Ted Bundy and The Green River Killer | Forensic Files

[Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Welcome to True Crime Garage. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, thanks
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[Music] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] In Seattle this morning, police are hunting a mass murderer believed to have
killed as many as 21 prostitutes in the last 22 months. David Burrington reports.
been called the Green River Killer. Ever since the first bodies, five of them were pulled from this river. Since then,
seven more bodies have been discovered nearby. All those of young prostitutes, according to police, and the number of
missing increases steadily. Two were added to the list this week. All the victims worked this strip near the
Seattle airport, crammed with hotels, motel, and strip joints. Angry residents are demanding police do more to stop the
killings. One young prostitute who operates along the strips said she's terrified every time she's picked up.
>> I don't know. I'm just I guess I'm just lucky, but I never came across that certain freak.
Police say the victims are similar. Runaways, very young, disturbed. Most were strangled, their bodies left new. A
police task force has little hard evidence, but it thinks a single psychopathic killer is responsible.
However, it would be illogical and improper from an investigative perspective to become that tunnel vision
and exclude the possibility of any copycat crimes or the possibility of a multiple suspect. Police suspect other
prostitutes might be able to provide leads, but because of their profession, they've been uncooperative.
David Burrington, NBC News, Seattle. [Music] Police in Washington State believe they
found the remains of another victim of the so-called Green River killer. The victim identified Monday as 17-year-old
Cindy Anne Smith was last seen in March of 1984. Police believe that Smith is the killer's 37th known victim. All of
them women ranging from 16 to 36 years of age. The murders began in summer of 1982, and since then, an army of
detectives and a multi-million dollar computer system have been unable to crack the case.
[Music] In this country, in Washington state, still another victim has been identified
in the nation's longest list of unsolved murders. The Green River killings. 37 women have died, nine missing, all
thought to be victims of the same killer. John Sander of KNGTV in Seattle has the latest.
>> It was a familiar routine for the Green River Task Force, sifting through any
remaining evidence at a site where someone, in this case three young boys, had stumbled across human remains. After
the passage of 3 years, they would not find much more than a skeleton. Late Monday, the remains would be identified
as those of 17-year-old Cindy Anne Smith, last seen in March 1984 hitchhiking from her mother's home to
that of her sister in Seattle. She is victim number 37. Cindy disappeared from a strip of
highway south of Seattle, where no fewer than 18 other young women, mostly prostitutes, dropped out of sight
beginning in the summer of 1982. The first grizzly discoveries of their bodies was along the picturesque Green
River, hence the name that has come to represent untold horror to many in the Northwest. The Green River murders have
included victims ranging in age from 16 through 36. Most of their bodies have been recovered in wilderness dumping
grounds in groups of two, three, and up to seven. The Green River Task Force has
employed up to 50 full-time detectives and a multi-million dollar computer system to crack the case. They have
served at least two search warrants, but as of this morning, the killer remains unidentified. And Cindy Smith's
disappearance was the last one in this area 3 years ago. John Sander for NBC News in Seattle.
In Seattle. in Seattle. Seattle. [Music] It's the early 80s and Ted Bundy is safe. Let's say safe behind bars, right?
He was convicted of killing the girls at the Ka Omega sorority house. Not only was he seen in the area prior to the
crimes, but he was also seen fleeing the Kyomega sorority house with the uh weapon that he used to attack the women.
>> Yeah, the oak log. >> And then he goes on to represent himself in trial for these murders. and he
thinks things are going his way, but everybody else has a better perception of what's actually taking place.
>> Well, everybody else is not a sociopath and a psychopath. >> And not only do we have the eyewitnesses
that see him fleeing, but uh one thing that's presented in court is he had bit one of the girls while he was in the
sorority house. One of the young women that he attacked, he bit her. And they were able to use the his dental records
to show that it was he in fact who had caused that wound. >> You mean Theodore Bundy?
>> Yeah. >> Not him, but Theodore Bundy. >> Yeah. So, let's say he's safe behind
bars. And he's on death row in Florida. >> But Bundy's never safe behind bars because this like this guy is a slippery
cat, right? >> Yeah. He escaped twice uh prior to this. And thank God he never escaped again.
And finally, they must have taken him seriously and saw him for exactly what he is and what we described him as the
devil in disguise. And he is behind bars on death row in Florida. Well, in early
uh in the early 80s, this would be July 15th, 1982. There is a body that is found floating in the Green River. This
is near uh Seattle, Washington. >> And this is where Bundy is from. >> Yeah. He started his murders in the
state of Washington. and very close to this site as well. Now, this body is spotted um by a civilian and it's
underneath a bridge, but it's a river. You know, this is moving water, so you wouldn't always expect to see something
just floating there. You would think the water would carry it. However, this body
was snagged on growth u you know, things that were growing in the river at the time.
>> Mhm. >> And this would end up being Wendy Lee Caulfield. um and she disappeared July
7th, 1982. So she disappeared just 8 days before her body is found. Now in a very short time they would end up
finding five bodies in the same river. And again, this is the Green River. And this is how this unknown serial killer
gets his name, the Green River killer. Now, this killer would have to be killing with such frequency with with
with an an exceedingly quick frequency because shortly after they find the body of Wendy Koffield, they find the these
other four bodies. Well, in one situation, they find two bodies uh in the water and then in another situation
there's a body that is spotted and the police go down to investigate to pull the body from the river and try to
figure out what's going on. Well, in the course of pulling that body from the river, one of the officers uh and this
is uh Lieutenant Riker, he he actually practically steps on another body as he's going to as they're working to get
this other body out. So, as said, they pull five bodies uh within a short time period in the 1982s back uh out of the
Green River. Well, and at this point they're probably thinking, you know, just because of the proximity
that these are all connected. So now we have a bigger problem. We have a serial killer on our hands.
>> Yeah. These these are all women that were either sex workers or expect or thought to be runaways.
>> Uh so people that might have been living a higher risk style lifestyle. Um, and
>> yeah, but you hear in the trailer, I mean, even back then, um, they viewed the sex workers as almost this low lower
level human. I mean, there were they said some degrading stuff just in the news broadcast.
>> Yeah. And I think at in that area of the country, you know, there are a lot of
sex workers. Well, there were back then. I don't know currently what's going on.
Uh, but this was it was something, you know, when they found a dead woman somewhere, whether it be on the side of
the road or in in the river or near the woods or in the woods, there were so many sex workers that they almost kind
of just have assumed immediately that this is another, you know, another sex worker that's been killed. Now, shortly
after this, the killings would not stop with these five. But what would take place is they stopped finding bodies in
the river and started finding them near the river in wooded areas. >> Right? >> October 1st, 1984,
there is a man on death row that is Theodore Bundy that we talked about in Florida and he writes a letter to what
is now the Green River Task Force. Um, and let's keep in mind, one of one of the people that were involved in Ted's
case that was hunting Ted Bundy and couldn't get to him fast enough, >> right, >> was Robert Keell. And now he would, I
think I may have misspoke in one of our earlier TED episodes and said that he was a FBI agent, but he, in fact, he was
a a detective for King County and he would go on to work for the attorney general's office in uh in the state of
Washington. M. So naturally, this would bring him after Ted's locked up and and put away in Florida. This this puts
Robert Keell in a situation where he's assisting in the Green River uh case and he's a part of that task force. Now,
there were a lot of people involved in this case and a lot of detectives. This this almost mirrors Bundy's
investigation. Remember we talked about all these officers, >> the Ted murders. >> Yeah. working together and they're
