Ted’s 70th

Today is the day on which Ted Bundy would have turned seventy years old, had he not been executed or died prematurely. If he had managed to outwit police and continued killing, imagine how many more women would be dead. If we consider he killed approximately 30 women (by his admission) over the course of four years, it’s quite fathomable he might have murdered hundreds of women over four decades! Though his chances of not getting caught would have been small, the sheer magnitude of that estimate is simply incomprehensible. 

Despite his ambition & dedication to killing defenseless young women, it would have been harder & harder for him to fit in on college campuses as he aged. Also, his looks would have invariably faded. Fewer women would have fallen for his “whoops, I dropped my books routine.” Could Bundy have adapted to the changes in the environment around him enough to stay under the radar?

Another thing to consider is the advances in technology and how forensics have evolved since his capture in 1978. Until 1986, DNA analysis wasn’t understood and bite mark evidence would have been even more conclusive in his trials in Florida. Also, police departments are far more likely now to share their evidence with other agencies in an effort to capture criminals quicker and more efficiently.

Though his various victims weren’t so lucky, the rest of the world is better off that Bundy was caught back in 1978. Frankly, very few serial killers stop killing and Bundy had no intention of ending his true passion in life. Here’s to moving beyond his 70th birthday without the loss of another young woman’s life to his brutality.