# Ted Bundy

> A former law student from Tacoma, Washington, Bundy was convicted in Florida of murdering two Florida State University students at their sorority house in Tallahassee and a 12-year-old girl from Lake City, all in early 1978. He was executed in 1989.

- Case: Bundy v. State · Miami and Orlando, Florida · 1979–1980
- Section: historical case (closed; the defendant has died)
- Outcome: Executed. Executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Starke on Jan. 24, 1989, under the death warrant in the Kimberly Leach case. His convictions were never overturned.
- Died: Jan. 24, 1989
- Topics: Serial killings
- Last updated: 2026-10-27
- Editorial review: approved 2026-10-17
- Web page: https://criminalbackstories.com/history/ted-bundy/
- All defendants are presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of law. Charges and allegations described on this site are not proof of guilt.

## Why this case is remembered

Bundy confessed to dozens of killings in the last days before his execution, and investigators have kept working through those claims.[14] On April 1, 2026, the Utah County Sheriff's Office said DNA developed in a review of its cold cases confirmed that Bundy killed Laura Ann Aime, whose body was found near American Fork Canyon in 1974; he had confessed to her killing but, according to the report, was never tried for it.[20] The Miami station WPLG has described the Chi Omega trial, held in the summer of 1979, as the first to be nationally televised.[18]

## Case at a glance

- Murder record: Convicted of 3 murders, committed on at least 2 separate occasions. A Miami jury convicted Bundy in July 1979 of the first-degree murders of Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy, both killed at the Chi Omega sorority house in Tallahassee on Jan. 15, 1978, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed in 1984.[1] An Orlando jury convicted him in February 1980 of the kidnapping and first-degree murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, who disappeared from her Lake City junior high school on Feb. 9, 1978, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed in 1985.[2]
- Charges (Leon County): Two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of burglary[1]
- Charges (Columbia County): Kidnapping and first-degree murder[4][2]
- Victims of the murders: Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy, killed Jan. 15, 1978, in Tallahassee; Kimberly Leach, 12, who disappeared Feb. 9, 1978, in Lake City[1][2]
- Convicted: July 24, 1979, in Miami (Chi Omega and Dunwoody Street case); Feb. 7, 1980, in Orlando (Leach case)[6][15]
- Sentences: Death for each of the two Tallahassee murders, July 31, 1979; death for the Leach murder and life imprisonment for kidnapping, Feb. 12, 1980[12][2][4]
- Direct appeals: *Bundy v. State*, 455 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1984) (Chi Omega), and *Bundy v. State*, 471 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1985) (Leach), both affirmed[5]
- Federal habeas: Denied in the Chi Omega case, *Bundy v. Wainwright*, 651 F. Supp. 38 (S.D. Fla. 1986); denial affirmed in the Leach case, *Bundy v. Dugger*, 850 F.2d 1402 (11th Cir. 1988)[6][9]
- Earlier conviction: Aggravated kidnapping, Utah, 1976[2]
- Died: Executed Jan. 24, 1989, at Florida State Prison, Starke; pronounced dead at 7:16 a.m.[14]

## The backstory

### The Chi Omega house

At about 3 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15, 1978, an intruder entered the Chi Omega sorority house next to the Florida State University campus in Tallahassee, according to the Florida Supreme Court's statement of facts.[1] Nita Neary, a resident coming home from a date, entered by the back door and saw a man at the front door holding a club, and she saw the right side of his face for several seconds, the court wrote.[1] She described him as wearing light-colored pants, a dark jacket and a skiing cap, with a protruding nose; at trial she pointed to Bundy as the man she saw.[1]

Margaret Bowman was killed in the house that night. The court wrote that she and Lisa Levy "were killed by strangulation after receiving severe beatings with a length of a tree branch."[1]

Lisa Levy was also killed in the house. The court wrote that her attacker "bit Lisa Levy with sufficient intensity to leave indentations which could clearly be identified as human bite marks."[1]

Two other residents, Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler, "had been severely beaten," and the court wrote that the surviving victims "were attacked in their sleep and could not describe their attacker."[1]

