"I Do Hereby Marry You": Ted Bundy at the Leach Penalty Hearing, 1980

Name: "I Do Hereby Marry You": Ted Bundy at the Leach Penalty Hearing, 1980
Uploaded: 2024-11-03
Duration: 2 min 9 s
Description: On the day the jury decided whether he should die for the murder of Kimberly Leach, Ted Bundy declared himself married to a defense witness and asked the jurors to "deliberate carefully".

On the day the jury decided whether he should die for the murder of Kimberly Leach, Ted Bundy declared himself married to a defense witness and asked the jurors to "deliberate carefully".

Subject: Ted Bundy
Recorded: February 9, 1980
Runtime: 2:09

Content warning: Concerns the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old girl.

The Interview

On February 9, 1980, two days after he was found guilty of the murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach, Ted Bundy appeared for the penalty phase of his trial in Orlando wearing a bow tie. Acting as his own lawyer, he called Carole Ann Boone, a longtime friend, as a witness to argue against a death sentence. While she was on the stand he asked, "Will you marry me?" She said yes, and he declared, "I do hereby marry you." That afternoon he asked the jury to "deliberate carefully". The jury recommended death. This television news report shows both moments, with the reporter's narration.

Historical Context

Kimberly Diane Leach was abducted from her junior high school in Lake City, Florida, on February 9, 1978, less than a month after the Chi Omega murders in Tallahassee. Bundy was arrested in Pensacola six days later. In July 1979 he was convicted in Miami of the Chi Omega murders and sentenced to death. The Leach case, a Columbia County prosecution, was tried in Orlando on a change of venue; the trial began on January 7, 1980, before Judge Wallace Jopling, and the jury found him guilty on February 7, 1980.

Circumstances of the Interview

At the penalty phase, State Attorney Jerry Blair called the killing "cruel, heinous and atrocious" and reminded the jury, the reporter says, that the day was the second anniversary of Kimberly Leach's disappearance. Bundy then questioned Boone. Florida law at the time recognised a declaration of marriage made in open court before witnesses, and the reporter notes that officials had earlier refused to let the couple marry. In the afternoon Bundy addressed the jury himself and, the reporter says, compared his execution to the killing of Christ and asked for life in prison.

What the Interview Covers

The report opens with the morning session and the prosecution's case for death, then shows the exchange in which Bundy and Boone declare themselves married. It then shows Bundy's plea to the jury: "The recommendation at least is up to you." The reporter describes the jury's quick recommendation of death and Bundy turning his back and remaining seated when it was read.

What Makes the Recording Significant

The courtroom marriage is one of the best-known moments of any American murder trial: a capital defendant marrying a witness from the stand during the hearing that would decide whether he lived. Prosecutor Bob Dekle later called it a ploy. This clip preserves Bundy's own voice in the exchange and in his plea to the jury.

Archival Importance

The Leach case brought Bundy's third death sentence, and it was for this murder that he was executed on January 24, 1989. The report records the day's events as they were broadcast at the time.

Important Caveats

The narration is the television reporter's. The reporter says the jury took "just over a half hour"; other accounts give about 45 minutes. Reports say the marriage declaration had to be repeated because the first wording was wrong; only one exchange is heard here. Boone and Bundy divorced in 1986; she died in 2018. The final line, "Tell the jury they were wrong", may be Bundy's own voice or the reporter's paraphrase; this is to be confirmed by listening.

Narrator: When convicted killer Ted Bundy entered the courtroom wearing a bow tie this morning, many people felt that meant something peculiar was going to happen. And before the morning was over, those hunches proved to be right. As expected, prosecution attorneys cited a list of previous convictions as reason enough to impose the death penalty. State Attorney Jerry Blair called the killing of Kimberly Leach cruel, heinous and atrocious, as he reminded the jury that today, ironically, marks the second anniversary of her disappearance. He went on to say that Bundy killed her to satisfy an insatiable desire. But shortly after that, Theodore Bundy apparently attempted to satisfy yet another desire, that of marrying his longtime friend, Carole Boone. Acting as his own attorney, the 33-year-old former law student called the tall brunette as a witness to rebut the state's death plea. But before long, the two had performed a wedding ceremony of sorts.

Ted Bundy: Will you marry me?

Carole Ann Boone: Yes, I will.

Ted Bundy: And I do hereby marry you.

Carole Ann Boone: Thank you.

Narrator: Earlier in the week, officials refused to allow Boone and Bundy to marry. But now some legal sources say this pseudo-ceremony lacks only the signature of a magistrate to be legal. But whatever happiness the two would-be newlyweds may have felt dissolved by the time the afternoon session rolled around, as a nervous, troubled Bundy compared his execution to the killing of Christ and pleaded for life in prison.

Ted Bundy: The recommendation at least is up to you. I ask you, please deliberate. Excuse me. Please deliberate carefully.

Narrator: Despite this emotional plea, the jury took just over a half hour to recommend that Theodore Bundy be sentenced to die. A defiant Bundy turned his back and remained seated after the decision was read, and later shouted to the jury:

Ted Bundy: Tell the jury they were wrong! ---