In April 2022 when I went to Seattle I arrived very late in the evening, maybe around 11:30 PM or so. I was far too excited to go to bed (despite not sleeping well the night before and flying across the country) so I explored the neighborhood I was staying in and found a 7/11. While Ubering from the Sea-Tac Airport to my Air BnB one of the places we drove past was the Harborview Medical Center and I knew right then and there that I made the right choice in coming (traveling alone across the country is completely out of character for me and I was hoping my husband would talk me out of it).
An interesting tidbit about Bundy’s time at Harborview: he interned there as a mental health counselor from June 1972 to September 1972 with Kathy Swindler (daughter of the former Captain of the Seattle Police Department), who may have introduced him to her good friend Kerry May-Hardy (an unconfirmed TB victim that disappeared from Seattle on June 24, 1972).Wow, that was the longest run-on sentence ever. Additionally during his brief stint there he stole some patient files from Dr. Jim McDermott (who was the losing Democratic primary opponent of Albert Rosellini) with zero repercussions.
Is that the Harborview Medical Center peeking out at me?Harborview Medical Center, April 2022.Harborview Medical Center, April 2022.The shot of Harborview Medical Center I saw as I was coming into Seattle in April 2022.One of the entrances to Harborview Medical Center, April 2022.Harborview Medical Center, April 2022.Harborview Medical Center, April 2022.Bundy was an intern at Harborview from June to September 1972 according to the ‘Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992.’Bundy was an intern at Harborview from June to September 1972 according to the ‘Ted Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992.’A blurb mentioning Ted’s time at Harborview from ‘Ted Bundy and File 1004 documents from Seattle PD,’ courtesy of internetarchives.A blurb mentioning Ted’s time at Harborview from ‘Ted Bundy and File 1004 documents from Seattle PD,’ courtesy of internetarchives.Photo courtesy of KIRO-7.Harborview Medical Center in its entirety. A post card featuring Harborview Medical Center.Harborview Medical Center.Herb Swindler next to some of Teds confirmed Seattle victims.Kerry May-Hardy was a 22 year old woman who disappeared from Seattle on June 24, 1972. Her remains were discovered at a golf course in September 2010 after a construction crew disturbed her burial site.Albert Dean Rosellini was an American politician who served as the 15th governor of Washington from 1957 to 1965. He was both the first Italian-American and Roman Catholic governor elected west of the Mississippi River. During hi s 40 year political career Rosellini was an activist leader who worked to reform the state’s prisons and mental health facilities, expand the state highway system, create the University of Washington’s medical and dental schools, and build the second floating bridge across Lake Washington. He holds the record as the longest-lived US state governor in American history, having reached the age of 101 years, 262 days when he passed away on October 10, 2011.James Adelbert McDermott is a Psychiatrist and Washington state politician who was the US representative for Washington’s 7th congressional district from 1989 to 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party and was born in 1936 (making him 86 years old).
My Salt Lake City trip was a bit of a disaster right from the start: my Mom passed away in July 2022 after a six year battle with Multiple Myeloma… then we got pregnant less than a month later after trying for over 2.5 years! Then as quickly as that happened, suddenly we weren’t anymore… despite not being in the best mindset mental health-wise, by Fall I was ready to get away. So, I planned a 4 day long trip to Salt Lake City in November 2022. Unfortunately I not only missed my flight there but I missed it home as well. I guess I just wasn’t at my best and it showed. I probably should have pushed the trip off but I did get through all the places I wanted to see.
We all know that Ted left Seattle and moved to Salt Lake City to attend the University of Utah Law School in early September 1974. He resided in a few different apartments while in SLC: he lived at 565 1st Ave N from September 1974 to September 1975 then moved to 364 Douglas Street on September 26th, 1975. His 1st Ave address is roughly 15 minutes away from the cellar where Douglas Street is just 10 minutes away. In 1976 he briefly lived at 413 B Street while on trial for the kidnapping of Carol DaRonch.