### Dunwoody Street

About an hour later, at around 4 a.m., two residents of a duplex on Dunwoody Street near the campus heard loud noises and found Cheryl Thomas beaten in her bed, according to the court.[1] She had been attacked in her sleep and could not identify her attacker. A knotted pair of pantyhose that did not belong to her was found in the room, and holes in it "indicated that the pair of pantyhose might have been used as a mask," the court wrote.[1] A hair analyst testified that hairs found in the pantyhose could have come from Bundy.[1] The two attacks were tried together; the court held that they were connected and that the evidence of each would have been admissible at a trial of the other.[1]

### Kimberly Leach

On Feb. 9, 1978, Kimberly Leach, 12, was reported missing from her junior high school in Lake City, Florida, according to the court's statement of facts in her case.[2] About two months later her partially decomposed body was found in a wooded area near the Suwannee River.[2] The court wrote that "no specific cause of death could be determined from the autopsy reports"; the trial judge's sentencing order said that she "died of homicidal violence to the neck region of the body."[2]

The state's case was circumstantial, as the court described it. On Feb. 8, 1978, a man in a white van approached the 14-year-old daughter of a Jacksonville police detective in a shopping center parking lot and drove off when her brother arrived; the children recorded the tag number and later picked Bundy's photograph.[2] The tag had been stolen in Tallahassee, and an officer later saw it on the floor of a car Bundy was using.[2] Two Lake City Holiday Inn employees and a handwriting expert testified that Bundy registered at the motel on Feb. 8 under another name.[2] A school crossing guard testified that he saw a man he identified as Bundy driving a white van near the school.[2] A van belonging to the Florida State University media center had bloodstains on its carpet of type B, the victim's blood type, a type shared by more than 15 percent of people, and an analyst testified that Bundy's and Leach's clothing had probably been in contact with the carpet and with each other.[2]

The state's one eyewitness to the abduction, Clarence Anderson, came forward in July 1978, almost six months later, after seeing Bundy on television, and identified the girl and Bundy only after two hypnosis sessions arranged by the state.[2][7]

### The arrest

Bundy was arrested in Pensacola on Feb. 15, 1978, after he struck the officer who stopped him and ran; the officer fired at him and subdued him, and on the way to jail, the court wrote, "Bundy told the officer that he wished the officer had killed him."[1] Four days earlier he had run from an officer who asked about a car he was standing beside.[1] During interviews after the arrest he revealed his identity, and investigators learned that he was wanted in Colorado for escape and homicide, the court wrote.[2]

In July 1978 he was indicted for the Chi Omega murders, pleaded not guilty, and was then charged with Kimberly Leach's kidnapping and murder, according to reports at the time.[15][11] A wire report said he would defend himself unless the court allowed an Atlanta lawyer, Millard Farmer, to take his case.[11] The trial courts in both cases refused to admit Farmer, and the Florida Supreme Court found no error.[1][9]

### The Miami trial

Before trial, his lawyers asked for a competency hearing over his objection, and the state later asked for one too; a hearing on June 11, 1979, ended in a finding that he was competent.[3] The trial opened in Tallahassee on June 12 and was moved the same day to Miami on a change of venue that Bundy had requested.[3][1] Jury selection ran through June 30.[3]

Neary identified him in court.[1] A witness placed him in a bar next to the Chi Omega house on the night of Jan. 14, and at about 5 a.m. he was seen standing outside The Oak, the rooming house where he lived, looking toward the campus.[1] Around noon that Sunday, while other residents discussed the killings, he said they were "a professional job," the court wrote.[1] The state's chief forensic dentist testified that, comparing the bite marks with casts of Bundy's teeth, he believed the marks on Lisa Levy were made by Bundy's teeth, and a second forensic dentist reached the same conclusion using computer-enhanced photographs, according to the court.[1]

On July 24, 1979, the jury found him guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder and two counts of burglary.[6][1] The jury recommended death for each murder.[1]

### Why the jury chose death in Miami

The trial judge, Edward D. Cowart, followed the jury's recommendations and sentenced him to death for each murder on July 31, 1979.[1][12] He also received two consecutive 99-year terms for the burglaries, according to a wire report.[12] Cowart called the crimes "heinous, atrocious and cruel," the report said.[12]

