Surviving Ted Bundy | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] [Applause] in January of 1978 I was 20 years old I lived in the kega sority house on the
FSU campus in [Music] Tallahassee I was happy I was with my other friends and Florida State was just
a safe place to be when I moved into the sorority house my roommate was Karen Chandler when I was at FSU it was very
laid-back it was just a great time classes had been going on for about a week and everyone was moved in to the
house Saturday January 14th I walked home and and I got in this sority and there were kids talking about you know
where they're going tonight what are they doing who they're dating what party and then I saw my book sitting on the
trunk and I said you know I have a test on Monday I'm going to go ahead and stay
home and study tonight my roommate Karen came in at the same time and she had a sewing project
she had to do so she sat in her bed next to mine and we talked for a little while and
then Kathy was tired so I just went ahead and decided to go to bed it was maybe around midnight maybe a little bit
before midnight that night I heard our bedroom door slam open I was opening my eyes a
little bit because it kind of brought me into Consciousness and I'm awake enough
to know someone's there as I'm opening my eyes more and focusing he raised his arm and he had something in his hand I
thought it was a pipe or a stick I didn't know what it was he came down and hit me in the
face it just felt like pins and needles and knives in my face my roommate Karen was now
stirring and he went over and hit her I'm still awake and I'm moving so he came back to my side of the bed and as I
see him raise his arm up this bright light Shone into our room and this light was a car from one
of the sorority sisters coming home from a late date he got spooked and he left the
room the next thing I remember is the feeling like I was being lifted downstairs and I remember asking if
Kathy was okay and them saying she's going to be okay you need to worry about yourself our detectives tried to track a
man who slipped into a most coeds here terrified they put me on the stretcher and there was all this noise there were
the um lights from the police cars and the ambulance police say he simply walked in through an unlocked door
people talking and the radio squawking they say he was was armed with a heavy Oak L and I thought I was at a
carnival because my mind went to somewhere I could understand my name is Kathy Kleiner and I was attacked by Ted
[Music] Bundy [Music] [Music] the early morning hours of January the 15th 1978 I got a call and the call
basically said Sheriff uh there's multiple murders and assaults uh on girls uh they told me it was at the KY
Omega house I was [Music] stunned before I could get myself settled into criminal investigator Ken casares as my
role as Sheriff I I I had to get over my personal thoughts about these could be my own
daughters I was there before Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler were brought out on gurns I said prayers for both of
them as they passed me I didn't know if they were alive or deceased at the time they told me two were definitely
deceased inside I knew I woke up in intensive care I didn't have any idea for sure why
I was there but I knew something bad had happened I had at least one skull fracture I think every bone in my face
was broken and my jaw was broken um I had a broken arm and I had a couple of fingers on on my hand hand that were um
crushed maybe I had been in my room for a day or two and my parents were afraid of what
was going to be on the TV so my dad said before we turn on the TV I need to tell
you something and he told me about Lisa and Margaret Margaret Bowman 21 and Lisa
Levy 20 had been killed just down the hall from Karen Kathy's room in the sorority house they had both been
strangled beaten and sexually assaulted I can't imagine how horrible that was for hurt their parents
and it was very hard because I really couldn't express my grief and my sorrow to their
families my jaw was broken in three places here here and here um it was hanging on this joint the
jaw um what they did was put my jaw back together and wire it shut in the hospital Kathy could remember nothing
about the attack she says those memories have slowly come back to her over the years I remember the detectives were in
my room first off before my family even showed up asking me questions but I was not able at all to help the detectives
it was just a big blur a big to me but it turned out the Kyo Mega house had not been the only crime scene that
night we were outside uh that evening when all of a sudden I get a radio communication from the sheriff's office
that there is something going on at a duplex a young lady who lived there alone uh and the next door neighbor
hearing some beating some sounds this is going on on less than six blocks away I
sent an investigator there and found Cheryl Thomas on the floor in Blood and had been beaten badly