This site in Emigration Canyon is supposedly where Bundy killed up to 12 girls, although there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever proving he ever stepped foot in the area. Ted never mentioned taking his victims to a cave or cellar in any capacity. No longer a cave, it’s now just a weird old shack sitting right in between Donner Way and a condominium complex. In my opinion, it sounds like it’s all just a local urban legend. Watching videos about this place before I went to Salt Lake, it looks like it’s in a super sketchy area in the middle of the woods but it was right by the Donner Pass and strangely enough, the condominium nearby was built in 1966 (meaning it was there when Bundy was active in Utah). I put this off until last because I was pretty sure Ted never killed anyone here (meaning if I missed it I wouldn’t have been too upset). I’m shocked at how out in the open this place is. Once I knew where I was going it was easily accessible, with well worn pathways that have been used frequently.
I couldn’t have summed it up better myself, screen grab courtesy of thisinterestsme.An informative post about the cellar from someone local to Salt Lake City in Utah, screen grab courtesy of Reddit.The entrance to the murder cellar… that’s a lovely wang spray painted on the gate.A shot of the outside door of Teds alleged murder cellar, photo taken in November 2022.A shot of the outside of the cellar door of Teds supposed murder cellar, photo taken in November 2022.A shot of the outside of the cellar in comparison to the Canyon Crest Condominiums, photo taken in November 2022.A shot of the inside of the cellar, photo taken in November 2022. That’s the furthest I was willing to go.A broad shot of the outside of the cellar, photo taken in November 2022.A shot of the outside of the cellar, photo taken in November 2022.A shot of the wall surrounding the “cellar,” photo taken in November 2022.The supposed murder cellar, photo taken in November 2022.The well-worn path to the murder cellar, photo taken in November 2022.Another picture of the well used path to the murder cellar, photo taken in November 2022.My rental car by the street walking away from the murder cellar, photo taken in November 2022.An opposite shot of Canyon Crest Condominiums in Salt Lake City, Utah, photo taken in November 2022.A sign for Donner Hill, photo taken in November 2022.A sign for Donner Hill, photo taken in November 2022.A beautiful shot of the mountains in Salt Lake City, photo taken in November 2022.The coordinates for this abandoned shack near Emigration Canyon in Utah are: 40.75135, -111.80201, photo courtesy of thisinterestsme.Bundy’s apartment located at 565 1st Ave N in SLC, Utah. The top right window was his room.Bundy’s apartment located at 364 Douglas Street in SLC, Utah.Bundy’s apartment located at 413 B Street in SLC, Utah.
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.’
The following is a quick blurb from Elizabeth Kloepfer’s book ‘The Phantom Prince,’ published in 1981:
‘Coming so close to losing Ted made me realize how very, very much I loved him. I found the idea of working and putting him through law school appealing, but I could understand that taking on family responsibilities before he even started law school might be a real drag for him. Ted planned to start law school the winter quarter of 1970, but Temple University did not get his transcripts out in time, so he was held up for another quarter. I kept reminding him to check up on his application to be sure everything was in order, but he regarded my reminders as nagging, and whenever I tried to talk about law school, he changed the subject or brushed my questions aside with vague answers. When I began to realize the futility of nagging, I made the decision to shut up about it. Spring quarter of 1970 started and still no word about law school. ‘There seems to be some problem with my transcripts from Temple,’ Ted told me. ‘Why didn’t you call them?’ I asked. ‘I guess there are other problems,’ he said. ‘It’s too late to do anything about it now.’ I couldn’t figure it out. What other problems? I couldn’t keep from brooding about it. One day I dialed the law school telephone number a couple of times but hung up each time before anyone answered. What could I say? Finally, I called the admissions office. I began to explain about my friend who was supposed to start law school winter quarter, when I was interrupted by the woman I was speaking to. ‘All law school students start at the beginning of fall quarter,’ she said. ‘There are no exceptions.’ There must be some mistake, I told myself. Then it dawned on me whose mistake it was. I was livid by the time Ted showed up at my office to take me home. ‘How could you lie to me?’ I asked him. ‘I am going to start school for sure this summer,’ he said, ‘but I still have two years of undergraduate work left. I can understand if you can’t live with it.’
His calmness made me feel like a raving maniac. He’d lied to me, but hadn’t I lied to him the night we met in the tavern and I told him about making heart valves? But this lie about law school had gone on for six months. I had told everyone I now about my law student boyfriend. Maybe I had made such a big deal out of it that it was impossible for Ted to tell me the truth. I could understand his wanting to be something he wasn’t. I had those feelings, too. Maybe I made him feel that he wasn’t good enough as he was. There was no doubt in my mind that he would be a successful lawyer someday; it would just take a little longer than I’d counted on. I wasn’t about to give him up over this.’