The judge found four statutory aggravating circumstances, listed in full above: that Bundy was under a sentence of imprisonment, based on a stipulation that he was under sentence for aggravated kidnapping in Utah; that he had been previously convicted of a felony involving violence; that the murders were committed during a burglary; and that they were especially heinous, atrocious and cruel.[1] For the last, the court wrote, the judge "recounted the gruesome manner in which the victims were bludgeoned, sexually battered, and strangled."[1]

For mitigation, "the defense presented several witnesses who testified that Bundy could be rehabilitated and live a useful life," the court wrote; the trial judge found no mitigating circumstances.[1]

On appeal, the Florida Supreme Court upheld all four aggravating circumstances. It held that the evidence of a nonconsensual entry supported the burglary finding and that the circumstances the judge recounted were "more than sufficient" to support the finding that the crimes were especially heinous, atrocious and cruel.[1] It also held that hypnosis of Neary went to the weight of her testimony rather than its admissibility, that the bite-mark evidence was admissible, and that the venue, publicity, jury and counsel rulings were not error.[1] It concluded: "The judgments of conviction and sentences of death are affirmed."[1]

### The Orlando trial

The Leach case was set for trial in Columbia County, moved to Suwannee County and then, after jury selection began there, to Orange County, where a jury was chosen in January 1980.[9][4] Bundy had waived counsel in that case in September 1978 after the court refused to admit Farmer, and withdrew the waiver in June 1979; Victor Africano represented him from then through his direct appeal.[9] On Feb. 7, 1980, the jury convicted him of kidnapping and first-degree murder after about seven hours of deliberation, and it recommended death.[15][4] On Feb. 12, Circuit Judge Wallace Jopling sentenced him to death for the murder and to life imprisonment for the kidnapping.[4][2][10]

### Why the jury chose death in Orlando

The trial judge found that the murder was committed while Bundy was under a sentence of imprisonment, because his Utah sentence for aggravated kidnapping was unserved, and that he had been previously convicted of violent felonies: the Utah kidnapping and, in Dade County on July 31, 1979, the murders of Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman and the attempted murders of Karen Chandler, Kathy Kleiner and Cheryl Thomas.[2] The judge also found that the crime was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel. He found no mitigating circumstances.[2] *The sources reviewed do not describe the mitigation evidence, if any, presented in the Orlando penalty phase.*

The Florida Supreme Court rejected the heinous, atrocious or cruel finding. Because no cause of death could be determined and there was no clear evidence of a struggle, extreme fear or sexual assault before death, it wrote, "we must conclude that this case does not fit in with our previous decisions."[2] It upheld the other findings and rejected Bundy's argument that the first two counted the same conviction twice, holding that each "require[s] proof of a fact that the other does not."[2] Comparing the case with other capital cases, it held the death sentence "justified and appropriate under our law."[2]

The court also held that hypnotically refreshed testimony is inadmissible in Florida criminal trials, but only for future cases, and found the error in Anderson's testimony harmless because the tainted details were few and the other evidence was sufficient.[2] The U.S. Supreme Court denied review on Oct. 14, 1986, over dissents by Justices William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall; Marshall would have reviewed the harmless-error ruling, arguing that "the untainted evidence was far from overwhelming."[7]

### The appeals and the execution

The Chi Omega sentences were the subject of death warrants in 1986. The Florida Supreme Court denied postconviction relief and a stay on June 30, 1986, and a federal district court in Miami denied habeas relief on July 2.[5][6] A federal appeals court then stayed the execution.[15]

In the Leach case, a death warrant set his execution for Nov. 18, 1986. The Eleventh Circuit stayed it and sent the case back for a hearing on whether Bundy had been competent to stand trial.[9] After that hearing, a federal judge found that he "was at all times competent to stand trial for the murder of Kimberly Diane Leach," and on July 7, 1988, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of relief on every claim.[8][9]

On Jan. 17, 1989, the governor signed a second death warrant in the Leach case, setting the execution for Jan. 24.[10] Bundy's last motion argued that the Chi Omega convictions used to support that sentence were flawed. The Florida Supreme Court held the claims barred and added that "there were two other valid aggravating circumstances which were unaffected by the Chi Omega convictions."[10] He was executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison in Starke on the morning of Jan. 24, 1989, and was pronounced dead at 7:16 a.m., according to a UPI report from the prison.[14]

