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Kylie Black

Ms Holly Horner

ENC 2135

9 March 2018

Ted Bundy: The Journey of a Serial Killer

For years, individuals have gone back and forth between whether serial killers’ drive to

their murders is fueled by nature or nurture. Though many studies have taken place in attempt to

prove this theory, no one has established one over the other as the correct answer. Although, in

many cases there is a prominent answer to that specific killers reasoning behind their murderous

kills. For example, Ted Bundy was an infamous serial killer who raped and killed up to an

estimated amount of 100 women in the 1970’s era. Bundy was an attractive man, which helped

him lure his victims to him so that he could kill them. Police also found out that Bundy would

not only kill these women, but he was also a necrophiliac. His actions fascinated numerous

people and led to further investigations on his past life to establish the root of his horrible

actions. While some people may believe that he was psychologically born into being a killer, Ted

Bundy developed his serial- killer instincts through the confusion of who his birth mother was,

the heart-breaking end of his recent relationship, and the psychological problems formed

sporadically throughout his childhood.

Through the extensive research detectives took part in, it has been discovered that one of

the potential reasons behind Ted Bundy’s serial killer ways is the confusion and later reveal of

who his mother is. His biography states a small explanation of this; “To hide the fact he was an

illegitimate child, Bundy was raised as the adopted son of his grandparents and was told that his

mother was his sister” (Ted Bundy Biography). Bundy was born out of wedlock which was a
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disgrace to his grandparents, therefore they decided to raise him as their own. He believed that

his mother was his sister until she told him the truth and moved him away, this event

psychologically was one of the factors that triggered the derailment of his mind. Ted Bundy’s

biography tells how his mother took him to Tacoma, Washington to raise him with her future

husband Johnnie Bundy. After being moved away, Bundy began showing different signs that

were not normal for a young boy to be doing while growing up. No one thought anything of it

due to him being a well behaved and smart student all throughout his school years (Ted Bundy

Biography). According to Calhune, the author of Self-Reported Psychopathology in a Convicted

Serial Killer”, any tests are often done to assess the psychological mind of the murderer after

being convicted. An example of some questions that are often made to find out the individual’s

childhood treatment such as, “parental employment, family criminal behavior, involvement of

family in the individual’s life as a child, educational level of parents, parental religious

background, and use of public assistance by family” (Culhane 5). The childhood each killer, like

Bundy, has lived may have had an impact on their murderous events; researchers try to dig into

their past to notice any events which could have caused the killing outrage. As Bundy thought

his childhood was normal, research states otherwise; “Bundy's maternal grandmother had severe

psychological problems necessitating hospitalization and electroshock therapy” (Saltzman 103).

Growing up he may not have realized the effect that his grandmother that raised him for most of

his life had issues as well that would subconsciously alter him psychologically as well. This can

further conclude that his grandmother, along with his actual birth mother, both may have led to

the sadistic ways of his many murders. This can further conclude that the people surrounding an

individual and shaping their environment as they grow up, may lead to their future actions down

the road.
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It has been predicted that right around the time of a life changing breakup, Bundy began

his journey of raping and killing young women. Many believed Bundy went after females that

matched her appearance, this can be proven to be a common thing by Millers statement, “At

some point, the individual begins to incorporate actual people he knows into his sexually

murderous fantasies and begins to mentally rehearse more realistic scenarios for stalking,

abducting, and torturing victims to death” (Miller). Bundy formed a hatred towards this woman

who broke his heart and began targeting women that reminded him of her. The name of the

woman who is known to have motivated Bundy into killing’s name remains unknown in all

articles on the web. According to an article about Bundy on Dailymail.com, his victims were all

long haired brunettes, with middle parts(Mailonline). This stereotype matches that of his past

girlfriend. An interview with Bundy shows how he began to enjoy these specific women he

would target; “accompany and generate the anticipation that precedes the crime [and that such

apprehension] is always more stimulating than the crime itself” (Murray). It was not the physical

crime that Bundy was interested in, but in the process of planning and picking out the victims to

