Paper Example on Ted Bundy's Chi Omega Case: Death Sentence Appeal

The case is presented before the court as a result of an appeal from a circuit court judgment which arbitrated Ted Bundy for:

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• Three accounts of first-degree murder
• Two accounts of first-degree murder
• Three accounts of attempted first-degree murder
• Two accounts of burglary

The judge imposed a death sentence for the two crimes of first-degree murder. In line with Art. V, & 3(b), Fla. Const., the court had jurisdiction of the appeal.

The Chi Omega Case

On January 15th, 1978, during the early morning hours, a burglar got into Chi Omega house, which is close to the Florida State University Campus in Tallahassee. The intruder cruelly pounced on four women who were living at the place. Two women, Lisa Levy, and Margaret Bowman were killed. However, two women, Karen Chandler, and Kathy Kleiner, sustained severe injuries. After about an hour after the attack, a burglar entered another house which was nearby and attacked a woman, Cheryl Thomas who resided there. The five women were all university students who were killed using a blunted weapon.

During the trial, the evidence offered attempted to substantiate the fact that the assailant was Bundy at the two crime scenes. The evidence also suggested that Ted Bundy was present at the two crime scenes. The prosecution provided the following evidence:

• The proof of identity testimony of an inhabitant of Chi Omega. The witness saw Bundy in the household
• Professional scrutiny of teeth marks which the suspect left behind one of the sorority house fatalities. The marks were compared with the teeth of the suspect.
• The corroborative and auxiliary items of evidence included the proximity in time and resemblance of the fraternity of household attacks and the successive attack. The experts also compared the hairs found at the crime scene. These were compared with the hairs from Bundy's head. The evidence also included Bundy's presence in the nearby neighborhood of the Chi Omega house. He was close to the neighborhood a few hours before the criminal activity took place.

Similarly, Bundy was believed to have been at the anterior of his rooming house, which was also at the same locality just a few hours before the attack occurred. Ted Bundy also delivered incriminating statements during interrogation. The case set the evidence with the aim of establishing a factual narrative. When these were combined, the summation of the evidence consisted of legally sufficient proof of Bundy being guilty of the charges.

Case Facts

The substantiation presented before the judges during the initial trial suggested that Bundy rented a room at the Oak which was close to Florida State University campus. A week later, on Saturday evening (January 14th), witnesses saw Bundy in a barroom which is close to the campus and the adjacent door to the Chi Omega house. Three witnesses affirmed that they were present at the bar. Two of these women recognized Bundy to have been there.

On Sunday 15th January 1978 at about 3.00 a.m., Nita Neary, a Chi Omega resident, came back home from a date. She got into her house through the posterior door. She heard sounds of some movements as she moved inside the house as she approached the entrance hall. A man was directly standing at the front door, holding a weapon in his right hand. The man held the doorknob using the left hand. Ms Neary was in a position to recognize the face of the assailant. She informed her colleague that a man was wearing light decorated pants and a dark coat with a cap. The man had a protuberant nose and had a hefty stick with a cloth around it. Another resident was also in a dilemma to report the matter to the police after being beaten by the assailant. The other ladies were in a position of seeing that she had been injured. As a result, they sought medical help and reported the matter to the police. The police were in a position to discover the severity of the issue, and that there were to victims who had died. These were Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy. Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler sustained injuries. The surviving victims were attacked when they were asleep. As a result, they were not in a position to describe the attacker.

The officers attached to the crime scene were also in a position to describe the intruder, just as Nita Neary describe. The description which the officer provided was in line with what Nita Neary provided. A different attack took place at a time when the police were conducting investigations at Nita Neary. The residents of Duplex apartment heard noise near Florida State University Campus. They called the police, who later realized that Ms Thomas was severely beaten and lying on her bed. The other women, Levy Lisa, and Bowman Margaret were killed through strangulation. These happened after they received serious poundings with a tree branch which acted as a weapon. The assailant bit, Lisa Levy. The action provided adequate information on the intensity of the identity and suggested that they were human bites. The attacker also crushed Margaret Bowman's skull which lay open.

