Ted Bundy’s Ghost
The infamous serial killer seems to be as mobile in the afterlife as he was in life.
I wrote this piece about 12 years ago for Psychology Today. It’s October. Time for some ghost stories.
When I was researching for Blood & Ghosts, I looked at several Internet reports about the ghostly visitations of serial killers. I wasn’t surprised to see all the claims about sightings of Ted Bundy ghost, since he remains one of the most popular of all American serial killers.
Just before his execution in January 1989, Bundy confessed to killing at least 30 young women in six states (those numbers vary), and he hinted at more. He was educated, charismatic and charming, and he used every trick he could think of to prevent his execution in Florida’s electric chair.
He gave interviews to several people whom he believed would see the value in keeping him alive. During his final hours, he reportedly even pleaded with God. However, no effort saved him, not even his promise to provide more victim names and locations.
It seems that he still lingers.
In 2001, a guard from the Florida State Prison where Bundy spent his final days told a reporter that shortly after Bundy was put to death, several guards saw his ghost sitting casually on the electric chair. The guard described Bundy’s expression as a “knowing smile” – as if he knew something about the afterlife they didn’t. If a guard tried to approach him, he’d disappear. The man telling the story said that there were so many sightings at one point the warden couldn’t find anyone willing to enter the execution chamber alone (and threatened to fire anyone spreading the stories).
Bundy also showed up around his holding cell on death row. To some guards, he’d say, “Well, I beat all of you, didn’t I?” Presumably, he meant he’d beaten them to the “other side.”
In May 2013, I saw another report, this time from an inmate: “As if the past few weeks couldn’t get any stranger, it would appear that the ghost of Ted Bundy is once again showing up at the Florida State Prison in Raiford, Florida (now known as Union Correctional Institution), according to a current inmate at the facility.”
“For many years,” the inmate said, “I heard the rumors of Ted Bundy’s ghost appearing and didn’t believe it. Now, my mind has changed. I and other residents (including staff) have witnessed the ghost on many occasions. It is definitely Bundy. It comes in the early morning before dawn in our housing unit and in different cells. He’s always smiling. It’s a white-blue mist but very detailed. Some of the other residents claim to hear him talking.”
However, Bundy’s spirit apparently travels. Some say it’s been seen around the Chi Omega house where he committed the murders that earned him two death sentences. In addition, he’s been spotted on the porch of the building near that university where he’d rented a room under a false name.
A few mediums claim to have channeled him, and one believes that Bundy wants to redeem himself by assisting her to solve murders. There has yet to be a report that he’s actually offered such information.
And then there are the reports from Washington state. One year, The Puget Sound Trail (the student paper of the University of Puget Sound) reported that Bundy shows up there, where he’d once attended classes. In what sounds more like a hoax, the report states that students call him, “Teddy the Friendly Ghost,” as well as “Best Dead Friend Forever (BDFF).”
The guards’ stories are the most intriguing because, reportedly, Bundy was quite overcome when led to his execution. One witness described his faltering steps and look of desperation. Why would he haunt a place that had so disturbed him?
Bundy’s remains were cremated and, at his request, scattered in the mountainous wilderness in Washington. If his ghost is anywhere, it’s probably there, where he’d often sit alone and gloat over the decomposing bodies of the young women he’d killed.