The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History

The Bundy
Murders

The Bundy
Murders

A Comprehensive History

KEVIN M. SULLIVAN

For my granddaughter, Isabella Grace Steele

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The process of writing a book can be long, sometimes tedious, always time-consuming, and can provide many opportunities for bouts of frustration and joy along the way. It is also unspeakably satisfying and greatly rewarding, once the task is completed. When you're writing a work of nonfiction, and many of the participants of the story are still living, you will be indebted to many souls for their assistance along the way. Some made major contributors, while others may have simply pointed me in the direction I needed to go. Regardless, I was, and I remain, extremely grateful to all with whom I crossed paths.

I would like to thank specifically the investigators who so willingly gave of their time to help me understand what it was like to hunt the killer they came to know as Theodore Robert Bundy, and what had to occur to bring him to justice. I found them to be unique individuals, extremely dedicated to their chosen field, and true treasure-troves of knowledge. Without question, their contribution to this book is substantial.

Through two face-to-face interviews and numerous phone calls, Jerry Thompson was receptive to my questions and always happy to give additional clarification when asked. He provided me with copies of numerous records from his personal files pertaining to the case, including material on the murder of Melissa Smith and copies of Bundy's gasoline charges throughout Utah and Colorado. While all of these files are now part of the public record in Utah, locating them can sometimes be next to impossible. His help, therefore, was invaluable beyond words.

I would also like to thank Dr. Robert D. Keppel, whose knowledge of and dealings with Theodore Bundy are both extensive and well documented. He always found the time in his busy academic and professional schedule to answer my questions, and while some of our conversations were lengthy, at no time did he rush me or try to hurry off the phone; except, of course, on the one occasion when I caught him only moments before he was about to step up to the podium to give a lecture. (I could hear the anxious crowd in the background!) On the contrary, he was more like a professor endeavoring to impart knowledge to his student, and I was more than willing to play the part of the latter.

When I first received the return phone call from Michael Fisher, formerly chief investigator for the Pitkin County District Attorney in Aspen, Colorado, in the Bundy case, it was like I had known him for years. Mike was friendly and listened patiently to and answered all of my questions; questions he'd obviously been asked before. Not only was I able to contact him whenever necessary, but Mike, at my request, typed out many of his personal experiences with Bundy, including an extensive behind-the-scenes look at his personal investigation into the case, and e-mailed them all to me. For such an effort, I am eternally grateful.

When I decided to write this book, I felt strongly that it should be written sequentially, beginning in Washington State, Bundy's adopted home, and where he first spiraled into murder. Therefore my last stop, both in a literary and a physical sense, would be Florida. Hence, my meeting with Don Patchen, though last, can in no way be considered least.

Don Patchen was a detective for the Tallahassee Police Department when the murders occurred at the Chi Omega sorority house, and soon he was made lead detective in the case. When I sat down with him in his home in Tallahassee in late June 2008, over a plate of delicious chocolate chip cookies freshly baked by his wife, he told me first-hand what it was like dealing with a Theodore Bundy who was clearly in decline, after his arrest in Pensacola in mid-February 1978. And then, as if to transport me back through time, he lifted from beside the table a large clear plastic storage tub containing his original notes, papers, and various files from the case. He gave me unfettered access to this material, and allowed me to copy material which would clearly be beneficial to my research. Again, he bore the traits of all of the above-mentioned investigators with whom I had the pleasure of working. They are all men of integrity, whose chief concern was that I tell the story both accurately and honestly; something that I promised them I would do.

I would also like to thank Dr. Al Carlisle, the Utah clinical psychologist who evaluated Theodore Bundy after the killer's conviction in the Carol DaRonch case. Having spent many hours with his subject, he came to know Bundy quite well. My initial contact with him was by phone (he and I were unable to align our schedules during my August 2006 trip to Utah for a faceto-face meeting), and I found him to be exactly as he'd been described by a mutual friend. He was friendly, had a great a sense of humor, and was willing to help me in any way possible. That help came in the form of telephone calls, questions I fired off to him in e-mails which he promptly answered, and the permission he gave me to reprint private correspondence he had conducted with others concerning Theodore Robert Bundy. I am indebted to Dr. Carlisle for his very kind assistance in helping me discover that which lurked behind the eyes of the sociopath known as Theodore Bundy.

Now, collectively, I would like to thank these individuals from the following states. Some made major contributions. Washington State: Detective Robert D. Keppel, King County Police Department, retired; Mrs. Beverly Burr (mother of Ann Marie Burr); Jamie Spain, University of Puget Sound; Brenda Cooke, The Seattle Weekly; Stephanie Clark, The News Tribune library; Jodie Gripp, Tacoma Public Library; Janette Gomes, King County Archives; Captain Kevin Higgins, Central Washington State College Campus Police; The Tacoma Historical Society; the staff of the Seattle Public Library; Tim Clancy; Duane Covey; Ross Davis; Stuart Elway; Danny Lazarus.

Utah: Detective Jerry Thompson, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office, retired; Detective Ira Beal, Bountiful Police Department, retired; Dr. Al Carlisle, clinical psychologist; Ana Daraban, The Salt Lake Tribune; Becky Hodges, The Salt Lake Tribune; David Yocom, Deputy Salt Lake County prosecutor, retired; Robert Stott, assistant county prosecutor, Salt Lake County; the staff in the research department, of the J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah; Amanda Solomon, evidence custodian, Brigham Young University Police; Ed Midgley, court reporter, Third District Court, Salt Lake City, Utah; Sally Koch, deputy county clerk, Third District Court, Salt Lake City, Utah; Lieutenant Paul S. Jaroscak, public information officer, Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office.