Ted Bundy Essays (Examples)

Ted Bundy: All-American Serial Killer

When women began disappearing in and around Seattle, Washington in 1974, nobody suspected Theodore obert "Ted" Bundy would be behind their disappearances. Bundy was, after all, a student at the University of Washington, a political volunteer, and a suicide hotline operator. Again, no one would suspect him of being involved in the disappearances and murders of various women around Salt Lake City, Utah when he attended law school at the University of Utah, however, when he was arrested in August 1975, it was discovered that Bundy had been involved in the disappearances of at least 24 women in Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado. After he was extradited to Colorado, he escaped custody on two, occasions, on June 7, 1977 and December 30, 1977, which gave him the opportunity to make his way to Florida and kill at least six more women before he was finally apprehended…

Ted Bundy was born Theodore obert Cowell on November 24, 1946. When he was four years old, Ted's mother moved with her son to Tacoma, Washington and remarried Johnnie Culpepper Bundy. Ted did not get along with his stepfather, although he would frequently babysit for his four half siblings.

Throughout his youth, Ted showed signs of poor social skills development and adaptation. As Bell points out, "Ted became increasingly uncomfortable around his stepfather and preferred to be alone. This desire to be by himself increased and possibly led to his later inability to socially interact comfortably with others." His shyness became a defining feature of Ted's early childhood, as he was "self-doubting and uncomfortable in social situations," (Bell). However, Ted seemed to come out of his shell in high school and was even described as being "attractive" (Montaldo) and "popular," (Bell). In spite of being bullied frequently at school, Ted…

"There are at least four (4) different subtypes -- common, alienated, aggressive, and dyssocial. Commons are characterized mostly by their lack of conscience; the alienated by their inability to love or be loved; aggressives by a consistent sadistic streak; and dyssocials by an ability to abide by gang rules, as long as those rules are the wrong rules" (O'Connor, 2005). Bundy clearly falls into the aggressive category.

Describe and explain whether the individual may be a psychopath as defined by Hare.

On Hare's checklist of psychopathology, Bundy has nearly all of the traits, including glib and superficial charm (with women), a grandiose (exaggeratedly high) estimation of himself (as exemplified by his defense of himself in court), a need for stimulation, pathological lying, cunning and manipulativeness and a lack of remorse or guilt that caused him to play games with the law until the eve of his execution. Throughout his life…

Meg Anders, who uses the alias of Elizabeth Kendall in her book entitled The Phantom Prince, provides an insider's look at Bundy's nature, the face he showed to the world and the occasional private tears he shed in her presence. Other books, such as True Crime, published by Time Warner, give an overview of the facts that have already appeared in numerous articles in the press.

I do not include details from Bundy's last interview, granted to the extreme evangelist, James Dobson, for several reasons. Bundy, in his self-fabricated personality, appeared to love the limelight and was a charismatic, charming personality. Bundy used the interview with Dobson to blame pornography for his deeds, still unable to track within himself the psychological demons that led him to do what he did. From serving as his own attorney and playing legal games with the Court, to planning elaborate cat-and-mouse prison escapes, Bundy…

He used various ruses to coax a female into his car, and from there she was likely never seen alive again.

On November 7, 1974, he abducted Carol DeRonch, 18, from a shopping center in Utah, and he was able to handcuff her wrists but she managed to get away. On July 14, 1974 he abducted two young women (Janice Ott and Denise Naslund) in Utah, and killed them both. His method was to lure them to his car and take them to a remote place and rape them, sometimes torture them, or sodomize them, then strangle them or kill them by another method. He raped and strangled a hitchhiker in Utah in 1974, and killed Nancy ilcox in Utah in 1974; he raped, sodomized and murdered 17-year-old Melissa Smith also in 1974 (Clark Prosecutor). The list goes on and on, and the methods he used -- also considered the…

Most people suggest that Bundy, and most serial killers, are sociopaths, and that, while they may be able to intellectually process the difference between right and wrong, they have not internalized the societal cues that make them feel bad for breaking societal taboos. However, in post-interview discussion of his interview with Bundy, psychologist James Dobson makes a very interesting point. James Dobson says, "It was not difficult for the Nazi warlords to find people to do the kind of things that Ted Bundy did. I mean, they found them by the thousands in society," (the Jeremy Kyle Show, 1989). He suggests that the human capacity for violence is oftentimes just below the surface, waiting to be exploited. Therefore, Bundy's explanation that his exposure to violent pornography is what pushed him from a normal man into a violent serial killer lends some credence to Dobson's position.

