The Story of America's Brutal Serial Killers
The story of America's brutal serial killers during the past few decades is told in the movie Men Who Like to Kill the Zodiac, The Son of Sam, Charles Manson, and Ted Bundy.
Charles Manson: A Disturbed Childhood
The focus of the film is on the life of Charles Manson, who was born to a 16-year-old single mother who traded him for booze when he was five years old. The savagery in his life started with this deed (LilJ Productionz, 2011). Due to his illegal behavior, Mason spent the most of his adolescence both in juvenile detention facilities and later in adult prisons. He had served more than 16 years in prison by the time he got married in 1967. He began killing in 1969 when he sent members of his family to murder all the people in the house of an actress named Tate. They killed four people that day followed by a couple two nights later before getting captured.
The Zodiac Killer: A Mysterious Murderer
The film further narrates another serial killer called Zodiac who killed using a nine-millimeter gun, in a zodiac costume and especially at night. He began killing people in 1968 when he shot a teenage couple. Six months later another two people were shot dead by the same man before calling the police to confess. In 1969 he attacked a college couple with a knife, but the male survived as the lady died. He disappeared and was never captured.
The Son of Sam: Killing for Fun
The film then highlighted another serial killer, the Son of Sam (LilJ Productionz, 2011). He killed just for fun and never had sexual encounters with his victims. He murdered six persons and wounded seven but was later captured and confessed all the crimes.
Ted Bundy: A Ruthless Serial Killer
Lastly, the film narrated another serial killer, Ted Bundy, who murdered his victims ruthlessly after sexually harassing them. His victims were mostly women, and it is estimated that he killed between 30 and 100 of them. He claimed to be only interested in rape but ended up killing them. He was nevertheless captured and sentenced to 15 years but escaped. However, he was later recaptured and sent to death by electrocution.
Ted Bundy's Early Life
Ted Bundy was born in Burlington Vermont at the Elizabeth Lund home for unwed mothers. His father's identity is unknown, but his mother's name is Louise Cowell. His grandparents raised him, and he tended to believe that the mother was his sister as the secret remained hidden for more than two decades. Also, his grandfather was abusive and at times acted violently towards his mother. However, Ted led a comfortable livelihood from childhood through to adolescence even though the family was poor (Simpson, 2000).
Bundy's Education and Political Aspirations
Bundy was a bright boy who scored above-average grades and was loved by his teachers. He graduated from high school in 1965 and joined the University of Puget the same year. He was not contented with how the student body ran the institution. Thus he transferred to University of Washington in his final year and graduated with his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1975. He was active in Republican politics while in college and served in the presidential campaign for Rockefeller in 1968. However, in school, he was shy and reserved and was rarely social. In his time in Washington University, he dated a young poet Stephanie who later dumped him for being immature and not ambitious.
Bundy's Crime Spree
After graduation, Bundy worked as a crisis counselor for Governor Evans in his re-election bid (Simpson, 2000). Due to his success, the administrator made him join the Seattle crime advisory committee where he compiled a survey for the King county in matters relating to criminal justice. In 1973, Bundy worked as an assistant to the Washington State Republican party chairman, Ross Davis. He believed he had a promising political career right ahead. His ambition motivated him to rekindle the relationship with Stephanie but later broke it off in 1974. A few days later, he began killing women.Bundy's first victim was a 21 years old college girl named Lynda Healy. He sneaked into her apartment, knocked her unconscious, then carried her out wrapped in a sheet. Her body was found a year later. His next victim was another college girl, Georgann Hawkins, who disappeared walking a 200-foot distance from her boyfriend's house to hers (Simpson, 2000). The next sufferers were two ladies who agreed to follow him to help with the sailboat but were never seen alive again. His next victim was another young female, seventeen-year-old Debbie Kent, who disappeared from school and was never seen again. Later that year he tried to kidnap Carol DaRonch, but the lady was lucky enough to escape. She claimed to be attacked by a man dressed as a police officer. Ted was later arrested for careless driving, where Carol identified him as the man who attacked her. He was arraigned in court and found guilty of a kidnap attempt then sentenced to 15 years imprisonment (Harrison, Murphy, Ho, Bowers, & Flaherty, 2015).However, he escaped prison by ripping off a courthouse window but apprehended a week later. He escaped again through a weak fixture in the ceiling and went to live in Florida. He further assaulted two more women, and authorities believe that a resident who came in late scared him; otherwise, he would have killed all women in the house. Also, he kidnapped a 12-year-old, Kimberly Diane Leach, from her school in Lake City, Florida before her ruthlessly. He was then arrested for all the killings in Florida as witnesses who saw him before and after the murders came to confess (Simpson, 2000). He was sentenced to death in Florida by electrocution. Bundy was the trickiest serial killer. He was fond of the public by even representing them politically but still went ahead and harmed them.
References
Harrison, M. A., Murphy, E. A., Ho, L. Y., Bowers, T. G., & Flaherty, C. V. (2015). Female serial killers in the United States: means, motives, and makings. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology, 26(3), 383-406.
LilJ Productionz, (2011, July 09). Men Who Like To Kill The Zodiac, The Son Of Sam, Charles Manson And Ted Bundy Part 3. Retrieved November 30, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCSmocZgAqE
Simpson, P. L. (2000). Psychopaths: Tracking the serial killer through contemporary American film and fiction. SIU Press
