Notes from TB’s final days, as well as Fred Lawrence’s notes from the night before his execution; Lawrence was the Reverend that sat with Ted on the night before his death. Document courtesy of Maria Serban.
Author: Another Bundy Blog.
Ted Bundy, Garfield County Sheriff Files.
This is some information related to the Bundy case from Garfield County in Colorado from 1976.
Ted Bundy, Finger and Hand Prints.
Taken from the Ted Bundy Archives WordPress page: Tedbundy060963.wordpress.com
Arthur John Shawcross: Part One, Early Life and First Murder Spree.
Arthur John Shawcross was born at the US Naval Hospital at 4:14 AM on June 6, 1945 in Kittery, Maine to Arthur Roy and Elizabeth (nee Yerakes) Shawcross. According to his mother, he weighed five pounds at birth and was born one month premature, and as a result he spent twenty days in the hospital. Arthur Roy was born on October 7, 1923 in Jefferson, NY and after dropping out of school in the eighth grade he got a position with the Jefferson County Highway Department (which is a position that his father also worked before him), officially becoming their youngest employee on record. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941 he enlisted in the Marine Corps, and served honorably in World War II, earning four battle stars.
Elizabeth (who went by ‘Bessie/Betty’) was born on August 4, 1926 in Somersworth, New Hampshire and dropped out of high school in the tenth grade to work at a shoe factory to bring in money for her family. During WWII she got a position as a pipefitter’s helper at a Navy Yard in Portsmouth, which is where she met her future husband: after the war was over Arthur Roy was transferred to the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth near Kittery, Maine which is where he met Betty. The couple were married on November 23, 1944 and had four children together: Art, Donna (b. 1946), Jean (b. 1948), and James (b. 1954). Shortly after her first son was born on June 19th, 1945 Mrs. Shawcross took him to Watertown, NY to stay with her SIL until her husband finished his stint in the military. According to those that knew her, Betty was loud, abrasive, and apparently had a vocabulary that could make a sailor blush, where her husband was a calm man, and seemed to be very subdued. Upon returning home Mr. Shawcross returned to his job as a heavy equipment operator and road worker for Jefferson County.
According to one of Art’s cousin’s, he was a gorgeous baby, and had big, beautiful dark eyes and a sweet little face… but there seemed to be something off about him as well: he almost never cried, and frequently had a blank, vacant expression on his face. Shawcross was born with a genetic condition known as ‘Jacob’s Syndrome,’ where an individual’s genetic make-up contains an extra copy of their Y-chromosome; those that possess it have an increased risk of having learning disabilities and delayed motor and speech/language skills, as well as an increased risk of behavioral, social, and emotional difficulties. Where it was once thought to cause violent behavior, according to recent studies men with ‘XYY-syndrome’ are not more likely to be more aggressive than others, and this theory has been disproven.
The Shawcross family tree (mostly) goes back to the United Kingdom: one of Art’s ancestors was an attorney general in Great Britain, and a distant cousin was the chief prosecutor of the Nuremberg trials. But alas, scandal wasn’t new to the immediate family: when he was 21, Art’s (paternal) grandpa Fred married a 15 year old named Muriel Blake, completely against her family’s wishes. Her parents called the law and Shawcross was thrown in jail, and when he was released two days later the couple immediately got hitched. They had four children together and stayed married for forty-nine years until Muriel’s death; Fred followed three years later.
At the age of five it was reported by a family member that ‘little Artie’ had missed 33 days of kindergarten and still used ‘baby talk.’ Described as ‘odd’ by those around him (including his own relatives), he frequently had nightmares and wet the bed well into his adolescence. After Shawcross’ little sisters and brother were born his mother didn’t pay nearly as much attention to him, and Bessie’s oldest seemed to especially crave her attention. He began running away from home by the age of six, and in first grade earned A’s and B’s in school, despite his teachers saying he had ‘lazy work habits.’ The following year he began conversing with imaginary friends (most likely a result of having none in real life), and he was relentlessly mocked by his peers, who called him ‘weird’ and gave him the nickname ‘Oddie.’ By the age of eight he was a bully, and often went after younger, smaller children that weren’t as likely to put up much of a fight. It’s no surprise that he had trouble making friends, and in a later interview said that he felt as if his own parents didn’t like him as much as they did his brother and sisters. Arthur was a hypochondriac beginning at a very young age, and always seemed to be suffering from some form of imaginary illness in a desperate ploy for attention.
Artie (John) would later claim that his mother used to punish him with a belt and a broom handle, and that his father would beat him using his belt buckle, and would often hurt him so severely that he would often bleed. A relative of Art’s (that refused to give their identity) said of his early childhood: ‘Arty was a weird little bastard from the time he learned to walk.’
Beginning around the age of eight Arthur became a compulsive masturbater, a habit that his mother tried her hardest to discourage. On the repeated occasions that she caught him she would punish him severely, and claimed that she stuck a broom handle into his behind and even threatened him with a butcher knife on one occasion. Betty Shawcross denied these accusations, and psychologists aren’t 100% certain who is telling the truth.
Things really seemed to go south for Artie at around nine years old: his grades started slipping and his mother found out about his fathers other family in Australia from his time in the Marine Corps: while cleaning up the Guadalcanal island in the South Pacific in February 1943, Arthur Roy went to a dance thrown by the US Marine Corps, and there he met Miss Thelma June Chakros of Yea. According to a 1944 article published by the Watertown Daily Times, on June 14, 1943 the two were wed in Melny; they had one child, a son named Harley Roy. The dominating force in the Shawcross household, Bessie never let her husband forget about his other wife and child, and things never really returned to normal after his second family came to light. Also around this time Art was hit in the head with a rock and was hospitalized; he got stitches and suffered from numbness for years afterwards. He repeated the fourth grade and was always getting into fights with the other kids at school, and would often cry and use baby talk while being bullied by other children. Also at the age of nine Shawcross claimed that he had his first sexual encounter with his Aunt Tina, saying the two had intercourse.
Around the age of ten Arthur began stealing from local stores and homes around Watertown, but was never arrested. In 1958, the family built a small house near Brownsville, NY and because of this Artie no longer had to share a bedroom with his sisters anymore (just his little brother), and eventually three sets of relatives moved onto adjoining pieces of property, thus establishing an area dubbed ‘Shawcross Corners.’ In his later years Arthur would often speak about the difficult relationship he had with his parents and siblings, especially his mom, who he called domineering. Bessie, on the other hand, said that her oldest child was the source of most of her problems.
Despite only having an IQ of 86 (according to the first of many IQ tests, which is signifying less than the average of 100), Shawcross received A’s and B’s during his first two years of grade school. He claimed in later interviews that beginning at the age of thirteen he had sex with one of his male cousins (who denied the allegations) and began having relations with his sister Jeanne, (including ‘constant’ oral sex), which he said went on throughout his middle and junior high school years, prompting his mother to threaten to castrate him when she found out. He also claimed that around this time he had sex with a female neighbor, and when they were caught by her brother he forced Shawcross to have oral sex with him. Art also said that around this time he was raped by a male stranger and began having sex with a variety of animals (such as sheep, chickens, dogs… maybe a goat occasionally slipped in). At the age of fifteen he was only in the eighth grade, and was still wetting the bed and having nightmares. He was also becoming increasingly violent (especially when provoked), and began torturing small animals and setting brush fires. I just want to point out, Shawcross ticks off all three points of the MacDonald triad, which is a (controversial) hypothesis suggesting a link between violent offenders and three shared childhood behaviors: fire setting, animal cruelty, and bedwetting.
A very literal child, little Artie didn’t seem to understand sarcasm, or phrases like, ‘the cow jumped over the moon’ or ‘the dish ran away with the spoon.’ He would think that a literal dinner plate tried to run away with a tablespoon. His grade school teachers also noticed that he had a strangely complex relationship with his mother, and that he was constantly trying to get her to show love to him. One noticed that he always seemed to be showering her with gifts, even though she didn’t really seem to care. It seemed that the Shawcrosses blamed the school for his poor behavior, and the school seemed to blame Betty.
One of Art’s cousins shared that on one occasion they saw him walking home with a stick on his shoulders, and at the end of it was a snapping turtle: he had speared it with a stick, which went from its backside and out its mouth, and it was most likely alive when he did that. The same relative told another story about Art getting into an argument with his dad, and later that afternoon they saw him in a tree pointing a .22 rifle at Arthur Roy as he was mowing his lawn. Art never went through with it, but afterwards when he was confronted about it he said that he could have easily killed him, and it would have been like ‘shooting fish in a barrel.’
