The Encyclopedia of the Ted Bundy Murders lists the names of hundreds of people involved in the case as well as dozens of locations where significant events occurred. Being the final installment in a five-volume series, this veritable “Who’s Who” of the Bundy murders, is the kind of book you’ll want to keep handy as you study the case because there is no other book on the market quite like it.
A writer of history and true crime, Kevin M. Sullivan is the author of 15 books, including what has now become with the publication of this book, a 5-volume set covering the life and murders of Ted Bundy. Indeed, because of his almost 14-year immersion into this many-faceted case, Sullivan has been a guest on documentaries pertaining to the killer on REELZ, HLN (CNN’s Headline News), the Oxygen Network, and ABC’s 20/20 program, as well as many radio shows and podcasts.
“Sullivan’s A-to-Z coverage of Ted Bundy provides a solid guide to the people and places that define the man and the monster, including some not present in other Bundy narratives. It nicely rounds out his Bundy oeuvre and gives readers an extensive reference tool on one of the world’s most infamous serial killers.” – Katherine Ramsland, author of Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer.
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KEVIN: I have purchased all of your books on Ted Bundy and they are on par with The Only Living Witness and The Deliberate Stranger. I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t point out a few errors and/or Bundy Case myths that continue to be put forth as fact in articles, podcasts, and books. They include…
1) In your book The Bundy Murders 2nd edition, the caption of the picture on page 94 begins with, “The skull of Denise Naslund,” but that is actually a photograph of the skull of Susan Rancourt. The following is an excerpt from Bob Keppel’s book Terrible Secrets, “A tree branch was sprouting through one of the facial bones. There was a six-inch radial fracture that ran straight up the center of the skull. Though her mandible was missing, I again knew in an instant who this was. None of the other missing women had such bridgework as Susan Rancourt.”
The photograph on page 94 clearly shows a tree branch sprouting through the skull.
2) On page 221, you state that Bundy killed Kimberly Leach inside the hog shed, but at the 1980 trial, prosecutor Bob Dekle proved that Bundy murdered Leach in the back of the stolen van. Dekle’s evidence included Bundy covering up a huge blood stain/Kimberly’s blood type in the back of the van with leaves/dirt. In his book, The Last Trial, Dekle recalls having to correct Robert Ressler on his claim that Bundy suffocated Leach in a muddy area outside the van. Dekle politely reminded Ressler that Bundy was a serial fabricator and that he shouldn’t have accepted Bundy’s story at face value.
3) In regards to the claim that Melissa Smith and Laurie Aime were kept at Bundy’s residence, the Utah State Medical Examiner (e.g., Serge Moore) never checked the snow fall and temperature during the time period when Smith and Aime were missing. If he had, he would have quickly realized that both bodies were covered in snow and the low temperatures would have kept decomposition to a minimum. Speaking of Serge Moore, due to complaints from Utah law enforcement (e.g., sloppy work) and his inability to produce any evidence (e.g., doctorate degree) that he studied at a University in Mexico City, Moore lost his license in 1979.
4) Bundy’s admission to Dennis Couch that he kept Nancy Wilcox and Debbie Kent at his residence is highly dubious. Bundy’s confession to where he buried the body of Wilcox turned out to be complete bullshit as law enforcement found nothing. This is similar to Bundy’s confession to Bob Keppel in regards to where he buried the head/skull of Georgann Hawkins. After completing an excavation of a hillside where Bundy claimed he buried Georgann’s head, investigators found no trace of Georgann Hawkins.
Thanks,
Philip Callahan
Hi Philip,
We’ll go through this one step at a time.
1. The skull: If that’s true, then these were mislabeled in the King County Archives when I retrieved them in 2007-2008. I have seen another photo identified as Rancourt as well. But no matter, if it was mislabeled it was mislabeled.