Cheryl Thomas was a dance major at FSU like the kai Omega victims she suffered severe head injuries and was taken to
the hospital in a coma I thought could this be the same individual and I said how we've got such
a police presence how could that person go just a few blocks and strike again it
was inconceivable I got a call from Colorado about an escaped uh criminal named Ted
Bundy I was familiar with the name they said do you know Ted Bundy I said I've heard of him Theodore Bundy a suspect in
the raped murder cases of at least 36 young6 rapes and murders mostly in the West 7year period they said we don't
know where he is Bundy was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list and I wrote his name
down on a legal pad in my car Ted Bundy it was the first name associated with the murders in
Tallahassee Ted Bundy was known to lure women away with his charm and then abduct them or pick them up at a bus
stop and say can I give you a ride I did not think that the method of operation of this Cas was anything near similar
except for an attack on girls so I did not take that at that time as serious when I woke up in the
Tallahassee hospital I I couldn't really tell you who I was or what where I was I know I had head pain and um my
face was very swollen my mom and and dad had to tell me what had happened because
I I really did not know I couldn't remember what happened and they had to slowly break the news to me Cheryl you
were attacked Cheryl's jaw was broken in two places her shoulder dislocated and she had five skull fractures leaving her
permanently deaf in her left ear I felt very grateful because obviously if I had
not had the two neighbors next store to call that night when they heard me crying and a a beating kind of sound I
know I wouldn't I would not have survived as the news sunk in across the FSU Community Cheryl remained in the
hospital Karen recovered at her parents home nearby and Kathy went home to South
Florida I was flown down to Miami with my family my parents took me to an oral surgeon and had to rebre my
jaw because it was not going to be lined up correctly so now I had to be wired shut for additional 9 weeks it was so
depressing when you have your mouth wired shut you have to always wear nail clippers on a necklace around your
neck because if you ever start choking or anything you have to be able to cut the wires and be able to breathe as K
Cathy and her fellow survivors healed Sheriff kasaris looked for ways to put the person who did this to them away
searching for clues in untraditional places I did a personal examination of Margaret Bowman
and Lisa Levy when I examined both of the bodies I found what I think was the most significant piece of evidence and
that was a bite mark and that bite would potentially be able to be compared to whoever we found to me it was almost
like he was leaving whoever it was a [Music] [Music] [Music] signature I think before tasse and FSU was a
cocoon but that was sort of the shutting of a door in a way that was the end of we are
[Music] safe that type of evil that encompassed me that night I couldn't wrap my head
around it it just seemed surreal it didn't seem like it was possible the Innocence at Florida State was
gone the university had asked the fraternities for volunteers and if a lady needed to go to the library or to
campus or anywhere one of us would go and escort her to wherever she was going men started sleeping in the
lobbies of the dormitories they were police patrolling all the time for that month no one knew if they were sitting
next to the person that had committed the crime I mean if they couldn't tell you who did it how could they tell you
who didn't do it as January 1978 stretched on police were stumped although they had bitemark
evidence they had no one to match it to within a few weeks after the soror sisters were murdered we had information
that a 12-year-old Kimberly leech dis disappeared from her school so we thought could it be
possible but this was a 12-year-old girl we're dealing with college students in a
sorority Kimberly leech disappeared from Lake City over an hour away her body later found by a nearby park fear of the
unknown attacker pervaded the area until news broke of an arrest in Pensacola there was something on TV when the news
came on police arrested this 31-year-old man after high-speed chase Wednesday morning in Pensacola Florida he claimed
to be a Florida State University law student Pensacola Police had pulled over a Volkswagen Beetle that was driving
slowly and the mysterious driver refused to give his name came to find out of course that the vehicle was stolen from
a location nearby to the sorority house in that Volkswagen they found dozens of IDs and credit cards that had
been stolen from around Tallahasse in the weeks before then the identification came
back it was Ted Bundy the moment I heard Ted Bundy I had the flashbacks of course of the phone
call and that's exactly what we had we had Ted Bundy who came to our town if those who link him with dozen of