## Personal backstory

### Early life

Bundy was born in Burlington, Vermont, on Nov. 24, 1946, according to reference accounts, and grew up in Tacoma, Washington, where he attended Wilson High School.[31][30][19] He lived first with his mother and her parents; his mother later married, and the family settled in Tacoma.[31] *The court records reviewed do not describe his childhood except through expert testimony, described below.*

### Schooling and work

He graduated "with distinction from the University of Washington with a B.S. in psychology," a federal judge found.[8] Asked about his education when he moved to represent himself in the Leach case, he said, "I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of Washington and two years of law school."[9] He attended the University of Puget Sound law school[19] and later the University of Utah's, and he volunteered at a crisis clinic in Seattle and worked on Republican Party campaigns.[30] The federal judge noted that he did poorly in his first semester of law school.[8]

### Utah and Colorado

In 1976 he was convicted in Utah of aggravated kidnapping.[2] The Florida courts later relied on that conviction, and on the fact that he had not served the sentence, as aggravating circumstances in both death sentences.[1][2] *Sources disagree on the length of the Utah sentence, so it is left out here.* Extradited to Colorado to face a murder charge in the death of Caryn Campbell, he jumped from a second-floor window of the Pitkin County Courthouse in Aspen on June 7, 1977, was caught six days later, and on Dec. 30, 1977, escaped from the Garfield County Jail in Glenwood Springs.[28] The Florida Supreme Court treated testimony from a Colorado investigator about the escape as competent evidence at the Leach sentencing.[2]

### Mental health, as testified

Before the Miami trial, he objected when his lawyers sought a competency hearing, and the trial court found him competent.[3] At the federal competency hearing in the Leach case in 1987, two psychiatrists called by his lawyers testified that he had been incompetent to stand trial.[9] Dr. Dorothy Lewis testified that he "suffers from a bipolar mood disorder," and suggested that his grandfather, "an allegedly violent person," may have traumatized him as a child; Dr. Emanuel Tanay testified by deposition that he had "a lifelong personality disorder."[8] Two psychiatrists called by the state, Dr. Charles Mutter and Dr. Umesh Mhatre, found no bipolar disorder.[8][9] The court credited the state's experts and noted that family members could not recall depressive episodes; the Eleventh Circuit concluded that if he had the disorder, it "was not manifesting itself so as to affect his competence to stand trial."[8][9] At the hearing, Judge Jopling testified that Bundy's conduct at trial had been appropriate apart from one outburst outside the jury's presence, and the prosecutor, George Dekle, testified that he never appeared intoxicated or out of control.[8]

### In custody

He spent nearly 11 years in custody in Florida after his arrest.[1][14] In July 1984 prison authorities stopped an escape attempt after finding a loose bar and hacksaw blades, according to a Deseret News chronology.[15] In the days before his execution he confessed to killings in several Western and other states, and the night before, he was interviewed by the religious broadcaster James Dobson, UPI reported.[14] His last words, according to the UPI report, were: "I'd like you to give my love to my family and friends."[14]

*The sources reviewed contain no statement from the families of Margaret Bowman, Lisa Levy or Kimberly Leach.*

## The victims

### Proven in court

- Margaret Bowman, Jan. 15, 1978 (killed), Chi Omega house, Tallahassee, Florida (Convicted). A Miami jury convicted Bundy of her first-degree murder, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence.[1]
- Lisa Levy, Jan. 15, 1978 (killed), Chi Omega house, Tallahassee, Florida (Convicted). A Miami jury convicted Bundy of her first-degree murder, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence.[1]
- Kimberly Leach, Feb. 9, 1978 (last seen), Lake City, Florida (Convicted). An Orlando jury convicted Bundy of her kidnapping and first-degree murder, and the Florida Supreme Court affirmed; he was executed under that death sentence.[2][10]

