"DEATH ROW CONFESSIONS: TED BUNDY'S DECADE-LONG MANIPULATION GAME" (Part 3 of 4)

0:03 Calaruga Shark Media. Good morning, I'm Red Carter. Monday, November seventeenth, twenty twenty five. We're continuing our look at classic trials during the holiday court break today. Ted Bundy's nine years on death Row. July thirty first, nineteen seventy nine, Ted Bundy received two death sentences for murdering Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy at Chai Omega Sorority House. Sent to Florida State Prison Death Row. Sell Q dash three dash south, six feet by nine feet, concrete walls, steel door, one hour of exercise per day, twenty three hours in the cell alone with his thoughts. Most Death Row inmates deteriorate depression, mental illness, withdrawal from reality. Not Ted, He thrived. Death row gave him what he craved most attention. He gave interviews to journalists, authors, filmmakers, talked about his crimes without confessing, discussed serial killer psychology, analyzed his own methods in third person as if he were studying someone else, called himself an amateur compared to other killers. He married Carol Anne Boone, technically already married from the courtroom declaration, but they had a second ceremony at the prison she visited regularly, somehow got pregnant during a contact visit gave birth to their daughter, Rosa in October nineteen eighty two. Prison officials never figured

1:35 out how conception happened. Carol never explained Rosa was Ted Bundy's only child. For nine years, Ted lived on death row, filed appeals, fought his execution, and slowly strategically started confessing, not out of remorse, not to help families find closure, but to buy himself more time. Each confession was a bargaining chip. Each body of location was leveraged for another delay. Detectives from seven states wanted answers, families wanted to know what happened to their daughters, and Ted Bundy used their desperation to stay alive as long as possible. January nineteen eighty nine, Ted's appeals were exhausted, execution dates set for January twenty fourth. Suddenly, Ted wanted to talk. Had information about unsolved murders, could provide details only the killer would know.

2:30 Offered to confess to everything if Florida would delay his execution. Governor Bob Martinez refused. The execution would proceed on schedule, but detectives from Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, California, and Florida descended on Florida State Prison anyway they wanted answers, even if it meant listening to Ted glowed about murder for his final week. I'm reed, Carter, this is Celebrity Trials. Day three, Death Row Confessions and the manipulation game Ted Bundy played until the very end. July nineteen seventy nine, Ted Bundy arrived at Florida State Prison Death Row Cell Block Q, also known as the Bucket home to Florida's most dangerous condemned men. Ted cell six feet by nine feet concrete floor, steel bunk, stainless steel, toilet and sink combo.

3:25 No privacy. Guards could see everything through the barred door, one small window near the ceiling, natural light for a few hours a day. Otherwise fluorescent lights, constant noise, men screaming, crying, talking to themselves. Ted adapted quickly started a routine exercise during his one hour of yard time, reading legal materials, filing appeals, writing letters, giving interviews. He got more mail than any other death row inmate, hundreds of letters a week, marriage proposals, fan mail, women who think I thought he was innocent. Women who didn't care if he was guilty. Ted answered some letters, especially from women, built relationships, manipulated them into sending money, convincing them to advocate for him.

4:13 One woman even tried to help him escape. Plan was discovered before execution. Carol Anne Boone visited regularly. They'd gotten married in court during his trial, but Florida officials didn't recognize it initially, so they had another ceremony in the prison made it official. Carol moved to Gainesville, Florida, with her son from a previous marriage, got a job, visited Ted weekly. Prison allowed contact visits for married couples, supervised but not heavily monitored. Somehow, during one of these visits, Carol became pregnant. Prison officials launched an investigation. Never figured out how. Some theories bribed guards smuggled specimen. Ted was clever found a way. October twenty fourth, nineteen eighty two, ro was born Ted's daughter, his only child. He never met her outside prison, only saw her during visits. She'd sit on his lap in the visiting room. He'd read to her, play with her, act like a normal father, except he was on death row for murdering two women and being suspected of killing dozens more. Carol brought Rosa to visit until nineteen eighty six. Then the visit stopped.

