Ted Bundy was a necrophile, plain and simple. This wasn’t something he wanted people to know, but he did admit it to Stephen Michaud & Hugh Aynesworth when they interviewed him in the 1980’s. After killing a woman, he would take her to a secluded area (usually Taylor Mountain while he was still killing in Washington state) and spend the night with her corpse. While he was there, he would put makeup on her and then have sex with her body. He would often return to the bodies time and again to continue his sexual assaults. This was the ultimate form of possession to Bundy, which was his main goal when killing.
Ted Bundy once said, “Murder is not about lust and it’s not about violence. It’s about possession.” This is probably one of the few true statements he ever made to investigators. In fact, when investigators found only the skulls of several women on Taylor Mountain, they realized he was dumping heads separately from the bodies. Bundy later admitted to taking some of the womens’ heads home with him where he applied makeup to them and he alluded to further sexual contact with the heads.
For Bundy, the act of murder wasn’t the highlight of the event. It was only after Ted conked the victim in the head and drove her to a secluded outdoor scene that the real “fun” began. The sexual assault on a woman who was either unconscious or dead was the end game. Bundy’s fiancée, Liz Kloepfer, even confessed that he liked her to pretend to be dead while they were having sex or he couldn’t have an orgasm. Psychologists suggest that necrophiliacs tend to have an inordinate desire to control another person. I can’t think of a better way to describe Ted Bundy than extremely controlling.
Confessions of a Bundyphile 
This is a very interesting article and blog! I just came across it. Like you, I find the Bundy story to be completely fascinating. I can never learn enough about it and always try to find out more facts for the most comprehensive understanding I can get. I have long believed that the necrophilia was one of Bundy’s main motives in committing these crimes. Would love to discuss this further!
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Hi answer…thanks for the feedback. I’d love to share opinions. I will send you an email. 😀
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Good morning, how are you doing ? sorry for my english i am french lol. first of all bravo for the book with M. RICHARD. I have a question regarding acts of necrophilia and mutation on the heads of his victims? I read rob dielenberg’s book a visual timeline which is excellent in documentation… rob explains that ted bundy never really admitted that he was a necrophiliac he said that it happened to him to come back to watch but in no case he spoke of sexual acts on corpses. bundy talked a bit about it with bill hagmaier who by the way must be the only one who really knows bundy’s secrets. the same for the sexual acts on the severed heads of the victims… he once said that he had brought back some heads but no evidence attests that. bundy was a liar and manipulator. what’s weird with bundy is that he’s probably the best known serial killer but at the same time we don’t know much about his criminal acts I think. finally here I wanted to share this with you … good continuation
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Your English is very good! I’m so glad you enjoyed the book. M. Richard is a very good writer whose passion for the subject matter made it easy for me.
You are right, Bundy didn’t talk much about his necrophillic acts. I believe he reveled in it when he was alone, but realized the public would have turned against him if he confessed to it. Merci beaucoup for reaching out to me. I hope you enjoy the book and my website! I’m working on a TV show right now, so hopefully, it will be available before long! -E.J.
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Hi Ren…thanks for visiting my blog! Just about anything you read about Ted Bundy will mention his necrophilia. Let me know if you have any other questions about our Teddy’s nighttime rendez vous with his victims post-mortem!
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Hey I wanted to know if he put makeup on the victims every time. I think I read in Ann Rule’s book, that he only did that once? Correct me if I’m wrong. Also finally I found a blog that discusses Ted Bundy individually. I find him to be a very unique and fascinating case. Just wish that he had been studied more.
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I’m relatively certain he made up several of his victims’ heads when he was in Utah. Welcome to the blog! I’m due to write something new very soon. 😀
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Ted Bundy does not represent necrophiliacs, any more than Jeffrey Dahmer represents gay people. Bundy was an evil sociopath. I’ll bet they occur in similar ratios in all sexualities and orientations.
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Good point!
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it was a long time before I knew he was a necrophile or that he severed heads / dismembered. Those facts Surprised me – maybe my memory is foggy but I think those facts were kept out of the media fir a period of time. I guess the necrophilia shouldn’t surprise me because many killers do that . Another way to possess their victims
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I’m working on an article presently about why details like this aren’t well-known about Bundy. Stay tuned…
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How is your research coming along? I hope you have a book out soon. Like most others on this page, I’m curious as to why the public heard nothing about this horrific piece of the broken man that was Bundy.