An older picture of Temple University.An older picture of Temple University.An older picture of Temple University.A photo of John F. Kennedy in 1960 at Temple University. Temple University campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2022. Temple University campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2022. Temple University campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2022. Temple University campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2022. Temple University campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2022. A picture of Ted Bundy and Elizabeth Kloepfer in front of the fireplace at her apartment.An older picture of Molly Kendall, Liz’s daughter.
A more up-to-date snapshot of Molly Kendall, Liz’s daughter.
The newly updated cover of ‘The Phantom Prince’ written by Ted Bundy’s former flame Elizabeth Kendall/Kloepfer.
On July 14th, 1974, Ted Bundy abducted two women from Lake Sammamish state park in Issaquah, Washington. That bright and cheerful afternoon, Bundy approached Janice Ann Ott and Denise Marie Naslund in broad daylight and asked them to assist him unload a sailboat at his parent’s house. Bundy donned a fake sling and explained that his arm was injured and that he was unable to unload it by himself. He also claimed that his parent’s house was ‘just up the hill.’
The abductions of Ott and Naslund occurred separately, just four hours apart. On both of these occasions, he convinced his victim to get into his Volkswagen Bug and accompany him to his sailboat, which in reality did not exist. Once his victims got into his car, it is likely that he immediately drove them to a secluded dump site in Issaquah known as Tiger Mountain and murdered them. This is the same site where Ott and Naslund’s skeletal remains were discovered roughly two months later.
Janice Ann Ott was abducted at around 12.30 PM; three and a half hours after her abduction Bundy returned to look for a second victim, Denise Naslund. At roughly 4:30 PM, he approached Denise Naslund by the restrooms and, using the same technique he used with Ott, was able to convince her to help him as well.
During the investigation into the disappearance of Ott and Naslund, it emerged that a man calling himself “Ted” had approached multiple women at Lake Sammamish that afternoon in 1974. Bundy’s decision to kidnap two women within four hours of each other was a brazen deviation from the norm. Because of this, many Bundy Scholars have speculated that he was attempting to “increase his high” by attacking two women at the same time. In other words, it is speculated that he may have incapacitated Janice Ott, gagged her (not killing her) and then returned to the park to search for a second victim. Although Bundy did insinuate that one had to watch the other die, this “confessin” was during one of his third-person pseudo-confessions to Stephen Michaud. We also know that Ted was a narcissist and a habitual liar who loved to paint himself as a bold and highly-intelligent serial killer. Therefore, we need to be extremely careful about taking his word as fact.
It has been hypothesized that Bundy tied Ott to a tree and then left her there. The area in question was pretty secluded and it is fairly unlikely that someone would have stumbled upon her, especially if she was gagged. Another plausible theory is that Bundy murdered Ott before he returned to Lake Sammamish with his second victim. There is a noticeable gap between the abduction of Ott at 12.30 PM and Bundy’s return to the park at around 4 PM and if we take into account the length of the journey between the park and the dump site, then it means that he was with Ott for 2-3 hours. That seems like a lot of time if the original plan was to kidnap two women and then attack them at the same time. His decision to hunt for a second victim may have also been driven by other factors. For example, an event may have occurred during the murder of Janice Ott which prevented Bundy from achieving sexual gratification. At this point in time we’ll most likely never really know.