2. Where Leach was killed: Incorrect! Dekle did not “prove” where she was killed. Several years ago people started contacting me because of things in Dekle’s book that seemed to contradict what was in my book. So my thought was this: “Perhaps they’ve found something I did not have available to me during my time of research”. So, I checked Dekle’s book and then I pulled out my Florida files again and I found the answer that I was indeed correct, and you can see this information in my book, The Bundy Secrets. To give it to you in a nutshell, I have quotes from Dekle TWO MONTHS AFTER THE VAN WAS RECOVERED, that they still didn’t know where she was killed (don’t you think if they had indisputable evidence, they would have found it by then?), and the ME determined that Leach was probably killed in the hog shed, because of how the body was placed, and that Bundy most likely killed her while have intercourse from behind; a usual MO of Ted Bundy. Now, as I said in The Bundy Secrets, I don’t care where she was murdered; that is, I’m not trying to be dogmatic as to where little Kim Leach was killed. However, it appears from the record that she was murdered as I state in The Bundy Murders, and as I said in “Secrets” if and until I see evidence that says otherwise (and not just statements in a book), I’m sticking to what I wrote.
3. Incorrect! I’ve seen the crime scene photos of the body of Laura Ann Aime, and she is not “covered in snow”. And her body was in pristine condition. Also, there was NO snow (I don’t even think a dusting) on the ground when the body of Melissa Smith was found. The temps do not dd up to the degree (pun intended) to have preserved the bodies as they were found. Lastly, in my 6th and final Bundy book coming out later this year, I have information that elaborates on Bundy taking bodies in and out of his apartment, but I can’t talk about prior to publication.
4. I don’t know why you would think Bundy was not being forthright in his end of life confessions? They are the most honest and accurate confessions he gave to authorities. Indeed, he kept nothing back, although when he didn’t want to talk about a particular incident he would say things like “that’s hard for me to talk about right now” or “We’ll have to get back to that later on”. Indeed, he gave excellent directions to where the body of Debra Kent was buried – and it was no easy task doing so as she was out in the middle of nowhere – and they did locate her patella (I go into this much more in my upcoming book and give what I believe to be valid reasons why only the patella was recovered). And just because they didn’t find Wilcox (or Hawkins’s head) does not mean Bundy didn’t place them where he said he did. And really, what would be the point for Bundy to lie about any of these things? He was clearly giving honest confessions regarding Kent and others, so it would make zero sense to lie about where he buried the head of Hawkins or placed Wilcox. There would be no reason for Bundy to lie about such things. He’d already confessed to their murders, and where the remains were located was fairly (except for the families) insignificant. As such, I see his end of life statements to be honest, accurate, and reliable.
Thanks for the good words about my books.
Kevin
KEVIN: Thank you for your immediate and thoughtful responses to my talking points. A few comments.
1) In the Netflix documentary on Ted Bundy, there are several color photos of the dumpsite where the remains of Denise Naslund, Janice Ott, and Georgann Hawkins were found. Those photos were later plastered all over the Internet and the 2 close-up photos of the lone skull (e.g., Naslund’s skull) found at the site is visual proof of the King County Archives mislabeling at least 1 of the crime scene photographs.
2) Dekle seems to have relied on the blood evidence rather than the positioning of Leach’s body in postulating as to where she was killed. According to Dekle, the blood stain in the back of the van was massive and it was clear that Bundy attempted to hide the blood stain by covering it with leaves and dirt. There also appears to be more space in the van for Bundy to commit this horrific act than in the hog shed.
3) What is clear about the autopsy reports of Smith and Aime is that the person (e.g., Serge Moore) conducting the examinations was a fraud, so any opinions he provided about time of death are worthless. The bodies of Smith and Aime were also discovered more than a week after they disappeared, so if they were murdered/dumped on the day they vanished, it is possible that snow was no longer present when their bodies were discovered.
