My friend Kyrie Allyson asked me to share the pictures of Ted’s apartment in SLC at 565 1st Ave. I didn’t get any sort of weird vibe from it, but I wasn’t in Utah for very long… I had limited time and needed to get through things FAST. Maybe if I had been able to walk around and linger a bit I would have been able to get a better feel for what may have happened here.
Ted Bundy lived at this house while attending law school in Salt Lake City between September 1974 and September 1975. Almost immediately after he moved in women started mysteriously disappearing from both Utah and Colorado. At the time, the residence was a boarding house meaning multiple tenants rented rooms and shared basic common areas. While living here Ted occupied room two, which (when looking at it from the street) is on the second floor right above the porch.
Located on the right side of the residence is a fire escape that was added some time in the 1960’s; Ted supposedly used it frequently to come and go as he pleased in the middle of the night. There is an entrance to a cellar in the back of the house on the left side, and according to one of his house mates (who didn’t find it suspicious at the time), Bundy would sometimes go down there late at night.
Before he was put to death, Bundy confessed to bringing two of his victims back to his room: Debra Kent and Nancy Wilcox. He claimed that he left Kent in his room ‘for a period of time’ before he killed her, and eventually dumped her body in a canyon around 100 miles away; he also claimed to have left Wilcox in his room as well before he took her life. Obviously there’s a lot of doubts with these claims: how could he keep girls there for days at a time against their will completely undetected? After leaving this residence in September 1975 he moved about a mile away to 364 Douglas Street.
Ted Bundy’s first Salt Lake City apartment, located at 565 First Avenue. Photo taken November 2022.Ted Bundy’s first Salt Lake City apartment. Photo taken November 2022.Definitely a constant theme I noticed in my adventures is ‘no trespassing’ signs, here and in Seattle. Photo taken November 2022.A close up of the ‘no trespassing’ sign located at the entrance to the house. Photo taken November 2022.The rear of Ted’s one-time boarding house. Photo courtesy of Chris Mortenson/Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The front of Ted’s former boarding house; his room on the second floor is around the red block. Photo courtesy of OddStops.The fire escape located on the eastern side of TB’s former boarding house that leads directly into his bedroom. Photo courtesy of Chris Mortenson/Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’How the bathroom in Ted’s former apartment building looked in 2016; it is located immediately to the left as you walk in the front door. Photo courtesy of Chris Mortenson/Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The stairs leading up to Ted’s room at 565 First Ave in SLC. Photo courtesy of Chris Mortenson/Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The entrance hall in TB’s former rooming house; his one-time bedroom is straight ahead and the bathroom is the door on the right. Photo courtesy of Chris Mortenson/Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’Bundy’s former room as it looked in 2016. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The kitchenette in Bundy’s former rooming house. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The dining area and lounge located in TB’s former boarding house. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The kitchenette in TB’s former boarding house. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The hatch and steps leading to the cellar located in the back of Bundy’s former rooming house. Photo courtesy of Chris Mortenson/Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The steps leading to the cellar in TB’s former boarding house. Photo courtesy of Chris Mortenson/Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’The back of TB’s former boarding house. Reading through Jerry Thompson’s reports, the basement was never inspected when Ted’s room was searched on August 21, 1975 after his first arrest. Photo courtesy of Rob Dielenberg’s, ‘Ted Bundy: A Visual Timeline.’