In January of 1975, while on vacation in Colorado with her fiance, Caryn Campbell disappeared. A month later, her naked body was discovered a short distance from a road. The autopsy revealed that she had received several blows to her skull. Over the next few months, five other women disappeared from the same area their skulls crushed, the possible weapon being a crowbar.
Later that year, in August, Bundy aroused Police suspicion when he attempted to evade them during a routine traffic stop. When he was finally stopped, they discovered handcuffs, an ice pick, a crowbar, a pair of panty hose with eye holes cut out, and several other suspicious items. He was arrested on suspicion of burglary.
After his arrest, Police compared the items found in his car to those that DeRonch had described seeing in her attackers car, the handcuffs being the same brand. Once she picked him out of a lineup, he was arrested for kidnapping. They were now certain that they had the person responsible for the Tri-State murder spree.
In February of 1976, Bundy went on trial for the attempted kidnapping, and after waiving his rights to a jury trial, was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years. Meanwhile, Police continued to investigate the murders in Colorado, and in October, Bundy was charged with the murder of Caryn Campbell.
After being extradited from Utah to Colorado for trial, Bundy decided to serve as his own attorney, which allowed him to appear in court with no restraints. It also allowed him the freedom to move between the court room and the law library unimpeded. This was what he had intended and in June of 1977, during a pre-trial hearing, Bundy escaped by jumping out of a window in the law library. He was captured a week later.
In December of 1977, Bundy escaped again, this time making it to Tallahassee, Florida.There he rented an apartment under an assumed name near the Florida State University. He supported himself by using stolen credit cards.
In January 1978, Bundy broke into the Chi Omega sorority house and bludgeoned and strangled two coeds. He raped one of them, brutally biting her on one buttock and nipple. He also beat two others over the head with a log. Investigators believe that the only reason these two survived was that another roommate returned unexpectedly. Nita Neary came home at approximately 3 a.m. and noticed that the front door to the house was slightly open. Hiding in a doorway, she saw a man wearing a blue cap come down the stairs holding a log and leave the house. She found her roommates upstairs, two dead and two brutally beaten. That same night, another woman was attacked and Police recovered a mask identical to one they would later recover from Bundy's car.
TO BE CONTINUED....... The trial and execution of Ted Bundy
