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On January 24, 1989, infamous serial killer Ted Bundy died. And tbh, it wasn't a moment too soon. The 42-year-old "lady killer" (cringing at the name alone) had been sentenced to capital punishment-a.k.a. the death penalty-in Florida after confessing to the murders of more than 30 women. (And it wasn't even the first time: Bundy had been sentenced to death three times before he was finally executed.)
"Ted Bundy jerked back, appearing startled, when he first saw the electric chair inside the execution chamber at the Florida State Prison," Tim Swarens, a reporter who witnessed the execution, wrote in The Daily Beast 30 years later. "I watched, along with 41 other witnesses, as one of Americas most notorious serial killers was strapped into the wooden chair, known by the macabre nickname of 'Old Sparky.'"
The famed electric chair would be the last thing Bundy touched during his life, but-for better or worse-it wouldn't be the last the world would hear from him. On the 30th anniversary of Ted Bundy's death, Netflix released its docuseries, Conversations With A Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, sparking a posthumous pop culture phenomenon.
And it doesn't seem like that's going to be ending any time soon, since Netflix also just announced the official release date of another piece of Ted Bundy entertainment: Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. The film, starring Zac Efron as Ted Bundy and Lily Collins as his girlfriend Liz Kendall, is a dramatized take on the real-life events that left the country shook in the '70s and '80s. Told from Liz's perspective, the film will premiere on Netflix and in select theaters on May 3.
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In the meantime, people want to know nearly everything about Ted Bundy, including how he died. The full story is pretty disturbing, so buckle up for this next part.
According to Swarens, as the electric chair was being prepared for Bundy, he "peered through a Plexiglas window at the witnesses who faced him" and said, "Its all right." Then, at 7:05 a.m., Bundy was asked if he had any last words. Looking at his attorney, Jim Coleman, and a Methodist pastor, Fred Lawrence, he said, "Jim and Fred, Id like you to give my love to my family and friends."
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In a book by crime writer Ann Rule, The Stranger Beside Me: The True Crime Story of Ted Bundy , Dr. Clark Hoshall, who was also present during Bundys death, recalled: "Bundy was uneasy and failed to keep eye contact. A leather strap extended from below the right side of the lower jaw diagonally across his face and was secured tightly above the left ear. The head strap compressed the nose laterally and squeezed Bundys left eyelids together. His right eye was open and looking straight forward."
In Swaren's description, a metal cap was also placed on Bundy's head, and his face was covered with a black, leather veil. No one then could see Bundy's face when the prison superintendent Tom Barton spoke briefly on the phone with Gov. Bob Martinez. After the phone call, Swaren recalled, "Barton then nodded to a black-hooded executioner standing behind a partition."
Ted Bundy's infamous life-and death-have left people with more questions than answers. Here's a few:
The anonymous executioner pushed a button. "Bundys head jerked as 2,000 volts hit him. His body stiffened and pressed against the chair back," Swaren wrote.
After less than two minutes, the executioner turned off the electric current. All that was left of Ted Bundy was a "body slumped against the leather straps." He was dead.
Some, including Swaren, don't believe that someone like Ted Bundy, who could commit such heinous crimes, deserves to be remembered. Others, however, think you can always learn something valuable from the darkest moments in history.
In response to this criticism, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile's director Joe Berlinger said in a previous statement to Buzzfeed News that the film "is a serious portrait of how Bundy deceived the people closest to him and his manipulation of the American media allowed him to flourish and evade detection and capture for so long." He also made clear that "our film in no way glorifies Bundy or his atrocious acts."
It remains to be seen how exactly Ted Bundy's execution will be portrayed on the big screen, if at all. But, if Joe Berlinger lives up to his word, viewers can hope that it will be handled responsibly and respectfully toward Bundy's victims and families.