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I am still diligently working on this blog, writing for other venues, and would love to write a book about Bundy. Considering there are so many books about him, finding a fresh angle to write about will be challenging. The reason most people aren’t aware of the “ugly side” of Ted Bundy is because of how the media treated him. He was good-looking and seemed to be the “boy next door.” News reporters interviewed a lot of young women, asking them if Ted looked like a murderer. Of course, they were all dazzled by his charm and handsome looks. Bundy was also able to manipulate the information that got out about him. He didn’t admit to the murders until just before he was executed, which was obviously just an attempt to have his execution date extended. Feel free to reach out with more questions and follow me on Twitter at @rosedysfunction!
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Hi, I tapped the link you provided for the discussion on Bundy’s necrophilia but it said the server was unable to be found. Is there any other way I can reference this discussion or are you able to tell me where I can find information regarding Bundy’s necrophilia? I have looked at almost every website that comes up via a basic search on Google, but there seems to be only a very limited amount of information on this topic. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
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Hi, are you unable to read what I posted on this blog? Or was there a link you tried to another site?
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I had the same problem when trying to connect to that link. I’d love to be able to read it.
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It looks like the link is no longer active. I apologize about that. I’m removing it from the prior post.
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I found this article fascinating! Just recently there was a 2-part documentary about Bundy on Reelz (it will re-run later in August). I’ve read many books and watched many shows about him, but I don’t remember hearing about necrophilia. Talk about a need for power, for absolute control. Many of us experience powerlessness at one time or another, but only a small fraction vent their rage in his horrific manner.
If anyone reads this, I have a question. Shortly before his execution, Bundy made a cryptic remark about “adding a digit” to get the precise number of his victims. Would anyone share their answer to, “Did he mean instead of 30 he murdered 31?” Or, horrifyingly, did he mean 300 instead of 30? [numbers are not accurate, just placeholders. Thank you for your attention.
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Hi Jennie! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the site. Bundy was definitely a fascinating individual! He was most certainly a control freak. I remember hearing about his comment related to “adding a digit” when asked if he killed only 36 women. I don’t know how much faith we should put into Bundy’s claims. We know how often serial killers boast about their victims and sometimes claim killings they didn’t commit. Bundy hasn’ been connected to anywhere close to 100 or more killings. That said, various cold cases are still being reviewed and Bundy could still be connected to missing or murdered women, but we don’t have any evidence suggesting he killed that many people. I wonder if Bundy made that comment to seem mysterious and hold sway over investigators. That was always part of the game for him. Keep reading my site & check out the Criminology podcast that is currently covering Bundy. I wrote the script for this season! 😉
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what about investigator bob keppel’s firm belief that bundy most likely did kill 100 or more people? it’s referenced multiple times in ann rule’s book as well as other articles. you are correct most serial killers do falsely confess to crimes they did not commit but so far as investigators knew everything he confessed to was connected to him, he did not confess to crimes he did not do. in the cae of katherine merry devine when asked if he killed her he would not give a definite answer. only that he had picked someone up hitchhiking and killed her then threw her body in a tree. he could not tell them for sure it was her. all evidence points to it being likely he did actually murder more women than we know, especially if he started in 1961 with ann marie burr.
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I don’t think it’s a stretch to claim that Bundy killed more than 36 women, but until anything further is linked, it’s all just speculation. Bundy’s attorney, John Henry Browne, stated that Ted confessed to killing more than 100 women, but we need to keep this in perspective. It’s easy for us to say that Bundy wouldn’t have confessed to killing women that he didn’t kill. I think it’s a little naive to assume that a psychopath would lie about a lot of other things, but tell the truth about this one thing. I hadn’t heard that he “threw a body in a tree.” Do you remember the victim’s name?