At sixteen Art was described by those acquainted with him as ‘moody,’ and a loner. He joined General Brown High School’s wrestling team, but got hit in the head with a discus and had to spend four days in the hospital. By seventeen he had only made it to the ninth grade and his grades fell to the lowest they had ever been; he eventually dropped out of school completely at the age of nineteen in 1960. It was also around this time that he began breaking into homes and peeping through windows, and in 1963 he was arrested for breaking into a Sears store; he received eighteen months of probation and was charged as a ‘youthful offender.’ Just two years later he was arrested again for second degree burglary, and was sentenced to six additional months of probation.
Around the time he was on probation he met his first wife, a woman named Sarah Louise Chatterton that he worked with at the local Family Bargain Center (a job he was let go from due to ‘poor customer service’ skills). The couple got married on September 13, 1964, and they did not consummate their marriage for several weeks after their wedding. Art and Sarah had a son together named Michael, who was born roughly a year after their wedding on October 2, 1956. During their marriage Shawcross had a hard time holding a job, and was fired from several employers (he said that his favorite job was at a butcher shop).
After less than two years of marriage Sarah and Art divorced; he relinquished all rights to his son (who he never saw again), and her new husband eventually adopted him. Around this time Shawcross was arrested after he chased a thirteen year old kid into his home after he threw a snowball at his car; he received another six months of probation. Around this time he also fell off of a 40-foot ladder and hit his head, earning him another concussion.
On April 7, 1966 Arthur Shawcross was drafted into the US Army. Surprisingly he scored above average on intelligence tests, but only scored an 88 on a military administered IQ test, which (when combined with his overall low motivation) made him unsuitable for many higher level jobs. Where he initially had some minor disciplinary problems, Art eventually settled into his role and served one tour of duty with the 4th Supply and Transport Company of the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam.
In September 1967 while on a 30 day furlough before being deployed to Vietnam Shawcross met a woman named Linda Neary at a bar, and since they both figured he would die overseas the two decided to get married. Born Phyllis Lee Brown, Linda was given up at birth and was adopted by the Neary family and was later renamed. After graduating from high school in Clayton, NY she got engaged to a kind, soft-spoken young man that she only dated for a few months, but only three days before the wedding he came out to her as gay and called off the wedding. Linda begged him to go through with the wedding, but he said no, and told her that he couldn’t involve her in his ‘sexual confusion.’ Shortly after he relocated to Rochester, and eventually passed away due to complications from the AIDS virus.
According to Jack Owen’s book, ‘The Misbegotten Son,’ after Sarah saw their marriage announcement published in ‘The Watertown Daily Times’ she reached out to Linda, and told her: ‘I can tell you an awful lot about your husband if you want to know.’ The former Mrs. Shawcross told the new one that her new husband was violent, and that after their son was born she had always been afraid of what he might do to him. Neary said she didn’t believe a word she said, and figured it must simply be ‘sour grapes.’ She had seen Art with his young son on multiple occassions, and he seemed like a good father and was very gentle with him. Sarah also hinted that he beat her, however didn’t elaborate any further than that.
Just as she did with her previous fiance, Linda and Art abstained from sex until they were married and tied the knot in September 1967; only a month later, twenty-two year old Shawcross was sent to Vietna b vcm, where he worked as a supply parts specialist. In October of 1968 after the war was over he was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma where he worked as an armorer, repairing weapons. He was honorably discharged from the Army in Spring of 1969, and moved to Clayton, NY (which is where his new bride was from).
In the middle of 1968 Shawcross had an affair with a woman while on leave from the Army in Hawaii that led to the birth of his daughter, Margaret ‘Maggie’ Deming, who was born on Valentine’s Day in 1969. In 2001 Maggie learned the true identity of her father and decided to get in contact with him, and the two began a relationship of sorts, and he even met her seven children. Deming has called Arthur ‘very gentle,’ ‘soft-spoken,’ and ‘grandfatherly,’ and the two remained in contact until his death in November 2008.
Upon returning home from overseas, Art told anyone willing to listen that he was a member of an elite detachment and was personally sent to ‘take out’ entire villages (he said that his ‘kill count’ was 39 people). He also claimed to have PTSD, and bragged about some truly abhorrent (and made-up) combat exploits, including ‘beheading mama-sans and nailing their heads to trees as a warning to the Vietcong’ and acts of cannibalism. One of Shawcross’ favorite lies to tell about his time in Vietnam was that he once murdered and cannibalized two young girls after he found them hiding guns in a tree. He tied one to a tree, then shot the other and cut her head off, which he said he speared on a post ‘for the Vietcong to see’ (but not before he cut off a piece of her thigh and ate it). His second victim lost control of her bowels (most likely out he fear), but despite this Shawcross said that he sexually assaulted her then shot on the head.
After his arrest he said that the war was his introduction to murder, and that while in Vietnam he invented gruesome ways to torture and kill his victims (which included men, women, and children). But in reality, Shawcross never served in a combat position, and his military career was completely unremarkable. After his second arrest in Rochester, FBI Profiler Robert Ressler looked into his PTSD claim on behalf of the prosecution, and after an exhaustive look into Shawcross’ background he came to the conclusion that most of his claims from his time in Vietnam were ’untrue,’ and that he concocted his tales thanks to some descriptive books and movies (as well as an overactive imagination). A psychiatrist also stated that he had antisocial personality disorder.
When Artie was reunited with his new wife things quickly got violent (at one point he killed the family dog in a fit of rage), and after surviving a suicide attempt he decided to see an Army psychiatrist. The Doctor told Linda that her husband got intense sexual pleasure from setting fires and asked that she sign paperwork to have him committed to a psychiatric hospital, as he felt that Arthur was very possibly dangerous to herself and others. Neary, who hardly knew her husband, asked his mother what her thoughts on the matter were, and Mrs. Shawcross refused to answer, saying that it was her choice. According to Linda, the Mr. and Mrs. Shawcross were emotionally distant with all of their children, and almost never hugged them or showed them any sort of affection. In the end, she chose not to have Art committed (one of the reasons being she was a strict Christian Scientist), and the Army determined that they did not have enough of a reason to commit him themselves. Shortly after the evaluation in June 1969 he got drunk and beat her up so badly that she miscarried (she was four months along); she divorced him later that fall.
In addition to treating his wife poorly, after Art’s return from Vietnam his general behavior became increasingly problematic. In 1969 he was convicted of helping rob $407 from a local gas station, and was brought up on three separate arson charges: a barn in Delafarge Corners, The Knowlton Brothers Paper Mill in April (there was over $250,000 in repairs needed), and extensive damage to Crowley’s Food Mart in September. In December of 1969 he was sentenced to five years in Attica prison. During his stint he claimed to be raped by three black inmates (although he said that he eventually got his revenge), and in June 1970 he was transferred to Auburn Prison, where he served out the rest of his sentence. Ultimately he only served twenty-two months and was paroled early to his parents after he saved the life of a prison official during a riot on October 18, 1971.
Upon his release from prison Shawcross returned to Watertown and got a job with the local public works department. He reconnected with a single mother of two that he knew from high school named Penny Nichol Sherbino in January 1972 after they ran into one another in front of the Watertown JC Penney’s. The couple got pregnant after only five dates and got married on April 22, 1972; they moved into the Cloverdale Apartments (which was income based, subsidized housing) but she later miscarried. Strangely enough, despite working at the city dump, Art required his wife to have a freshly ironed, white button up shirt for him to wear everyday, and he refused to get his driver’s license. Interestingly enough, she said that he had the unique hobby of painting on panes of window glass, and he ‘would lay a pane of glass atop a picture and trace a copy in a bright-colored paint.’ To Penny, some of his paintings seemed sellable, but he didn’t have any interest in turning a profit. When she asked where he learned the technique, he immediately changed the subject (my guess: jail) (Olsen, 44).’ Neither one of them drank or did drugs, however Art did like to drink coffee and hang out with the local cops, something Penny never understood (as she didn’t trust the police). On one occasion Shawcross left a bouquet of wildflowers on a female neighbor’s door step, along with a note that said ‘these are for your grave.’ When questioned about it he refused to elaborate why he did it.
But, despite multiple ‘second chances’ Arthur couldn’t seem to keep his nose clean, and at one point during his marriage to Penny had been required to pay a $10 fine after he got caught spanking a small boy then stuffing grass into his pants. It wasn’t until this event that Sherbino became aware that her husband was even on parole, and only learned about it after seeing a notation on his court paperwork that said ‘paroled to Lyle Sylver’. He also got caught putting a small child in a burning barrel of garbage and grabbing another ‘by the neck,’ incidents that eventually blew over.
