| “ | Hiya. The name's Ted. Nice to meet you. | „ |
| ~ Bundy picking up women to kill |
Ted Bundy is the main antagonist in the 2002 film Ted Bundy. He is based on the real-life serial killer, who killed at least 30 women in three states.
He is played by Matthew Reilly Burke.
Bundy[]
Bundy was born in 1946 to a single mother; he does not know who his father is. His mother pretended to be his older sister, and his grandparents pretended to be his parents. He grew up in an abusive home; his grandfather terrorized the entire family, including Ted, whom he would punish by locking him in the closet and turning out the light. After learning his true parentage, he resented his mother for lying to him. He grew up to be a sadistic sociopath with a savage hatred of women, as well as a kleptomaniac, a peeping tom and, eventually, a serial killer and rapist.
As an adult, he goes to law school and has a serious relationship with Lee, a young, single mother. Like virtually everyone else in his life, she fails to see through his good looks and charm, although she is troubled by his occasional request that she pretend to be dead while they have sex. She later finds out that all the presents he gave her were stolen.
In 1974, Bundy begins raping and murdering young women. He follows the same pattern with every murder: he approaches a woman with his arm in a sling, pretending to be injured, and asks them to help him carry something to his car; he then hits her over the head with a blunt instrument and takes her to a secluded place, where he rapes and strangles her. He then buries the corpses, frequently returning to the burial sites to have sex with the bodies. At one point, he kills two women on the same day.
In 1975, he tries to kidnap a woman by pretending to be a police officer and taking her to his car, where he attacks her. She gets away, however, and gives a description of him to the police. Soon afterward, he is pulled over for speeding, and the officer arrests him after finding burglary tools in his trunk. His surviving victim identifies him out of a lineup. He is soon charged with several murders. Lee comes to see him in prison, and realizes he is guilty when he says the prosecution will not be able to prove he killed anyone. Horrified, she finally cuts him out of her life. He later charms a woman through a prison pen pal program and marries her in prison.
He escapes from prison during his trial, but is caught a few days later. He escapes again months later to Florida, where he lives under a fake name. One night, he breaks into a sorority house and brutally murders four women. The next day, he rapes and murders a 12-year-old girl. He is caught later that night and brought back to stand trial. He represents himself and turns the trial into a media circus with his theatrical behavior and wild accusations. He is found guilty of several murders, and sentenced to death.
Bundy is on death row for 11 years, until, in 1989, his final appeal is denied and he is scheduled to die in the electric chair. The night he is to die, guards have to literally drag him out of his cell. He is put to death in the electric chair; his executioner is a woman.