5:22 Carol divorced Ted, took Rosa and disappeared, changed their names, built a new life somewhere far away from Florida. Rosa Bundy grew up not knowing her father was one of America's most notorious serial killers. Carol protected her from that truth as long as possible. Years later, Rosa learned can't hide forever. Media found out published stories Ted Bundy's daughter. Where is she now? Rosa has never given an interview, never spoken publicly. She deserves privacy. She didn't choose her father shouldn't be punished for his crimes. But in the early nineteen eighties, Ted had a wife and daughter visiting, had a support system, had people who believed in him, or at least Carol believed. She wrote a memoir years later, admitting she'd been manipulated, that Ted lied to her constantly, that she finally accepted the truth after reading evidence transcripts, but for years she was all in. Ted also had celebrity admirers. Author Anne Rule visited him they'd worked together at Seattle Crisis Clinic in the nineteen seventies. She was writing The Stranger Beside Me. Wanted his perspective. Ted gave interviews, talked about serial killers in third person, analyzed criminal psychology, avoided confessing to anything. He gave interviews to journalists, filmmakers, psychologists.

6:48 Everyone wanted to understand how a charming law student became a serial killer. Ted loved the attention, controlled the narrative, made himself interesting, made people fascinated. He talked about pornography, blamed his crimes on addiction to violent pornography. Said it started with magazines, escalated to hardcore violent content, desensitized him to violence against women, made him crave, acting out fantasies. Psychologists debated whether pornography caused his violence, or if violent tendencies made him seek out pornography. Most concluded Ted was born a psychopath. Pornography didn't create him, just fed impulses that were already there. But Ted's pornography explanation gave him an out, a reason, something external to blame. Society did this to me, media did this. I'm a victim too.

7:40 Typical psychopath deflection, never accept responsibility always find someone else to blame. Meanwhile, Ted filed appeal. After appeal challenged his convictions, claimed ineffective council claimed juror bias, claimed the bitemark evidence was junk science, claimed prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence. Every argument failed. Florida Supreme Court upheld his convictions. Federal courts denied his petitions. March nineteen eighty Ted's first execution date scheduled stayed at the last minute due to pending appeals. November nineteen eighty three. Second execution date stayed again. March nineteen eighty six. Third execution date stayed again. Each time Ted got closer to the electric chair. Each time appeals saved him, but eventually the appeals would run out. Everyone knew it, including Ted, so he started playing his final card. Information. Ted contacted detective Bob Keppel from King County, Washington, offered to help with the Green River killer case Gary Ridgeway, who was murdering women in Seattle area. Ted said he could provide insights into serial killer psychology help police catch an active killer.

9:00 Bob Keppel agreed, visited Ted on death row, interviewed him for hours. Ted talked about criminal profiling, how serial killers select victims, how they avoid detection. Gave useful information about psychology and methods, But Keppel knew Ted was manipulating him, trading information for validation, for attention, for feeling important. Ted wasn't trying to help catch Gary Ridgeway. Ted was trying to stay relevant. Still, Keppel learned things, patterns, tactics, insights that helped develop better profiling techniques. The interviews weren't useless, just came from a manipulative source. Then Ted started confessing slowly, strategically, one murder at a time, each confession buying him attention, media coverage, another reason to delay execution. While detectives verified information, Ted confessed to murdering Linda Ann Healy in Washington. Provided details only the killer would know where he dumped her remains, what he did to her body. Detectives verified, case closed.

10:06 Confessed to killing Donna Gale Manson, George Enn Hawkins, Susan Rancourt provided burial locations. Detectives found remains. Cases closed. Ted enjoyed this controlled the pace, decided when to reveal information, watching detectives react, watching families finally get answers, He fed on their pain. Between nineteen eighty four and nineteen eighty nine, Ted confessed to approximately thirty murders, but detectives believe the real number was much higher, maybe fifty, maybe one hundred, maybe more. Ted traveled constantly, lived in multiple states. Every jurisdiction he visited had unsolved murders of young women, all fitting his victim profile. All during his timeline, Ted refused to confess to everything, said thirty was enough. Didn't want to be remembered as the worst, wanted to maintained some mystery, some control over his legacy. But as his execution date approached in January nineteen eighty nine, Ted suddenly wanted to confess to more. Had information about unsolved cases in multiple states could help families find closure. All he needed was more time. Investigators knew what he was doing, trading bodies for delays, using dead women as bargaining chips, but they wanted answers, wanted to close cases, wanted to give families peace, so they flew to Florida, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Idaho, California.