4) When asked whether Bundy was telling the truth about burning Donna Manson’s skull in his girlfriend’s fireplace, Bob Keppel replied, “Don’t know. He lies, you know.” I could give several examples of Bundy’s tall tales, but I’ll stick with a classic example of a Bundy manipulation. In 1981, he spoke to Stephen Michaud in the 3rd person about the possibility that Denise Naslund was raped and murdered in front of Janice Ott. Eight years later, he denies murdering Naslund in front of Ott to both Polly Nelson and Dr. Dorothy Lewis. Twenty-Four hours prior to his execution, Bundy reverses field AGAIN by confessing to Bill Hagmaier that he raped/murdered Naslund in front of Ott. It’s important to note that Bundy’s description of where he buried the head of Georgann Hawkins was more detailed and covered less area than his descriptions of where he buried Wilcox and Kent, yet a massive excavation found no trace of Hawkins. If memory serves, Bundy also described where he buried the body of Susan Curtis, yet like in the case of Wilcox, investigators found nothing. Two days prior to his execution, Bundy’s confessions were a mixture of truth telling and mind games. Ann Rule has made her share of mistakes in reporting the details of the Bundy Case, but I do like her position that Bundy probably took joy in knowing that investigators were slopping around as a result of his decision to send them on wild goose chases.
Looking forward to your next book on Bundy.
Philip Callahan
Hey Philip,
1. Yes, it appears to have been mislabeled. Too bad I didn’t know it sooner lol! But no matter…
2. Personally, because I have it in print that Dekle still didn’t know where she was killed, even after having the van in his hands, as it were, and what the ME said, I’m sticking with what I said in TBM.
3. Well, the thing is, I’m nor basing anything about the Smith and Aime case on whomever did the autopsy. It was clear that when Smith was found on Oct. 27, 1974 (abducted on Oct. 18th), she had only been dead for no more than 36 hours, according to Det. Ben Forbes. And it just wasn’t cold enough to have preserved her body. Aime went missing on Halloween night Oct 31st – Nov. 1st, and was not recovered until Thanksgiving Day which I believe was November 27th. Again, I’ve seen the up close photos taken by the detectives on the scene, and her body is in pristine condition. And again, I do not believe the weather contributed to this in any substantial way. As I said (and as some investigators have told me), I believe these two were kept by Bundy, probably in a comatose condition, for an extended period of time. And if you read what he told Michaud concerning taking bodies in and out of his apartment, it makes a lot of sense. As such, I believe he had Smith, Aime, and Kent there, and maybe Wilcox as well, as I’m thinking he included her in his confession to Dennis Couch. We’ll never prove it, but I think the evidence is there from his words to Michaud, the condition of their bodies, and how some residents would hear Bundy going down to the cellar in the middle of the night and making noise. So, in my view, he had some in the cellar, and perhaps one or two in his apartment, according to M&A’s book.
4. I worked on The Bundy Murders beginning in the early 2006 by reading every Ted Bundy book in print. I then gathered thousands and thousands of pages of case file material. On top of all this I interviewed (and continued to work with) the lead investigators who worked the case, as well as interviewing many others connected with the the investigation . I visited locations, studied maps, photographs (then and now) and many other things and interactions too numerous to mention. And after the book was written I came to the following conclusions: (1) What Bundy told Michaud and Aynesworth in the third person was by and large very trustworthy. If he was untruthful in what he told them, it must be minor indeed. (2) That his end of life confessions to Bill Hagmaier and the detectives were honest and reliable confessions. Also, his tone and demeanor during this time was unlike anything he had exhibited before. (3) that despite the valuable information he gave to Polly Nelson and Dr. Lewis, some aspects were not truthful, as evidenced by his final confession. Not only did Bundy deny the Naslund/Ott issue, but he told a completely different story about the killing of the Idaho hitchhiker. They both can’t be true, and given what he told Russ Reneau and Randy Everitt (Idaho investigators), I believe that one is the truth but the other story is fabricated. Why would Bundy occasionally lie to those who were desperately trying to help Him? Only God knows, as it doesn’t make any sense. And yet here we are. Again, my personal opinion. So again, as he told Michaud and Hagmaier, I believe he killed one in front of the other.