Ted Bundy's mother: Love never waned

Ted Bundy's mother Louise died in December. Her son was convicted of several murders in 1980. For many years his mother refused to believe his guilt. He admitted to the crimes before his execution in 1989. 

|
AP Photo, File
In this July 30, 1979 file photo, Louise Bundy, mother of convicted killer Ted Bundy, leaves court in Miami. Bundy, who was a staunch defender of her serial killer son before he made a series of death-row confessions, died in December 2012.

Louise Bundy, who was a staunch defender of her serial killer son, Ted Bundy, before he made a series of death-row confessions, has died. She was 88.

She died last month in her hometown of Tacoma after a long illness, The News Tribune newspaper reported Wednesday (http://is.gd/G8BVv7 ).

Her death was confirmed to The Associated Press by the Rev. Melvin Woodworth, pastor of Tacoma's First United Methodist Church, which she attended from 1951 until a few years ago, when her health prevented her.

In the mid-1970s, Louise Bundy was a married mother of five working as a secretary at the University of Puget Sound when authorities across the nation began to accuse her eldest son in a series of gruesome killings.

For years, she refused to believe the charges.

"Ted Bundy does not go around killing women and little children!" she told The News Tribune in 1980 after Ted Bundy was convicted in the Florida killings. "And I know this, too, that our never-ending faith in Ted - our faith that he is innocent - has never wavered. And it never will."

Her stance softened after Ted Bundy made a number of death-row confessions, the newspaper reported.

He ultimately confessed to murdering more than two dozen women and was executed in 1989 after being convicted of killing two Florida State University sorority members and a 12-year-old girl.

Louise Bundy spoke with him twice on his execution day, telling him at the end of the second call, "You'll always be my precious son."

Ted Bundy was among some of the notorious criminals who have been represented by Seattle lawyer John Henry Browne. He recalled Louise Bundy as "very quiet, very much concerned about her son."

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Browne said he hadn't spoken with Louise Bundy in several decades but had flown to Florida with her several times after Bundy was arrested there.

"I do know her insistence on Ted's innocence actually waned even before he started confessing, but her love for him certainly didn't," Browne said.

Louise Bundy remained in Tacoma following her son's execution and was an active member of the First United Methodist Church.

Her son's troubles took a toll, the newspaper reported. Louise Bundy and her husband, John Bundy, endured jokes and dirty looks over the years and often changed their telephone number to avoid angry calls.

Information from: The News Tribune, http://www.thenewstribune.com

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

QR Code to Ted Bundy's mother: Love never waned
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0109/Ted-Bundy-s-mother-Love-never-waned
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe