How Did Ted Bundy and Carole Ann Boone Meet?
Her relationship with the Campus Killer began in 1974. Boone and Ted Bundy met as co-workers at the Department of Emergency Services in Olympia, Washington, during the height of his murder spree.
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In “The Only Living Witness: The True Story of Serial Killer Ted Bundy,” Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth wrote that Boone was a “lusty-tempered free spirit” who met Bundy while finalizing her second divorce. Both were in relationships when they met, but Bundy had expressed a desire to date her.
Why Did Carole Ann Boone Date Ted Bundy?
It’s important to note that Ted Bundy did not fit the stereotypical serial killer look. He was an attractive man with sociopathic charm, which helped him lure women into his orbit.
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According to All That’s Interesting, Carole Ann Boone explained her attraction to Bundy: “He struck me as a rather shy person with a lot more going on under the surface than what was on the surface. He was more dignified and restrained than the more certifiable types around the office. He would participate in the silliness parkway. But remember, he was a Republican.”
Why Didn’t Ted Bundy Kill His Romantic Partners?
The reasons Ted Bundy didn’t kill Carole Ann Boone are complex and unclear. Bundy often kept the women in his “normal” life at a distance.
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Several reasons that Bundy never killed his romantic partners could include his genuine feelings for them, the physical difference that removes them from his victims, his desire to maintain his public image, and his fear of getting caught.
She Visited Ted Budy While He Was in Prison
Ted Bundy was arrested in Utah in 1975 when Utah police found incriminating items which included pantyhose, a ski mask, handcuffs, an ice pick, and a crowbar in his Volkswagen Beetle. Bundy was later chosen in a lineup and charged with attempted kidnapping.
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Boone stayed with Bundy while he was imprisoned, visiting the state for seven days to see him and exchanging letters often. Boone also smuggled money that Bundy would later use in his attempt to escape from prison.
Ted Bundy’s Final Murders
Two years later, Ted Bundy was extradited to Colorado to finish his 15-year sentence, but he escaped from prison. According to Rolling Stone, Carole may have helped Bundy escape. Bundy fled to Florida, where he would commit the murders of Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy, two Chi Omega sorority girls, and 12-year-old Kimberly Leach.
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After being arrested by a Pensacola officer for driving a stolen car in 1978, and then being linked to murders in Utah, Colorado, and Washington, Boone moved to Florida to attend the trial so she could visit him weekly.
Carole Ann Boone Believed Ted Bundy Was Innocent
Boone’s loyalty to Ted Bundy seemed to grow as the serial killer went on trial. In Netflix’s “Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes,” Boone says in a news clip, “Let me put it this way, I don’t think that Ted belongs in jail.”
Source: Florida Department of Corrections - Florida Department of Corrections records
“I don’t think they have reason to charge Ted Bundy with murder in either Leon County or Columbia County,” Boone said when asked if she believed in the murder charges being presented.
Ted Bundy and Carole Ann Boone's Relationship Flourished Behind Bars
During Ted Bundy’s trial, Boone expressed that she wanted to get married and have a child. In her documented visits, Boone and Bundy would often have unsupervised times that were conjugal.
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“After the first day they just, they didn’t care,” Boone says in the Netflix docuseries about the guards supervising her visits with Bundy. “They walked in on us a couple [of] times.” The results of these non-permitted yet unsupervised visits would eventually leave Boone pregnant.
Was Ted Bundy Married?
Ted Bundy, an ex-law student who would end up acting as his own defense attorney, figured out a way to marry Carole Ann while incarcerated. An old Florida law that is no longer valid today stated “that as long as a judge is present during a declaration of marriage in court, the intended transaction is legally valid” (via All That’s Interesting).
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Bundy had Boone take the witness stand on February 9, 1980, and asked Boone to marry him during his murder trial. She agreed, and Bundy added, “I do hereby marry you.” A public notary, contracted by Boone, was present to witness and stamp the marriage certificate, and the pair had officially formed a union of marriage in the state of Florida.
Did Ted Bundy Have a Child?
After the brief marriage ceremony, Ted Bundy was sentenced to death for the Florida murders. Bundy would spend the next nine years on death row, but Carole visited often, allegedly smuggling drugs in for him and continuing their intimacy.
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Two years into his sentence, Boone gave birth to their daughter, Rose Bundy. It is believed that Rose is the only biological child of Ted Bundy.
How Did Ted Bundy and Carole Ann Boone Have a Child?
The exact circumstances of the pregnancy remain unclear, but there are several theories including Boone smuggling sperm in and out of the prison through concealed containers.
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Ann Rule, who had met Bundy as a co-worker at Seattle’s suicide hotline crisis center, details in her book, “The Stranger Beside Me,” how bribing guards to secure private time was not uncommon. Michaud and Aynesworth also explain that sex in prison was largely successful and ignored by guards even with less secretive tactics.
What Happened to Ted Bundy?
There were long delays in Ted Bundy’s execution due to the complex and lengthy nature of the capital punishment process in the United States. In 1987, Bundy’s lawyers discovered new evidence that could overturn the conviction, but the state argued that the evidence was unreliable and denied a retrial.
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Bundy was sentenced to death by an electric chair. It would take the American serial killer nine years to make it to the chair.
Is Carole Ann Boone Alive Today?
Four years later, Carole Ann Boone reconsidered her marriage to Ted Bundy. She divorced the killer three years before his execution by electric chair in 1989. Boone reportedly never saw Bundy again before his execution in Florida.
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Little is known about Boone after the divorce. Boone moved out of Florida with her two children, one of whom came from a previous marriage. Boone today is simply referred to as Ted Bundy’s wife. Reports surfaced that Boone had been living quietly in Seattle before her death at 70 years old in January 2018. Bundy’s family, which includes his brother Rich Bundy, reside quietly in Washington. Some say she changed her name to Abigail Griffin and moved to Oklahoma.