Ted Bundy

American serial killer, kidnapper, rapist, burglar, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s and possibly earlier. Charismatic and boyishly handsome, he was an "All-American boy" type, always favored and successful with women. He fit the frightening profile of the serial killer, white, male, above average in intelligence, and adroit at wearing a mask of charm and sanity. They are men clever enough to avoid detection as they kill time and time again. Bundy wore the mask better than most, moving in better circles.

He was the illegitimate son of an unknown sailor and a very religious 22-year-old girl from a respectable Philadelphia family. Ted's mom, Louise, was the oldest of three sisters. When she got pregnant, she was sent away to have the baby at a home for unwed mothers and her shame was never spoken of in the family. The birth of the 7 lb. 9 oz (3430 g) boy was normal. For two months, he was left at the home while the family decided whether or not to keep him. It was Grandfather Cowell who made the decision to bring the baby home as their own. With the mystery of Bundy's parentage, it was even speculated that Cowell might have been his biological father. The family secrets were well guarded.

When he was four, his mom took him and moved to Tacoma, Washington where she married John Bundy a year later. They added four half-brothers and sisters to the family. Ted never accepted Johnny as a father figure, preferring his beloved grandfather. Grandfather Cowell was a man with a violent temper, a man who brooked no dissent. His wife was repeatedly taken to hospitals for shock treatment for depression. Her fears grew until she refused to leave the house, a victim of agoraphobia.

Though Louise Bundy portrayed her son as a sweet, darling boy, a model son, he told his psychiatrist of his fascination with stories of murder and death while still a boy. Later, these stories blended with his interest in pornography.