On 11th February 1978, a Law enforcement officer from Tallahassee saw Bundy nearby a car across a motorway in the equivalent campus locality where the crime scenes took place. The officer inquired from Bundy and asked him what he was doing at the place. The officer also observed a valid license plate inside the car and requested to scrutinize it. As the law enforcement officer strode to his police car to call the tag number using the radio, Bundy escaped, and the officer failed to trail him.

The police managed to arrest Bundy at Pensacola on 15th February 1978. The Pensacola police officer stopped the car at approximately 1: 30 a.m. They attempted to arrest him. However, the prosecution did not provide the reasons for the arrest to the jury during the trial. However, it was apparent that the reason for the arrest was car theft. Bundy, however, struck the officer as the officer attempted to handcuff him. He fled as a result. The officer also made attempts to fire at Bundy, pursued and overpowered him. Bundy told the officer on the way to jail that he wished the officer had killed him. These, coupled with forensic reports among other forms of evidence, were enough to convict the assailant.

Family History

Childhood

Ted Bundy started his life as his mother's secret shame since he was born at a time when the mother was younger and unmarried (22 years old). He was born in Burlington, Vermont on 24th November 1946. Monday (2016) explained that the birth of Theodore humiliated Eleanor Cowell's (His mother) parents. Eleanor's parents were deeply religious. Bundy was born at home for the unmarried mothers in Vermont. Eleanor's parents raised him in Philadelphia as the adopted son of the grandparents since they wanted to hide the fact that he was an illegitimate child. He grew up knowing his mother as his sister. His mother moved with him to Tacoma, Washington (Monday, 2016). Eleanor Cowell got married to Johnie Bundy in 1951, and they sired several children. It appears that Bundy was raised in a contented working class family. Daniszewska (2017) explained that Ted grew up as a well-behaved child, but some people found his behavior unsettling. He grew up as a child who preferred disconnection and isolation from friends and family. Since he was a quiet child, he was always ignored and left alone while the parents focused on the more demanding children. He grew up as an introvert, which the parents failed to notice.

Education

Heyen (2019) explained that Bundy grew up as an interactive teenager who interacted with his peers. He also preferred performing well in school. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School where he graduated in 1965. Bundy confessed that during high school, h engaged in breaking people's homes and cars. The desire to go downhill skiing motivated him to become a petty thief (Heyen, 2019). The sport was expensive and utilized the money he made from the stolen goods to pay for skis. Police records, however, indicated that he was expelled at 18. He was also arrested twice on suspicion of auto theft and burglary.

Farrell (2018) explained that Bundy joined the University of Puget Sound after high school, where he performed well academically. He, however, failed to adjust to the social conditions within his environment. He was a victim of acute shyness that was a reason for his social awkwardness. He, however, managed to develop friendships and was never comfortable in engaging in social activities which other students involved in (Farrell, 2018). He was an individual who kept to himself and never dated. Most of the fellow students were from wealthy backgrounds, and he envied them. Since he could not escape from his inferiority complex, he transferred to the University of Washington in 1966 during his sophomore year.

Love Affairs and Marriage

Farrell (2018) observed that Bundy met his first lover and made many attempts to impress. In the pursuit of impressing her, he grossly exaggerated is achievements to her. He lied to the lady that he had won a scholarship to Stamford University. However, the reality was that he worked on a part-time basis, bagging groceries.

He was overwhelmed with working, going to college, and dating. As a result, he dropped out of college in 1969 and embarked on working to earn minimum wage. During his free time, he volunteered for Rockefeller Nelson's campaign who vied for a presidential position. The girlfriend perceived him as someone who lacked ambition, and as a result, ended the relationship. The lady returned to her parents in California. Bundy was heartbroken, and he obsessed for a very long time as a result.

He then dated Elizabeth Kandal in 1969. The lady was a divorcee who had a young daughter. The woman was deeply devoted to Bundy, despite the various accusations of cheating. Bundy was not for the idea of getting married to her. He, however, allowed the affair to endure even after reunifying with his first love who became fascinated with the more self-assured and new Ted (Farrell, 2018). Ted Bundy married Carole Ann Boone. They...