According to Art’s third wife, it never seemed as if Betty had any interest in seeing her son, and according to her he never seemed to do anything right (and she had no problem telling him so). Penny also said that her MIL once shared that Art was the ‘bane of her life’ and that ‘it just seems that no matter what he does he can’t seem to get along with people.’ She also shared that she thought there was something wrong with her son’s brain, most likely a result of suffering multiple head injuries during his developmental years. The two also exchanged stories about Art’s letters: Betty reported that he told her he had been ‘wounded by shrapnel’ (something that he never shared with his wife) and about a ‘big battle’ that he played a large part of (which was most likely a lie in an attempt to get some sort of positive reaction from her). She also said that her husband seemed almost afraid of the tiny matriarch, and wondered if his need for ‘comforting’ had anything to do with her lack of affection towards him (she said he frequently would choose sitting with his head in her lap while she ‘tickled his back’ over love making). Art swore to Penny that he loved his mother deeply and ‘sang her praises,’ but at the same time appeared nervous and almost uncomfortable while in her presence.
A hobby that Art seemed to deeply enjoy was fishing: according to Penny, he went every day, however she said he ‘couldn’t catch a cold,’ as he never came home with any fish she could make for dinner. Art seemed to lack general direction in his life, and it was around the summer of 1972 that he began walking long distances around Jefferson County. He would frequently stop to fish along the Black River, and it was during one of these excursions that he met a local 10 year old boy, Jack Owen Blake. Jack’s mother Mary (nee Lawton) was born on November 29, 1934 in Watertown NY (which also happened to be Thanksgiving Day) and was one of fourteen children. She had a dysfunctional upbringing: her father was an alcoholic and wife beater, and her mother cheated on her dad and had multiple children by another man (she said that no one really seemed sure of which kid was fathered by what man).
A Korean War veteran, Alan Blake (who went by the nickname ‘Big Pete’), was born on December 7, 1931 in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The couple met at a bar when Big Pete was stationed at Pine Camp (now Fort Drum) with the Army in 1953, and he got Mary pregnant with their oldest son Richie and her parents made them get married. A petty thief, Big Pete lost an arm in a motor vehicle accident that took place while he was fleeing a robbery while drunk. In name only, the couple went on to have nine children together, as Mary would later admit to having an extramarital affair with a man named Bob, and she is largely sure that he is Jack’s real father (although no DNA test was ever performed). About her husband, Mrs. Blake said ‘when he wanted sex, he took down his pants. He gave me kids but he din’t want no part of ’em. Dr. Rossen told him, ‘I oughta take a shotgun and blow that thing right offa ya and tie it up on the wall with a ribbon. Your family’d be better off’ (Olsen, 11).
With no high school diploma or skills, Big Pete had a hard time finding employment, and eventually got a position picking potatoes for a local farmer named Bob Gardner. After forging a check from his parents in Michigan, they agreed to drop all charges against him as long as he promised to never return to the state again.
Jack Owen Bake was born at Mercy Hospital in Watertown NY on October 18, 1961 to Mary and Allen Blake. The seventh of nine brothers and sisters, he had straw blond hair, freckles, big ears and a pug nose, and according to the Blakes, at the time of his murder was a typical, fun-loving 5th grader that once saved his older sister from drowning in the Black River.
On May 7, 1972 during one of their afternoons fishing together Shawcross’ violent fantasies came to a head, and Blake disappeared after telling his mom he was going outside to play near the Cloverdale apartments. I do want to add (just for the sake of being complete) that I’ve also seen it reported in multiple places as April 7, 1972, however May seems to be most frequently used and is on his tombstone as well. The two had gone fishing together a few days prior to when he was last seen, and when Mary found out she told her son not to go near him again.
Shawcross was questioned about the disappearance and denied having any involvement, and in the initial stages of the investigation he was not high on the Watertown PD’s suspect list (despite receiving concerns by Mary Blake). Law enforcement did not make Jack’s disappearance easy on the Blakes, and as a result the family had a deep hatred for LE (Mary called them ‘piggie-wiggies’). After Mrs. Blake first reached out to police to tell them that her son was missing they didn’t take her seriously, and refused to investigate. At one point they even searched the family home after they claimed to ‘received a tip that Jack’s body was somewhere in the basement.’ The family had frequent run-ins with LE, and one of them always seemed to be in some sort of legal trouble (whether it was shoplifting, truancy, or fighting).
It was also in the summer of 1972 that Shawcross confessed to his parole officer that he was beginning to have troubles in his (third) marriage, but was willing to accept blame and was ‘beginning to have doubts about the true meaning of love.’ He also used the interview as an excuse to get in a few good jabs in about his mother, and told his PO that she ‘was a domineering person’ that ‘downgraded her husband and son (Olsen, 79).’ Sylver immediately sent him for a mental health evaluation, where he was found to be functioning at a ‘borderline level of intelligence’ and was ‘exhibiting defective moral and social development.’ The psychotherapist/social worker (he was referred to as both) also said that ‘when he becomes upset he acts impulsively… he describes himself as always having felt that rules are to be broken and did everything in his power to break rules at home as a child and in school… his mother had a very bad temper’ (Olsen, 80).
Later that same year on September 2, 1972 Arthur Shawcross killed Karen Ann Hill, who was born on Fathers Day in 1964 to Joseph and Helene (nee Korneliusen) Hill in Rochester, NY. Mr. Hill was born on March 2, 1933 and worked for Eastman Kodak as a machinist and (according to his ex-wife) had a bit of a drinking problem; Helene was born on May 20, 1937. The couple were wed on August 25, 1955 and had four children together (two boys and two girls), but divorced in 1971. After Karen was born her mother said to the nurse, ’that’s not my baby, look at that pitch-black hair,’ but within four weeks it turned light blond. A native of Rochester, Helene was in Watertown with Karen and her two year old sister Christmas to visit with her new bf’s family for the Labor Day holiday (12 y/o Bob and 10 y/o Tom were left at home with her sister). Hesitant to get into a new relationship so soon after her divorce (especially with four young children to take care of), she liked Stan Fisher’s warm and likable personality, and it helped that her kids seemed to adore him (she said that where it definitely ‘wasn’t love but it beat loneliness’). When Fisher suggested a weekend trip away to Watertown to see his half sister and her family, at first Helene was just going to bring Chrissy, but then her older daughter begged to go too at the very last minute as well, and she relented. Mrs. Hill said Karen had an independent streak and her dream was to grow up and become a movie star.
Little Karen Ann had large, chocolate brown eyes and honey-blonde hair that her mother styled long and girlish. At a bit before 2 in the afternoon on September 2, 1972, Karen told her mother that she wanted to go and play outside, which Helene said was ok but told her to ‘stay close,’ as she wanted to wash her hair to help make a good impression on Stan’s family. She told police that the last time she checked on her daughter she was playing with a little white bunny that belonged to one of her bf’s sisters kids, and the last thing she said to her was, ‘honey, mommy’s gonna wash her hair. You stay in the yard, okay?’ To this request, Karen replied, ‘I will, Mom.’ When she failed to turn up after a few hours, Helene went for a walk around the neighborhood and asked if anyone had seen her daughter. After being met with multiple ‘no’s’ she began to worry, and called Watertown Police at 5:45 PM; the responding officer only took five minutes to show up (if only Jack Blake was given the same level of care).
Shortly after Karen disappeared Mary Blake’s SIL went to her house and asked if she had seen her. She hadn’t, and where she wanted to go and help in the search for the little girl she had her children of her own to take care of; she immediately knew that Shawcross was responsible.
At roughly 2 PM a local college student named David McGrath was driving over the Pearl Street Bridge and saw a small blonde girl climbing the yellow fence near the Black River. He noticed that she appeared to be looking for something on the ground and that there was a newer brown and white 10-speed bicycle propped up against the ‘latticed laced iron fence.’ McGrath’s first thought was that a child that young shouldn’t be alone in such a dangerous spot, but at the same time he firmly believed in minding his own business and kept driving. On his return trip about ten minutes later he noticed the bike was still there but the child was gone. After hearing about the missing child he reached out to LE, and it was his call that led to the discovery of Karen Hill.