### Other deaths attributed (not proven in court)

- Caryn Campbell, January 1975 (last seen), Snowmass Village, Colorado (Charged, not convicted). Bundy was extradited from Utah to face a Colorado murder charge in her death and escaped twice before it was tried; the charge never came to trial.[28][2]
- Laura Ann Aime, October 1974 (reported missing; body found weeks later), Utah County, Utah (Attributed by authorities; not proven in court). The Utah County Sheriff's Office announced in April 2026 that DNA confirmed Bundy killed her, a killing he had confessed to before his execution.[20][17]
- Debra Kent, Nov. 8, 1974 (disappeared), Bountiful, Utah (Attributed by authorities; not proven in court). Bountiful police said in 2019 that DNA matched a kneecap found in Fairview Canyon in 1989 to her family, after Bundy had confessed to her killing and told police where he left her body.[25]
- Denise Oliverson, April 6, 1975 (disappeared), Grand Junction, Colorado (Attributed by authorities; not proven in court). The Grand Junction Police Department reclassified her case as a homicide and closed it in 2019 after reviewing Bundy's confession tapes, naming him as its lead suspect; her body has not been found.[27]
- Lynda Ann Healy, Early 1974 (disappeared; reported Feb. 4, 1974), University District, Seattle, Washington (By his own statement; not proven in court). She is among the women the Seattle Times listed as those Bundy confessed to killing in Washington; her remains were later found on Taylor Mountain.[21]
- Donna Gail Manson, 1974 (disappeared), Washington (By his own statement; not proven in court). She is among the women the Seattle Times listed as those Bundy confessed to killing in Washington.[21]
- Susan Elaine Rancourt, April 17, 1974 (last seen), Central Washington State College, Ellensburg, Washington (By his own statement; not proven in court). Bundy confessed to killing her while awaiting execution but was never tried for her death; her remains were found on Taylor Mountain.[22][21]
- Kathleen Parks, May 1974 (disappeared), Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon (By his own statement; not proven in court). Bundy confessed to her murder before his execution, according to the Oregon State student newspaper; her skull was among the remains found on Taylor Mountain in Washington.[23][22]
- Brenda Carol Ball, 1974 (disappeared), Washington (By his own statement; not proven in court). She is among the women the Seattle Times listed as those Bundy confessed to killing in Washington.[21]
- Georgann Hawkins, 1974 (disappeared), University District, Seattle, Washington (By his own statement; not proven in court). She is among the women the Seattle Times listed as those Bundy confessed to killing in Washington.[21]
- Janice Ann Ott, July 1974 (disappeared), Lake Sammamish State Park, Washington (By his own statement; not proven in court). She is among the women the Seattle Times listed as those Bundy confessed to killing in Washington.[21]
- Denise Marie Naslund, July 1974 (disappeared, the same day as Janice Ott), Lake Sammamish State Park, Washington (By his own statement; not proven in court). She is among the women the Seattle Times listed as those Bundy confessed to killing in Washington.[21]
- Nancy Wilcox, Oct. 2, 1974 (disappeared), Utah (By his own statement; not proven in court). Bundy accepted responsibility for her murder in a January 1989 interview with Salt Lake County sheriff's detective Dennis Couch; her remains have not been found.[17][24]
- Melissa Smith, October 1974 (disappeared), Midvale, Utah (By his own statement; not proven in court). Bundy accepted responsibility for her murder in a January 1989 interview with Salt Lake County sheriff's detective Dennis Couch.[17][24]
- Sue Curtis, 1975 (disappeared), Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah (By his own statement; not proven in court). Just before his execution Bundy described a fifth Utah victim whom investigators believed to be her, and he described her grave; her remains have not been found.[17][24]
- Lynette Culver, May 6, 1975 (last seen), Pocatello, Idaho (By his own statement; not proven in court). Bundy confessed to her killing to Idaho Attorney General Jim Jones in 1989, but Pocatello police said in 2018 that she is still listed as missing and that the case was never closed.[16][26]
- Unidentified, September 1974 (by his account), Elmore County, Idaho (By his own statement; not proven in court). Bundy said he picked up a female hitchhiker aged about 16 to 18 and put her body in the Snake River; authorities had made no connection to a known case.[16]
- Julie Cunningham, March 1975 (disappeared), Vail, Colorado (By his own statement; not proven in court). Bundy confessed to her murder but was never charged; her body has not been found.[28]