It appears that Bundy committed…

Abstract
Ted Bundy became one of the most infamous serial killers in history. Like most serial killers of his ilk, Bundy showed signs of having high intelligence in spite of his anti-social tendencies. An examination of Bundy’s past, his predilections, and his upbringing may provide some clues to recognizing the traits that cause some individuals to have a proclivity towards violence. However, the media has also aggrandized Bundy, making him far more famous than his victims. The story of Ted Bundy reveals the problematic fascination with serial killers: a strange obsession that continues to exist among the general public.
Introduction: The Early Years
Ted Bundy was born Theodore Robert Bundy in November 1946 in Burlington, Vermont. His childhood has been described as “difficult,” with “strained” relationships with his mother and stepfather (Jenkins, n.d., p. 1). The main reason for his strained relationship with his mother was that he was born…

Outline Template: Essay on Ted Bundy

I. Introduction

A. Alarming fact about Ted Bundy

B. Ted Bundy in a social and historical context

C. Thesis related to what has been learned from the Ted Bundy case or how the media handled the case

II. Body Paragraph: Biographical overview

A. Ted Bundy upbringing

B. The beginnings of violence

C. Warning signs that can be applied to other cases

III. Body Paragraph: The career of the serial murderer

A. Patterns of crime

B. Responses of law enforcement

IV. Body Paragraph: Ted Bundy in context

A. Media responses

B. Similarity to other cases

C. What can be learned

V. Conclusion

A. Learning from Ted Bundy

B. Is Ted Bundy a sign of the times?

Example Outline: Essay on Ted Bundy

I. A man who raped and murdered dozens of people becomes a celebrity as the story of Ted Bundy becomes a grim sign…

Ted Bundy: The Serial Killer

Theodore obert Bundy who is commonly known as Ted Bundy is one of the most renowned serial killers in the history of the United States. Actually Bundy is regarded as the most notorious serial killer and rapist in America's history, especially during the late 20th Century. Prior to his death in an electric chair, Bundy confessed to 36 murders though it is unclear the actual number of crimes he committed as part of his legacy of horror. Bundy conducted his crimes during the 1970s and usually targeted young women who he assaulted and murdered. Notably, Ted Bundy's highly publicized trial that culminated in his death sentence made him popular despite his long list and history of brutal acts and crimes.

Ted Bundy's involvement and motivation in crime can be traced back to his childhood, which was characterized with difficulties and strained relationship with his stepfather.…

psychological explanation for Ted Bundy's personality. It has 9 sources.

Theodore obert Cowell commonly known as Ted Bundy is acknowledged to have been one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. The fascination he holds for the public and scholars alike arises from the fact that his deeds and his personality as it was known did not correspond. It is incomprehensible why an attractive, intelligent, man from a seemingly conventional background would feel the need to commit anywhere from 36 to 100 grisly murders (Simpson 2003).

Since then several attempts have been made to somehow explain Ted Bundy's motivations but as one of his biographers stated, his "mask of sanity" was impenetrable unless the inference was first made that he was a killer. Then various aspects of his personality and life could be made to fit. The fact that the conclusions still remained suspiciously flawed may stem from…

Ted Bundy: America’s Most Infamous Serial Killer
Abstract 
While Ted Bundy is neither the most prolific nor the most horrific serial killer in America, he is one of the best known of American serial killers.  This essay explores the reasons for Bundy’s infamy.  It will explore Bundy’s normal guy persona and how that not only helped him gain his victims’ trust, but also helped foster public fascination with Bundy.  Bundy committed crimes across multiple states, which helped create national awareness of his crimes at a time when crime reporting was still often confined to local areas.  He had multiple successful escapes, which not only created news while authorities searched for him, but also helped support the mythology of Bundy as a genius.  His antics during the trial, where he represented himself, were focused on engaging the press in an attempt to win public support.  Finally, after he was convicted, he…

That victim survived. A month later, Bundy broke into Lynda Ann Healy's room, beat her unconscious, dressed her, kidnapped her, and then took her to a location where he killed her and sexually assaulted her. Several other young women fell victim to Bundy while he was in Washington. Sometimes he faked an injury, specifically a broken arm or a broken leg, to get the women close enough to him to kidnap. When Bundy moved to Utah for law school in 1974, the disappearances in Washington stopped and a string of kidnappings, rapes and murders began in Idaho, Utah, and Colorado. While he used a variety of means to kill the women, most of them were bludgeoned to death.