sex slings are right Theodore Robert Bundy is one of the most Savage killers in history Mr Bundy had been a very
prolific serial killer for many many years it is very unusual for Mr Bundy to leave a
Survivor Ted Bundy's murder spree out west ended when he went to prison in 1976 but at the end of 1977 he had
escaped and made his way to Florida Florida St immediately after his arrest he became a suspect in both the FSU and
Kimberly leech attacks we know that he got here somewhere in the vicinity of January the eth he rented a boarding
room in a boarding house adjacent to the Florida State University campus Bundy was at home on a college campus around
the time of his crimes out west Bundy had attended college and even Law School when Mr Bunny was in school he took jobs
working for political campaigns and apparently did an extraordinarily good job there was absolutely no indication
that he was the serial killer that he ultimately turned out to be his charm his wit no fool his
intelligence his Charisma everything about him made him different than all the other serial
killers the first photo I saw of Ted Bundy after they arrested him he didn't look like a
serial killer he looked normal the survivors learned more about who Ted Bundy was and the brutality of
the crimes he was suspected of committing his history was a shock I think when I learned about those
women it's just an immense sadness there are all these families that are devastated in the months after the
attacks while the Florida authorities were building their case the survivors slowly began to move forward with their
lives for Karen Chandler that surprisingly meant moving back into the Kaio Mega house when I came back they
gave me space they didn't it wasn't like they treated me as a special china doll
that they could T to I felt like everyone treated me pretty much like they had treated me
before so life just sort of continued on like I had never left Cheryl the former dance student was
now suffering from balance issues and didn't know what her future would look like I knew I couldn't hear again but I
asked the neurologist would I ever be able to dance again he said that's totally up to you so then I knew that I
had an option of train my body all over again or I won't dance again I made my decision I was going to
go back and get my degree Cheryl moved to Texas and studied ballet at another University but for Kathy life took a
different turn life totally changed for me I did not go back to college I was married 6 months after the attack my
parents thought I needed someone to to take care of me and to be sure that nobody came in the middle of the night
and attacked me again and um I was okay with that but as much as they wanted to they couldn't put
Bundy behind them to bring him to Justice they needed to come face to face with their
attacker we wanted more than anything to make sure if this was the guy that did it we want him locked up that he never
has the opportunity to hurt another [Music] woman FBI agents and Florida police are
questioning a man by the name of Theodore Robert Bundy with every passing day the media grew increasingly
fascinated with alleged serial killer Ted Bundy he will remain in Pensacola under tight security until authorities
can determine if he will be charged with the Florida State University murders I feel like they were so focused on Ted
Bundy which I'm sure Ted Bundy enjoyed the media that they forgot about the women as Florida authorities
investigated Bundy they first questioned why his method of attack would have changed he typically was organized he
would plot pick up and then abduct the young lady and here it was obvious that he had gotten
disorganized they developed a theory that Bundy had originally stocked and targeted Cheryl Thomas there had been a
guy that I'd seen ride his bicycle by my house Ted Bundy looks similar so I sometimes wonder if maybe that was
him he had no doubt case that place out and we believed that Mr Bundy went to Cheryl Thomas's residence and when he
got there apparently there was a car that had broken down right in front and there was a man there working on the car
he found that kind of got spooked he then went to the Kyle Mega house and when and his attack at the sorority was
interrupted Bundy returned to Cheryl's you know I compared Ted Bundy to a killing machine like a
shark because the shark is just feeding in a frenzy off of whatever is available
just like the shark has the need to eat he had the need to murder their case intensified with an
eyewitness who put Bundy at the sorority house one of the um kega sisters Nita ner came
home that night after being out on a date she came in through the back door of the sorority house and she saw a man
coming from the upstairs area down the stairway that would have been unusual for Nita to see a man because no men
were allowed upstairs in the Shorty house she did not see him full face on but she saw a profile of it he opened
