CRIMEThe Dark Figure of Crime
“Extremely wicked, shockingly evil, and vile” – this is how the judge described serial killer Ted Bundy. Bundy was sentenced to death for killing 30 young women and girls between 1974 and 1978. He was executed in 1989. A new book offers a detailed analysis arguing that Bundy’s murder count was likely 100 or more, and that his first killing was in adolescence. It is estimated that there are 250,000 to 350,000 unsolved homicide cases in the U.S. Ted Bundy is a “microcosm of the unsolved murder epidemic he helped to set into motion,” the book’s author says.
In his new book, Matt DeLisi, a world-renowned criminologist at Iowa State University, lays out evidence that Ted Bundy’s criminal career was far lengthier and deadlier than the official record from 1974 to 1978.
Ted Bundy and the Unsolved Murder Epidemic: The Dark Figure of Crimeunderscores how most crime is never known to law enforcement. The book also emphasizes that a small percentage of individuals in society commit a much larger share of violent crime. With an estimated 250,000 to 350,000 unsolved homicide cases in the U.S., DeLisi offers solutions for clearing the backlog and bringing justice to victims and their families.
The Distinguished Professor and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Professor says he “learned about Ted Bundy when America did.” As a young boy, DeLisi watched nightly news coverage of Bundy’s crimes, jail escapes and ultimate capture. He was in high school during Bundy’s execution in 1989 and his academic interests coincided with the burgeoning true crime genre. With 25 years now as a practitioner, researcher and consultant on violent criminals, DeLisi weaves his expertise with the accounts of people who knew Bundy intimately.
“Bundy drops a lot of clues that there were way more murders than the official victim account of around 30 young women and girls. And the pacing and confidence with which he’s killing between 1974 and 1978 indicates there’s no way he could have just started. To me, it really reflects someone who had been doing this for years,” says DeLisi.
Throughout the book, DeLisi builds his argument that Bundy’s murder count was likely 100 or more and that his first killing was in adolescence. Stories from people who knew Bundy as a child indicate early signs of his psychopathology. As a three-year-old, Bundy placed knives around his sleeping aunt and watched her until she awoke. He pulled apart mice in the woods, tried to drown others while swimming and boating and stole constantly throughout his life.
