Infamous Utah: Ted Bundy

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What can you write about serial killer Ted Bundy that hasn’t already been written over the past 30 years? For our new monthly segment, on an infamous Utah criminal, we wanted to focus on Ted’s time in Utah, the women that he killed and attempted to kill in Utah, and how Utah law enforcement played a massive part in bringing Ted Bundy down.

Did you know that Ted Bundy converted to Mormonism while he was here in Utah? Was it so he would have some sense of normalcy? Was it for an alibi? Local Utah researcher, Captain Borax True Crime Tours aka Chris Mortensen, interviewed Ted’s congregation members and “friends.” Chris has created a tour on YouTube of Ted’s steps and has done extensive research of his actions and steps throughout Utah. Ted was in and out of Utah over the course of a couple years and unfortunately 7 women, that we know of, fell victim. There was one or two that were able to get away, most notably Carol DaRonch who was 18 years old at the time. All you have to do is type into Google, Ted Bundy, and you can find plenty of information. There are numerous documentaries, old TV movies, the new Netflix series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, and so much more. We tried to research local Utah articles and information for our episode. For a little dip into Ted Bundy and how he got into the LDS church during his time in Utah, below is part 1 of 3 of Captain Borax True Crime Tours of Ted Bundy and the LDS church.

We asked ourselves at the end of the interview, should Ted have gotten the death penalty? Is him being a sociopath a mental illness? What would you have liked to have seen done with Ted Bundy? We can’t forget the local women, as well as the others, who were taken. We hope that through a resurgence of Ted right now because of the anniversary of his execution, the Sundance film, and Netflix documentary that the memory of these women and their families will not be forgotten.

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