whom he wanted to do murder. This proves it is not an act of rage that causes him to kill since he

took the time to sit and plan out each individual scenario, but this shows the motivation he

received of punishing the type of women that once hurt and caused him to become an insecure

individual. His charm and good looks helped Bundy lure all of these women into his trap. Some

of his tactics included, “preying on these women with a ruse, often wearing his arm in a sling or his

leg in a fake cast and walking on crutches. Charming and faking a disability to convince his victims

to help him carry books or unload objects from his car” (Crime Library). The young women that he

would target would see his good looks and try to assist him, as they easily believed someone that

handsome could not possibly be a killer. A combination of Bundy’s sneaky actions and women’s
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gullible ways led Bundy to continue killing the bountiful amounts of women that he admitted to

before his time in the death chair.

Scientists have done research on serial killers to differentiate killers and their crimes

based off of their inner psyche. There have been many stereotypes to declare the different

categories of serial killers and compared that to the crimes committed. A journal by Zelda Knight

touches on one of the categories and states, “who are most likely to be classified as organized -

they make detailed plans for the kill, anticipating the weapons they will need to inflict the most

pain, often – but not always – stalking and abducting their victims” (Knight 1192). This relates to

Ted Bundy because he often planned his murders by picking prey and playing out different

scenarios to lure each girl into his trap. Bundy a majority of the time was known to enjoy the

planning of his kills rather than the actual kill itself, which can be from a build-up of hatred

inside his head. Knight also touches on the sexual motives that certain serial killers, such as Ted

Bundy, have while partaking in murders. Bundy was known to have sex with his victims after he

already tortured and killed them (Knight). As disturbing as that can be, the reasoning behind

actions like that link back to psychological issues that developed at young ages. While growing

up, Bundy’s grandparents were very religious and attempted to assimilate him into that life by

blocking him from the wrongs of the world. Paredes uses the religious belief of Bundy’s

grandparents to show his place in the situation by saying, “In these terms, Bundy was the

ultimate Judeo-Christian anomaly of anomalies who, like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, is

the creepiest of creeping things- truly Lucifer among us, according to one close observer”

(Paredes 10). Although his grandparents were trying to instate religious beliefs into Bundy, they

themselves had many flaws which Bundy saw and later formed his life around them. He saw

their wrongs as the world having no good left; therefore, he took on the devil’s rule and began

killing subconsciously. Bundy was born out of wedlock by a father who was never present in his
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life, it is easy to say that the absence of his father could have caused Bundy to have a void for the

attention he never received. A recent author, Schmid, states a quote sharing some of the attention

Bundy received by saying, “even death could not prevent Ted Bundy from achieving a high

degree of postmortem celebrity” (Schmid 5). Bundy became notoriously famous before and after

his death for his many kills; this is the attention he was seeking to find while committing his

crimes. Bundy continued to rape and murder even after he escaped custody, these events can

show that psychologically he was wanting to get caught so everyone could know who he was.

Many books have been written about Ted Bundy specifically, and even coming out soon is a

movie about the events leading up and during his killing spree. The book Serial Killers by Seth

Pulditor, looks into the aftermath of the victims’ families and how the death of their daughters

negatively put a strain on their life. This book causes readers to be empathetic towards the

families’ due to the distasteful situation, yet Ted Bundy did not have any guilt towards his

victims nor their families. With that being said, it is clear that Ted Bundy was psychologically

off in his head to have committed such treacherous crimes and not feel a sense of remorse

towards anything. On top of that, he even enjoyed committing the crimes he spent hours

planning to partake in.

Although there is significant evidence that Ted Bundy was nurtured into being a killer,

there is also doubt that he was born into his killer ways. As stated before, Bundy had family

members that had psychological issues, “Bundy's maternal grandmother had severe

psychological problems necessitating hospitalization and electroshock therapy” (Saltzman 103).