they're taking in all these tips and all these clues and then they had to figure
out a way to categorize everything so that they could efficiently go through the information and try to link things
together. Well, this is similar where when they found one body, you might have one detective on the case and then
there's two more bodies. Well, we've got to pull in some more detectives. Right.
And after you find body after body after body, then you you have this whole group
uh assisting in it and and you know, largely this is the Green River task force.
>> Yeah. And well, and the fact that with the Ted murders, you know, especially when there's a murder taking place in
one area of the country and then there's a murder taking place in another area of
the country, you have now multiple task force, not just detectives. >> Yeah. And so he he writes this letter.
Theodore Bundy writes this letter to the Green River Task Force and he's basically saying, you know what, I'm
from that area >> and you know who I am and maybe I can offer some some insight.
>> Sorry to laugh. >> Well, I I only say that because I don't know what at the time what he is willing
to say of him and his crimes. >> Mhm. >> But clearly they know who he is and things he's been capable of. and he
knows that they've hunted him for so long and he's saying, you know, maybe I can offer some insight to help you find
this person. >> And maybe at this point, you know, you know, Ted denied his involvement, then
he defends himself and now he's in jail. He's on death row. Maybe at this point he is just coming to the terms that this
is who I am. This is what I've done. I might as well just accept it. >> Yeah. I see. I go back and forth with
where I think Ted's head was at at this time because remember we said there was that rumor that he had spoken to his
attorney and asked about, you know, what state would they put most likely put you
to death, right? >> And they the attorney said Florida. And then Ted ends up in Florida and committ
>> and and also crimes that he wasn't that careful about >> all the other stuff. It seemed like he
was these this seemed like a a murderous rampage. Yeah. Yeah, >> in the Kyhoga or Kayamega uh killings,
it seemed like just a crazy rampage and that set it he set himself up to, you know, for people to be able to find
weapon the the the murder weapon and for them to have eyewitnesses. So, it really
did seem like I'm just committing this crime so then this state can put me to death.
>> Yeah, possibly. I mean that that's the thought is if he did in fact go there with that intention then he was a man
that had a death wish. Um I personally think that beforehand you know he was he was kind of dabbling in killing. He was
killing one at a time and then this was like an addict that that ends up binge killing uh once he gets to Florida. uh
he offers his assistance and he went in the beginning, you know, they're especially Keell, he's a little he's a
little concerned about talking to Ted. They definitely all the investigators do want to talk to him. However, they know
how >> how manipulating and what a liar and in >> con man. Yeah. Yeah. >> That Ted Bundy is. So, their first
thought is, you know what, he's just going to try to play us one more time. He just wants us to go all the way to
Florida. I mean, you couldn't get any more further in the United States almost when you talk about Washington State all
the way down to Florida. Yeah. >> He just wants us to stop what we're doing, go all the way down to Florida
and talk to him and he's just going to BS us and give us the runaround for, you know, days and days and days.
And however, there's this thought that you know what, even if he does try to play us, maybe we
could go down there and even if we don't learn anything about the Green River Killer, maybe we can learn some things
about Ted Bundy because now keep in mind there are still B to this day there are
bodies of Bundy's that have never been found. >> Mhm. And so they thought, you know, very
least case scenario, worst case scenario, we go down there and maybe we can recover some of these victims of Ted
Bundy. Yeah. On record, it seems like he confessed to about 30 some sites, some uh sources will say 35 is roughly the
Ted Bundy murder count, but you know, you know, we're not at the point where, but he's he was confessing all the way
up to his death sentence. And was that was some of those [ __ ] Who knows? But he he was constantly confessing. I
mean, his kill count could be in the 40s, 50s. Who knows? >> Well, and the the thing that makes me
wonder about the death wish is I always thought that this was a way for Ted Bundy to delay his death sentence. That,
okay, now he's on death row and he, you know, the the end date is coming. It's it's approaching. And I could only
imagine how fast that seems to approach for somebody that can you imagine knowing the day and time that you're
going to die. >> Mhm. That would be awful. >> So, well, and he deserves every minute,
right? Definitely. >> He definitely deserves every minute of it, but it's a strange situation to try
try to put yourself in that mindset. So, he's down there and now you know what? How can he delay his death sentence,
>> right? So, is he just talking to this task force, you know, in order to delay
the ne the then inevitable? >> Yeah. And I mean, he could say, you know, I can I can help you with this
case. Uh I can also assist you with finding some of the bodies that that I'm in charge of that were, you know, things
that I have done now. Um, but but Ted ever being the con man, you know, he's going to when you start talking to him
about bodies and stuff like that, he's he's never really willing to fully divulge everything that he knows. He's
always got to keep something to himself. You know, one of his confessions states,
now we got to keep in mind here when he's on death row in Florida, >> and to this date, you know, even before
he was executed, he was never convicted of every single one of his crimes. Um, so one thing he would do, there's
there's one confession he gave which I always found interesting was he would say, you know, in Washington I killed 11
women and young girls, right? I killed 11 girls and young women. >> Uh, here's eight of their names. You
know, that's the kind of confessions Ted Bundy would give. He's never going to give you everything. He's going to hold
on to something. Um, and the other thing too is >> Well, then the question also becomes,
did he even know all the victim's names? >> Well, and the other thing he would do
is, you know, I, oh, I can help lead you to these bodies, but, you know, I was driving a lot back then. I committed
these crimes in multiple states. You know, you're going to have to give me something. and you're going to have to
provide me with some maps and I'm going to need some information from you and maybe you could show me some of the case
file and I could I that might help uh jog my memory so I can I can tell you where this body would be located and
help you find it. >> And maybe he was also using this, you know, even if he wasn't involved in the
case. I mean, you know, he he had this love of reading the detective books and stuff like that. Maybe some of this was
just a way to have resources. you're in this cell >> and you're for entertainment. Hey, I I
keep talking to these police and they keep writing me and they keep visiting me and they keep calling me and it's
something to do. >> Well, and one thing that he did when he was younger, you know, before the well,
probably when these crimes first started for Ted back in Washington was he, you know, we talked about him working on the
crisis hotline. You know, people could call in that were suicidal or or having, you know, a crisis. Um, but he also
worked on some form of uh it wasn't like a task force, but he did like paperwork
for uh rapes and sexual assaults and things like that. So, he was kind of studying these these attacks as he was
out committing them. >> Well, and he might get some kind of sexual gratification or sexual stimulus.
>> Oh, he definitely from reading this stuff. Yeah, he he had all kinds of motives for wanting to quote unquote
help the police. He he definitely had all kinds of weird Ted Bundy motives for why why he was doing this.
>> I mean, like I said before and I and I'll say it again. I mean, not a not I never found him that interesting. And
then we started diving into him and he is complete he's a complete monster and he's super fascinating, you know, and
that's not to try to glorify him because I think he's scum of the earth, but I mean this guy had some layers. Well,
they went down there with the expectation that maybe we'll talk, you know, we'll go down there, we'll talk
with them once or maybe over the course of a day or two and just see what's going on and then if if it is what we
think it is where Ted's trying to play us and just, you know, mess with our minds, then we're just going to get out
of there and ignore it. However, we have a duty to do and if there is somebody that knows this person definitely knows
more about murder than the investigators that are investigating murder, right? So
we we would be doing a disservice to our investigation and to the people of this
community if we don't talk to him. And furthermore, as said, Ted was from the area. He knew the area. This was a guy