11:38 Detectives from all over descended on Florida State Prison, ready to listen to Ted, Bundy confessed to murder for his final week of life. We'll be right back with Ted's final confessions, the details that still haunt investigators, and his complete lack of remorse. January seventeenth, nineteen eighty nine, one week before Ted Bundy's execution, death warrants signed by Governor Bob Martinez. No more stays, no more delays. January twenty fourth, at seven am, Ted would die in the electric chair.

12:27 Ted's attorneys made a final plea to the governor. Ted had information about unsolved murders, could help close cases, give families closure. All he needed was a stay of execution while he provided details. Governor Martinez refused. Theodore Bundy used murder to manipulate in life, He's using it to manipulate in death. The execution will proceed as scheduled, but detectives still wanted answers. Even if the governor wouldn't delay, they could still interview Ted get whatever information he'd give before he died. January eighteenth to twenty third, nineteen eighty nine, detectives from seven states interviewed Ted for hours each day.

13:08 FBI agents present, psychologists present, everyone taking notes, recording everything Ted confessed to murders he'd denied for years, provided details that only the killer would know, burial locations, methods, timelines, personal items he'd kept, his trophies some of the most disturbing confessions in criminal history. Detective Bob Keppel from Washington interviewed Ted about the Washington and Oregon murders. Ted confirmed killing Linda Ann Healey, Donna Gale Manson, Susan Rancourt, Roberta Parks, Brenda Ball, Georgian Hawkins, all the women who disappeared from Seattle area in nineteen seventy four. Ted described his methods, how he stalked them, learned their routines, waited for opportunities, the fake cast, the fake crutches, the helpless nice guy routine, How quickly women trusted him, how easy it was. He described kidnapping them, driving to remote areas, secondary locations where he could take his time, what he did to them, how long they survived, how he killed them. Keppel asked about disposal. Ted said he dumped most bodies in Tailor Mountain area, dense forest, hard to find. He returned to the dump site multiple times, had sex with the decomposing corpses, applied makeup, to their faces so they looked alive, talked to them, treated them like girlfriends. Eventually the bodies decomposed too much. Ted took their heads, kept them in his apartment,

14:43 washed their hair, applied makeup, used them for sexual gratification. When they decomposed further, he dumped them in the woods. Detective Jerry Thompson from Utah interviewed Ted about the Utah murders. Ted confessed to killing Melissa Smith, Laura Amy, Deborah Kent, Nancy Wilcox. Said he killed Moore, but couldn't remember exact numbers or names. They blurred together. He described the methods same patterns, fake injuries, abductions, secondary locations, rape murder disposal. Sometimes kept bodies for days before dumping them, had sex with them, repeatedly treated them like possessions. Thompson asked about Deborah Kent. Her body was never found. Ted said he buried her in a remote area, but couldn't remember exactly where, gave approximate location. Searchers never found remains. Deborah Kent's family never got closure. Detective Mike Fisher from Colorado interviewed Ted about the Colorado murders. Ted confessed to killing Karrn Campbell, Julie Cunningham, Denise Oliverson, Shelley Robertson said there were more, couldn't remember all the names. He described the ski resort murders, easy hunting grounds, women traveling alone, vulnerable. He'd approach them in parking lots, offered a help with luggage, walk them toward their cars, abduct them, drive to remote cabins or forest areas, keep them alive for hours, sometimes days, rape them repeatedly, then kill them. Fisher asked why Ted kept

