The savage killing of two Florida State co-eds was only the beginning of a nightmare that would unravel the life of a family forced to confront the unspeakable evil lurking behind a familiar face. In an exclusive and harrowing interview, Rich Bundy, the younger brother of notorious serial killer Ted Bundy, has broken his silence to reveal the intimate, painful, and deeply conflicted story of growing up alongside one of America’s most infamous predators.
My name is Rich Bundy, Richard Allen Bundy. And Ted Bundy was my brother. He used the scumbag piece of shit serial killer from the 70s.
Growing up, really for me was very kind of boring for other people to hear. There weren’t any great outstanding occurrences in my life that were unusual for most people. I joined a basketball team, baseball team, tried football when I was 13 and quickly realized that wasn’t for me.
We had good family, good parents, good friends. I didn’t get in too much trouble, just stupid stuff like every kid does. But learning about school, how to add, what a pronoun is, that was normal.
I started hanging out with my brother Ted periodically on weekends when I was about five or seven years old. He’s 15 years older than me, so when I was young he would take me out in Seattle, try to teach me how to ski. I couldn’t get it.
He got a little frustrated one night and said forget it.
He never showed any sign. Even the most in tune person who knows about human nature wouldn’t have known. I don’t think anybody could begin to guess that he would be doing the kind of shit he was doing.
The arrest of a man charged with the killings today over strong court testimony. The state maintains that that man was the defendant Theodore Bundy, who was charged with the brutal slaying of two Florida State co-eds and the beating of three others.
Bundy confessed to 30 murders, though the real number is suspected to be higher. His crimes spanned several states: Washington, Oregon, Utah, Colorado, and Florida. His victims were mostly young women, often college students.
He used charm, tricks like faking an injury, and sometimes impersonated authority figures to lure them. He often sexually assaulted his victims before or after killing them, and is known to have engaged in necrophilia.
Rich Bundy recalls the shock of learning who his brother truly was. It was confusing for me. I was 14 or 15 years old when he first got arrested.
My first thought was it’s got to be a mistake. For a long time, I thought he was innocent. It’s a funny thing when your mind is coming to grips with what really is, and the other part of yourself is this unintentional denial.
I remember what it was like to know him as that good person, but then you tell yourself: you disgust me. I don’t love you anymore because I can’t love someone who kills people for such a selfish, horrible motive.
Some people out there try to romanticize it, which is fucked up. They think he had good qualities. But I don’t think that.
His good side, his good manners, his good social quality, I think was just a continued practice of his tool to attract his victims. His niceness was a lie. So wake the fuck up and shut the fuck up.
I had people trying to tell me it’s okay because he had mental problems. Yeah, he had mental problems, but it doesn’t make it okay for a goddamn second.
Rich admits he has no qualms about Ted’s execution. I’m not necessarily cool with capital punishment, but there are exceptions. He was so practiced at escaping.
He needed to be executed because he kept escaping. If someone can be kept in prison for life, that’s fine. But someone who is a potential escapee, who will keep getting out, there’s only one answer.
I wept and was emotionally upset that he had to be executed, but that was for the concept of the whole event existing. I wasn’t weeping for Ted Bundy the person. I was weeping for the concept.
Nothing can bring back any of those people who died. You have to think about the surviving family members, the mothers of those children. Their lives are fucked up forever.
He not only killed people, but he made other people suffer who had to live their lives. So if you ever try to tell me I should be lenient, shut the fuck up. That shit needs to stop.
Rich describes the final hours leading up to Ted’s execution. About 5 PM, he is offered his last meal. Then the top of his head and lower right leg will be shaved.
He’ll be showered and dressed in a dark blue suit, white shirt. He meets with the superintendent for a few minutes. About 10 minutes to 7, witnesses are led into the room.
At one or two minutes prior to 7, they lead him 30 feet down the hall to the execution chamber. He is strapped in, asked if he has any last words. They attach a metal cap and a black veil over his face.
The superintendent checks by telephone with the governor’s office. If no stays, he turns and the executioner receives a nod. The executioner turns the switch for a two-minute cycle of voltage.
During that time, Rich was with close friends. I chose not to be with my family. I just wanted to be with a couple of close friends.
My very close friend Ronnie Edwards and his wife Becky were there. I wailed for a good 10 minutes. It was pure lamenting.
I didn’t have any specific thought. I just released my emotional anguish. Ronnie held me and said, man, just let it go.
I wailed. Bless their hearts. They were there for me 100 percent.
I miss Ronnie. He died back in 97.
Rich struggles with nightmares even now. About 10 years ago, I was having really vivid dreams of him coming around. In the dream, he would be like an invisible buddy telling me that Ted is in town and he’s looking for an apartment, and there’s nothing you can do about it.
I thought, okay, I’ll pretend that doesn’t freak me out, but the first chance I get I’m going to knock the shit out of that person. I wasn’t having it. I call upon my father’s expression: this shit’s got to stop.
No way am I putting up with your evil ass self. Get the fuck out of my life. Get the fuck out of my soul.
What do you think that invisible person was? It was just a pure entity of evil.
Rich’s parents showed incredible strength. My parents handled it very well. They were stoic to the point of void of emotion, but it was understandable.
My mom agreed to meet with a woman, one of Ted’s victims’ mothers, and apologize for the horrible shit that he did. I thought that was pretty amazing. I can totally see the conversation between my mom and dad.
My dad said to her, honey, you can do this. It’s the right thing to do. I’m right there beside you 100 percent.
There is nothing in his background that can tell us what triggered this. Up until Saturday, I didn’t believe any of it. If it wasn’t for my father, it would have been difficult for my mom to do that.
She had a mind of her own, but when you have someone by your side, it’s not too much to ask for.
Rich adamantly defends his mother against any blame. After his birth, my mother left him at a home for unwed mothers, then brought him to live with her and her parents. Rumors that his grandfather was his biological father, that he grew up hearing his mom referred to as his sister.
A psychiatrist said he suffered from manic depressive illness linked to his grandfather’s violence. That’s bullshit. That’s not fair to my mom.
The idea that if I found out my mom was actually my sister, why would that make me angry? She explained that people look down on unwed mothers. I would say, ma, I still love you so much.
It wasn’t an unhealthy deception. It pained my mother to have to do that. But some people are born with a wire not quite all the way in.
Ted had that one thing in his mind susceptible to becoming bad. My mother had nothing to do with that. She did nothing but raise him with all the best nurturing possible.
When people look back, the positive thing is seeing everyone’s strength. You completely get your strength from them. That surpasses everything about what your brother did.
Rich now makes comedy videos and values friendship. I believe I’d still be the way I am now regardless of Ted’s existence. Because of all the pain, I have even more motive to produce nurturing concepts through music and storytelling.
More would not have happened if you guys hadn’t asked me to come talk. I value friendship very seriously. No matter what you do in life, remember that friendship is what family is.
Family should try to be friends too. If you can’t get along, stay away from each other. Distance may warm the heart.
It’s nice to be nice. The world needs love.