A few minutes later four teenage girls on their way to visit a relative just happened to be walking by the same bridge as McGrath and witnessed a man climbing up the river bank then climbing up and over the fence. As they passed by him they noticed that his clothes were stained and his legs were wet, and he was carrying with him two fishing poles.
At 2:45 PM Terrey Roy Tenney was walking past Gateway Electronics near the railroad tracks on Factory Street when he noticed Art riding his bike nearby. The sixteen year old was on his way home to the Cloverdale Apartments and had his arms full of clothes, something Shawcross noticed because a few minutes later he circled around and came up behind him. His neighbor asked if he wanted an ice cream cone, which he accepted (although hesitantly) and later observed that Shawcross was ‘out of uniform’ and wasn’t dressed in his ‘normal’ neat clothes (he was wearing ‘soiled dark blue shorts and a dirty t-shirt’). Art volunteered that he had ’been fishing’ and offered to carry his bags of clothes home for him; he accepted, but stressed not to lose anything. When Tenney arrived at Cloverdale ten minutes later Shawcross was already there, along with his clothes. The boy said that it was his first real interaction with him, and they’ve never really spoken before; it was later suspected that he was Art’s way of establishing an alibi.
The body of Karen Ann Hill was found under an old iron bridge that went over the Black River by Watertown Police Officer Augustine Capone, who saw her feet sticking out above the water and ‘her whole upper torso buried in rocks;’ she had grass and leaves stuffed down her throat and was naked from the waist down. The Pathologist that performed her autopsy said that she had been dead anywhere from eight to twelve hours and there was a chance that she’d been killed before she’d been sexually assaulted. Immediately Shawcross was a suspect, most likely because of the debris that was found in her mouth and throat; locals told LE they remembered seeing him with a young girl matching her description earlier in the day that she disappeared, with one even reporting they saw him sitting with her on the same bridge where her body was later discovered; the two were eating ice cream.
I’m just curious: what did Shawcross say that made the girl go with him? Her mother said she walked eight blocks to school everyday alone in the city of Rochester, and that it was uncharacteristic that she would just wander off with a stranger. What I personally think happened is the little white rabbit Karen was playing with ran away and she simply ran after it without thinking. Shawcross was probably fishing when the child approached him and he somehow convinced her to come over to him (maybe he told her he knew where the creature had gone?). Sadly we’ll never know.
After police connected the dots between Karen’s murder, Jack Blake, and Art’s new bike that was seen near the scene of the crime, police quickly brought him in for questioning. Shawcross arrived at the police station shortly after midnight, and he told LE that he left his apartment at 7 AM earlier that day and after a few hours of fishing he went home for a break. He then volunteered that he rode his bike to the local bargain center and visited with a friend before he eventually ran into Tenney from Cloverdale. He bought his teenage neighbor an ice cream cone then carried a bag home for him, arriving there at 3:15 in the afternoon. Shawcross also mentioned that he returned to the shopping plaza two additional times that day, where he purchased a few things for himself as well as some sneakers for his stepson; he then claimed he spent the rest of the day at home with his wife.
During their interview, Watertown Detective Charles Kubinsky observed that Shawcross went out of his way to give an explanation as to why he was near the bridge when he was, and that he also seemed desperate to make it clear that he was nowhere near it at the time that Hill disappeared. Shawcross remained at the police station talking to detectives until around 2 AM, and he was released. Early the next day Kubinsky read the report from the teenage girls, who said they saw him on the bridge at roughly the time Hill was murdered, which destroyed Art’s alibi. The detectives immediately brought Shawcross in for a second interview.
During this interview Shawcross was inconsistent when it came to the time that he was near the bridge, and he eventually stopped answering their questions and he was released again. At around 8 AM on September 3rd a sniffer dog was brought in to track the scent of Karen Hill, and it led investigators from the bridge where she was found right to the Cloverdale Apartments. Shawcross was arrested on the third time he was brought into the Watertown Police station for questioning.
As Detective Kabinsky wrote his report on Karen Hill he recalled a report from a man named William Corky Murkock, who reported a suspicious looking man that came out of the woods behind his motel and gas station around the time that Jack Blake disappeared. After some additional questions later that same day at roughly 10 PM Shawcross hinted that he knew where the Blake kid was buried, saying ‘okay Charlie, I’ll help you. And maybe you can help me. But let me sleep on it.’ The detective thought to himself that Art seemed to enjoy having the upper hand, and that he probably wanted to make a deal.
He confessed to burying the child somewhere in some swampland off of Route 81, just north of Watertown. Police quickly formed yet another search party on September 6, 1972, and when they stumbled upon human remains they immediately knew they found Jack: the name ‘Blake’ was written on the back of the child’s t-shirt, one that had written on the front, ‘I act different because I am different.’ Big Pete and Mary weren’t even contacted by the authorities after their son’s remains were discovered, and they had to find out just like everyone else: on the news. It was determined that the initial search for Jack took place within yards of where his body was eventually found.
The pathologist determined that Blake had been suffocated to death, and that his remains showed signs of sexual abuse. Shawcross would later admit to luring the boy into the woods, then forced him to strip naked then run from him before taking his life. He also said that he returned to his remains on several occasions and had sex with the corpse, and that he cut out the child’s genitals and heart then ate them. Because the level of decomp was so advanced nobody really could say that it did or did not happen.
The day after Art confessed he sent a friend to his ex-wife Linda with a message for her: that he didn’t mean to do it and was having a ‘Vietnam War flashback’ when he killed Karen Hill. Exactly two weeks later on September 17, 1972 a plea bargain was struck, and in return for a guilty plea for a first-degree manslaughter charge for the murder of Karen Hill no charges would be filed against him related to the homicide of Jack Blake (thanks to a statute that acknowledges the killer’s ‘extreme emotional disturbance’). The former Jefferson County DA William McClusky rationalized the plea bargain by stating that aside from his confession to detectives, there was no direct evidence linking him to the murder of Jack Blake. McClusky also suggested that had the case gone to trial Shawcross may have argued that he was under ‘extreme emotional disturbance,’ and a jury would have most likely agreed upon a verdict of manslaughter anyway. He confessed that he encountered Karen while she was playing by the Black River, then proceded to lure her away before he raped then strangle her to death.
Arthur John Shawcross was sentenced to an indeterminate term, with a maximum of 25 years at Attica Correctional Facility. In November of 1972 he was transferred to Green Haven Correctional Facility, and two years later he became violent after receiving constant threats from other inmates. In 1975 he filed for divorce from Penny after she wouldn’t visit him, and the same year he also claimed to have sex with a nurse’s aide (something that has never been confirmed). After Shawcross was in prison for fourteen years, inexperienced prison staff and social workers concluded that he was ‘no longer dangerous’ (completely disregarding the warnings of psychiatrists who had assessed him as a dangerous ‘schizoid psychopath’), and he was released on parole in April 1987. This is where I’ll end this portion of my article, and the second part will be about his crimes in Rochester.
Initially after the discovery of Jack Blake’s body in September 1972 he was laid to rest in North Watertown cemetery in an unmarked grave in Section W between the stones of William Howard and Leland Parker. However in November 2013 an unnamed childhood friend of Jack’s reached out to the Blake family and donated a marker for Jack, which was installed at a dedication ceremony later that same month.
Mrs. Blake struggled with Jack’s death until the end of her life, and even thought that police lied about finding his remains and that Shawcross was innocent of both murders in 1972 (she even thought they buried an empty coffin). Years after the murders she met with Helene Hill, who she told her crackpot theories to, and after a few phone calls and a sit-down with some Rochester detectives Mrs. Hill was told to ‘get rid of that woman,’ because her whole family was bad news and was always in trouble. I mean, it’s rude but fair: all of the Blakes (Mary included) were constantly in and out of the Watertown Police Department on a various (small) misdemeanor charges (mostly fighting and shoplifting). Strangely enough, Richie Blake was sentenced to Green Haven for burglary, and happened to be assigned the same counselor as Shawcross.
Sadly Big Pete and Mary’s marriage couldn’t withstand the murder of their precious son and they eventually separated. After she took the kids and left he turned to hard drugs and booze, and got so sick that (according to her) his ‘liver exploded.’ Despite being divorced, she had to sign him into rehab towards the end of his life for alcoholism, and he died at Mercy Hospital in Watertown on February 10, 1984 at the age of 52. Mrs. Blake died of congestive heart failure at the age of 69 on January 1, 2004. According to her obituary, she was a homemaker and enjoyed playing bingo. Jack’s sister Dawn passed away at the age of fifty on February 18, 2007. A waitress at various restaurants around Watertown, Ms. Blake enjoyed playing cards and going for walks. Rose Marie Blake died at the age of 43 on April 9, 2003 of acute respiratory failure due to pneumonia. She loved cats and like her sister also worked as a waitress; she briefly lived in New Jersey, where she cared for race horses.
