructive behaviour (McLeod, 2008). However, as a result of Bundy’s overactive and powerful id, his ego may have been compromised. Additionally, in order to handle hardships and anxieties faced in daily life, the ego employs defense mechanisms to protect the person’s psyche (Funder, 2015). Bundy’s initial killing spree began shortly after his college girlfriend Stephanie Brooks broke up with him. He was distraught and, rather than attack Brooks, Bundy targeted women with similar physical features as his ex girlfriend. This defense mechanism, known as displacement, allowed Bundy to harvest a threatening impulse, such as his pain from the break up, and direct this pain on less threatening targets. (Funder,
His victims of choice were young, college age, women ( Gerdes 128). He was in
Every few years there are disturbing, yet fascinating headlines: “BTK killer: Hiding in plain sight” or “Police discover at least 10 victims at Anthony Sowell's home”; but what would allow an individual to commit the crimes they did? In cases like these there is usually a common link: Antisocial Personality disorder. It is an unknown disorder to most of the population which is why there are so many questions to be answered, the main ones being what is antisocial personality disorder and how does it effect patient and society as a whole? To answer these questions one needs an accurate background picture of the disorder.
tended to prey on young and attractive college women, first near his home in Washington, then moving east to Utah, Colorado, and finally in Florida (“Ted Bundy”, 2017). Many of his later victims resembled his college girlfriend, who was an attractive student with long, dark hair (Biography.com Authors, 2017). He often wore a sling on his arm or a fake cast on his leg and walked on crutches to fake a disability to convince his victims to help him carry books and unload things from his car. Bundy was also known to impersonate authority figures, such as cops or firefighters, to get a victim’s trust before attacking her. As for the process of attacking his victims, he struck them over the head with a crowbar or pipe, immobilized them with handcuffs, and forced them into his vehicle. To fit his victims in his car without them being visible from the outside, he removed the passenger seat of his car for his victims to lie unconscious and out of sight in the floorboard. After taking his victim where he needed to, he raped her and then typically strangled or bludgeoned her to death, then continued to mutilate her after death. Bundy prolonged these events by returning to visit the corpses at their “dump sites”; he sometimes even took them home with him to gain further sexual gratification. He sometimes displayed his victims’ decapitated heads in his home and slept with their corpses until putrefaction made them unbearable (“Ted Bundy”,
For as long as man has walked the earth, so has evil. There may be conflicting moral beliefs in this world, but one thing is universally considered wrong: serial killers. Although some people may try to use insanity as an explanation for these wicked people, they cannot explain away the heartlessness that resides in them. As shown in The Stranger Beside Me, infamous serial killer Ted Bundy is no exception to this. Even though books about true crimes may be considered insensitive to those involved, the commonly positively reviewed book The Stranger Beside Me by Ann Rule handles the somber issue of Ted Bundy’s emotionally destructive early life and the brutal crimes he committed that made people more fearful and aware of the evil that can exist in seemingly normal people well.
Often, organized killers are associated with a meticulous attitude and a keen attention to detail, they are highly intelligent and well-rehearsed; furthermore, organized killers wait days (or longer) for an opportune time to kill their victims. Organized killers are able to be socially charming and “blend” in with society. Prime examples of organized serial killers are Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy. Infamously, Bundy would use his charismatic charm to persuade women into helping him while he faked an injury, he is also known for his academic success. Known well in the community and he was frequently active in volunteer work, Gacy was able to evade suspicion; additionally, organized serial killers are more likely able to avoid
Ted Bundy was an American born rapist, a necrophile, a serial killer and a kidnapper who assaulted and murdered several young women during the 1970’s. The criminal kept on denying the charges for more than ten years and later confessed to having committed the thirty homicide crimes in seven different states before his execution (Rule, 2009). Bundy’s handsome and charismatic appearance made it possible for him to easily win the confidence of young women who were always his targets. He broke into the dwellings of his victims at night and bludgeoned them as they slept. He also approached young women in public places where he impersonated an authority figure or feigned injury on his victim before empowering and assaulting them in a more secluded area where he left them dead (Rule, 2009).
In “The Stranger Beside Me”, by Ann Rule, she discusses the once loving man Ted Bundy who suffered from a series of events in his early life causing him to develop into one of the most deadly and fascinating serial killers known to man. In the Washington and Oregon state area, Bundy went on a killing spree throughout the 1970’s, targeting young college women who fitted a specific look. He would visit populated areas and prey on victims, killing for the thrill of pleasure. During the book Ann Rule discusses the damage that Bundy had caused to so many families and people during his reign of terror. I’ll be examining the reasoning and motives that caused Bundy to react in such a psychotic and violent way.