16:16 returning to some dump sites. Ted said, I needed them. They were mine. I owned them, even after death, they were mine. Detectives from California, Idaho, and Florida also interviewed Ted. More confessions, more details, more horrors. Doctor Dorothy Lewis, psychiatrist, interviewed Ted about his childhood, trying to understand what created him. Ted blamed pornography, blamed dysfunctional family, blamed discovering he was illegiti blamed society, everyone except himself. Doctor Lewis asked if Ted felt remorse. He said yes, said he thought about victims constantly, felt terrible about what he'd done, but his affect was flat. No emotion, no tears, no genuine regret, just words performance manipulation. Doctor Lewis concluded Ted was a psychopath, incapable of genuine empathy, incapable of remorse. Everything he said was calculated, designed to elicit specific responses to make people see him how he wanted to be seen. Reverend Fred Lawrence, evangelical pastor, also visited Ted daily. Ted claimed he'd found God, become a Christian, been saved, asked for baptism. Lawrence baptized

17:48 him in the prison chapel. Media covered it. Some people believed Ted's conversion was genuine, most didn't. January twenty third, nineteen eighty nine, Ted's final interview with re Everen James Dobson of Focus on the Family. Dobson wanted to discuss pornography's role in Ted's crimes, give Ted a platform to warn others about pornography's dangers. Ted obliged, talked about how pornography corrupted him, made him violent, made him see women as objects. Said if society banned pornography, it could prevent future serial killers. This became his final public statement his legacy message. Critics called it manipulation. Ted's last attempt to blame something external, to avoid responsibility, to be remembered as a victim of society rather than a predator. During these final interviews, Ted confessed to thirty murders, but he hinted it more. Said there were victims in California. He wouldn't discuss victims in Pennsylvania during a family visit, victims in Washington before Linda Ann Healey, victims everywhere he'd traveled. Investigators believe Ted killed between fifty and one hundred women, maybe more.

18:59 He traveled constantly, moved frequently, lived in multiple states, had access to countless victims, and he had a decade to kill before his first arrest. Robert Keppel asked Ted directly, how many did you really kill? Ted smiled, Add one digit to whatever you think it is. If investigators thought thirty, Ted was implying three hundred. If they thought fifty, he was implying five hundred. Typical Ted bragging, exaggerating, making himself seem more prolific than he was, or telling the truth, and nobody believed him. We'll never know the real number. Ted took that secret to his grave. What we do know at least thirty confirmed victims, thirty families destroyed, thirty women who should still be alive. Linda Ann Healy twenty one wanted to be a radio announcer, should be seventy two today. Donna Gail Manson nineteen music student should be seventy today. Susan Rancourt eighteen biology major should be sixty nine today. George Anna Hawkins eighteen, planning to graduate and get married, should be sixty nine today. Janisott twenty three, probation caseworker helping troubled teens, should be seventy three today.

20:14 Denise Nassland nineteen computer programmer should be seventy today. Melissa Smith seventeen, daughter of a police chief, should be sixty seven today. Laura Amy, seventeen high school senior should be sixty seven today. Karen Campbell twenty three nurse, should be seventy three today. Margaret Bowman twenty one art history major should be sixty six today. Lisa Levy twenty dance major should be sixty five today. Kimberly Leech twelve years old wanted to be a veterinarian. Should be fifty seven today. Thirty names, thirty futures, thirty families that never recovered and ted Bundy spent his final week bragging about it, smiling for cameras, acting like he was doing everyone a favor by confessing no remorse, no genuine apology, just ego until the very end. His last statement to Keppel, I'm glad I'm dying. It'll end the suffering I caused. But I wish I could live to see how they remember me.

21:14 Keppel responded, They'll remember you as a coward who murdered women and ran from responsibility. Ted didn't like that. Stop talking, ended the interview. Make it make sense. A man murders dozens of women, gets caught, spends nine years on death row, uses his final week to brag about his crimes, shows zero remorse, just wants to control how history remembers him. Some people are just evil, can't be rehabilitated, can't be redeemed. Ted Bundy was one of them. That's day three of our Ted Bundy series. Nine years on death row, a wife and daughter he'd never know outside prison walls, confessions used as bargaining chips, final interviews where he bragged about murder without showing genuine remorse. At least thirty confirmed victims Investigators believe the real number was much higher. Women whose names will never know, Families who never got answers. Tomorrow, January twenty fourth, nineteen eighty nine, the execution, the crowd outside Florida State Prison, the victims, families watching, justice served, and the moment Ted Bundy met Old Sparky. I'm read Carter.

22:27 This is celebrity trials