Karen Hill’s father Robert died at the age of sixty on April 17, 1993. Helene Hill remarried a man named Larry E. Southwick on September 13, 1992 in Collin, TX and passed away on April 21, 2024 in Walworth, NY. Karen’s sister Christmas Madama died on May 17, 2021; Chrissy worked at Eastman Kodak and as a bus driver for Brockport Central Schools, and loved riding her motorcycle, gardening, and going to concerts. She was happily married and enjoyed spending time with her husband and daughter. Karen’s brother Bob Hill is currently residing in Florida, and Thomas lives in Albion, NY.
In the years he spent in prison after his second round of murders Doctors ran Shawcross’ blood work, and discovered that he suffered from ‘pyroluria,’ which is a fairly unusual physiological abnormality. Also referred to as Malvaria, Kryptopyrroluria, and Hemepyrrole, pyroluria is a condition that causes ones body to make too many ‘pyrroles,’ which is a byproduct of the formation of hemoglobin that is believed to be caused by an abnormality during its synthesis. A normal level of pyrroles in the blood is between 0 – 10 μg/dL, where samples between 10 – 20 μg/dL are considered borderline, and those above 20 μg/dL are deemed elevated; Shawcross had a level of around 200. People that have the disorder typically have behavioral problems and are poor at controlling their anger, especially when provoked.
Works Cited:
Aamodt, Mike. Retrieved August 27, 2014 from maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/Shawcross%20Presentation.pdf
Cummins, Dan. (January 31, 2022). ‘Timesuck with Dan Cummins: 281, Arthur Shawcross: The Genesee River Killer.’ Taken September 9, 2024 from podscripts.co/podcasts/timesuck-with-dan-cummins/281-arthur-shawcross-the-genesee-river-killer
Cowiki, Jeff. Taken August 28, 2024 from jeffcowiki.miraheze.org/wiki/Arthur_Shawcross
Olsen, Jack. (1993). ‘The Misbegotten Son.’
’47,XYY syndrome.’ Taken August 26, 2024 from medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/47xyy-syndrome/#synonyms
Ted Bundy, Gas Receipts.
I have been searching for Bundy’s gas receipts for YEARS. I’ve always struggled with insomnia, and last night at around 4 AM found a TB website I never came across before and read through EVERYTHING. Thank you to the ‘Ted Bundy Archives’ WordPress page and Kevin Sullivan for this information.
Katherine Merry Devine, Case Files: Part Two.
Once they were officially released the Thurston County Sheriff’s were super quick with getting me the second installment of files related to the murder of Katherine Merry Devine (I think they sent them before I even paid). There’s about 30 ‘tif’ files that look like newspaper articles, I’m having problems uploading them (as well as a 31 minute video) but once I figure it out I’ll attach them.
Washington Crime Scenes (part of the investigation of Ted Bundy).
A .PDF document of reports related to the extensive searches made in the Issaquah and Taylor Mountain areas in relation to Ted Bundy.
According to the Issaquah Dump Site report, the skeletons were badly scattered by animals and no evidence of trauma, dismemberment or assault could be detected, and no clothing, jewelry, or other personal effects were near the scene. The report concluded that the victims were probably killed elsewhere and dumped at the dump sites shortly after they disappeared. After the search made in the area, three sets of bones were found, and two of them were determined to have belonged to Janice Ott and Denise Naslund. The skull of Janice Ott was still missing as were the skull and mandible of the third person, and for the third set of bones the two possible victims were thought to have been Georgann Hawkins and Donna Manson. A large quantity of immature elk bones were found 1/4 mile east of the scene on ‘Sunset Highway.’
According to the Taylor Mountain DS report, the skulls and/or mandibles of Lynda Healy, Susan Rancourt, Kathy Parks, and Brenda Ball were found at this location; several other bones were also found at this location, but were eventually determined to be non-human. The report specifies that this gave rise to the theory that the girls had been decapitated, but no cervical vertebrae were found in the search. The report further specifies that animals in the area included coyotes, bears and rodents, adding that the possibility of their consuming all bones of the body was slim.
The Taylor Mountain Dump Site report also states that the area at all times of the year was very brushy and would have been extremely dense during June when Brenda Ball disappeared, positing that the killer could have dumped the bodies in an area of evergreens nearby where there was less underbrush but no grease spots were found in that area either.
Courtesy of ‘archives.org’ user ‘Marionumber’ and the Pitkin County DA.
Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, documents related to their investigation into the disappearance of Donna Gail Manson.
Ted Bundy’s First Escape: June 7, 1977 – June 13, 1977.
In the early morning hours on August 6, 1975 Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Bob Hayward pulled Bundy over in Granger, UT over after noticing his unfamiliar VW Beetle driving through his residential neighborhood. After the officer made his first attempt to pull him over, the man killed his front headlights and attempted to flee the scene (he also went through two stop signs). After Ted eventually did pull over Hayward noticed that his front passenger’s seat had been removed and was put in the backseat; when the tan Bug was searched officers found a crowbar, a ski mask, handcuffs, a pantyhose mask, an ice pick, garbage bags, rope, as well as additional items that are generally considered to be ‘burglary tools.’ Bundy told the officers that he found the handcuffs in a dumpster and that the mask was for skiing (I mean, of course it was); he tried to pass the rest of the things off as ‘common household items.’After a search of his apartment, it was determined that LE didn’t have enough evidence to detain Ted and he was charged for evading and the possession of burglary tools and was ROR’ed the following day. Ted later confessed that when they searched his residence, they missed a hidden collection of Polaroids of his victims, which he immediately destroyed when he was released
After being brought up to speed on Bundy’s arrest, (now retired) SLC Homicide Detective Jerry Thompson vaguely recalled that he matched the description of the suspect from the attempted kidnapping of Carol DaRonch that occurred the prior November; he also remembered Bundy’s name from a phone call he received from Liz Kloepfer roughly a month later in December. While going through Ted’s Salt Lake apartment on First Avenue, investigators found a playlet from Viewmont High Schools production of ‘The Redhead’ from the same night that Deb Kent disappeared, as well as a guide for ski resorts in Aspen with a checkmark next to the Wildwood Inn (which is where Dearborn, MI nurse Caryn Campbell was abducted from). LE compared the items found in his car to what DaRonch reportedly saw in her kidnappers VW, and it was eventually determined that the handcuffs that her abductor put on one of her wrists were the same type as the ones in his ‘kit.’ After she picked Bundy out of a line up, detectives said they had enough evidence to charge him with attempted kidnapping, and after being formally arrested Johnnie and Louise paid $15,000 to bond Ted out of jail.
In February 1976 Ted’s case went to trial: he was found guilty after waiving his right to a jury trial and was sentenced to fifteen years in prison. By this time investigators were well into connecting the dots between the missing and murdered women across Utah, Colorado, and Washington. In October 1976 Bundy was charged with the murder of Caryn Campbell, and on January 28, 1977 he was extradited from SLC to Glenwood Springs, CO to stand trial for her murder. Upon arriving to Colorado, (now retired) Pitkin County Sheriff Dick Kienast commented that he felt the prisoner should be shackled at all times while in the courtroom, however Judge George Lohr disagreed. Partly due to the Sheriff’s fears about Bundy being supervised and watched, he was transferred to the Garfield County Jail in Glenwood Springs and was transported wearing handcuffs to hearings.
So, in a nutshell: because the one-time law student was acting as his own legal counsel he was allowed to appear in front of the judge while without leg shackles, which gave him the opportunity to walk without any physical restraints or limitations; this also granted him use of the courthouse’s second story law library. On the morning of June 7 after he was first escorted to the court room Bundy said that he almost made his attempt right away but was interrupted by Judge Lohr exiting his chambers. He said that a second attempt was foiled at recess when the courtroom cleared, and he was moved to the window that he would later jump from, but was interrupted by a reporter that came back to retrieve her purse. As she left Bundy decided to give her some time to exit the building and leave the area, saying he also wanted to avoid landing upon her as he fell. After quite a bit of waiting around, he felt that the conditions were finally satisfactory, and he finally was able to make his leap. leap from a more ‘modern’ building. After he escaped it took the deputy that oversaw guarding him several minutes to realize that he was no longer in their custody, which obviously helped give him a decent head start. Upon inspection, LE was able to find several footprint-shaped impressions that were deeply embedded in the earth where the now fugitive had jumped out of the window (there were also handprints, as Bundy fell to his hands after he jumped).