that was constantly driving and he was putting bodies in the woods as well. And that's what happened with the Green
River Killer. He started off putting the bodies in the water and then he started
putting them in the wooded areas near the river. >> Well, let's get into that right after a
quick beer break. All right, cheers everybody. Back into the garage. >> Cheers. The investigators that are
researching the Green River killer and trying to apprehend this man, uh, they are down in Florida and they're going to
be talking with Theodore Bundy, somebody that knows murder better than most. Um and and they want to well here's they're
going to sit down and they want to approach him and explain to him that we are only here to talk to you to see if
you can help with this investigation. We're not going to put up with any of your shenanigans. We're not going to
play any of your games. We don't want to hear a whole lot of Bundy talk. We are here to see how you can help us
apprehend this guy. and they they almost come off a little like they they give him the impression of we don't really
believe you can help us like what can you offer us which which I think is smart. I think that's how you challenge
somebody like a Ted Bundy, you know, because Ted likes to show his bravado and he likes to show how in intelligent
he is and how smart he is. And so to challenge him almost makes him >> well, he's a narcissist.
>> Well, it corrals him a bit, right? It corrals him a bit and it and it makes him uh he's going to have to talk about
the things that you want. He's going to have to hold your interest or you're going to leave. You have you have no
reason to talk to him other than this investigation. >> Um they they would talk for hours and
hours and hours and we're not going to talk for hours and hours and hours. So I will sum up some of the
>> Yes, we are. That's what we do. That's that's our job. Well, I'm going to sum up for you uh
some of the some of the bits of information that Theodore Bundy offers to the Green River Task Force. Now, the
first thing that they he says to them, now keep in mind >> the green the riverman, we have to talk
about the riverman, right? Because that's what Bundy starts to call the Green River killer. He refers to him as
the riverman, right? And the investigators talking to Bundy, they will they will adopt this nickname and
refer to him as the Riverman. >> Just not a fan of nicknames, you know. >> So Bundy says that that the Riverman
>> Mhm. >> his first MMO was that he would get these girls, and again, most of them are
sex workers or presumed runaways. and he would get these girls, pick them up on the strip somewhere, and then he would
take them, we don't know where, and he would kill them, and they would end up in the river. Well, after the first
five, we start to see him, he's changed what he's adapted a little bit. He's now
putting the bodies in the woods and near the river. And they were having a hard time finding these bodies, but when they
would come across one, they would usually come across a second or a third as well. So, he's dumping them in what
what Bundy would refer to as clusters. Now, Bundy, it's been speculated that Bundy probably did the same thing uh
when he would when he would un unload a body or two that they would end up in these cluster dumps.
>> Yeah. And if you if you're watching the killing season, they talk about this with the Gilgo Beach murders.
>> Mhm. And one thing that Bundy says is that you you may want to uh know that he
is probably the riverman is probably returning and visiting these victims after death,
>> right? >> And he's and he wouldn't say why, but he's saying that they probably would
visit them and spend some time with the body. Well, what we know about Bundy is he would, and this is going to be
graphic, but he would have sex with the victims after they're dead. Uh, he was also known to sometimes put makeup on
them. Um, so that's where Bundy's coming from on this idea. Again, if you know, I
don't mean to bring up the killing season again, but some people use it as like a trophy room. Here's my cluster of
bodies. So when I come back to visit, I don't have to, you know, go a mile here and a mile there to see two different
victims. I put them close enough to each other. So when I go, I can go look at my
trophies. >> Well, the the other thing, too, is that the killer can return to the dump site
not only to have sex with the corpse, but to also kind of see what's going on. Has the is the body gone? Is has it been
moved? has there been any activity in this area since the last time I've been here? And so, it's kind of a way of
checking on what's going on as well as doing these other activities. Now, at the time,
this really was some helpful insight to the investigators because this is not something that they considered with the
Green River Killer and it also taught them something about Bundy at the same time. That's when they started figuring
out Bundy was returning to his victims and he was spending time what he called spending time with the bodies. And one
thing to to kind of underline what the captain was saying that we know about Ted Bundy was one of the sisters of of
his victims, a sister of one of his victims identified the body and noticed that there was makeup and finger paint
on >> on the girl's nails and on Yeah, nail polish. Sorry. And >> finger paint. Well, actually the book I
was ref reading referred to it as fingerpaint. >> They called it fingerpaint really.
>> Yeah. Uh well these were written by by police officers that written by a man.
He's like, "Hey honey, are you over there fingerpainting yourself?" >> But there was there was lipstick and
there was makeup and there was fingernail polish that did not belong to the victim. And even though her
belongings disappeared with her, >> it you know, he didn't use the he used some other, you know, fingernail polish,
some other makeup that wasn't hers. So, we know that he was doing these things. Another method of detection that Ted
Bundy was offering to the police was he was saying that this person, this killer
is obsessed with sex and violence. And so if you are desperate, you know, if you are in fact as desperate as you are
telling me you are in this investigation, you may want to set up some kind of surveillance operation
outside of of uh pornography theaters or um theaters that are showing these these
horrible uh horror flicks, you know, where there's a slasher film >> because back in the day you would
actually have to go to a theater in most cases to watch this kind of material. Yeah, they had the triple X theaters
that you could go to. And again, but we know with these type of killers that they have this this mental uh proclivity
about them that where they have it's sex and violence and it's violence and sex and it's all wrapped up in one. It's all
in one big convoluted mess for them. Some of them cannot >> cannot get it up without the violence in
the sex. Some of them cannot they they cannot achieve whatever they're looking for. They can't be gratified without the
sex and the violence all mixed up into one. And this I don't think that this was so helpful as much as the returning
to the bodies. >> Yeah, but it gives you Right. Well, well, you got the returning to the
bodies, but you it gives you a a place to start looking. >> Uh the the officers and Ted Bundy are
not always going to agree on everything. And actually, one of the arguments they
got into was the Green River Task Force, they they reached a point in the investigation where they thought that
the killings had stopped because they were finding bodies with such frequency >> and then all of a sudden they're not
finding bodies and they wanted to know, you know, Ted Bundy, why would this guy stop? Why would he stop killing? We're
not finding anybody. >> And Ted says, you know, he's not stopped killing. and they said, "Yeah, we know
that he has. We haven't found any new bodies." No, they've not stopped. He's not stopped killing. Ted insisted that
what had actually happened is that the killer had adapted and that either he was dumping them in places where you
just couldn't find the bodies or he's slightly changed his victimology where he's no longer focusing on sex workers.
Maybe he's gone after a younger victim or now he's only going after delinquents or people that are, you know, young
runaways. >> Well, we also see with serial killers also, they they get invested in their
own life, family life or personal matters, work. Sometimes they get involved in different things and that
that's also a reason why sometimes there's breaks in the killings. And later on, we would learn that two of
those statements were in fact true. Uh that uh the Green River killer did in fact start seeking out younger victims
for a period of time. The other thing, this is this is where the police thought they were going to get their big break,
and I really think that they would have. However, there's there's outside factors
that can screw things up in an investigation. Mhm. >> Now, you know, remember Bundy gave him
the tidbit of the the killer's probably returning to the crime scene and he's probably returning to the crime scene
and and spending time with the bodies. >> Yeah. Which is sick. >> So Ted says, "If you really want to