## Myth and record

- Claim: Bundy killed 30 or more women; at various times he has been reported as suspected in "up to 36" killings and as having confessed to as many as 28.[13][14]
  The record: Courts convicted him of three murders: Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy in Tallahassee and Kimberly Leach in Lake City.[1][2] The figure of 36 appears in the Florida Supreme Court's account of his 1978 arrest only as what investigators learned: that he was "a suspect in thirty-six sex-related murders in the northwest United States."[2] His last-minute confessions were reported in different totals, from "more than 20" to 28.[19][14] No court tested those confessions, and the record does not settle the number.
- Claim: Bundy acted as his own lawyer at the 1979 Miami trial, as accounts of the case often say.[29]
  The record: The trial record shows that he had appointed counsel in the Chi Omega case, assistant public defenders among them, and that when he moved to discharge the public defender's office he did so "without waiving his right to counsel."[3] He took part in his own defense, including cross-examining a police officer, according to later news accounts.[18] In the separate Leach case he waived counsel in September 1978 and withdrew that waiver in June 1979.[9] The records reviewed for this page do not settle how much of the Miami defense he conducted himself.

## Aggravating circumstances found

- Fla. Stat. § 921.141(5)(a) (Chi Omega and Leach sentences): "That the crime for which the defendant is to be sentenced was committed while the defendant was under sentence of imprisonment." Both courts relied on his unserved Utah sentence for aggravated kidnapping. Upheld on appeal in both cases.
- Fla. Stat. § 921.141(5)(b) (Chi Omega and Leach sentences): "The defendant was previously convicted of another capital felony or a felony involving the use or threat of violence to the person." In the Leach case the trial court relied on the Utah aggravated kidnapping conviction and on the Dade County convictions for the Tallahassee murders and attempted murders. Upheld on appeal in both cases.
- Fla. Stat. § 921.141(5)(d) (Chi Omega sentences): The capital felonies were committed during a burglary (the court's description). Upheld on appeal.
- Fla. Stat. § 921.141(5)(h) (Chi Omega sentences): The capital felonies were "especially heinous, atrocious, and cruel" (the court's wording). Upheld on appeal. The trial judge in the Leach case also found this circumstance; the Florida Supreme Court held that the record did not support it there.

## The two sides

- Prosecution: In the Chi Omega case the state relied on an eyewitness who saw a man leaving the sorority house, on expert testimony matching bite marks on Lisa Levy to Bundy's teeth and on his flight from police.[1] In the Leach case it built a circumstantial case from a stolen license tag, a white van with bloodstains and fibers, motel records and witnesses who placed him near the school.[2]
- Defense: Bundy told the Miami judge at sentencing, "I'm innocent of the charges," according to a wire report.[12] On appeal his lawyers challenged pretrial publicity, hypnotically refreshed testimony, the bite-mark evidence and the denial of out-of-state counsel, and later his competency to stand trial.[1][2][9]
- Courts: The Florida Supreme Court affirmed both sets of convictions and death sentences, and federal courts denied habeas relief. In the Leach case the state court held hypnotically refreshed testimony inadmissible in future cases but found its use here harmless; two U.S. Supreme Court justices would have reviewed that ruling.[2][7][9]

## Timeline

- 1976: Bundy is convicted of aggravated kidnapping in Utah.[2]
- June and December 1977: He escapes twice from custody in Colorado.[28][2]
- Jan. 15, 1978: Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy are killed and two other women are injured at the Chi Omega house in Tallahassee; about an hour later Cheryl Thomas is attacked in her apartment nearby.[1]
- Feb. 9, 1978: Kimberly Leach, 12, is reported missing from her junior high school in Lake City.[2]
- Feb. 15, 1978: He is arrested in Pensacola after a struggle with a police officer.[1]
- July 1978: He is indicted in the Chi Omega case, pleads not guilty and is then charged with Kimberly Leach's kidnapping and murder.[15][11]
- June 12, 1979: The Chi Omega trial is moved from Tallahassee to Miami.[3]
- July 24, 1979: The Miami jury finds him guilty on all counts.[6][18]
- July 31, 1979: Judge Edward D. Cowart sentences him to death for each murder.[12][18]
- Feb. 7, 1980: An Orlando jury convicts him of Kimberly Leach's kidnapping and murder.[15]
- Feb. 12, 1980: He is sentenced to death for the murder and to life imprisonment for the kidnapping.[4]
- June 21, 1984: The Florida Supreme Court affirms the Chi Omega convictions and death sentences.[1]
- May 9, 1985: The Florida Supreme Court affirms the Leach conviction and death sentence.[2]
- Dec. 22, 1987: A federal judge finds that he was competent to stand trial in the Leach case.[8]
- July 7, 1988: The Eleventh Circuit affirms the denial of federal habeas relief in the Leach case.[9]
- Jan. 17, 1989: The governor signs a death warrant setting his execution for Jan. 24.[10]
- Jan. 24, 1989: Bundy is executed in the electric chair at Florida State Prison.[14]
- April 1, 2026: Utah County investigators say DNA confirms that Bundy killed Laura Ann Aime in 1974.[20]