Upon inspection, LE found several foot and hand shaped impressions deeply embedded in the earth from where Ted had landed, and because of the building’s high ceilings it was much further down than if he made the leap from a more ‘modern’ building. After he escaped it took the deputy that oversaw guarding him several minutes to realize that he was no longer in his custody, which obviously helped give the now fugitive a decent head start.
It was Deputy David Westerlund’s practice to stand in the corridor and look into the courtroom while also keeping an eye on the door (that had a window) to make sure whoever he was guarding was still present and accounted for. Only about five minutes into recess a reporter returned to the courtroom and noticed that it was empty, and when Westerlund noticed her concern, he reassured her that ‘I think he’s in there,’ and it was only then that he poked his head into the courtroom and realized that it was completely empty. Immediately after everyone realized Ted had escaped an intensive manhunt began, which included helicopters with infrared scanners to detect body heat, tracking dogs, mountain rescue search squads, and hundreds of unpaid volunteers. Within a half hour of his escape police had roadblocks set up at every main road going out of Aspen, and members of law enforcement combed the city, going house by house looking for the fugitive.
While in court on the morning he jumped, Ted was wearing a ribbed brown turtleneck, a striped sweater and brown corduroy pants. After he escaped custody it was mentioned that he may have altered his appearance by taking off his sweater and turtleneck which revealed a blue and white striped shirt underneath. A courthouse secretary named Casey Armstrong saw Bundy land in front of her from where she was looking out a basement window, as he ran past the building’s northwest corner (where she was standing). An unnamed eyewitness told LE that at around 10:50 AM he saw Ted almost immediately after he escaped run by Freddie’s Restaurant, which was on Main Street just two blocks east of the courthouse. Members of LE that were combing the area also ran into a group of kids from The Riverside Trailer Park, who reported that they saw Bundy cross Aspens Roaring Fork River shortly after jumped. These are the only two confirmed sightings of the killer after his first escape. As the minutes turned into hours turned into days, Bundy’s escape and the way it was handled showed serious deficiencies in the capabilities of local Aspen LE (this will be discussed in length later on).
Between roughly 10:40/10:45 in the morning, an unidentified person walking by the courthouse noticed a man jump out of its second story window, and said that he landed hard but immediately got up and ran across the front lawn, past the bus depot, then out of view. The eyewitness then went into the Sheriff’s office and asked if it was ‘normal for people to jump out of second story windows around here?’ Standing at the front counter, Kralicek cursed when he heard and knew right away that it had to be Bundy. The officer and Coleen Curtis (who was another Pitkin County employee) raced up the stairs, and it was only when Deputy Westerlund saw Curtis that he acknowledged Bundy’s absence.
According to the dispatch office logs, at 10:48 AM on June 7, 1977 Westerlund put out a frantic call on his radio: ‘Bundy has escaped!’ Upon hearing the news the sheriff’s secretary Whitney Wulff immediately notified her boss, then ran out of the front doors of the courthouse and surveyed the scene: near the lilac bush at the building’s west corner she found some of Bundy’s foot/hand prints as well as some of his law papers. Curtis eventually located the sweater that he was seen wearing earlier in the day left behind in the courthouse, and it was later used as scent for the trained tracking dogs that were flown in to assist in the investigation.
By means of local radio stations, LE informed the residents of Aspen about Bundy’s escape, and warned them to stay inside and lock their doors and windows. In the early stages of the investigation, it was speculated that Bundy fled the state, and strangely enough, Sheriff Kienast had been anticipating the escape (or at least an attempted one) and said that he originally thought it would occur in the beginning of 1976 when he was first extradited to Colorado. The Sheriff went on to say, what better place to ‘make a break’ than Aspen?
After Ted’s escape Captain Pete Hayward out of SLC expressed concern that he could possibly be killed during the manhunt, and that he hoped that didn’t happen because he had ‘a lot of things I want to talk to him about.’
On the morning of Ted’s escape, the two sheriff’s deputies that transported him said that when they arrived he was dressed in street clothes and was ready to go. During the drive from the jail to the courthouse he sat in the front seat, and according to both officers he was silent for a good portion of the 40 minute drive. Sergeant Murphy sat directly behind him and while he was driving Sheriff Kralicek kept his left hand on the steering wheel and his right hand free, close to his service weapon. At that point in 1977 Kralicek had spent a large amount of time guarding Ted, and he later said that it wasn’t out of the norm and was typical behavior. On the opposite end of the spectrum Sergeant Murphy was more nervous.
When they reached their destination, Kralicek brought Ted into the courthouse by taking him firmly by the arm, while Murphy followed behind, keeping an eye on him and carrying his box of legal documents. As they walked into the courthouse a reporter from The Aspen Times named Mark Lewy took a picture of the three men (I‘ll include it in the bottom): initially, it was simply a picture for a routine assignment, a file shot to use when the trial began, but since the reporter was the only member of the press that was at the courthouse that day, his photo became the most recent and up-to-date shot that LE had of Bundy. After realizing this Lewy quickly rushed to make prints to take to the Sheriff’s department, who immediately put it on ‘wanted’ signs all over Aspen and used it for their roadblock search.
It should be noted that Ted frequently exercised in his cell and his guards reported that he was in excellent shape and physical condition, and on multiple occasions they observed him studying the Hunter Valley area as well as the slopes of Red and Smuggler Mountains. Members of Pitkin County LE strongly felt that if Bundy was on foot, he was probably headed towards Hunter Creek, a popular hiking trail that began just a short distance from downtown Aspen. Immediately after he escaped, off-duty officers from various branches of Aspen law enforcement began arriving at the sheriff’s office to volunteer their services, as well as the members of the reserve sheriff’s department. They were wearing civilian clothes and were all heavily armed.
After Ted jumped, officers were reasonably confident that he wouldn’t make it in the wilderness for very long. According to an article published by The Straight Creek Journal on June 9, 1977, after his escape (retired) Police Chief Art Hougland and City Attorney Dorothy Nuttall quickly decided to ‘go ahead and place a temporary ban on the sale of firearms and I’ll find some justification.‘ Additionally, immediately after Bundy’s jump people were asked to pick up their kids from school, to travel in pairs, and not to go camping alone. Long lines quickly formed at roadblocks, where officers searched every single car that passed through. At one of the checkpoints that was located near a small mom and pop shop called ‘Catherine’s Store,’ Garfield County PD made nine arrests that were unrelated to Bundy, and confiscated nearly 500 pounds of marijuana. Additionally, they arrested a federal fugitive on the run from California that had weapons in his vehicle.
Later the same day Bundy escaped, just before 3 PM investigators took a tracking dog to the area where he was last confirmed to have been seen. His shoes and sweater gave the canine his scent, and he was able to track him for roughly a quarter mile, but eventually lost his scent right after. It’s thought that perhaps that was where he may have stolen a vehicle, and because he got away so smoothly authorities briefly considered the possibility that he had an accomplice, and realized that his one time cellmate at the Pitkin County Jail Daniel Kellum happened to be absent without leave from his work release program. Kellum was briefly a suspect but was cleared. LE also put traces out on Bundy’s girlfriends, however they were all out of the general Aspen area at the time.
As the day progressed and it got later and later, the intensity of the search slowed down. Tired members of Aspen law enforcement were sent home to rest, but were told to report back for duty at 4:30 AM. Four roadblocks were maintained throughout all hours of the rainy night, and constant patrols were kept up on trails, highways, and most local roadways. On the morning of July 8th, Sheriff Kienast called for members of the community to volunteer and help them assist in a house to house search for the fugitive.
At 10:40 AM on June 10 Bob Keppel reached out to Liz Kloepfer at her POE at the University of Washington. She told the detective that she didn’t think he would come back to Seattle and that the last time she spoke with him was the previous Monday at 9:30 AM and that he was in a good mood and was optimistic about his upcoming trial. She further elaborated that she had not heard from Ted since he escaped but promised that if he did reach out to her that she would call them right away. Kloepfer also volunteered that she had no knowledge of any plan to escape but Bundy was making her life miserable, and she almost hoped that he would be found dead.