catch this guy, this is what I would do. The next time you find a body, do not announce it to anybody. Do not tell
anybody that you found a body." Mhm. >> Furthermore, don't even remove the body.
Don't move it at all because if you if you move it at all, he will know >> what you should do is is leave the body
alone and you should stake out the area and wait for him to return. Now, this might take this might take days. It
could, you know, >> it could take months. Yeah. >> And he and he may not be coming back
there just to spend time with that body. It could take months. He could be coming
back to put another body there. >> Right. It could be the start of a cluster. Yeah.
>> Well, the police are going to use this tactic and I really think this would have worked. However, there was there's
an outside factor involved in this investigation and as with most investigations, especially one of this
size, it's the media. >> Well, what had happened was they had found a body and they had every
intention of just staking out the area and waiting for the killer to return. However, once they started their
stakeout and surveilling the area, media somehow got a hold of it. I don't think
that they knew in fact that there was a body there, but they saw police activity
out in these areas that were were compatible with what the Green River killer was doing,
>> right? >> And they basically the the police are trying to surveil the area and the media
is trying to surveil them. >> Yeah. They're trying to figure out why the cops are there. So unfortunately,
this is going to shut down that operation. They're not going to be able to sit there and watch this body and
watch this area as they're being watched by the media. And you know how the media
are. If if there's one person from the media that starts watching you, well then they, you know, it's they're like
vultures. They you start seeing the second and then a third and it kind of kind of gives you away. It kind of calls
your bluff there, right? Uh so real quick here, these are some things that that uh Ted Bundy was able to assist the
Green River task force with. Uh he had mentioned that the person would return to the dump site and that he would
potentially spend time with the bodies. He's going to come back there to dump other bodies because he's do using this
cluster dump uh as Ted would call it. And later we would hear other serial killers call this as well as a cluster
dump. Um he had also suggested that that sex and violence is all one big thing for this guy and this is really all this
guy thinks about and fantasizes about and so if you are desperate then maybe you check out who's coming and going
from triple X theaters or slasher films. Um, the other thing he would he would talk about, and this is something that
we talked about when we were discussing Ted Bundy in the last episode, is he said, you know, you are looking for
somebody that drives a lot, that is constantly in their vehicle. You're looking for somebody that that might
have to acquire new vehicles more often than one would be expected because he's putting so many miles and so much wear
and tear on a vehicle. You're looking for somebody that might need to replace the tires very often. in in their
vehicle uh or has access to multiple vehicles. >> The other thing, and now this was
something that the Green River task force already knew and they had already implemented in their investigation, was
that Bundy said this is somebody that is very comfortable around sex workers, meaning that he was a John, that he was
probably a John before he started killing. And at other times, he might be a John and not pick up a woman and kill
her. He he might he might return her to where he picked her up from, right? Uh that sometimes he's killing and
sometimes he's not. But he's somebody that they are they're not afraid of seeing him on the strip and seeing him
where he's picking up these young women, which is a statement that we knew to be
true, something that we knew would hold water because the task force, they believed, you know, once once the uh TV
started telling everybody, the the news and the media and the newspapers started
announcing that these sex workers are being picked up and they're being killed and they're being dumped in river and
then in the woods. They really believed that the killings would stop. Why? Because at some point the the working
girls would quit getting into vehicles. And they >> Yeah, but that's not going to happen.
>> Well, you and I know that. And back then they didn't know that that this was just
something they expected because they thought, well, this is this is as bad as it can get. And so what they did,
>> these workers are already living a super high-risk life anyways. But the investigators even took it a step
further where they went down to the strip and they were telling the other they were telling the workers what was
going on. You know, this is the stuff we're seeing. We're looking for a very bad man. It could be two. You know, they
at the beginning they didn't even rule out the possibility of there being two killers because the killings were
happening happening so fast and so often >> and they thought, you know, once we once
we inform the community as to what's going on that this is going to slow the killer or it's going to scare the killer
or it's going to scare the victims, the potential victims that would get in his vehicle.
It becomes obvious to the investigators that after a while that while they're asking Ted Bundy to help them look for
the Green River killer, they also start to figure out that sometimes Bundy's referring to himself.
>> And what we mean by this is that, you know, it it's not Bundy saying, "Oh, you're looking for a 5 foot10 white guy
and he lives in this neighborhood and he's married or he's divorced or whatever." He's not giving a specific
profile of the person. He's just saying, you know, judging by the victims, the number of victims, and where the bodies
are located, this is what I think this guy is doing. And he can only he can only surmise what this guy is doing by
either guessing, you know, what the what the killer's movements might be or by going back in his own history and
referring to things that he done or things that he would do in this situation. >> Yeah.
>> So, at some point they realize that that in some form he's talking about himself.
And that's how, you know, they they really find out some more of the details about, you know, Bundy with the
necroilia and uh where he, you know, and why he left the areas that he left and and searching new areas and the way that
he would find new victims. They're able to study a lot of Bundy's movements from
Bundy's own words. And at some point, too, they they need to start having Bundy tell us where these other victims
are of his. you know, where can we find some of these bodies? And he will start to tell the the investigators where to
find them and tell as much as he can. >> Well, I think that's because he couldn't
help himself. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think and you can see it pretty clearly, you know, when you watch
some of these old interviews that he does enjoy talking about himself. He enjoys the FaceTime. He likes sitting
down and he likes people hanging on his every word. Mhm. >> Um, and at some point there's, you know,
he's he's got to, you know, speak about specific victims and mention their names
and where they can be found and things that he did to them and how he abduct abducted them. And that's why when you
have these situations with these victims that were not found at the time or the victims that uh were unable, there are
no eyewitnesses and they didn't escape, so they can't give us an account of what
happened. This is why we know that, you know, he was using things like uh pretending to have a broken arm, you
know, uh and things that he would do to his vehicle and ways of abducting these young women. So, we have Ted Bundy
trying to help this uh law enforcement with the capture of the Green River killer. He was not successful, but he
gave him a bunch of information and some leads. He also talks more about himself
and his crimes, but we still have this thing looming over Ted Bundy. He's going to be sentenced to death by the state of
Florida. But before doing so, he does a lengthy interview. >> Mhm. >> Um with a lawyer, I believe, or uh
>> I believe this was with James Dobson. >> Yeah. Yeah. And so what what was interesting about this was it's about 20
30 minute interview maybe longer but the what they actually the tape the footage
of it they released to all media outlets but there was a stipulation you had to show it in its entirety but we're going
to play a little clip from that so you can hear uh a little bit of this interview but also just uh Ted Bunny's
demeanor and and kind of hear his own words. You know, if I were able to ask you the
questions that are being asked out there, >> uh, one of the most important as you
come down to perhaps your final hours, are you thinking about all those victims out there and their families?
>> Well, >> who are so wounded, you know, years later, their lives have not returned to
normal. They will never return to normal. >> Absolutely. >> Are you carrying that load, that weight?
Is the remorse there? Again, I I know that people will accuse me of being self- serving, but we're beyond