This is relating to his blood grandmother, which means that he could biologically already have

mental issues before he was even born. Researcher Fallon has been studying the brains of serial

killers for years and resulted, “Chromosome abnormality begins to express itself during puberty”
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(Fallon). As mentioned before from Ted Bundy’s biography, he did not begin to show signs of

unusual behavior until he was slightly older and around the age of puberty. These actions

including spying on neighbors’ windows at night, and becoming fascinated with objects such as

knives (Ted Bundy Biography). Therefore, as much as there is some relation to the biological

mind of killers, it also does not develop until after they have been raised. It is proven that there

could be reasoning that supports the claim that Ted Bundy may have been born a killer, yet there

is more sufficient evidence to back up that Bundy was raised to be a killer.

Ted Bundy is only one of the many serial killers that are known around the world for

their various crimes. With this being said, it has been made clear that Ted Bundy was nurtured

into becoming a serial killer, yet this may not be the case with other killers. Each serial killer

varies in race, gender, age, childhood, and biological ways which contribute to the reasoning

behind why they began their murders. Some other famous killers not mentioned like: Jeffery

Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, and Aileen Wournos could still provide evidence for the general

question of whether it is nurture or nature that leads killers to that identity. Also, what is missing

from this research is the actual DNA from Ted Bundy, due to lack of resources it is almost

impossible to look at the biological aspects of Bundy to determine if those pre-determined his

serial killer ways. Despite what some may say, Ted Bundy was raised to become a serial killer

by without realizing it by the confusion of who his birth mother was, the end of his most recent

relationship, and the psychological issues he developed during his childhood.

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Works Cited

Culhane, Scott E., et al. “Self-Reported psychopathology in a convicted serial killer.” Journal of

Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, vol. 8, no. 1, 2010, pp. 1–21.,

doi:10.1002/jip.129.

Knight, Zelda G. “Some Thoughts On The Psychological Roots Of The Behavior Of Serial

Killers As Narcissists: An Object Relations Perspective.” Social Behavior and

Personality: an international journal, vol. 34, no. 10, Jan. 2006, pp. 1189–1206.,

doi:10.2224/sbp.2006.34.10.1189.

Mailonline, Natalie Corner For. “Serial killer Ted Bundy was motivated by rejection after he was

DUMPED by his first girlfriend, expert claims - and even chose victims who were

'carbon copies' of the woman who broke his heart.” Daily Mail Online, Associated

Newspapers, 1 Dec. 2017, www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5125215/Serial-killer-

Ted-Bundy-motivated-rejection.html.

Miller, Laurence. “Serial killers: II. Development, dynamics, and forensics.” Aggression and

Violent Behavior, vol. 19, no. 1, 2014, pp. 12–22., doi:10.1016/j.avb.2013.11.003.

Murray, Jennifer L. “The Role of Sexual, Sadistic, and Misogynistic Fantasy in Mass and Serial

Killing.” Deviant Behavior, vol. 38, no. 7, Sept. 2016, pp. 735–743.,

doi:10.1080/01639625.2016.1197669.

Paredes, J. Anthony, and Elizabeth D. Purdum. “Bye-Bye Ted...: Community Response in

Florida to the Execution of Theodore Bundy.” Anthropology Today, vol. 6, no. 2, 1990, p.

9., doi:10.2307/3033003.

Pulditor, Seth H. Gerders, Louise I. Serial killers. Eldorado Ink, 2013.

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Saltzman, Rachelle H. “"This Buzz is for You": Popular Responses to the Ted Bundy

Execution.” Journal of Folklore Research, vol. 32, no. 2, 1995, pp. 101–119.,

doi:10.1107/s0021889807007704/kk5009sup1.cif.

“Serial Killers: Nature vs. Nurture? by elenaricci - Infogram.” Infogram: Create Infographics,

Reports and Maps, infogram.com/serial-killersnature-vs-nurture-1gdx3pwwydjepgr.

Schmid, David. “Natural Born Celebrities.” 2005,

doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226738703.001.0001.

“Ted Bundy.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 18 Jan. 2018,

www.biography.com/people/ted-bundy-9231165.

“Ted Bundy | Serial Killers | Crime Library.” Crime Museum, www.crimemuseum.org/crime-

library/serial-killers/ted-bundy/.