In August 1975, Bundy was arrested when a police officer noticed several disturbing items during a routine traffic stop. They could not get sufficient evidence to charge him, but began building a…

Nonetheless, Bill never hurts other people simply because he thinks that it is irrational to hurt others. He thinks that any rational person would be like him and not hurt other people. Does Bill really understand that hurting others is morally wrong? (Nichols, 2002, p. 285)."

This presents some interesting directions of thought. However, it is time to go into the relationship between serial murderers and forensic psychology as it applies to the crime scene. Ted Bundy seemed very much aware that he was committing crimes against society, certainly crimes against his victims. Berkowitz, it was argued, was more psychotic, and for that reason perhaps less aware of his actions as crimes against society or individuals. Berkowitz was known to have started more than a thousand fires, and had a history of cruelty to animals; both manifestations of deeper emotional problems (Schlesinger, 2004, p. 328). This does not make any…

Causes of Criminal Behavior

Although crimes have been committed since times immemorial, a systematic study of the causes of criminal behavior (or why crimes are committed) is a relatively recent phenomenon. Various theories have been put forward and numerous research studies have been conducted to better understand the criminal mind in order to prevent or reduce crime. It is, perhaps, a tribute to the complexity of the human brain that most of these theories remain just "theories" with little evidence to support definite and irrefutable patterns of criminal behavior. This is not to suggest that all theories of "criminology" are worthless -- most of them do provide useful insight into the criminal mind and at least partially explain the reasons why crimes are committed by certain individuals. In this paper we shall explore some of the theories of criminal behavior that have attempted to throw light on the causes of…

This paper will examine the film Dead Man Walking as a means of discussing the greater issue of capital punishment. This paper will make the argument that while capital punishment is largely not beneficial for society, it does have a place in the justice system in certain occasions. These circumstances largely involve remorseless serial killers who are unable to be rehabilitated.
The 1995 film Dead Man Walking directed by Tim Robbins and based on the book by the nun who lived the story, Helen Prejean. The film has the truly difficult task of telling the story of the complexities of capital punishment in America. The film shows us the struggle that a nun has in attempting to comfort and help both a murderer on death row and the families of the victims he killed. The film was critically well-received and is able to strike a strong balance between the various…

Facts about the Cheshire Murders

The Cheshire murders were the Connecticut home invasion that occurred on July 23, 2007. Jennifer Hawke-Petit, wife of Dr. William Petit and her two daughters were brutally killed. Her daughter was raped and killed while Dr. William managed to escape, although, he was injured during the home invasion. (Daily Mail). Typically, the case was the most widely publicized case in the history of Connecticut because of the nature of the killings. The two daughters of the couple were Hayes aged 17 and Michael 11, were tied to the bed, suffocated and the house was set on fire. The Haye's confession proved that the two criminals had planned to rob the house in the dark. However, the police were able to arrest the penetrator named Steven J. Hayes and Joshua A. Komisarjevsky.

Sentence Defendants Receive

During the trial, the jury deliberated on the evidence against them.…

Tanner Dowler was born to John Dowler, age 39, and his wife Audra, age 19. Nine weeks later, on October 12, his grandparents reluctantly agreed with doctors that life support should be stopped because Tanner had no chance of surviving the beating his father had given him on October 3. Now the state of Colorado has charged John Dowler with first-degree murder, and must decide whether they should seek the death penalty. This paper argues that because of the severity of the crime, John Dowler should face the death penalty if convicted.

It seems unlikely that anyone likes the fact that many states have the death penalty as an option for convicted murderers. Everyone would prefer that people not go to the extreme of taking another person's life. However, some argue that some crimes are so heinous that justice demands that the perpetrator die.

Our country's criminal history is filled…

82).

Psychosocial background of these rapists is inclusive of physical as well as verbal abuse which can be from both or one of the parents. Abuse-based background is seen in more than 56% of the rapists in this category. More than 80% of the rapists belong to divorced households; most of these are adopted or have spent their childhood in foster care. elationships of these rapists with women in the past have failed or did not work based on which hostile feelings have developed against the opposite sex.

Background profiling on rapists has shown that these normally are raised in single parent households with increased issues. Additionally they grow up being physically as well as verbally abused facing sexual deviances. The children facing these conditions are the ones that clearly show tendencies towards sexual promiscuity. In the case of adults, it has been seen that they are married later in…

Death Penalty: Right or Wrong?

