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What goes through your mind when you hear the name Ted Bundy? Ted Bundy was born on November 24, 1946 and grew up thinking his mother was his older sister and his grandparents his biological parents. When Ted’s mother remarried a cook by the name Johnnie Bundy, the last name of Bundy would soon develop a chilling reputation. As a boy, Ted was very shy and was teased by his classmates. Although Ted had an uneasy start, he maintained a high grade point average throughout his school years. In 1965, Ted graduated from high school and won a scholarship to the University of Pudget Sound, then later transferred to Washington University. As Ted attended college his main focus was on his schoolwork, but in the spring of 1967, he became interested in Stephanie Brooks. Stephanie was a young beautiful girl from a wealthy family from California. To Ted she was everything he had ever wanted in a woman. Not only was this Ted’s first love, but also the first woman he was sexually active with. Ted saw them together forever and was infatuated with her, but Stephanie felt otherwise. She wanted someone who could fit into her lifestyle. In 1968, shortly after Ted had graduated from college, Stephanie broke off her relationship with Ted. He became deeply depressed and never recovered from the break-up. Ted wrote to Stephanie many times, trying to convince her he was right for her, but she turned him down. Ted was obsessed with Stephanie Brooks and could not get her out of his mind. Many believe this obsession was a key factor that led Ted to many of the gruesome crimes he would commit during his life. To make the situation worse, in 1969 Ted learned who his real parents where. After gaining this information, Ted’s character began to change. He went from being shy and introverted to a more focused and dominant character. Bundy enrolled in the University of Washington once again and studied psychology. He became one of the top students of his class, was well liked by his professors, and was driven to achieve to prove himself to the world, and more importantly, to Stephanie. Around this time, Ted met Meg Anders whom he would be involved with for a period of almost five years. Meg was a divorced mother who was shy and quiet. She was deeply in love with Ted, and thought him a perfect father figure for her daughter. Meg wanted to marry Bundy, but Ted was not ready for marriage because he felt he had a lot to accomplish. Often times Meg felt Ted was seeing other women, but was still hopeful everything would work out between them. Ted’s future looked promising as he sent out applications for law schools, and became active in politics. Bundy helped a Washington governor to be re-elected which allowed Ted to form bonds with politically powerful people in the Republican Party. He did volunteer work at a crisis clinic on a work-study program and was commended by the Seattle Police Department for saving the life of a drowning three-year-old boy. In 1973 while Ted was on a business trip in California for the Washington Republican Party, Ted met up with his past love, Stephanie Brooks. Stephanie was amazed that Ted was much more confident and mature, and that he had a bright future ahead of him. Ted and Stephanie would meet on several more occasions, and she would fall in love with him. Marriage was on Stephanie’s mind and just as their love seemed to be growing, Ted suddenly became cold to Stephanie. His interest in her came to a sudden stop in February of 1974 and he broke off all contact with her. He rejected Stephanie as she had rejected him in previous years. When Ted left Stephanie in 1974, she was never to see or hear from Ted Bundy again. On December 6, 1973, a young couple stumbled over the remains of a fifteen-year-old girl in McKenny Park, Washington who was identified as Kathy Devine. Friends last saw her when she set out to hitchhike to Oregon. Running away from home, Kathy met her death along the way. She was strangled, brutalized and her throat cut. Investigators went to work immediately on the case, but little evidence remained. A month after the discovery of Kathy Devine’s body, another dead girl was identified as Joni Lenz. Unfortunately, she would not be the last girl to be murdered.
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