TED BUNDY

Ted Bundy Criminology

Ted Bundy Criminology

Introduction

Theodore Robert Cowell was born the illegitimate son of Louise Cowell November 24, 1946, in the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers. During his childhood in Vermont “Ted” was led to believe that his mother was his sister and that his maternal grandparents were his mother and father to whom he had been born “late in life”. Ted never knew his biological father who was rumored to be an Air Force veteran. When he was 4, his mother moved Ted and herself to Washington State where she subsequently met and married military cook Johnnie Culpepper Bundy in 1951. Ted was adopted by Bundy and his name was legally changed for good. By most accounts Ted's childhood was a relatively “normal” one, and he appeared to get along with his stepfather and subsequent half-siblings. Johnnie tried to get close to Ted during those years, often including him on camping and fishing trips, and other father-son type activities. During the years, and despite the many attempts by Johnnie, Ted remained distant and unattached from his stepfather. Therefore, all the issues related to Ted Bundy criminology will be discussed in detail.

Main Body

Ted Bundy was self-reported to be a shy, socially inept child in elementary and middle school. He maintained a good grade-point average throughout school and even into his early college years. In high school Ted seemed to be “coming into his own” and began expressing more confidence. He became more socially involved, his particular interests were skiing and politics. Even considering his newly acquired confidence and popularity, Ted only dated a couple of times during his high school career and was very sexually ignorant. Ted was not a very motivated worker and was frequently found to be unemployed or “between” jobs. He had garnered a reputation for being an unreliable employee. When Ted graduated high school in 1965, he attended the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington on a scholarship. By this time Ted had already acquired a juvenile record for burglary and auto theft. Ted worked the following summer and saved money in order to transfer to the University of Washington to study Chinese. It was during this time that he met the woman who would have perhaps the greatest influence on his life and maybe his crimes (Bartels, 2009).

Ted met Stephanie Brooks on campus in the spring of 1967. She was everything he ever thought he deserved. Stephanie was a beautiful, bright, wealthy socialite from California, and Ted was at once enthralled with her. Ted and Stephanie did not run in the same social circles, and he thought she was far out of his league. The one commonality they shared is a love of skiing. Ted began to steal expensive ski equipment to impress her. When Stephanie began showing interest and spending more time with Ted, his studies were pushed to the background. Ted would later recall his infatuation with Stephanie and describe the way it made him feel stating, ...