## What came after

The Chi Omega sentences were the subject of death warrants in 1986, which were stayed while his lawyers pursued state and federal appeals.[5][15] The execution in 1989 was carried out under the Leach sentence, after the Florida Supreme Court rejected a last motion that attacked the Chi Omega convictions used to support it.[10] Since his death, police in other states have continued to test his confessions against their unsolved cases; in 2026 Utah County said DNA confirmed one of them.[20]

## Sources

1. [Bundy v. State, 455 So. 2d 330 (No. 57,772)](https://library.law.fsu.edu/Digital-Collections/flsupct/dockets/57772/op-57772.pdf). Supreme Court of Florida, June 21, 1984 (FSU College of Law Library). (court or official record)
2. [Bundy v. State, 471 So. 2d 9 (No. 59,128)](https://library.law.fsu.edu/Digital-Collections/flsupct/dockets/59128/op-59128.pdf). Supreme Court of Florida, May 9, 1985 (FSU College of Law Library). (court or official record)
3. [Initial Brief of Appellant, Bundy v. State, No. 57,772](https://library.law.fsu.edu/Digital-Collections/flsupct/dockets/57772/57772ini.pdf). Filed by Bundy's counsel in the Supreme Court of Florida (FSU College of Law Library). (court or official record)
4. [Appellant's Main Brief, Bundy v. State, No. 59,128](https://library.law.fsu.edu/Digital-Collections/flsupct/dockets/59128/59128ini.pdf). Filed by Bundy's counsel in the Supreme Court of Florida (FSU College of Law Library). (court or official record)
5. [Bundy v. State, 490 So. 2d 1258](https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1875754/bundy-v-state/). Supreme Court of Florida, June 30, 1986 (via CourtListener). (court or official record)
6. [Bundy v. Wainwright, 651 F. Supp. 38](https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp/651/38/2306484/). U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, July 2, 1986 (via Justia). (court or official record)
7. [Bundy v. Florida, 479 U.S. 894 (denial of certiorari)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/479/894). U.S. Supreme Court, Oct. 14, 1986 (via Cornell Legal Information Institute). (court or official record)
8. [Bundy v. Dugger, 675 F. Supp. 622](https://flexlaw.co/case/305854). U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Dec. 22, 1987 (via FlexLaw). (court or official record)
9. [Bundy v. Dugger, 850 F.2d 1402](https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F2/850/850.F2d.1402.86-3773.html). U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, July 7, 1988 (via Public.Resource.Org). (court or official record)
10. [Bundy v. State, 538 So. 2d 445](https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1989/73585-0.html). Supreme Court of Florida, Jan. 20, 1989 (via Justia). (court or official record)
11. [Bundy faces new charge after pleading innocent to slayings (UPI)](https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071754621/943). The Michigan Daily, Aug. 1, 1978, via Bentley Historical Library. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
12. [Bundy promises to appeal death sentence (UPI)](https://digital.bentley.umich.edu/midaily/mdp.39015071754555/878). The Michigan Daily, Aug. 1, 1979, via Bentley Historical Library. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
13. [Ted Bundy's plea for a stay of execution denied (wire report)](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/06/30/Serial-killer-Ted-Bundys-plea-for-a-stay-of/9746520488000/). United Press International, June 30, 1986. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
14. [Bundy executed in Florida's electric chair (wire report)](https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/01/24/Urgent/6819601621200/). United Press International, Jan. 24, 1989. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
15. [The trials of Ted Bundy](https://www.deseret.com/1989/1/24/18792831/the-trials-of-ted-bundy/). Deseret News, Jan. 24, 1989. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
