FBI Ted Bundy victims number at least 30.
The new Amazon Prime Video docuseries Ted Bundy: Falling for a Killer will release its first episode on Friday, January 31. The docuseries is centered around the women who interacted with Ted Bundy and is set to give a comprehensive look at him without glamorizing his crimes.
Ted Bundy was executed by electric chair at Florida State Prison on January 24, 1989. Crowds flocked to the prison to be there at the time of the serial killer’s execution, as the trial and sentencing was a highly publicized event.
Bundy killed at least 30 women. He admitted to most of those murders before his death while prolonging his stay on death row. Some victims may have never been identified, though, leading authorities to believe there could have been more deaths on his hands.
How Did He Get Caught?
After a series of disappearances and murders in 1974 near Seattle, Washington, Bundy moved to Salt Lake City, Utah for law school. There, he was arrested for driving down a street with his lights off and then disobeying a policeman.
The policeman found a duffle bag in his car containing a ski mask, ice pick, torn sheets, and handcuffs. The handcuffs resembled restraints that had been used to kidnap Carol DaRonch. DaRonch survived Bundy’s attack by escaping. She was able to identify him in a lineup, and he was convicted for the kidnapping.
He was then extradited to Garfield County jail in Glenwood Springs and Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen, Colorado where he had a preliminary hearing. He served as his own attorney, so he did not have to wear handcuffs or leg shackles.
During a court recess, he asked to visit the law library to research his case, and there, while shielded from the guards’ view behind a bookcase, he opened a window and took the two-story leap to the ground. He was caught again in Aspen six days later after making little to no progress.
Back in Glenwood Springs jail, Bundy acquired a detailed floor plan of the jail and a hacksaw blade from other inmates along with $500 in cash smuggled in over a six-month period. During the evenings, while other prisoners were showering, he sawed a hole in the cell’s ceiling. Having lost 35 pounds, he was able to wiggle through the space. He escaped again on December 30, 1977.
After escaping from the jail in Colorado, Bundy made his way to Florida where he murdered two women and attacked two others at Florida State University’s Chi Omega sorority house on January 15, 1978. On February 8, Bundy killed 12-year-old Kimberly Dianne Leach.
Bundy was stopped by a police officer near the Alabama State Line because he was driving a stolen car. When told he was under arrest, he began running away, but he was tackled and arrested. Bundy stood trial for the Chi Omega homicides and assaults in June 1979.
On July 14, 1979, Bundy was convicted of the murders of the two women in the Chi Omega house, three counts of attempted first-degree murder, and two counts of burglary. He was sentenced to death by electrocution on February 10, 1980.
When Was He Executed?
Bundy exhausted all of his appeals, and the final convictions of those convinced him to confess. He admitted to 30 murders.
Bundy’s last meal was steak, eggs, hash browns, and toast. He ate none of it.
The serial killer was ultimately executed in the electric chair at 7:16 a.m. EST on January 24, 1989 at 42 years old. At least 40 people watched the execution, and citizens celebrated outside the prison at the time.
The serial killer’s body was cremated in Gainesville, and his ashes were scattered in the Cascade Mountains in Washington State in accordance with his will. The Cascades are the same mountain range where Bundy left at least four of his victims.
Here is a list of Ted Bundy’s victims and photos of the women.
READ NEXT: Ted Bundy Victims List & Photos: How Many Women Did He Kill?