When he was recaptured and back in police custody investigators were able to piece together Ted’s activities and pin down exactly where he went: after he jumped out the courthouse window he said that he immediately got to his feet and ‘vaulted’ over both fences on the sides of the front walkway. He then ran down an alleyway and to the Roaring Fork River, then walked east along its bank until he got to the Neale Avenue Bridge. Bundy then returned to the road and walked half of a block to West End Street, which he followed to its southern terminus and climbed over 3,000 feet to the very top without taking a single break. He eventually found his journey obstructed by a ridge and had to replan his route, and while traveling upstream he noticed Fritz Kaeser’s cabin at the intersection of Castle Creek and Conundrum Creek Roads, and where he determined that it was most likely deserted he didn’t stop at that time. Ted continued exploring the area, and at around 5:00 PM he wandered into a residential area in Conundrum Creek, spending around four hours there looking for away out of the area.
At approximately 11:00 PM, Bundy continued with his hike along the Conundrum Trail. It had been raining since earlier in the evening, and he was still dressed as he had been right after he escaped. Soaked to the bone and suffering from exhaustion, he only was able to make it a total of two to three miles in the next three or four hours, as he kept getting lost and dozing off. At approximately 3:30 AM in the morning on the day after he escaped, Ted finally decided that he needed to get out of the rain and find a warm and dry place to rest and remembered the little hunting cabin and went back to it, arriving a half hour later.
Not wanting to risk getting caught, Bundy sat at a distance and watched the cabin until around 8:00 AM, where he then entered through the back after first trying to break a window in the front and realizing he couldn’t enter that way. After he finally made his way inside after successfully breaking a window he ate what little food he was able to find (including brown sugar, tomato sauce and tea) then slept for a few hours. Ted left the cabin shortly after midnight on June 9, bringing with him anything useful he found, including a .22 caliber high-powered deer rifle with no scope, two boxes of ammunition, a flashlight, a couple of extra shirts, a jacket, and a few items from a first aid kit. When Aspen Police Officer David Garms analyzed the fingerprints that were left behind on some dishes at the scene it was determined they belonged to Ted. Upon leaving, he left a note on the window in a poor attempt to conceal the break-in, that read, ‘TOM, sorry, broke this when putting in plywood. Will have another put in immediately. – AMY.’ When analyzed by experts, it was determined that the note had similar characteristics of Bundy’s handwriting. The cabin had previously been checked on June 4 by its caretaker Wayne Smuggler, who determined that the property appeared to be in order. He took care of the property and checked in on it from time to time when its owners couldn’t make it out there (they live in Arizona full time). When Smuggler returned to check the property on June 11 he found evidence of an attempted forced entry and immediately contacted the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department.
After Bundy departed Kaeser’s cabin he hiked back up Conundrum Trail, stopping high up on the west side of the valley, where he slept in a secluded grove from mid-dawn until about 2:00 in the afternoon. When he woke up he started climbing the side of the valley, trekking across the ridge over the top of Keefe Peak before he dropped into the Maroon Creek Valley at about 9:30 PM, when he stopped to rest and build a fire; he stayed until 2:00 AM. Early on June 9 he continued his mission to the valley floor, only to discover he was on East Maroon Creek. Ted later recalled this as his ‘second emotional low,’ the first being when he had to return to the cabin.
A couple ‘behind the scenes, law enforcement related’ events also took place on June 9, 1977 as well: the Salt Lake City Attorney’s Office filed an escape warrant against Ted, with no bond. Additionally, Sheriff Kienast requested that reporting CBI agent Leo Konkel open up an internal investigation surrounding the circumstances of Bundy’s escape, asking that they be studied so that appropriate action could be taken against the county employees that were tasked that day to watch him.
At 6:30 PM on June 10, 1977 CBI Agent Leo Konkel interviewed the Pitkin County deputy that was in charge of watching Bundy on the morning he escaped, David Westerlund. He had been employed with the sheriff’s department in Minnesota for roughly 26 years and joined the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office after relocating to Colorado on July 1, 1976. Westerlund shared that the first time he had anything to do with Bundy was when he transported him (along with Deputy Carol Kempfert) from the Pitkin County Jail to the Garfield County Jail on April 11, 1977, which took place without incident; the day of his June 1977 escape was his second encounter with him. The following was taken verbatim from Agent Konkel’s Investigative Report regarding Bundy’s escape: ‘On June 7, 1977, he came on duty at approximately 7:00 AM. At the morning briefing, he was advised that he would probably aid in the security for the Bundy hearings. At approximately 9:00 a.m., Pitkin County Deputy Sgt. Kralicek and Deputy Murphy brought Bundy into the courtroom, directly to the counsel table. Deputy Murphy was off-duty and was discharged by Kralicek after Bundy was secured in the courtroom. He was not handcuffed nor restrained in any other manner. None of the deputies in the courtroom were armed, as is the understood policy of Judge Lohr’s courtroom (CBI).’
Judge Lohr called court to session at about 9:00 AM, and roughly 15 minutes later Sergeant Kralicek told Deputy Murphy that he was free to leave. Later that same morning at 9:10 AM Westerlund sat down next to Sheriff Kralicek, and Bundy was sitting in the railed-in section at the counsel table that is typically reserved for lawyers and their clients that are ‘parties to actions.’ Right before he went into the courtroom Kralicek had some things to take care of in the Sheriff’s Office downstairs and said that Westerlund was officially the deputy designated to be in charge of Bundy, but aside from that, he was not given any additional instructions.
When Judge Lohr called a recess at roughly 10:30 AM, everyone except Bundy and Westerlund left the courtroom. He began pacing in and about the enclosed railing area as well as around the clerk’s office, and the deputy also walked a few times along with him then remained stationary. At some time that morning Ted mailed some letters at the court clerk’s office, and on a separate occasion he approached Westerlund and told him that he needed to make some copies; the deputy showed no acknowledgement that he heard the request, so Bundy sat back down at the counsel table. Westerlund then just went and stood just outside of the courtroom door, where he could still keep eyes on the defendant, and at one point he saw Ted get up, walk around the room, then sit back down at the table. He said that the last time he saw Bundy he was standing by the counsel table before his attention was diverted for about 1.5 to two minutes because of some activity that was taking place downstairs.
When I said earlier that Ted escaped from the Pitkin County Courthouse’s ‘law library,’ your mind probably immediately went to a beautiful room with lots of leather bound books and the smell of rich mahogany… but in this case, it was just the back part of the second floor courtroom that contained a couple of six foot tall shelves filled with law books and is separated from the rest of the room by a five foot tall divider.
Deputy Westerlund reported that he was never given any additional instructions when it came to how prisoners like Ted Bundy were handled in the courtroom, and as far as he knew, the prisoner was not to be handcuffed or shackled; it was also his understanding that the presiding Judge didn’t allow deputies to wear guns in his courtroom. Westerlund acknowledged that he understood how serious Bundy’s charges were and that ‘he was responsible for his custody.’
Bundy discarded the hunting rifle somewhere ‘on the Eastern Slope of the Ridge,’ and began moving north to the junction of East and West Maroon Creeks. Sometime around 3 PM he began feeling pain in his right knee, so he stopped to rest it at the junction, where he stayed for the next six hours. After continuing with his travels, he moved steadily along the east side of the creek but his right knee locked-up as he made his way close to the vicinity of the T-Lazy-7 Ranch. According to their website, ‘the authentic T-Lazy-7 Ranch has been the jumping off point for a variety of adventure activities since 1938. T-Lazy-7 is the gateway to the world famous Maroon Bells, and has exquisite scenery for weddings, family fun, and outdoor enthusiasts.’ Despite not being able to bend his knee, he continued to cross the creek on the bridge at the ranch and onto the pavement of Maroon Creek Road.
Making sure to avoid major roadways and traffic routes at the first sign of daylight, Bundy continued his trek along Castle Creek Road and eventually made his way back to Kaeser’s cabin. Upon his arrival at roughly 4:30 AM on Sunday, June 12 he realized that police had been there, and because of this he was afraid to stay any longer, fearing they would return. Ted called this discovery his ‘third and worst emotional low.’
Upon this event, Bundy then made his way back to a parking lot on Conundrum Trail, and at roughly 8 AM one of the search helicopters landed roughly 200 yards from him as he laid resting in some tall grass, almost giving away his hiding place. This spooked him, and from there he made his way back to Aspen Mountain, which he had originally escaped down four days prior. Because he was so physically weak he started heading back towards Aspen, and it was during this ascent on Sunday morning that he ran into a local resident that called himself ‘Sinclair’ (most likely Bruce), who told him that he was ‘hunting for Ted Bundy.’ The fugitive told Sinclair that he was from Pennsylvania but he promised that he would ‘watch for Bundy.’