Janice Blackburn-OttJanice Blackburn-OttJanice Ott and her husband Jim.1974 was an eventful time for 23 year old Janice: she not only graduated from Eastern Washington State College, but she also had to come to terms with her husband moving away to California for school. She remained in Issaquah and worked as a probation case worker at the King County Youth Service Center in Seattle.Denise Marie Naslund.An old, aerial photograph of Lake Sammamish State Park, photo courtesy of King County Archives.This aerial map of Lake Sammamish state park shows the exact locations where Bundy approached Janice Ott and Denise Naslund. It also pinpoints the general area where Bundy’s VW Beetle was parked. Bundy approached Ott at 12.30 PM while she was sunbathing on the beach. Then, four hours later, he lured Naslund away from the restrooms by the parking lot. In 2022, the restroom in question no longer exists, photo courtesy of oddstops.com.The afternoon of the abduction Bundy parked his VW Beetle in the middle of the car park, photo courtesy of thisinterestsme.com.This aerial image of Lake Sam shows where Denise and her friends were sitting. Additionally it highlights the location of the restrooms, photo courtesy of thisinterestsme.com.On July 14th, 1974, Ted Bundy abducted two women from Lake Sammamish state park in Issaquah, Washington, photo courtesy of oddstops.com.An aerial photograph of the park from 1977; not much about it has changed, photo courtesy of oddstops.com/USGS.This map from the King County Sheriff’s Office shows the exact locations where Bundy approached several women, photo courtesy of oddstops.com. A Google Maps Street View image of the parking lot at the park; during the abduction of Ott, Bundy’s VW was parked beyond the cars that are circled in red, photo courtesy of thisinterestsme.com.It would have taken roughly 10-15 minutes to drive between Lake Sam and the dump site at Issaquah. The route in question is about four miles long. Driving this exact same route yesterday it was eerily close, he truly was fearless.A newspaper article about the disappearance of Ott and Naslund.Following Ott and Naslund’s disappearance, the police released a composite sketch of the suspect. After Liz saw it in the newspaper along with the name “Ted” she immediately began to suspect that it was him, photo courtesy of oddstops.com.An off-duty DEA agent named Kelly Snyder was at Lake Samammish that day. He was close enough to witness Bundy approaching Janice Ott. “I noticed a guy that was walking down the beach. A young man. Probably in his mid-to-late twenties. He was wearing white shorts and they had a red stripe, which immediately caught my eye. When he got close, I noticed he had really curly hair and his left arm was in a sling. It piqued my interest because every time he approached a woman, or a group of two or three women, he was getting turned down. And I just kept watching him and he eventually ended up being right in front of me, where he approached a young girl. She was a young and attractive blonde girl. And he asked her… words to the effect of… ‘I need some help.’ She’s saying that she just got here… So obviously, going through her mind is ‘I’d like to help you out, but I’m here to relax.’ He kept on and on and on, and he talks her into whatever he talked her into. He said something about a catamaran. And ultimately, she gets up… reluctantly… because her head is down and she is like ‘I can’t believe I’m doing this.’ And then she started walking back past me. She had this frown on her face, like, ‘I’m helping this guy when I should be enjoying myself on the beach.’ And the end the result is she’s no longer with us because she was a nice person.” Photo courtesy of oddstops.com.A picture of a younger Eleanor Rose, Denise’s Mother.Mrs. Eleanor Rose, Mother of Denise Naslund taken on July 28, 1974. Denise was studying to become a computer programmer and worked part time to help pay her way through night school. Mrs. Rose said Denise had the kind of helpful nature that could place her in danger with the man who called himself “Ted.”This is Eleanor Rose, the mother of Denise Naslund. Ms. Rose left her daughters bedroom the same as it was in 1974 for many years after her abduction. Regarding her daughters abduction Ms. Rose has said, ‘I don’t think anything will ever been the same again or anywhere near it. Part of me is gone and I don’t know what I’m going to do.’ Denise was the last of the known eight ‘Ted’ victims in Washington state.Dr. DE Blackburn and his wife while in Seattle looking for their daughter, taken on July 28, 1974.James Ott is showed here on August 18, 1974 posting the first of hundreds of missing posters asking for information about Janice, who had been missing for five weeks at that point. He posted this it in front of the King County Juvenile Court, which had offered office space as well as the part time help of a probation officer, Carol Hasman, to the ‘Janice Ott Committee to find the Missing Woman.’Police arrive at Lake Sam, photo courtesy of oddstops.com.A still image from a video taken at Lake Sam the day Ott and Naslund were abducted from. Just about 40,000 people visited the state park the afternoon of Ott and Naslunds disappearance. It was sunny and the temperature ranged between 80 to 90 degrees, photo courtesy of oddstops.com.At around 4:30 PM, Denise Naslund went to the bathroom by the parking lot and never came back. It wasn’t long before her boyfriend and friends realized that something was wrong. Don’t forget that only four hours earlier Janice Ott went missing at the same park. Due to the fact that a few other women had recently gone missing in the Seattle area, everyone was well aware that a predator was on the loose, so the authorities immediately responded to the scene, photo courtesy of oddstops.com.A Picture of a VW parked in the front row of cars at Lake Sammamish on Sunday, July 14, 1974. Behind it is a line of police vehicles blocking it, as they dealt with a problem pertaining to a biker gang that was taking place close to where the car was parked. The photo appears to have been taken in the afternoon, obviously before Denise Naslund was led away by Bundy. Years later, when Bob Keppel questioned Bundy about the photo (Keppel believed it was Bundy’s Bug), Bundy recognized the scene and said “law-breakers,” insinuating that he knew what was happening there. What follows is from the record: Keppel: “Is that you? It’s Lake Sammamish State Park, 1974. The tree, cops roll in and take care of the …” Bundy: “Law breakers.” Keppel: “Ya?” Bundy: “Well, I mean, we’re in the ballpark.” By saying “law breakers” and telling Keppel he was in the ballpark, Bundy was admitting he had personal knowledge concerning what was taking place. When Keppel asked him about the car, believing it was his and wanting him to admit it, Bundy responded “Well, I—is it?” Bundy knew that wasn’t his car, but he was telling the investigator he was in the ballpark, meaning hid own Beetle was nearby. Photo courtesy of oddstops.com.One picture taken at the park that day Ott and Naslund vanished that shows a light colored VW Bug in the background, photo courtesy of oddstops.com.The police showed up at the park to deal with a group of bikers, photo courtesy of oddstops.com.A sign at the entrance of Lake Sammamish Park, April 2022.Beach at Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Beach at Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Beach at Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Beach at Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Concession stand at Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.A sign at Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Beach at Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Beach at Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.Lake Sammamish Park, 2022.
So, it’s common knowledge that everything Ted Bundy has been done before. Whether it be books. Movies. Documentaries. Podcasts. It’s mostly the same information over and over again. On one hand, we know next to nothing about his crimes but what we do know has been studied and analyzed TO. DEATH. Finding content that is still engaging, relevant, and ‘fresh’ has been a bit of a challenge. So, this article is going to be about a brick. Yes, that’s right: I am writing the equivalent of a 5-page paper around a brick I found on campus at the University of Puget Sound.
Unfortunately, I’m not finding my summer course as easy as I was hoping it would be, so I haven’t been able to write as much as I would like to. In April when I was in Washington, I spent over 24 hours in Tacoma (complete with missing my bus back to Seattle so I had to stay overnight at their lovely Comfort Inn & Suites). Most of my sightseeing involved many house-visits (I went to Ted’s Uncle Jack’s former residence, all three Bundy homes, and little Ann Marie Burrs old house), but what I found to be the most pleasant of my sightseeing was my visit to the University of Puget Sound. I know only my friends really care about ME, but I’m a fairly social person and not having very much human contact during my eight-day trip had a very negative affect on my mental health. I feel it was a combination of the loneliness mixed with the negativity that almost clung in the atmosphere around me that made me feel despondent. I noticed this feeling got exponentially worse when I rented a vehicle and started going to 8-9 places a day. I came home and was an absolute raging megabitch to my husband for a good 3-4 weeks and I have no explanation for it. A darkness crept into my head that I’ve never felt before. When I went to Philadelphia, I made sure it was just an overnight trip (even though I was tempted to stay a second night I went home immediately) and any Bundy related traveling in the future will be done with a girlfriend.