that now. I mean, I'm just telling you how I feel. But through God's help, I have been able
to come to the point where I much too late, but better late than never, feel the hurt and the pain that I
am responsible for. Yes, absolutely. In the past few days, myself and a number of investigators have been talking about
unsolved cases, murders that I was involved in. And it's hard to it's hard to talk about all
these years later because it revives in me all those terrible feelings and those
thoughts that I have steadfastly and and and diligently dealt with, I think successfully with the love
of God. And yet it's reopened that and I felt the pain and I felt the horror again of
all that. And I can only hope that those who I have harmed, those who I've caused so much grief,
even if they don't believe my expression of sorrow and remorse, will believe what I'm saying now that
there is loose in their towns and their communities. People like me today whose dangerous impulses are being
fueled day in and day out by violence in the media in its various forms particularly sexualized violence
and what scares me and let's come into the present now because what I'm talking about happened 30 20 30 years ago that
is in my formative stages and what scares and appalls We Dr. Dobson is when I see what's on cable TV,
some of the movies, I mean, some of the violence in the movies uh that come into
homes today was stuff that they they wouldn't show in x-rated adult theaters 30 years ago. This stuff,
>> the slasher movies that you're talking about, >> that stuff is, I'm telling you from
personal experience, the most that is graphic violence on screen, particularly as it gets into the home to children who
may be unattended or or unaware that they may be a Ted Bundy who has that that vulnerability to that that
predisposition to be influenced by that kind of behavior, by that kind of of movie, that kind of violence.
>> That was Ted Bundy's last interview with James Dobson. And it took place, as you
heard James say, you know, in the final hours leading up to your death. That's because several of his uh death
sentences had been delayed because he was helping investigators and he was giving them information. At some point,
he was no longer able to buy additional time. And he he was executed the next day. And one thing you should look up or
or look into if if you want to dive further into this case, but there was when the date that he was killed, this
was in January of 1989. You I have never seen in my opinion a time where more people were backing the
death penalty than in this situation. It was, you know, it was like a nationwide
almost celebration uh that they were going to finally put this horrible man to death, right? And it's actually been
referred to as the Bundy barbecue because back then in in Florida, I don't know what means of of death sentence
that they use nowadays, but uh back then they were >> pro probably lethal injection.
>> Yeah. They were using the electric chair back then. So they referred to it as the
Bundy barbecue, but there was a party going on outside of the prison. And you can look this up. There's, you know,
people holding signs that were were celebrating the death of this horrible man. And it almost looked like a
football tailgate uh outside of the prison at that time. A big a big party of people getting together, drinking
beer, cooking food, and and like rallying around together. Well, and it's kind of sad in a way because here's this
guy that he's even confessing to crimes on the way to the chair and and the reason why I think it's sad is, you
know, maybe extend the time a little bit further and maybe get some closure for the other victim's families.
>> Yeah, I I can see your point of view with that and and I would agree with that most of the time. I but I do think
that at times he was refusing information. >> Right. Right. And he was he was playing
them at times. You know, we had said that, you know, he would say things like, "Well, I can help you find this
body, but I'm going to need you to provide me with maps and and some information on the case." And these were
things of him of of him saying, you know, I can help you, but you're going to have to go away for a few days and
come back with some information for me, and then let's see what I can give you. Um, so he wasn't always willing to just
outright answer everything. Like we said, he confessed to the deaths of 11 women in the state of Washington and was
only willing to give the names of eight of them, >> right? >> Um, and we have some curiosity to whom
some of those other victims could be. You know, there was a a a what's been referred to as his neighbor. Um, her
name was Anne Burr. Uh, and uh, she had lived with within a few miles of Bundy when he was 14 or 15 years old. and he's
often been suspected of killing her, you know. >> Yeah. She was the one that um her piano
instructor was actually his uncle >> was his uncle or or his uncle lived in the neighborhood.
>> No, I believe she she took piano lessons from the uncle. So there was this direct
link. >> So he may may have even met her or have slightly known her. But basically
somebody came into their home in the middle of the night. The parents were home. They someone came into the home in
the middle of the night, slipped through a window, and when they woke up the next
morning, they couldn't find their daughter Anne, and I don't believe that her body has ever been located. She
could be one of those three people that he was refusing to name in his confessions.
>> I believe she was eight, and he was possibly around the age of 15 or so. I could be wrong.
>> Yep. So, uh, you know, check out the Bundy barbecue, uh, if you want to see those pictures. But let's let's go back
and let's talk about the Green River Killer. >> Okay. Uh, who was the Green River
Killer? Well, this investigation, as much as Bundy tried to help them or or was pretending to help them,
>> uh this investigation basically took about 20 years, you know, it was almost 20 years looking for the killer and it
was about 20 years to uh put some of these cases to to bed because they were still looking for bodies in the early
2000s. now. And what took place was in the late summer of 2001, they started going back and testing a
lot of the evidence that they found at some of these crime scenes and on some of the victim's bodies,
>> right, for DNA and stuff like that. >> Correct. And the first the first link that they find, they're using they're
testing sperm and they they determined that this man Gary Ridgeway uh he had left his DNA uh inside and on some of
these victim's bodies. Now, they were they were also able to collect other evidence at the crime scenes that they
were able to link him to some of the bodies where he did not leave DNA. Now, what what's interesting here is that
back in the early8s, they are these investigators and we got to take our hats off to these guys and girls because
they out there collecting evidence that they don't even know if they're ever going to be able to use it for anything.
but not only collecting it, but per pres preserving it properly for for decades.
And it ends up coming back and it ends up finding the guy that they've been looking for for so long.
>> Mhm. >> In 2001, Gary Ridgeway, he confessed to killing 71 young women and girls. Now,
as we said, most of these were se sex workers. Some of them were thought to be runaways and other type of delinquents.
However, he confesses to 71. He's only ended up convicted of 49. Now, they would spend the next approximately 2
years with the assistance of Gary Rididgeway to locate some of these bodies. As we said, a lot of these
bodies were not located at the time. And actually, still to this date, uh, last,
you know, they haven't found all of these supposed 71 bodies. Um, is he just coming up with a number? Is he wrong?
Um, he could be he could be he he's actually said several statements where he has killed so many women that he
cannot remember their names or where he found them or where he left them. >> Um, so it's possible. I do believe that
that personally I believe that that number is going to be higher than 49. Now, last I heard local law enforcement,
King County law enforcement, they are no longer looking for these bodies. as said
they spent about two years with his assistant assistance locating a lot of these bodies. They are no longer doing
that. Part of that comes down to you know it's the it's the economy of the whole thing. At some point you don't
have enough money to be spending that amount of resources and that amount of time looking for these bodies which is
unfortunate for a lot of the victim's families and the victims themselves. But, you know, these these investigators
and the King County Police Department, they have other cases on their desk today that they're looking into. Now
there was um there is a gentleman uh he's retired uh I believe retired military investigator and he has opened
up his own um search team and they are working to find some of these other bodies and they've actually been able to
work with Gary Ridgeway himself. He has he has tried to give them some clues and
some tips as to where they might find these bodies. And >> yeah, and it's not like he's in there
holding the information hostage. He just doesn't remember a lot of the stuff. >> Right. Well, and actually