For some time I have believed that the death penalty is a necessary part of our legal system, for the protection of society as a whole. In forming this opinion, I looked at Ted Bundy, who was convicted of monstrously killing four college sorority sisters and a 13-year-old girl he happened upon while she was walking home from school. He held the poor 13-year-old girl for several days in a deserted pigsty in the hot scrub woods of northern Florida before finally killing her. Some authorities think that he may be responsible for over 100 murders, and not the thirty or so he admitted to before his death. Ted Bundy tried to negotiate his way out of being put to death by hinting that the police could clear a lot more murders, but that he would only talk if his death sentence were reversed. Authorities…

Criminology researchers usually draw on multiple sociological theories for understanding crime and offenders. Certain elements of serial-killing research continue to be a subject of speculation and exploration, on account of the numerous preconceptions and myths surrounding the crime. The significance of establishing a theoretic basis to explain sociological factors proves crucial to distinguishing between fact and fiction (Hickey, 2013).

Social Structure Theory

This class of theories concentrates on the socioeconomic status of a person and suggests that the poor perpetrate more offenses owing to their struggle to achieve social or monetary success. They are, particularly owing to their subcultural, racial, or ethnic status, restricted in several ways from lawfully attaining the great “American Dream\". Thus, they resort to deviant techniques to succeed. Structural theories provide convincing justifications for numerous offenses, with the exception of serial killing. Normally, serial killers lack financial or social motivation, and aren’t members of any specific…

Thus, the relationship between investigative psychology and forensic psychology is fairly lucid. Investigative psychology largely provides the means of identifying suspects and eventually indicting them. The mechanics of investigative psychology are multi-fold. For instance, in the case of the so-called "D.C. Sniper" in 2002, investigators were able to gain forensic evidence regarding ballistics and fingerprints. The former enabled them to identify the type of weapon that was repeatedly used during the attacks; the latter was used to procure a suspect in this particular case (Federal, 2007).

However, the true value of this sort of methodology becomes manifest in court during subsequent trials. In the previously mentioned sniper case, two suspects were convicted largely due to the evidence gathered against them. It is important to note that this sort of evidence is empirically based and confirms to scientific methodology. Without such convincing evidence, of course, there could have been a greater…

Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class directed by Loretta Alper. Specifically it will evaluate how work and social class is perceived in this documentary film and other television shows. The working class always seems to be the brunt of negative humor and satire on television and this documentary explores that phenomenon, from the 1940s to the present day. If a person bases their opinions about the working class only on television, they will come to see an uneducated, group of buffoons who are entertaining but certainly not enlightening. Instead of poking fun at the working class, the media should acknowledge the contribution most working class families make to the American culture.

The film opens with the statistic that about 62% of Americans are members of the working class, and that means they are the average people you might meet on the street, stroll a shopping mall with, or dine…

America's sprawling territories makes it easy for people to leave their families and connections, making it easier to kill or be killed. On one hand, the inventions of the Fair and the belief in commercialism and industry makes spectacle possible in a way that is not easily replicated anywhere else, Eiffel Tower aside. More so than anywhere else, the belief in newness and self-creation seems to be a kind of religion in America. Chicago would recreate itself, and so would Holmes. Science would set America free, leaving older primitive cultures to curiosity cabinets and freak shows, and science would give Holmes the tools to create the perfect murders, and then to profit by selling the remains, letting nothing go to waste in this little 'business' he was running. For both Holmes and Chicago, eradication of the 'dark city' beneath the image of a white facade was the essence of the…

In 2002 the crime lab in the state of Mississippi found that the semen in the victim's body belonged to two different men and neither of them was Kennedy rewer. alko concludes by stating: "Forensic scandals have been troublingly common of late, with phony experts, fake results, and incompetent testing recently uncovered in Virginia, Maryland, Kansas, Illinois, and Texas, to name just a few. Courts need to take a more active role in weeding out the Michael Wests of the world before they ever take the witness stand. ut professional organizations also need to be more vigilant about policing their own. Dr. West's peers should more vocally have questioned his methods long before he was permitted to testify more than 70 times in courts across the country. One would think they'd step up their standards to protect the integrity and reputation of their profession. ut these continuing scandals suggest another,…

Rosman JP, Resnick PJ. Sexual attraction to corpses: a psychiatric review of necrophilia. Bull Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 1989;17(2):153-63.

It is not legal for me to reprint the article and copy you on it, since you are purchasing this paper (and copyright would be breached because you would, in form, be purchasing the article without reprint permission) -- but the article IS available for free online (your college should provide access to Google SCHOLAR and that gives not only the full article but all the times since its publication in which it has been cited or invoked in another academic or professional publication) of from PubMed. I can, however, legally provide you with the abstract

JAKE and JSTOR, both journals of jointly administered knowledge, offer the article in-full to students through their libraries.