Introduction- (Normal picture of him) You see this man? Normal, right? Good looking, cleancut.(Mugshot) Well this man is Theodore Bundy. Better known as the man who was suspected to have killed over 100 people dating back to before 1970. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?
03 March 2014. Bell, R. (n.d.). Ted Bundy. A Time of Terror — — Crime Library. Retrieved March 4, 2014, from http://www.crimelibrary.com/serial_killers/n.
Throughout history, America has been the home of serial killers, with more than 2,000 throughout history. In this country, America has encountered many different kinds of these sick people. One of the most infamous serial killers throughout American History was Theodore Robert Bundy, also known as Ted Bundy. On November 24, 1946, in Burlington, Vermont, Theodore Robert Bundy was born. When people think of serial killers, they usually see a dirty, insane looking person that would stand out from the average person. In Bundy’s case it was very different. Ted was a very smart individual who had attended 5 different colleges throughout the United States, studying law and eventually getting his degree in psychology at the University of Washington. Bundy was a very handsome and charming man, unlike most other serial killers. Looking helpless and using his good looks, Bundy was able to lure his victims and would knock them unconscious with an object such as a crowbar or a pipe, then would handcuff them inside his car. Once the victims were under his control he would then proceed in kidnapping, raping, sodomizing, and eventually killing them in very harsh ways. Throughout the 70’s, he raped and murdered young women all across the country. Bundy was said to be connected to at least 36 murders, and suspected to have committed one hundred or more.
His last victim was 12 year old Kimberly Leach. He kidnapped and mutilated her. He was caught because he was arrested for stealing a car. Identifiers at the jail recognized him right away as Ted Bundy. Witnesses said that they saw Bundy lurking around Kimberly’s elementary school, and all around the University of Florida’s campus. Bundy first trial was for the attacks on the sorority girls on campus at the University of Florida. During this trial, Bundy acted as his own attorney, and made it look to the people around watching that he was very mental and insane for doing this. Bundy played his part very well as attorney. People watching said that it was very interesting the way Bundy did this. He knew what he was talking about because he was going to school to become a lawyer. The judges weren't fouled, however. Bundy was found guilty and was given two death sentences. Bundys second trial was the trail for Kimberly Leach. During this trial, he had his own attorney. His posture and overall mood was different than that of the first trial. He just seemed very angry. One of the character witnesses for Bundy at this trial was Carol Boone. She was his girlfriend at the time, and because Bundy wanted to make a statement of his “sanity” he married her during the trial. This surprised almost everyone, but he was still found guilty, and was sentenced to another death
Another criminology theory that may apply to help explain the criminal behavior of Ted Bundy is the Psychodynamic theory. This theory is largely based on the findings of Sigmund Freud. The underpinnings of this of the approach are that the unconscious mind affects behavior and emotion. The theory advances the argument that no behavior is without cause and that childhood experiences affect emotions and behavior as adults. Serial killers like Ted Bundy therefore are particularly affected by their unconscious mind. Bundy did not receive proper care as a young boy and the negative impact of his sense of rejection and isolation negatively impacted his adulthood with aggressive tendencies. In short, Bundy’s adult actions under this theory can be viewed as manifesting his anger over his childhood oppression in the form of brutal rapes and
Brogaard, Berit. "The Making of a Serial Killer." Psychology Today. Berit Brogaard, D.M.Sci., Ph.D in The Superhuman Mind, 07 Dec. 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
Ted Bundy used to be the assistant director of the Seattle Crime prevention advisory committee and had wrote a pamphlet consisting of instructions to help prevent the rape of women. Bundy was considered to be the prime example of a good citizen. Even though being an example of the good citizen that he is believed to be, his sadistic habits that lurk deep in his mind caused his death by electric chair in 1989 on January. Before Bundy's public executions, he requested the presence of psychologist James Dobson, so he could reveal to him how pornography had affected his behavior. "My experience with pornography, when you become addicted to it, and I look at this kind of addiction like other kinds of addiction, I would keep looking for more potent, more explicit, more kinds of material. Like any addiction, you keep craving something, something that is harder, something that gives you a greater sense of excitement, until you reach a point to where pornography only goes so far, you reach that jumping off point where you begin to wonder if maybe actually doing it would give you that which is beyond just reading or looking at it -Ted Bundy (Corpus, Leilani)."
There are several things to be learned from the questioning of serial killers, even by the media. Watching Ted Bundy’s body language during his last interview provides a great deal of information to the viewer. Bundy rarely makes eye-contact when he speaks of his crimes and the events leading up to them, although he is able to articulate his opinions quite well. Whenever questioned concerning remorse, Bundy answers that he is remorseful while shaking his head “no.” Bundy also used his words to distance himself from the crimes he had committed. He