>> or that's what we can assume. Actually, I came across a list that he provided to
these uh to these searchers and to this group uh where he basically has listed as many names as he can recall and
approximate dates that he believes that he abducted these women >> as well as you know did he leave them
nude? Did he leave them with any clothing on? Um I don't know his I don't know the his reasoning for wanting to
help. Um, I I don't think that he feels bad about any of this stuff. I don't think that he's found God uh and wants
to become right with God or anything like that. I actually think that I think that it's a numbers game for him because
in in a later statement, even though he has confessed to 71 killings, he did say, you know, when when asked why he is
helping in this search, he has said because he wants to prove that there are 80 victims out there. So now his numbers
gone up even higher. He's now saying 80. And I think for him that he wants to be
he is technically America's most prolific killer of all time. And I think he's proud of his number. And I think he
wants that number to be as high as possible, >> right? And he's trying to prove it by
doing, you know, it's like right now it's like, oh, well, it's just we're just speculating that this is the
number. He's like, no, no, we can prove it. >> Now, what were some things that that Ted
Bundy got right about Gary Ridgeway? Uh well he was right. Gary was returning to
the victims and he was spending time with the bodies. Um now how Gary started off and we don't have you know we're
we're coming towards the end of our show here. Uh but to give you a little background on the Green River killer you
know he started killing back in 1982. This was after his second marriage. He was divorced uh two you know the first
time and then after the second marriage he was divorced again. He would later say that he believes that had he just
killed his second wife that he might not have killed any of these women. I don't
believe that for one no >> for one minute. Um it's it's it's just a way for these guys to blame their
actions on somebody else and on other things out of their control. >> Well, and just like you heard in the
interview, I mean like Bundy, you know, blames these murders on, you know, soft porn and stuff like that. That's not the
reason why you're killing people. you don't watch, you know, I I would just argue that, you know, how many people
millions and millions of people watch a soft uh softcore porn or something, they're not going to go out and start
murdering people. And so G Gary does the same thing. It's always coming up with these excuses.
>> You know, I was, well, if I would have just killed my second wife, then everything would have been fine. You you
killed 80 women. >> Mhm. >> You idiot. >> Like, you know, oh well, if I would have
just killed her, it would be fine. Well, but Gary Gary was always that way and he
will always be that way. I mean, when he was when he was young, when he was just
out of high school, now this is a guy, he he's not a brilliant guy. You know, Ted might be one of the smarter and more
intellectual serial killers that we've had to deal with. But that wasn't the situation with Gary Rididgeway. He w he
was good at what he was doing. He was good at eluding detectives in the investigation, but he's not a brilliant
mind. I mean, he's got an IQ of about 80 to 85, depending on uh which source you
check, but he graduated high school at the age of 20. And immediately after high school, he goes into the Navy. And
now when he's off in the Navy, he starts uh having sex with um with Filipino sex
workers when when he's out in the Navy. Now, he he contracts venerial disease because of this. And he we know this
because we can see this in his Navy records. However, what how does re he react to this? He he blames it on the
girls. You know, this is oh, it's their fault that he got this disease. And then
in 1972, he comes home from the Navy to find his wife and his wife is being unfaithful and had been unfaithful to
him while he was in the Navy and they get a divorce and he blames the divorce on her. Well, guess what? Yeah, she
might have been unfaithful, but you weren't being very faithful yourself, >> right?
um in the second uh the second marriage that he has that he ends up having a son. Uh he's not very happy about this
situation. I don't know why. Uh but they eventually divorce in 1981. And again, this is the the woman that he said he
should have killed rather than all of these other women. Uh this is when he starts killing is in 1982 shortly after
his divorce. and his his modus operendi back then is he would go pick up these girls off the strip. Now mind you, he
was just like Bundy had said in the task force uh had expected. He was already frequenting sex workers before he
started killing them. But once he starts killing them, what he would do is he would bring them back to his home and he
would kill them in his home. And now he lived in a house that is much like most people's homes where you are surrounded
by other houses and homes. And so there's no reason why uh you know somebody shouldn't have seen this
activity going on, but he would walk in the walk in his home. He didn't have a garage. He would walk in his home with
with a woman that he picked up and then he would kill her and bring her back to his vehicle and drive off and he would
dump them in the river. Now, as said, he started dumping them in the wooded areas
nearby in these cluster dumps. Remember that period of time where the they thought that the killings might have
stopped because they were no longer finding bodies, right? >> And and Bundy was saying, "No, they
haven't stopped yet." >> And Bundy was slightly right on a couple things. You know, he said he's either
changed where he's dumping them or he's changed his victimology. Well, he did do
both of those things in a sense. Uh at one point he did think that he would stop picking up sex workers and killing
them. He wanted to he did want to find runaways and delinquents. And but one thing that he definitely did was he
stopped using these cluster dumps where he would take one of the victims out into a wooded area and he was even
driving further and further away as these killings continued and just leaving them, you know, independently,
individually. So, you think after two marriages he would just stop, right? But does he get married a third time?
>> Yeah, he did get married a third time. And this is when he has to change and adapt once more. He stops killing in his
home and now he's killing in his vehicle. And he's doing this either late at night when his wife is asleep or very
early in the morning. He would get up and leave hours before he was supposed to go to work and go off and pick up a
girl, kill her, dump her, and then go to work. Now, there were some strange things that happened with this case, but
they're also similar to what we saw with the Ted murders and Ted Bundy's case, where anytime you have a large
investigation that spans months and months and months that has this number of victims, this number of potential
eyewitnesses, remember how many suspects they believe that they had in the Ted killings? They they said like 3,500
suspects and they were trying to narrow it down to the best 100 suspects. Well, very much like the Ted murders, they had
the same situation in the Green River killings where they had thousands of suspects. Thousands of suspects. But
usually in an investigation of this type and just like in Ted Bundy's, they have
usually spoke to or or have heard the name of the actual killer at some point in the investigation. Now, they were led
to Gary Ridgeway on more than one occasion. Somebody had spotted his vehicle and they had spoke with him.
Every time Gary Ridgeway was able to kind of convince them that he was not in fact the Green River Killer. And
actually, just to show you how far gone this dude is, they actually at one point
hooked him up to a lie detector test because at some point they're like, "Wait, we we've seen this guy's name
before and now we're seeing it again and there's got to be something here." But every time we talk to him, he leaves us
convinced that he's not the guy. >> Mhm. >> So, let's hook him up to a polygraph and
see what how that goes down. He passes a polygraph test because he feels no remorse. Because he feels no guilt for
these killings. He does. He's not ashamed on the inside of what he's done. He's not even nervous that you're going
to catch him in a lie because to him, he's not done anything wrong. He does not see these women as people. And he
doesn't have the same feelings and emotions that you and I have. >> And this is a reason why we put we
shouldn't put a lot of weight into polygraphs in the first place. >> Well, especially with people of this
nature, because again, he he doesn't feel and think the same way that you and I do. And and evidence of this is he
actually had his 8-year-old son present with him on one of the killings. At some
point, if you look if you look up his his victim list and see when they disappeared,
>> uh you will see a frequency that is so disturbing. It I mean it will freak you
out. This guy was killing roughly about three women a month uh during during his
peak. Now, at one of those points, he had his son for the weekend, and he was coming back from his brother's birthday