the front door and immediately exited the uh sorority house Neri identified Bundy from a lineup and as the case came
together investigators still had that key piece of evidence to analyze we crafted a search warrant to use to
search Mr Bundy's mouth and obtain uh models of his teeth to compare against the bite mark impression that was
left the search warrant for his mouth probably was the first in the nation's history so I went to his cell one
evening I told him he's coming with me and he went with me to my dentist's office the doors opened up he saw that
we were in a dental office he immediately started screaming where's my attorney I want my attorney you can't do
this he knew exactly what we were going to be doing once we read him the search warrant for his mouth he realized that
we could use Force he sat down in the dental chair he opened his mouth said do what you have to do Ken you know I'm not
a violent person the state asked four Dental experts to compare Bundy's molds to the
marks all four of them concluded that Mr Bundy was the one that left the bite mark we were confident going to the
grand jury with the evidence that we had there was an indictment last night in the aftermath of a brutal crime in
Tallahassee Florida and what was unusual about the indictment was how it was delivered I have copies of the
indictment to give each of you we had Print [Music] Media Radio media television media step
out Mr Bundy and they they were able to view the indictment reading that night what do we have here Ken let's see you
always say an indictment on all right why don't you read it to me let's read it let's go Theodore Robert Bundy you
are charged indictment two counts burglary in the uh two counts murder in the first degree three counts attempted
murder in the first degree he was obviously not very happy I did not let it deter me said Theodore Robert Bundy
did make an assault upon Karen Chandler and or Kathy Kleiner not surprisingly the former law student took an active
role in his defense Mr Bundy took depositions from the Witnesses in the case himself it's very
unusual but Mr Bundy did have legal training I think he was acting as the lawyer that he always wanted to be since
I didn't remember anything about the attack I think that was helpful but my feeling at that time was I don't want to
show him any fear because I don't want him to think anything about him bothers me is under my skin scares me he was
sitting there um looking at me and I looked at him and I didn't take my eyes off of him
and he had this smirk on his face it kind of made my stomach sick but also I knew I was walking out and he wasn't and
that gave me some Power I felt like I had done my job I had answered his questions and I hope I gave him
absolutely no satisfaction months passed as the case wound its way toward trial down in Miami Kathy Kleiner
struggled to put herself back out in the world after I got attacked I was afraid
of men it was something that I didn't want to have control me and I went to work at a lumber yard because I figured
that's where I'm going to see the most men and it worked that experience helped me a lot Kathy would soon need that new
found confidence the survivors were set to testify against Bundy but this time his life was in their
hands to know I was going to have to testify um I think I just needed to build up my resolve and know that this
was going to happen and be prepared as much as I could for it we locked eyes once again and I stared at him
why do you think people are so fascinated with Ted Bundy for more on the case go to Facebook at 48
[Music] hours I think I always knew that I was going to have to testify in court if it went to
trial what camer going on the fourth floor get away from here you know you're not
supposed to be here excuse me there was a total media circus we'll be standing by prosecuting
attorney Larry Simpson and it was the first major case that actually was broadcast live evaluating it as it was
actually going down in the courtroom only one camera fixed on the tripod tapes the courtroom proceedings his 20
television Crews from around the country have been covering the trial get a front row se you can get it
all there I think Mr Bunny was playing to the cameras Robert my name is he got a real kick out of
it at trial Bundy again took an active role on his defense team Z it's enter on this motion by participating in
his own defense Bundy and his attorneys hoped to convince the jury that he was intelligent articulate and innocent a
victim of circumstances Bundy had a lot of interaction with the judge he argued his own motions as good as a lawyer
could I think def young women packed the courtroom every day to see the star defendant every time he turns around I
kind of get that feeling no no you know he's going to get me next as lead prosecutor Larry Simpson
felt pressure at or near the cause of death to make sure sure Bundy was put away forever the cases out west were not
particularly strong cases we know we needed to finish the job in Florida the survivors felt that pressure
