Murderous Roots

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Episode 7: Lady Killer

Women with long dark hair kept turning up dead, first in Washington state, then in other states like Idaho, Utah, Oregon, and Colorado. Who was this man killing young women and girls as young as 12? The police gathered clues as the body count kept climbing. Soon the world would know the lady killer was Theodore Robert Bundy, Ted, as he made his last killing spree in Florida where he was finally caught for good.

Listen as we discuss Bundy’s crimes and then dig into a family tree that makes you wonder how it all went wrong.

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Episode 7: Lady Killer Murderous Roots with Denise & Zelda

Early sketch of the mysterious “Ted”

Source: Daily News, 8 Sep 1974

The jail cell where Bundy escaped through the ceiling.

Ted’s first known victims

Source: Daily News, 8 Sep 1974

Ted proposes to Carole Ann Boone

Source: Messenger Inquirer, 10 Feb 1910

FBI Wanted Poster

Source: FBI

Source: South Florida Sun Sentinel, 20 Feb 1989

Ted’s revised birth certificate

Source: Vermont Birth Records

Johnnie Culpepper Bundy

Source: Find A Grave

Pictures from the yearbook of Denise’s father-in-law (who, FYI, never knew he went to school with Bundy until recently).

Rowland C. “Rollo” Longstreet (1893-1972), former professional basketball player and Ted’s granduncle.

Grandfather Samuel Cowell (1898-1983) and Ted, likely at “the shore.”

Source: Find A Grave

Samuel Cowell’s World War I record

Editha Lampert Espenett Cowell (1819-1854), daughter of David, wife of George Richard Cowell, and 3rd great-grandmother of Ted

John Rowland Cowell (1920-2007), music professor and composer, known as Uncle Jack

David Espenett (b. 1796), former mayor of Tenterden, Kent, England, and Ted’s 4th great-grandfather

Additional Information:

Michigan Home and Training School

Espenett Family History

Cowell & Hubbard

Hattie Longstreet Price