It’s been more than years 40 since the name Ted Bundy became synonymous with the idea that anyone can be a murderer.
Bundy was handsome and charismatic… a preppy, frat-guy type. He approached women in public places, feigning an injury, disability or impersonating an authority figure, to gain their trust. He didn’t look frightening, so women didn’t know not to trust him until it was too late. He would overpower them, assault them and sometimes revisit their dead bodies to perform sex acts on them. He decapitated at least 12 of his victims, keeping their heads in his apartment as souvenirs. At one point, he escaped from jail and broke into a sorority house at Florida State University, killing two women and assaulting others while at least 30 women slept in the house.
It has been nearly 25 years since Bundy was executed for three murders. But the number we don’t know is the one that makes him one of America’s most intriguing serial killers.
We have no idea how many women Bundy murdered. When asked, Bundy said to “add a digit” to the known number of 36. He never explained what that meant.
Did he mean 37?
Were we to add some other random digit?
Was it possible that he meant 360?
We’ll never know.
Even a woman who knew him as well as anyone wasn’t able to get the answer.
Ann Rule worked the late shift at a crisis hotline with Bundy in the 1970s. The two became friends, sharing pieces of their lives between suicide calls. They remained friends until Bundy’s arrest, even talking on the phone when miles came between them.
Ann has been a full-time true crime writer since 1969. It wasn’t until she was covering the crimes as a reporter and, honestly, until he was arrested, that she realized her close friend was responsible for the murders.
The Stranger Beside Me tells of Rule’s relationship with Bundy and her reporting on his crimes. The simple, fact-based narrative allows you to uncover the story and association much the way Rule did. There’s no sensationalism, only storytelling.
The book—one of more than 30 Rule has published in as many years—is a stellar example of what makes her the true crime writer. As someone who loves this genre, I can’t believe it took me until this year to find her.
