Netflix's Conversations With a Serial Killer has reignited the conversation around one of America's most notorious serial killers - Ted Bundy.
Throughout the series, Bundy doesn't shy away from the spotlight, and offers insight to the inner workings of his mind through interviews and discussions over the years. Of course, without the disturbing backstory of these quotes, listening to Bundy's words may leave you unimpressed. One of the most ruthless serial killers of all time, Bundy confessed to 30 murders, although it's believed that he may have killed even more women.
Bundy used his charm and good looks to convince women to help him as he faked injury before kidnapping, raping, torturing, and then killing them. Bundy's necrophiliac tendencies, his smooth manners, and his unruffled response to questions about his crimes make his quotes some of the most unsettling to ever come out of a serial killer's mouth.
Today, Netflix releases another entry in their Conversations With a Serial Killer series, featuring Ted Bundy. To help prepare you for that late-night binge, we dug through the depths of previously released interviews to find some of the most terrifying quotes ever uttered by one of America's most infamous serial killers.
“I think society deserves to be protected from me and others like me.”
The killer said this to psychologist James Dobson the day before his execution in the electric chair in 1989. Bundy's statement tells us that he was acutely aware of the severity of his crimes. Although it may feel slightly warming to know that Bundy recognized the tragedy of his crimes, it's ultimately even more terrifying to think that he understood he needed to be cordoned away, but still continued to kill women.
Related: WATCH: Zac Efron is Ted Bundy in the First Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile Trailer
- Photo Credit: Murderpedia
“What’s one less person on the face of the Earth anyways?”
Ted Bundy apparently gave up on pretending any innocence at this point. Of course, it came to light that he had killed as many as 30 people. The lack of humanity that is a hallmark of serial killers is on full display in this quote.
- Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow.”
During an interrogation with Detective Keppel, Bundy recapped the murder of 18-year-old college student Georgeann. Keppel was shocked by his casual discussion of his hatred for women and the way he would speak so calmly of his heinous crimes. Responding thusly, Bundy reaffirmed his belief that his worldview was a correct, if utterly dangerous one.
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Items found in Bundy's Volkswagen in Utah, 1975 when he was arrested.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“I didn’t know what made things tick. I didn’t know what made people want to be friends. I didn’t know what made people attractive to each other. I didn’t know what underlay social interactions.”
Bundy said this when discussing his high school years. He was quoted in Stephan Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth’s book The Only Living Witness: The True Story of the Serial Sex Killer Ted Bundy. A quote like this could almost make a reader feel pity for Bundy–if they could manage to forget about all of that pesky killing.
Special Agent Bill Hagmaier and Bundy during their final death row interview on the eve of Bundy's execution.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“I think I stand as much chance of dying in front of a firing squad or in a gas chamber as you do being killed on a plane flight home. Let’s hope you don’t.”
In this quote, Bundy levels the playing field between himself and the office interviewing him.
Related: 12 Killers From Death Row and Their Eloquent Last Words
- Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“Well meaning, decent people will condemn the behavior of a Ted Bundy, while they’re walking past a magazine rack full of the very kinds of things that send young kids down the road to be Ted Bundys.”
On the day of his death, Bundy gave a final interview with psychologist James Dobson. It was here Bundy revealed that he believed that his vicious tendencies stemmed from pornography. He became interested in violent sex, and when merely watching it was no longer stimulating enough, he decided to act on these impulses in the real world.
Odontologist Richard Souviron explaining the bite mark evidence during Bundy's trial.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“I don’t think anybody doubts whether I’ve done bad things. The question is: what, of course, and how, and maybe even most importantly, why?”
This quote came during an interview with Bundy and Bob Keppel days before his execution. Despite all of his professions, Bundy admits that he, too, doesn't know what made him the way he is. And if we don't know how killers become killers, how can we stop them?
- Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
“Guilt. It’s this mechanism we use to control people. It’s an illusion. It’s a kind of social control mechanism and it’s very unhealthy. It does terrible things to our body”
Quoted again in Michaud and Aynesworth's book, Bundy refused to believe that guilt could do meaningful things. Of course, if Bundy actually felt any guilt about his crimes, his victims may still be alive.
Featured photo: Murderpedia
