Ted Bundy Explains Why He Showed No Emotion, KUTV Jail Interview, 1977

Name: Ted Bundy Explains Why He Showed No Emotion, KUTV Jail Interview, 1977
Uploaded: 2024-07-10
Duration: 1 min 12 s
Description: Months before his escapes, Ted Bundy told a Salt Lake City television reporter why he refused to show emotion when he was convicted in Utah.

Months before his escapes, Ted Bundy told a Salt Lake City television reporter why he refused to show emotion when he was convicted in Utah.

Subject: Theodore Robert Bundy
Recorded: probably 1977
Broadcaster: KUTV
Runtime: 1:12

The Interview

In 1977, while he was held in Colorado awaiting trial for murder, Ted Bundy answered questions from a reporter for KUTV, the Salt Lake City television station. In this one-minute excerpt, kept in Sinclair's news archive, the reporter asks why a man who says he is innocent showed no emotion. Bundy answers by going back to March 1, 1976, the day a Utah judge found him guilty of kidnapping.

Historical Context

Bundy was arrested in Utah in August 1975. In February 1976 he was tried without a jury for the attempted abduction of Carol DaRonch in Murray, Utah, and on March 1, 1976, Judge Stewart Hanson Jr. found him guilty of aggravated kidnapping. In October 1976 Colorado charged him with the murder of Caryn Campbell, who disappeared from a ski lodge at Snowmass Village in January 1975. In January 1977 he was moved to Colorado to face that charge.

Circumstances of the Interview

Bundy was held first in the Pitkin County Jail in Aspen and, by spring 1977, in the Garfield County Jail in Glenwood Springs. He was acting largely as his own lawyer and spoke readily to reporters. On June 7, 1977, he escaped by jumping from a window of the Pitkin County Courthouse; he was recaptured six days later. On December 30, 1977, he escaped again, from the Glenwood Springs jail, and fled to Florida, where he committed further murders in January and February 1978.

What the Interview Covers

Bundy says he and his attorney, John O'Connell, had thought about how he should behave in court. He describes hearing his mother cry when the verdict was read, and says he would not give the police, who he claims "built a case around a non-existent eyewitness identification," the satisfaction of seeing him break down. He says he is showing emotion now because he is angry inside, but must "keep myself together".

What Makes the Recording Significant

The excerpt shows Bundy in the role he played throughout 1977: the wronged, articulate defendant managing his public image. His comments about how "Ted Bundy" should behave so that people get "the right impression" are revealing in light of what is now known. It is original film from the television station in the city where he had lived and studied law.

Archival Importance

Few recordings show Bundy speaking in the months between his Utah conviction and his escapes. Bundy gave several interviews in Colorado in 1977, so this is not his only one, but it is preserved by the station that made it.

Important Caveats

Bundy's claims of innocence and his criticism of the eyewitness evidence are his own statements. Carol DaRonch identified him, and the conviction stood. Bundy later confessed to many murders before his execution in Florida on January 24, 1989. The exact date and place of this interview are not documented.

KUTV Reporter: For somebody who believes he is so innocent, why was there no emotion?

Ted Bundy: My attorney, John O'Connell, and I have always mused over just how I should behave. What's the right way for Ted Bundy to behave and make sure that people get the right impression? And I just behave the way I feel is right.

Ted Bundy: Okay, let me take the day of March 1st, 1976, the day that the judge rendered his verdict in my case, first. I didn't show any emotion because, you know, what am I supposed to do? Am I going to jump up on the table? Am I going to scream? That's what I felt like doing. I heard my mother cry. It's an emotional time. I don't even like to think of that day.

Ted Bundy: But I wasn't going to give these people, who went out and built a case around a non-existent eyewitness identification that was built by the police, I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing me break down. And sure, I'm [unclear: "mad" / "man" / "made it"], and I'm showing emotion right now, because inside I'm [unclear: "mad" / "made it"]. But I've kept it together, because there's no point in destroying myself. I have got to keep myself together. I have got to stay [recording ends].