16. [Killings may have begun in East before '74](https://www.deseret.com/1989/1/24/18792631/killings-may-have-begun-in-east-before-74/). Deseret News, Jan. 24, 1989. (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
17. [Bundy meet does little to solve cases](https://www.deseret.com/1989/2/28/18796850/bundy-meet-does-little-to-solve-cases). Deseret News, Feb. 28, 1989 (Brent Israelsen). (archival record or trial reporting from the time)
18. [Ted Bundy convicted of FSU murders in Miami trial 40 years ago](https://local10.com/news/2019/07/25/ted-bundy-convicted-of-fsu-murders-in-miami-trial-40-years-ago). WPLG Local 10 (Miami), July 2019. (news report)
19. [30 years later: Serial killer, Tacoma-native Ted Bundy executed on Jan. 24, 1989](https://komonews.com/news/local/serial-killer-ted-bundy-dies-in-the-electric-chair-in-florida-on-jan-24-1989). KOMO News (Seattle), Jan. 24, 2019 (Dave Wilma, HistoryLink.org). (news report)
20. [Utah investigators confirm woman found dead in 1974 was a victim of serial killer Ted Bundy](https://www.abc15.com/us-news/crime/utah-investigators-confirm-woman-found-dead-in-1974-was-the-victim-of-ted-bundy). Scripps News Group, via ABC15 Arizona, April 1, 2026 (Michael Martin). (news report)
21. [Remembering Washington victims of Ted Bundy, the serial killer spotlighted in new movie and docuseries](https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/northwest/remembering-washington-victims-of-ted-bundy-the-serial-killer-spotlighted-in-new-movie-and-docuseries/article_57989cf2-28b8-11e9-b17f-7f6852ecea50.html). The Seattle Times (Paige Cornwell), Feb. 4, 2019, via Yakima Herald-Republic. (news report)
22. [It Happened Here: Missing CWU student a victim of Ted Bundy](https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/happened/it-happened-here-missing-cwu-student-a-victim-of-ted/article_6bda4c42-e02f-5edd-8902-79c0bba28c7e.html). Yakima Herald-Republic (Donald W. Meyers), April 28, 2019. (news report)
23. [Kathy Parks disappearance (feature)](https://od1.oregondigital.org/downloads/oregondigital:47429c560). The Daily Barometer (Oregon State University), Oct. 30, 1998, via Oregon Digital. (news report)
24. [Looking back at Ted Bundy's Utah confession 30 years ago](https://www.ksl.com/article/news/utah/looking-back-at-ted-bundys-utah-confession-30-years-ago/46473207). KSL.com (Carter Williams), Jan. 22, 2019. (news report)
25. [DNA testing helped police confirm missing Utah teen was killed by Ted Bundy](https://www.deseret.com/2019/3/12/20668069/dna-testing-helped-police-confirm-missing-utah-teen-was-killed-by-ted-bundy/). Deseret News (Andrew Adams), March 12, 2019. (news report)
26. [Idaho police looking for cold case connections, including girl supposedly killed by Ted Bundy](https://www.ksl.com/article/news/utah/idaho-police-looking-for-cold-case-connections-including-girl-supposedly-killed-by-ted-bundy/46378586). KSL.com, from the Idaho State Journal (Shelbie Harris), Aug. 20, 2018. (news report)
27. [Almost 45 years later, case finally closed for one Ted Bundy victim in Colorado](https://www.yahoo.com/news/almost-45-years-later-case-012246594.html). Fort Collins Coloradoan, 2019, via Yahoo News. (news report)
28. [Looking back: Infamous serial killer escapes custody twice in Colorado mountains](https://www.denvergazette.com/2022/05/04/looking-back-infamous-serial-killer-escapes-custody-twice-in-colorado-mountains/). Denver Gazette / OutThere Colorado (Tamera Twitty), May 4, 2022. (news report)
29. [The killer who defended himself: The unique and very public trial of Ted Bundy](https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/articles/killer-who-defended-himself-unique-and-very-public-trial-ted-bundy). Crime+Investigation UK (undated). (news report)
30. [Serial killer Ted Bundy is put to death in the electric chair at Florida State Prison on January 24, 1989 (Essay 2637)](https://historylink.org/File/2637). HistoryLink.org, Aug. 25, 2000 (David Wilma and Nick Rousso). (reference work)
31. [Bundy, Ted (Crime and Punishment in America Reference Library)](https://www.encyclopedia.com/law/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/bundy-ted). Encyclopedia.com. (reference work)