party, and he decides to pick up a a woman on the way home while his son is in the vehicle. And he walks with the
woman out into the woods. They're gone for a while. He comes back, she does not. And his son asked, "Where did the
girl go?" And he says, "Oh, she lives near here." And she decided to walk home. But he actually used his son as a
ruse to to let these women's guard down in that specific situation. He had the son with him. But he talks about because
remember we said that the the sex workers would have had a heightened state of awareness. Now keep in mind
>> these women probably have more street smarts than the police investigating the
crimes to begin with. You know, so these are not people that are easily tricked now. They're they're getting into
vehicles and they understand that there's a maniac out there that's killing women. So, they start doing
things on the street to kind of watch each other's backs and to watch their own backs,
>> right? >> But he did things like where he would, you know, the he said that at some point
the women started asking to see ID because they want to see, you know, are you a cop or, you know, show us your ID
so we know that you're a regular dude. Uh, and he would show his ID and he would purposely take his finger and
cover up his name when he would, but he would hold open his wallet so that you could see pictures of his son in the
wallet so it would let their guard down and >> Oh, right. Right. Like he has a little
boy and so >> Yeah. So, he's a family man. He's not going to hurt me. Uh, and he would
purposely leave some of his son's belongings in his vehicle as well. Now, another thing
>> that's one messed up dude. Another thing that Ted was absolutely right on and and
anybody that studied this stuff long enough, it doesn't take any, you know, Sherlock Holmes to figure this out, but
Ted was right that Gary Ridgeway was driving constantly, much like Ted was doing. You know, it we've talked, you
know, people always ask, what do these serial killers have in common? You know, is it is it they had a head injury or
was it that they wet the bed until they were 15? Or that they uh I >> I'm going to go with wet the bed
>> or that they were strangling cats or setting things on fire when they were children. What are what's the identifier
to figure out who these guys are to separate these monsters from the rest of society? Well, in my opinion, it's much
like what we talked about in the last episode. Their number one killing tool and killing weapon, in my opinion, is
their vehicle. Well, with these two gentlemen. >> With these two. But you will see this
time and time again. >> These two [ __ ] >> So, but you will see this time and time
again with a lot of killers. They are people that prowl constantly. They're driving constantly. They will go to
great distances to hide their crimes. These are people that are tearing through tires and tearing through
vehicles at at a large rate. Now, one thing that Gary did to help elude detection was he had multiple vehicles
over the course of this investigation, but he also worked as a painter. He he was a tape guy at the at the uh Kenworth
factory. Now, what was Kenworth? They would paint vehicles. So, he was often able to change the color of his vehicle
because he would just paint it a different color. Now, the strange thing here is we we had said that the
investigators had spoken to Gary on more than one occasion. Now, his co-workers knew this because he was actually picked
up at work one on one of these occasions. So, his nickname at work now, and you can you can look this up, but
there's plenty of co-workers that said, you know, he was a weird dude. He wasn't
the kind of guy, he wasn't scary, but he wasn't the kind of guy that you would go
get a beer with after work. You wouldn't invite him over to your party or to your
family get together. So he's like Nick. >> No, but they nicknamed him Green River
Gary at work. That's what they kind of called >> Green River Gary. >> Green River Gary. They would kind of
call him that behind his back. >> Why? >> Because because the police showed up to
question him about the killings, >> right? So then they're like at work and they're like
>> well yeah because from now on anytime you're taking a spoke break or you're at
lunch break the conversation is well is Gary really the killer or is he not the you know and everybody had a different
opinion but they all agreed they didn't want to hang out with him. >> Uh >> yeah and after that why I wouldn't want
to hang out with the dude either >> but Gary is always the type of of person to get even too as well. Now, one thing
he did, he would hear the co-workers snickering and calling him Green River Gary and and you know, but one thing
that he did was he would often keep some of the women's jewelry, these women that
he killed. Um, and one thing he did at work on at least one occasion was he would take the jewelry and he would
place it somewhere like somebody had dropped it, >> you know, or somebody had lost it and a
coworker picked it up and would wear it. And he would have this thing in his mind
every time that he would pass that coworker in the hall or walk by her like, "If you only knew what I know, you
know, you you guys goof around and you call me these names, yet you're wearing a dead girl's jewelry around, you know,
around the office." Some of that jewelry that he had would end up in his and his
wife. They would have these garage sales and they would sell some of the jewelry
as well as shoes of of some of the victims. in in all, you know, as said, he ended
up uh confessing to 71 and he's convicted of 49. Now, part of that he he is not on death row. You know, he's
serving a life sentence and part of that life sentence was that he would confess
to these these murders and he would help assist with the finding of those bodies.
>> So, with the Green River Killer case, um we still have a task force looking for
these bodies, still working with Gary. Um Gary has to work with him. That's his sentence. And and hopefully more
victims, they find more of the bodies and more evidence. >> Yeah. Well, he he did have to work with
law enforcement. This is a separate uh situation going on where this is a basically a company, you know, that uh
they don't work for the police department, but he is offering them some of some assistance.
>> Yeah. Right. >> But uh Yeah. Yeah. It's a it's an interesting case. Was Bundy right on on
things? Yes, he was certainly right on a handful of things. Um and then other things, you know, were were just guesses
or he was talking about himself. >> Mhm. You know, >> sad with Ted Bundy's help that they
couldn't catch Gary sooner. >> Mhm. Yeah. And you know, and I've often wondered had Ted Bundy been able to help
them like right out of the right out of the gate there and they would have been able to catch Gary Ridgeway a lot
sooner, especially what you know when Bendy Bundy was still alive within the first couple of weeks that he was
helping them. >> Would they have kept him alive longer, do you think, and used him as some kind
of investigative tool, you know, for these other big cases going on throughout the country? I I've wondered
where that would have gone had that worked out differently. >> And that's Ted Bundy.
>> Yeah. Well, Ted Bundy is one of the uh you know, he's one of the more interesting and more fascinating serial
killers, monsters that we've had to deal with and one that we've learned about through true crime and through his
crimes. Uh but one thing that makes him so interesting is, you know, his willingness at the end to discuss
these crimes, his crimes and other people's crimes with law enforcement and with the media that he is truly one that
that is the best to study. Uh how about some recommended reading before we wrap up season 3 here? Don't worry. Don't
worry. We'll be coming right back for season 4 pretty quickly. Back in the garage next week. We come back in like
uh 6 months. >> Yeah. So, we we're taking a six-month break. >> We'll be back in 6 months. Don't worry
about us. >> So, we've recommended some pretty good Ted Bundy books so far. We had uh um The
Bundy Murders by Kevin Sullivan. And last week, we recommended I Survived Ted Bundy. Uh this week, uh one of my
favorite, one of the arguably one of the best true crime authors of all time, somebody that knew Ted Bundy, of course,
Anne Rule. We're talking about Annne Rule and her book, The Stranger Beside Me. So, if you want to check out any of
our recommended books, if you want to pick one up, >> I'm actually writing a book with the
same title, Stranger Beside Me. >> If you want to pick up any of our recommended books, go to true
crimegar.com, click on the recommended page, and we have a whole smattering of books there for you to check out. And
you just click on the Amazon banner and pick up your true crime books or anything else that you want to buy for
the holiday season. You can buy anything. Uh, I just bought a nice bass fiddle. Not a bass fiddle, bass guitar.
Slap in the bass. And you can buy anything. Just go to trimerg.com, click on the Amazon banner, buy all your
gifts, and they give a little kickback to us with no charge to you. >> That's right. And we will see you back
here in 6 months in the garage. And until next time, >> 2 years and 6 months. >> Yeah. And until next time, be good, be
kind, and don't live. [Music]

