Anyone watch the Ted Bundy Tapes on Netflix?

[cityofchill]

I have to say, I was a little let down. I thought the tapes would have revelations about his crimes, answers to questions about victims, etc. Turns out the most revealing information as far his crimes, his motives, MO, etc., come early on, and the rest is repeating the story we already know. The tapes themselves are just the ramblings of a sumpremely narcissistic sociopath.

The documentary made me realize why Ted Bundy is America's most infamous serial murderer. The man is the definition of sociopath, but hides in the skin of a charming, handsome, intelligent young man. In reality, he is all the things that horrify us most about these people: a cunning, callous, self-centered, sadistic *er who destroyed the lives of more than thirty young women and their families. He had no remorse. His cold-bloodedness is so eerie, like a robot pretending to be human. One victim who escaped death described how his bright blue eyes went black and blank as he bludgeoned her. 

The most chilling (and perhaps most revealing) part of the doc for me was the court footage of him interviewing a police officer who discovered the bodies at the Chi Omega house. The way he kept asking for details, then more, then asking the officer to repeat the details until the judge stepped in and put it to a stop was really disgusting. He was using the trial and his position as co-counsel to get off on hearing a police officer describe the carnage he created. Truly sick.

I don't believe in the death penalty, but Bundy was a rabid animal that needed to be put down. I am sad that we will never know the true victim count, which has left many families wondering if their daughters were his victims. That must be hell. I often think of the women in Rodney Alcala's photos...who are they? Who were they? Did he kill them or are they living their lives somewhere? If he killed them, what was their story? How did they end up in his photos? Does anyone miss them? The damage done by a single sadistic psychopath is hard to fathom. 

[magnumforce73]

Jan 25, 2019 20:05:50 GMT cityofchill said:

I have to say, I was a little let down. I thought the tapes would have revelations about his crimes, answers to questions about victims, etc. Turns out the most revealing information as far his crimes, his motives, MO, etc., come early on, and the rest is repeating the story we already know. The tapes themselves are just the ramblings of a sumpremely narcissistic sociopath.

The documentary made me realize why Ted Bundy is America's most infamous serial murderer. The man is the definition of sociopath, but hides in the skin of a charming, handsome, intelligent young man. In reality, he is all the things that horrify us most about these people: a cunning, callous, self-centered, sadistic *er who destroyed the lives of more than thirty young women and their families. He had no remorse. His cold-bloodedness is so eerie, like a robot pretending to be human. One victim who escaped death described how his bright blue eyes went black and blank as he bludgeoned her. 

The most chilling (and perhaps most revealing) part of the doc for me was the court footage of him interviewing a police officer who discovered the bodies at the Chi Omega house. The way he kept asking for details, then more, then asking the officer to repeat the details until the judge stepped in and put it to a stop was really disgusting. He was using the trial and his position as co-counsel to get off on hearing a police officer describe the carnage he created. Truly sick.

I don't believe in the death penalty, but Bundy was a rabid animal that needed to be put down. I am sad that we will never know the true victim count, which has left many families wondering if their daughters were his victims. That must be hell. I often think of the women in Rodney Alcala's photos...who are they? Who were they? Did he kill them or are they living their lives somewhere? If he killed them, what was their story? How did they end up in his photos? Does anyone miss them? The damage done by a single sadistic psychopath is hard to fathom. 

I read, c.o.c., that this documentary was done as a kind of preparatory introduction for the upcoming Bundy biopic due out this spring (I believe) in which Zac Efron will star as Ted--and I don't know if you've heard about it, or seen any still shots, but the make-up crew did a spectacular job--Efron is a dead ringer for Ted circa 1974.

Agreed on the portion involving Ted's revolting cross-examination of the Florida homicide detective in which he asked the man in a litany of ways to graphically describe the interior of the Chi Omega house.  Ted was very, very luck Pensacola Police Officer David Lee didn't bury him after he overpowered Bundy and arrested him in Feb. 78--interestingly enough, during a traffic stop (not the first time a routine traffic stop did in Ted).  The part that made me want to put my fists through a cinderblock wall was when he whispered the details of where missing girls could be found out West--it was one of the last tapes he made before his execution.