too as Cheryl Karen and Kathy each took the stand I felt it was important for the
jury to see a real person who had been subjected to what Ted Bundy did I had um five skull fractures and
multiple contusions in my head it was just my mission to tell my story and I just really didn't want to
look at him didn't want to talk to him didn't want anything to do with him the defense asked is this the man
you saw attack you that night in your room at Kai Omega and I had to say I don't
know because I never saw his face I wanted to help put the nail in that coffin to put him away to help the
other girls who couldn't do it I couldn't help and she was weaving in though the survivors couldn't identify
Bundy from that night someone else could sorority sister need a nearing do you recall the man that you
saw at the door of Kyle Mega house on the morning of January 15 1978 yes I do would you point him out
for us please man in the dark suit with a red TI perhaps the prosecution's most daming
evidence was that bite mark left on one of the victims this is a photograph of the bite mark and as you can see there's
a ruler in place and this is what the forensic dentist did in court they made the mark you can actually place this
model right on the photograph and you've got it coming in like this laying down and then he turned his head slightly and
did it again it fits like a glove but bite mark analysis was a new and relatively
uncertain science and the ever smiling Bundy seemed confident as the trial came to a
close of course I was worried when it went to the jury but I knew in my heart and by
the evidence that was there that he's the one that actually murdered my friends the jury was out a little less
than 7 hours and returned to Verdi with the jury I'm the defendant guilty is charged the verdict that was guilty as
charged on all counts he was convicted and now whatever sentence he got couldn't be bad enough
as far as I was concerned it is ironic that he ended up in Florida because we were a very active death penalty state
as hereby impos the death penalty he was sentenced to death on my birthday I don't believe the death
penalty should be a willy-nilly kind of thing but if he had gotten out there were women that were going to die I have
no doubt in my mind following the FSU trial Bundy was also found guilty of murdering
12-year-old Kimberly leech and received another death sentence after the trial was over I felt that it was just going
to be all over and no more in the news or or anything but that didn't happen it was probably
just crazy for me to think that as Bundy sat on death row his notoriety only grew books and TV programs came out
focusing on his good looks and charm instead of rejecting it Kathy decided to embrace it I read as much as
I could about Ted Bundy watched all his movies because I think by learning about
him it has helped me move forward because I wanted to just disassociate myself so that he wasn't part of me
anymore in 1981 3 years after the attacks Kathy had a son Michael I didn't want him to know that I had been scared
that I had been attacked I just wanted to be a normal mom with a normal kid one night I was putting him to bed
and he looked up at me and he touched my face and he said Mommy what happened happened to your face right there and I
told him that a bad man came into my house one night and had hurt me you just don't grasp that at a young age you
don't really get it but you kind of do and you just feel like you know I'm not going to let anybody hurt
[Music] you I felt that it was important to keep her safe she was such a loving person
How could somebody do that too sorry and I think in his mind he he always carried that that it could happen
again and would I be there you know to help my [Music] mom how do you deal with traumatic
events for more of Kathy kleiner's Story of Survival go to 48 hours.com [Music] for most of the 1980s Ted Bundy sat on
Florida's death row appealing his convictions in that time Kathy Kleiner went through a divorce and focused on
her young son Michael I was a single mom for 5 years and he and I grew up together we're very very close growing
up my mom was the most loving caring affectionate happy person she never let what happened to her get to
her Kathy had grown accustomed to projecting a tough exterior but that softened in 1987 when
an old high school friend came back into her life over the years I thought about
Kathy now and then Kathy's very special and you could tell she was very special back then so I
called him and um he came over one day for lunch on a weekend and basically never left I
mean I felt energy from Kathy right away when we first saw each other it was just
her smile and she really looked in your eyes and but happy eyes all that together just was like
boom when Kathy told me a little bit about the attack by Ted Bundy it just kind of blew me away she would cry about
it I wanted to take away all her pain and you couldn't take away this pain in her family Kathy found happiness