Ted Bundy and the Green River Killer /// Episode: 66

TrueCrimeGarage.com

With Ted Bundy neatly tucked away in a Florida death row cell we can all just relax now right? Wrong! In 1982 the bodies of several young women were found in Washington state's Green River. Authorities unleash an investigation and manhunt almost the same size and scale of the "Ted Murders." With little to no real strong leads police are not optimistic. October 1, 1984 the Green River task force receives a letter from Mr. Theodore Robert Bundy offering his assistance to their investigation. Can one killer catch another and why would he want to help? We will ask these questions and many more tonight in the garage.

Beer of the week - Green by Tree House BrewingGarage Grade - 4 1/2 bottle caps out of 5Thank you all for a great season 3 we can't wait for season 4, see you in the garage!

Nic & The Captain

Beer Fund: https://truecrimegarage.com/home

Brief Summary

The episode discusses the Green River Killer, Ted Bundy's insights, and the investigation into the murders of young women in Washington State.

Key points

The Green River Killer Unveiled. Police hunt a mass murderer believed to have killed 21 prostitutes in Seattle.
Ted Bundy's Infamous Crimes. Discussion on Ted Bundy's past and his connection to the Green River murders.
Bundy's Letter to the Task Force. Ted Bundy offers insight to the Green River Task Force from death row.
Investigators' Duty. Investigators feel compelled to speak with Bundy, believing he knows more than they do.
Ted Bundy's Insights. Bundy provides chilling insights into the mind of a killer, suggesting he returns to his victims.
Media Interference. Media attention disrupts police plans to surveil a crime scene, complicating the investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Thank god there's been beer showing up. The beer keeps just piling in.

Nick's humorous take on their beer supply during the show.

3:20WatchJul 17, 2025

Tension

60/ 100Some tension

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