Anyways, the point of my rambling is, my visit to The University of Puget Sound stands out a bit in my mind because I was around other people and was able to interact a bit with some students and professionals. I feel SO bad because I never got their names but the girls at the university-run café were VERY sweet and patiently answered all of my questions and even pretended to be interested in my project. So, if any of you are reading this (I told them the name of the blog) thank you for your time and insights; I really enjoyed my cup of earl gray as well. I do want to mention, I drank a LOT of tea in Seattle: there were Starbucks and bubble tea shops EVERYWHERE. Seriously, every other storefront was a coffee shop. I know I’ve expressed in previous posts that I was hesitant to bring up the purpose of my visit during my time in Washington because I didn’t want to rub anyone the wrong way or seem disrespectful, but if I didn’t start talking to these lovely young women I would have missed out on a few REALLY cool Bundy-related things, one of which I’ve never seen before. I also learned that Mrs. Bundy worked at the university during the time of the murders and that she even has a memorial stone near their fountain on campus (I thought she worked in the office at her church until she retired). Louise worked as a secretary for the communications and theater departmentsinthe oldest building on campus, Jones Hall. The girls excitedly went on to tell me about how he lived on campus in either Schiff or Anderson/Langdon Hall but… unfortunately after some research I learned that information was incorrect: Ted lived at home with his family in Tacoma during his first stint at the university, and when he returned in 1973 for law school he resided at the Rogers rooming house on 12th Avenue in Seattle. So, logically I immediately ran over and got a few million photos of both buildings. They also told me that the law school used to be in Thompson Hall, which also unfortunately isn’t true: I asked a woman who appeared friendly where the former law school was located, and she informed me that it was completely off campus. She seemed to be around my mothers age and seemed only mildly interested in answering my question: when the friend she was waiting for arrived she stopped talking to me mid-sentence and went over to say hello. So, whatever…
So, to the girls at the cafe: one out of three ain’t bad… Interestingly, the law school eventually was moved from Tacoma to Seattle and now goes by a completely different name, the Seattle University School of Law. It is described as a ‘professional graduate school affiliated with Seattle University.’ So, perhaps Bundy wasn’t too off track when he said it was subpar, as it obviously needed some form of revamping. The brick was a neat find though, and the campus was really pretty. I also got some pictures of the communications/theater building where Mrs. Bundy worked. I read an article that in over that years ago, Tacoma librarians had to worry about yearbooks being destroyed because Bundyphiles would rip out entire pages that had Ted’s pictures on them (he attended Woodrow Wilson High School, now called the Dr. Dolores Silas HS). However, they said more recently people have stopped inquiring about the serial killer and his name has faded into nothingness… Perhaps this is because everything about Bundy is simply a Google search away? I don’t think it’s because interest in Ted has faded… in fact, I think it’s the complete opposite.
I am going to say that it was incredibly eerie being on the school grounds knowing there was a good chance that Ted *may* have disposed of little Ann Marie Burr’s body there, somewhere on campus. It’s a well-known theory that the young girl could have been Bundy’s first victim in late August of 1961 when he was 14 and she was just 8. Two of my favorite Bundy myths are associated with the Burr case, the first is that Bundy was the family’s paperboy at the time of Ann’s disappearance (he wasn’t). The Burrs lived 3.1 miles away from the Bundy’s (which is only a 20-minute bike ride), and only 0.1 miles away from the University of Puget Sound. My second favorite is that Ted’s Uncle Jack Cowell was Ann’s piano teacher; he wasn’t.
The school was in the middle of a large expansion project at the time in the summer of 1961, and was in the middle of constructing eight new buildings on campus. Donald Burr claimed that he saw a teenage boy that resembled Bundy digging a hole in a construction site and kicking dirt into it on the schools campus the morning his daughter disappeared. By the time law enforcement got around to investigating it was too late, and the project had advanced to the point of not being able to find any trace of the little girl. If Bundy did indeed dispose of Ann Marie’s body somewhere on the campus at the University of Puget Sound it must have been a real rush to attend classes there: every time he went to a function on campus, he would have revisited a victim, in a way. After just two semesters he left the school in 1966 and transferred to the University of Washington for a brief period to study Chinese. Shortly after he dropped out of school completely and worked an array of menial jobs across Seattle while also volunteering for Nelson Rockefeller’s presidential campaign.