Two other comments/observations regarding the doc:

1 - Carole Ann Boone--this documentary was the first time I ever saw pictures of the woman who followed Ted from Seattle to Starke.  I really try hard not to be this way, but I don't turn off my instincts when they scream at me--the photos of Carole Ann were "enlightening."  For lack of a more delicate touch, something--this was true in every photo of the woman, and in the brief interview bit shown in the doc--was "off" with that woman.

2 - Eleanor Louise Cowell Bundy--much like Terri Lynn Rader and her father, Dennis, slap a mugshot of Theodore next to his darling mother, Louise: they look like identical twins, even down to the chilling smile.  Disclaimer--as with Terri Lynn Rader, I have nothing but compassion for Mrs. Bundy; that being said, I want to emphasize this point with something seen in the doc: when authors Michaud and Aynesworth flew up to Tacoma, WA to see Louise and play the tapes for her--confirming her boy a monster per his own words--she, and I paraphrase author Michaud: "she laid her head down, whimpering; making these mouse-like noises." And then, as if nothing had happened, she asked the men if they'd like to have apple pie, ice cream, and coffee.  And I'll never forget the look on author Michaud's face when he said that's exactly what they did--Louise found out her boy was a murderer, demonstrated an understandable reaction to the news, and then she acted like the previous moments hadn't happened--while snacking on homemade apple pie and ice cream.  That was not only eye opening--it was jaw dropping.

mf73

[griswold]

I was wondering after watching the Netflix version and then reading the book which added some things to the story. Ted would tease about the events by claiming that by divulging the body count he could be putting himself in the position of perjuring for the trial, and spoke in third person to "avoid" losing the trial, but sometimes claimed, "I would never do that" when it was the opposite. I can't recall specific things he said but I was shocked when I realized he was saying the opposite of what happened.


He would also skirt around the ways he gained access to the Tallahassee sorority and the events surrounding it, and I frequently try to figure out how he did it. He said "You can't imagine how difficult it would be for a workman or someone like that to gain access to the building at any hour", and the door the killer entered was locked the whole time. I believe his short-term neighbor named Messier assisted him somehow due to their relationship, although I'm sure she was unaware of his degenerate and horrific personality. She is interviewed in the 4:52 minute clip titled:"Ted Bundy is captured in Florida 1978" on YouTube. She may have given him ideas inadvertently about the women he attacked or details on how to access CHI-Omega. His interviewer suggested the killer questioned residents over the phone, and Ted ambiguously responded,"Oh your right there!" He may have posed as a phone company worker or janitor of some type, or landscaper, building maintenance maybe.



Another thing, I watched a slide show of uncommon unpublished photos belonging to his girlfriend Liz, with Ted as the subject of course, and he was standing in front of a big mound of dirt with giant timbers sticking out of an old mineshaft. I wondered if that was where some of the missing girls were dumped that he mentioned because he had a really big grin on his stupid face.

[faser41]

Griswold , Seattle detective David Keppel, after interviewing Bundy on death row, was positive he had committed more murders than we know of and the only way he was gonna cop to any of them, was if he could use them as a bargaining chip to prolong his life before the death chamber. Thus, I can totally see his having more than the “ dump sites”( clusters of bodies) that we know of. He died keeping some of his secrets, and thus some of his power.

[niktun]

I always watch "new" documentaries about serial killers, but I am always let down. I always hope there will be something new or unknown and there never is. Guess I have read too much already.

Ted Bundy was a liar up to the end. He would confess to murders to prolong his life, but give details that were completely wrong. Don't know if it was to keep it all to himself or if he was really just scared to die and thought that would keep him alive. I also hear he had a "rough" stay in prison in Florida and may have tried bargaining for better accommodations.