Department of Psychiatry, Cleveland Metropolitan General Hospital, Ohio 44109.

The authors review 122 cases (88 from the…

The popular media's negative coverage of the insanity defense in contested cases when a defendant claims not to have the rational capacity to commit a crime or has a diminished capacity to conceptualize a criminal intent has caused the public to dismiss forensic psychiatry as providing rationalizations or excuses for bad behavior, rather than possessing a real scientific method. The use of the insanity defense is clearly subject to sociological and societal factors, such as the statistically greater willingness to believe a man who kills his child is competent vs. A woman. However, the authors contend that this ignores the many cases where the defense and the prosecution both agree that the criminal in question was not competent and was operating upon a different schema of 'reality' that affected his or her ability to judge circumstances in the same fashion as a sane person. (It might be argued, in the…

Dennis ader, BTK Killer

There are few things in society today that horrify or fascinate us as much as serial killers. Murderers like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer fill us with fear while also inspiring us to study them and use them as subjects of fiction. Indeed, fictional serial killer Dexter Morgan has millions of fans across the world. When examining the lives an actions of these killers, it is always interesting and shocking to see how easily they blended into their social contexts before their actions were know. A common reaction to the exposure and capture of such a serial killer is often one of disbelief, accompanied by cries to the effect that "he was such a quiet, nice person." This was also the case with Dennis Lynn ader, a serial killer who committed his first murder in 1974, but was only caught, convicted, and incarcerated in 2005.

ader…

inner dynamics of the theme of the novel Madison ell "Ten Indians."

The story Ten Indians is set in the town of altimore and is set to relate the story of Mike Devlin who is a psychiatrist and yet, his own personal conflicts are creating turmoil within himself and his practice. ell, creates Devlin as a man who is isolated even in a crowd and who is unable to reconcile his inner and outer realities. His perceptions of events at times deceive him and the consequences are tragic.

Within our society is seen the presence of drugs, violence, and despair which seem to be so deeply ingrained in the culture that there is no solution to making things better. A lack of jobs and a welfare system that keeps people alive but provides little hope further inhibits social change and so arises the question can anything truly be changed? Or…

Computers in Solving Non-computer-Based Crime

This proposal for research involves a survey of law enforcement officials to determine how much they use computers as a tool to help solve crimes that are not committed by computer, such as murder and robberies. Using a questionnaire that utilizes a numerical scale for responses with opportunities for written comments as well, it will quantify the results and indicate areas for further research. Since little research has been done in this area, it should be considered a preliminary study.

Law enforcement has traditionally struggled to keep up, technologically, with the criminals they are charged with catching. During Prohibition, gangsters had machine guns and government agents did not. Now, in the year 2002, law enforcement may have a powerful and relatively new tool available to them in the war against crime: computers.

However, an exploration of the literature reveals little if any systematic study about…

The Argument for Environmental Influence

The modern fields of criminology and sociology have also established significant direct connections between the external environment and the behavior that develops in the individual (Schmalleger, 2008). egardless of the effects of physiology and biological processes, there is undoubtedly a tremendous influence in the experiences, formative relationships, and role models to which the individual is exposed (Schmalleger, 2008). Many forms of modern crime are largely products of the influence of social circumstances and the norms that prevail in local communities (Pinizzotto, Davis, & Miller, 2007). With respect to criminally deviant individuals such as serial killers, there are specific types and patterns of formative experiences and psychological trauma that are known to be associated with those types of criminal deviance (Gerrig & Zimbardo, 2008; Innes, 2007),

The Argument for the ational Choice Theory

The modern approach to understanding criminal deviance also recognizes the importance of elements…

American Psycho

In his seminal work American Psycho, Bret Easton Ellis uses the character of the yuppie serial killer Patrick Bateman in order to criticize American consumer culture while simultaneously challenging the reader to confront his or her own responses to that culture, responses that Ellis seems to suggest are only removed from the sociopathic actions of Bateman in a manner of degree, rather than kind. To see how Ellis uses the character of Patrick Bateman to explore the dual role of the serial killer as liberated individual and microcosmic representation of society, one may compare Bateman to the real life serial killer John ayne Gacy, who managed to keep his multiple murders a secret for the better part of the 1970s. Examining Bateman's characterization alongside the history of Gacy's murders and seemingly normal civilian life will help to demonstrate how the fascination with the two-faced killer ultimately stems from…