Bundy eventually got his shit together enough (after screwing around at Temple University in Philadelphia for six months in early 1969) and went back to the University of Washington, earning a Bachelor’s degree ‘with distinction’ in psychology in 1972. The following year he went back to the University at Puget Sound, this time for law school. He eventually dropped out again (this is a pattern with Ted) and got a job as the assistant director of the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Commission. I don’t mean to get too off track, but I just wanted to point out something I learned just now… it’s widely known that Diane Edwards was Ted’s first real heartbreak, and after he made a name for himself in Washington politics he won her back, even going to far as to propose marriage, which she happily accepted. However, on January 3, 1974, Ted coldly ended things with her without reason, essentially getting his revenge for being dumped by her years prior. It was the very next day that he assaulted and left for dead Karen Sparks, his first (confirmed) victim. I suppose I never thought about the timing of that breakup and how it worked around the murders. Anyways, as everyone knows Bundy moved to Salt Lake City in fall of 1974 and went on to attend the University of Utah’s law school until he was arrested by Bob Hayworth on August 16, 1975. The rest, as they say, is history…
Bundy denied any involvement with Ann Marie Burr’s disappearance. Before his death, the killer was even in correspondence with Beverly Burr, who pleaded with Ted for information about her daughter: ‘I feel like YOUR FIRST MURDER WAS OUR ANN MARIE BURR. The bench from the back yard was used to climb into the living room; the orchard next door was a dark setting for murder. What did you do with her tiny body?’ He wrote back saying that he knew nothing about Ann’s death. Because no real evidence connected anyone else to the crime, little Ann Marie’s case remains open to this day.
South Tacoma Way location of the University of Puget Sound School of Law, Tacoma, Washington, 1973. Photo courtesy of the University of Puget Sound.An old picture of the Norton Clapp Law Center at the University of Puget Sound School of Law.A more current picture of what used to be the Norton Clapp Law Center at the University of Puget Sound School of Law.The view walking up to the University of Puget Sound, 2022.THIS was a neat find, it’s something I NEVER would have discovered if I didn’t chat up the girls from the university café.I didn’t know Mrs. Bundy worked at the university; I was under the impression she was the secretary at her church and that was the job she held her entire career. But, like so many other things, I was wrong. I didn’t know Mrs. Bundy worked at the university; I was under the impression she was the secretary at her church and that was the job she held her entire career. But, like so many other things, I was wrong.Jones Hall at the University at Puget Sound where Mrs. Bundy worked for many years until her retirement, April 2022.A side view of the Burr house, April 2022. Can’t you see an adolescent Ted prowling around these bushes at night, peeking into the windows and going through trash… freaking weirdo.
“When I first saw that window open, I knew I would never see her again. I knew I would never know what happened.” … “It came to me, just like that. It was a strong feeling. When they were searching, I thought, ‘What’s the point?’ I knew she was gone, and we would never see her again.” – Beverly Burr interviewed by Rebecca Morris A photo of the Burr’s former house, and it was absolutely lovely, especially with the tree blossoming in the front, April 2022.The only signs of an intruder was the open living room window (left of the front door) and the footprint of someone wearing a sneaker. This photo is from 1961, I would have used one of my more recent ones but at the time of my visit the window was partially covered with bushes.An older picture of the Burr’s house and Ann Marie. Photo courtesy of Kevin Sullivan.Beverly Burr and her four children (Ann on far right). Fox Island, Summer 1960.Beverly Burr pregnant with Ann.Ann Marie Burr missing flyer, 1961.Letter to Ted Bundy from Beverly Burr, written May 20, 1986. Photo courtesy of murderintherain.com.Letter to Beverly Burr from Ted Bundy, written June 8, 1986. Photo courtesy of murderintherain.com.Ted’s Uncle Jacks house, April 2022. It is only 1.3 miles away from the Burr’s house.Ted’s Uncle Jack and his wife, Eleanor. At the time of his death in 2007 they were married for 63 years. He left behind two children: his daughter, Edna Martin and son, John DeCoville.Diane Edwards senior photo. She didn’t end up too bad, she married a VP at a major financial company, Wells Fargo.A photo of the Bundy home, 2012.A photo of the Bundy’s second home, April 2022.Google maps directions to Ann Maries house from the Bundy’s. “I had a feeling right then that I’d never see her again,” said Beverly Burr, Ann Marie’s mother.The walk from little Ann Marie’s house to the University of Puget Sound was absurdly short, just a little over 0.1 miles.A map of the Burrs neighborhood and where it was located compared to Bundy’s home and the University of Puget Sound, courtesy of Rebecca Morris.The 1965/66 portion of the ‘The FBI Bundy Multiagency Investigative Team Report 1992’ showing he was at the University of Puget Sound in 1965/66.
Another Bundy Blog. 