Ted Bundy: Who was the serial killer and how did he die?

This year sees the release of two new biopics about the serial killer Ted Bundy – with Hollywood facing criticism over the two trailers, which were released within days of one another.

Filmmakers have previously been accused of being obsessed with the killer, and bombarding audiences with movies about his life; with Ted Bundy: American Boogeyman starring Chad Michael Murray, and No Man of God, starring Elijah Wood and Luke Kirby, the latest films about Bundy to be released.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, a biopic about serial killer Ted Bundy, was released in 2019.

In that film, Zac Efron portrays the murderer in the Netflix film, while Lily Collins stars as Bundy’s former girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer.

Bundy is believed to have started killing and assaulting women in the 1970s, murdering dozens of them until the end of the decade.

Here is what you should know about Bundy:

Who was Ted Bundy?

Theodore Robert Bundy was born on 24 November, 1946 in Burlington, Vermont, and grew up in Tacoma, Washington. He dropped out of college before returning to the University of Washington and obtaining a degree in psychology in 1970, per a New York Times article published in 1978 while he was on trial.

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Bundy later entered law school but abandoned those studies as well. By 1971, Bundy was volunteering at a suicide hotline where he met the true crime writer Ann Rule, who later authored the book The Stranger Beside Me about her friendship with Bundy.

Did Ted Bundy confess to his crimes?

Bundy confessed to 30 killings across seven states by the time of his death.

However, the actual death toll might be higher. Several unsolved murders have been linked to Bundy, even though evidence hasn’t been sufficient to establish culpability.

Bundy himself suggested that the actual number of his victims might be higher.

When and how did he die?

Bundy was executed by electrocution on 24 January, 1989, after being convicted on three separate murder cases – the killing of 12-year-old Kimberly Diane Leach, and the slayings of Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy at the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University.

He was 42 years old at the time of his death.

More than 100 people cheered outside the Florida State Prison, setting off firecrackers and lighting sparklers, according to the Associated Press’s report of the execution.

Who was his girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer?

Kloepfer, a single mother, started dating Bundy in 1969. The relationship started until the mid 1970s.

Around that time, Kloepfer developed doubts about Bundy and gave his name to the police, though authorities didn’t consider him a serious suspect.

Kloepfer published a book about her relationship with Bundy, titled The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy, in 1981 under the name Elizabeth Kendall. Bundy was on death row at the time.

She has remained out of the public eye for years, and Michael Werwie, the screenwriter of Extremely Wicked, told Vanity Fair she was “not findable”.