and she leaned on them for support as Bundy's Appeals finally ran out at the end he was bargaining for his
life he started confessing to murders he confessed to 30 murders and now he was trying to give information but it was
vague I'll tell you where more women are buried please don't kill me and I can imagine those being the last words that
he heard from his victims please don't kill me serial killer Ted Bundy scheduled to
die in Florida's electric chair at 7:00 there was the atmosphere of a public hanging as hundreds of singing chanting
death penalty supporters [Music] gathered when it happened we got a call we had TV on and at that point we
saw the white flag that they hold and wave when someone has been electrocuted [Applause]
[Music] Scott and I were sitting on our little sofa and my condo and I cried and I
cried and I cried for all the victims that could not see [Music] [Applause] [Music]
this long after surviving Ted Bundy Cathy is speaking publicly about her experiences
hoping it might help others I think by telling my story it has helped to heal me but I feel that it
also helps people to hear that I have been through something so horrific and I've come out the other side I want
people to know no matter what they've gone through that um they too can do it there's no one way to heal from
trauma Karen and Cheryl feel like they've talked about Ted Bundy enough I was a victim until I walked out of that
hospital I was a Survivor until he was executed we got to come up with something that's after that it's not
part of me anymore I want to be more than Cheryl Thomas that was attacked by Bundy I want to just be Cheryl Thomas I
got married and I had two wonderful children I got my Master's at galludet University and worked with the hearing
impaired and dance I've had a 40-year marriage I have two wonderful self-sustaining children I have three
wonderful grandchildren I really don't think about Bundy anymore Cathy's Journey takes her back
to Tallahassee for the first time in over 40 years she's come in part to thank former
Sheriff Ken kasaris Kathy he's someone I've thought about over the years and someone who has a
good memory you're here yeah I'm seeing you again I can't believe it thank you so much don't I'm looking forward to
doing this this is something I needed to do together Kathy and Ken return to the
kai Omega house totally different it's weird the swy house looks so different it doesn't bother me like I thought it
would and your room was on the back side that's right it's okay to be here I'm okay and I'm with Ken so he's given me
strength well thank you through everything life goes on you have to keep it going this case is about probably over a
hundred victims that that lost their lives because of Mr Bundy as time moves forward the hope is
that it will be the women not Bundy who are remembered he's not to be glorified he's to be
damned they were important people they were people just like me living breathing people that had Futures
and they're gone and we only remember this inhuman thing for Kathy and Karen the sorority
sisters they lost are always with them I think about them occasionally when I'm with my grandchildren or when I had
children I wonder what their lives would have been like what they would have done I feel that because I survived Ted
Bundy and there were so many victims that didn't I don't want to take that that opportunity I was given and not do
good with it I want to be sure that I keep going for them Ted Bundy confessed to at least 30
murders but it is believed he may have killed over a hundred women in at least six
[Music] states did a couple's massive home renovation Project Lead to murder did
you guys get into an argument m is it possible that without this house Shanti might still be alive I think that's
completely true 48 Hours next on [Music] CBS

"48 Hours" Live to Tell: Notorious serial killer Ted Bundy targeted three young Florida women in one of his final attacks. They survived, and share their terrifying ordeal and long road to recovery.”48 Hours” correspondent Tracy Smith reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Survivors recount Ted Bundy's 1978 attacks at FSU and their recovery journeys.

Key points

The Attack. Kathy Kleiner recalls the terrifying night she was attacked in her sorority house.
The Aftermath. The survivors grapple with their injuries and the impact of the attack on their lives.
Facing the Attacker. Kathy prepares to testify against Ted Bundy, confronting her fears head-on.
Bundy's Conviction. After a tense trial, the jury finds Bundy guilty on all counts, sealing his fate.
Kathy's Journey of Healing. Kathy Kleiner shares her story of survival and healing after the traumatic events.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I thought it was a pipe or a stick.

Kathy's initial reaction to the attacker's weapon.

2:09WatchMar 12, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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