On Saturday, June 11, 1977 trained canines were flown into Aspen from Denver to help with the manhunt, which was moved from the eastern part of Aspen to the Castle Creek region after the discovery of the break-in at the cabin. The use of dogs had been previously suspended Wednesday, June 8 after rain showers caused the mutts to lose track of Bundy’s scent.
That Sunday, July 12 Ted made what he considered to be good progress in his journey: he kept walking north towards Aspen, passing the local sewage plant and meandering down the western side of the mountain. He then made his way back into the Castle Creek Canyon area, moving west and eventually crossing into a golf course at the Prince of Peace Chapel via Colorado Highway 82. While walking through the course he tripped and fell in a thick patch of brush, and because of his extreme state of distress he remained there, unable to get it together enough to keep going. After roughly an hour he was finally able to gather the strength to get up and keep going, and eventually entered a residential area in the Cemetery Lane area, where he wandered around for a few hours before deciding to steal a car and get out of the area once and for all.
On the law enforcement side of things, at around 1:00 PM on June 12, 1977 the FBI reached out to the Pitkin County Sheriff’s asking about some friends of Ted, and they officially became involved in the investigation due to the fact that he was being looked into for charges related to an unlawful flight to avoid imprisonment. Also on the 12th Bundy walked the five miles back to Aspen and stole a blue Cadillac from the Cemetery Lane area; it was unlocked and the keys were in it. As he was making his way through Independence Pass at around 2 AM on June 13, 1977 he came across a sign that read ‘CLOSED- ROCK SLIDE’ and pulled a u-turn, making the decision that he was going to attempt to bypass another checkpoint on his way out of Aspen; if successful, he had plans to barter the expensive camera that he found in the car for gas money. It was then that he ran into Officers Gene Flatt and Maureen Higgins in front of the Cresta Haus Lodge located on the outskirts of eastern Aspen not far from the Pitkin County Courthouse. In the very early stages of the investigation, the two simply pulled him over on the suspicion he was intoxicated, but that’s when he was apprehended (I will have more to say regarding this event later). For the entire six days Bundy was free he had only been about five to eight miles away from the Pitkin County Courthouse.
The usually clean cut Ted had grown a scraggly beard and he had scratches all over his body, and had lost anywhere from fifteen to twenty pounds; he was also suffering from extreme exhaustion and was incredibly confused and disoriented. After he was recaptured a Physician saw him in his cell, and reported that he had blistered feet, a knee strain, and scratches all over his body. There had been a road block fairly close to where he was driving right before he was apprehended, so there was a fair chance that he would have had no other choice than to have driven through it and would have wound up being taken into custody anyways. After the arrest was made someone from the Sheriff’s department came clean and said that the cruiser that pulled the fugitive over was in such bad shape that it only had a max speed of 30 miles per hour, and ‘it’s a good thing Bundy didn’t try to outrun them.’ In fact, all five of the patrol vehicles that were assisting in the manhunt were reportedly in poor working condition.
At around 7:15 AM the news broke that he was back in police custody. About Bundy’s capture, (now retired) deputy Gene Flatt said that ‘at first I didn’t recognize him..’ Gaunt and almost hollow-looking, Bundy had been wearing some sort of disguise, and was dressed in a plaid shirt (that he stole from the cabin), a yellow hat, and wire-rimmed glasses (which were swiped from the Caddy), as well as a Band-Aid on his nose. When he was brought in, Sheriff Kienast greeted him while smiling, and said ‘welcome home, Ted,’ to which Bundy replied, ‘thank you.’ In an interview with TV reporter Barbara Grossman, Officer Flatt said: ‘I noted a vehicle driving erratically about an eighth of a mile east of Aspen on Highway-82. We observed this vehicle for a matter of seconds and I turned around and pursued it and found Mr. Bundy driving.’ When asked if he immediately recognized the fugitive, Flatt said that ‘it took me about two glances, he was pretty… altered. His appearance had been altered by glasses and uh, a minor growth of beard.’ When asked if Ted mentioned where he was headed Officer Higgins replied ‘that he didn’t say,’ and Flatt said that he was ‘most likely going to leave the Valley, if possible.’ When asked in an interview if the height of the second story courtroom worried him as he was making the jump, Bundy replied, ‘it could have been six stories, I still would have done it.’
Under intense guard and a high level of security, Ted was brought back to the Pitkin County courthouse later the same morning he was recaptured; he was barefoot and wearing jail issued, dark green coveralls, and thanks to a new court order it was now mandatory that he wear leg shackles at all times while in court. As he was led inside, he engaged in a little bit of back and forth with reporters, and when a photographer tripped a bit while attempting to take his picture, Bundy joked: ‘don’t hurt yourself.’ His recapture caused elation amongst the Pitkin County Sheriff’s department, who had suffered a large amount of embarrassment thanks to his escape, and about it, (now retired) Undersheriff Ben Meyers said, ‘we’re very, very relieved, to say the least.’ Bundy was then given some new charges by Judge George Lohr: escape, second degree burglary, misdemeanor theft (for stealing a .22 caliber rifle), and felony theft (the Caddy). In response to this, Ted (in his exhausted and drained mental state), didn’t say much; if convicted of the new charges alone Ted could have faced up to ninety years in prison.
Oddly enough, it was an attempted rape not committed by Bundy that may have led to his recapture: at around 1:00 AM on June 13, 1977 a 17-year-old student suffered an attempted sexual assault as she was walking home along West Hopkins Street in Aspen. She went to police and told them that her assailant had followed her briefly then knocked her down and kicked her in an attempt to subdue her. He then tried to drag her by the hair, but she screamed and struggled until he got spooked and ran away. The young woman described him as between 19-28 years old, 5’10” tall, and 165 pounds; he was clean shaven with dark blonde, collar-length hair and was wearing blue jeans and a white T-shirt, and after the altercation she told investigators that she remembered hearing a car pull away from the scene. Upon hearing that a then unidentified Bundy had been pulled over, Aspen Police officer Terry Quirk reached out to the Pitkin County Sheriff’s and asked if they needed assistance, and when he arrived on the scene he quickly realized that neither deputy (Higgins or Flatt) was in complete control of the situation nor did they immediately recognize who they were dealing with: but thankfully Quirk arrived and realized who they were dealing with and gained control over the arrest, taking the wanted man back into custody.
Long-time Bundy researcher and respected reporter Richard Larsen said that he often wondered if this escape may have been loosely premeditated, as he waived extradition to Colorado. I mean, he had nothing left to lose, why not take a chance and return to laid back and easy going Aspen, where the local keystone cops could possibly make a mistake? And I mean, he wasn’t wrong because that’s exactly what happened. And while on that topic, why was the security in the courtroom practically nonexistent? After he was rearrested in the early morning hours of Monday, June 13, 1977, Larson sat down with Bundy in Sheriff Kienast’s office for an interview surrounding his activities and whereabouts during his six day siesta. He shared that he thinks the last time he was in Aspen for a motion hearing was on May 23, and it was then that he made the decision that the next time he came there he was going to escape. He had been carefully and methodically getting ready for a jailbreak for months, but had not made concrete plans until then. Ted also said that although he had become more focused on his plan roughly 30 days before his escape it still took him a while to get over his worries on how it could possibly affect his upcoming murder trial.
As we all know, Bundy wasn’t in Colorado for long: later that same year on December 30 he escaped for a second time, this time getting all the way to Tallahassee in the ‘Sunshine State.’ He rented a room at ‘The Oakes’ Rooming House near Florida State University under the alias Chris Hagen (who was a real, one time student at the school)…. But I’m going to end this article at that, and leave the circumstances regarding this other escape for another time.
Interestingly enough, Bundy wasn’t the only dangerous convict that escaped from police custody in June 1977: On April 4, 1968, James Earl Ray killed Martin Luther King, Jr. with a single shot from his Remington rifle while the civil rights activist was standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. On June 10, 1977 Ray (along with six other prisoners) escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in Petros, Tennessee, and remained at large for 54 hours before he was recaptured during a massive manhunt on June 13. He was charged for his prison break and an additional year was added to his existing sentence, officially making it a full century.
Israel Keyes, FBI Documents.
Here are some documents from the ‘vault.fbi.gov’ website related to serial killer, Israel Keyes (who apparently had no middle name). Recently, a large number of formerly sealed records were made available and were added to the public electronic library (thanks to the FOIA).
Another Bundy Blog. 