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I never really understood Bundy’s obsession with necrophilia.I know that necrophilia is usually common in mortuary workers or among morticians as they have access to dead bodies which have been drained of blood which delays putrefaction.I really can’t imagine Bundy going to the woods and having sex with a rotting corpse..really gross!! On a side note,i don’t believe that Bundy killed over a 100 women.His alleged comment of “add a/another digit to that” had been taken out of context.He probably meant add(+) a digit from 1 to 9 to 36 and “you’ll have it; the tally would range from 37 to 45.Over 100 is just too much of a stretch for me.
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Thanks for your comment, Randy! I don’t understand necrophilia either, though Bundy explained it was about possession. I imagine his idea of possessing a body didn’t include someone who struggled or criticized his techniques. It’s amazing what people do in order to achieve satisfaction. I’m not convinced he killed 100+ people either. Ted was good at killing, but he wasn’t that good.
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How much time approximately did Ted spend with his victims. Most information says until the Putrefaction stage ( several days), but others say he would “spend the night” with them? Where would he perform these acts In the woods -in a car, tent, rental? To be able to wash their hair and visit the body several times he would have needed a place and level of comfort.
Is it known if his wife really had his child, if so is anything known about the child?
The most recent Netflix movie Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile – depicts him remaining in love with Liz. Did he ever reveal anything about his relationship with her- was he really in love with her? Was he still in love with Liz when he married? Why didn’t he have the urge to kill her in The same way as the others ( except the time he closed a vent)? So many questions!
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Thanks for the questions. I’m happy to answer them. Ted admitted to “spending the night” with his victims in the outdoors after before and after their death. This was depicted in the little-known 2002 movie “Bundy” starring Michael Reilly Burke. He found places that were isolated, like on Taylor Mountain in King County, Washington. He came back to the dump sites more than once to spend time with the bodies and to engage in post-mortem encounters. Like Gary Ridgway, he would continue this behavior until there was barely anything left of the corpse. I think he may have taken them to his apartment or room and made them up on occasion as evidenced by the nail polish on one victim that she never would have worn.
Yes, Carole Boone gave birth to a child in 1981 that she deemed Ted’s child. There are theories on whether this is true and where the child would be now. I wrote an article about his daughter, Rose, and it can be found at this link: https://bundyphile.wordpress.com/2015/01/13/rose-by-any-other-name/.
Bundy talked about his relationship with Liz several times with investigators. He told them he loved her then he casually discussed burning the head of a victim in her fireplace when she was away from the home. He used her car to abduct victims and once considered killing her by closing the flue to her chimney so she would suffocate from smoke inhalation. Liz verified remembering waking coughing one night and smelling smoke. So if you’re asking me if he loved her, my answer is that Ted Bundy wasn’t capable of love the way you and I understand it. Liz was his possession and other than superficially expressing “love” to her from time to time, he definitely didn’t love her as his equal.
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I never really understood Bundy’s obsession with necrophilia.I know that necrophilia is usually common in mortuary workers or among morticians as they have access to dead bodies which have been drained of blood which delays putrefaction.I really can’t imagine Bundy going to the woods and having sex with a rotting corpse..really gross!! On a side note,i don’t believe that Bundy killed over a 100 women.His alleged comment of “add a/another digit to that” had been taken out of context.He probably meant add(+) a digit from 1 to 9 to 36 and “you’ll have it; the tally would range from 37 to 45.Over 100 is just too much of a stretch for me.
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Thank you @Graveyard76 für making the best comment about Bundy and necrophilia I`ve read within a long time! 🙂
The fact that Bundy was necrophile and a well-known serial killer doesn`t make him typical or so. Most people with necrophilic fantasies aren`t psychopaths or killers. And most serial killers aren`t necrophile. So you should always be careful with drawing any conclusions from a single case study. But I admit that many necrophiliacs have co-morbid diagnoses, especially those who act out their fantasies.
@E.J. Hammon, did you find out by your investigations why Bundy eventually stopped using severed heads for sexual acts? A long-time internet-penpal has asked me several times and I couldn`t give him an accurate answer, only some unqualified guesses. You have studied Bundy`s case and life and know alot about him, maybe you could provide me with an explanation? My penpal is as fascinated by Bundy as you are, and I`d be happy to satisfy his curiosity.
(Sorry for mistakes, I`m German)
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