The newspaper articles describing Ted Bundy at the beginning of his Chi Omega trial, alluded to his innocence

During the 1960s and 1970s, there was a plethora of newspaper stories regarding real killers. Newspaper articles describing gruesome murders committed by “crazies” furthered the public’s fear of mental illness off the screen.

The newspaper articles describing Ted Bundy at the beginning of his Chi Omega trial reflected how the media did not view him as a cold-blooded killer, and therefore not a man with mental illness. The stories revolving around Bundy did not explicitly reference mental illness at the time, and in fact they demonstrated the society’s reluctance to “other” Bundy precisely because he didn’t embody the stereotypical elements of a serial killer.

In the 1970s Americans found it hard to fathom that a handsome, charismatic man could commit awful acts of violence, and when Bundy was first placed on trial, the media alluded to his innocence because of his persona and appearance. The newspaper articles that described Bundy when he was first placed on trial were starkly different compared to the articles describing Ed Gein. For example, the Atlanta Constitution titled two of their articles “Ted Bundy: Murderer or Victim” and “Ted Bundy: Mass Murderer or a Scapegoat?” showing how the media did not even view Bundy as a killer at the beginning of his trial. The New York Times titled an article “All-American Boy on Trial: Ted Bundy,” supporting the claim that the media at the beginning of Bundy’s trial did not view him as a killer. The Orlando Sentinel also titled an article “All-American boy”...

In the article “All-American Boy on Trial: Ted Bundy” published in the New York Times, for instance, Jon Nordheimer wrote:

“The stereototype of mass killers—with minds bedeviled by tumors or hallucinations is all too familiar to the American public. They were the drifters, the malcontents, the failures and the resenters. Ted Bundy, for all appearances, no way resembled any of them. He had all the personal resources that are prized in America, that guarantee success and respect. He loved children, read poetry, showed courage by chasing down and capturing a purse snatcher on the streets of Seattle, rescued a child from drowning, loved the outdoors, respected his parents, was a college honor student, worked with desperate people at a crisis center and, in the words of one admirer, ‘Ted could be with any woman he wanted — he was so magnetic!’ He wanted to become an attorney or a politician, to do something with his life to help others.”

Since Ted Bundy did not fit the stereotype of a violent man with mental illness, the newspaper articles that came out following his arrest, depicted him in a sympathetic light. In comparison, newspaper articles titled Gein’s case “State Takes Over Case of Wisconsin ‘Butcher’” and “Cannibalism Killer Held,” allowing for the public to quickly develop their opinions on the case.

I’ve uploaded all the above Bundy-related articles to Internet Archive.

The Atlanta Constitution article titled “Ted Bundy: Mass Murderer or a Scapegoat?”, published on April 2, 1978: https://archive.org/details/the-atlanta-constitution-sun-apr-2-1978

The Atlanta Constitution article titled “Ted Bundy: Murderer or Victim”, published in three parts on December 2, 3 and 4, 1978: https://archive.org/details/the-atlanta-constitution-sat-dec-2-1978

The article titled “The All-American boy” published in the Orlando Sentinel on July 25, 1979, and the article titled “All-American Boy on Trial” published in the New York Times on December 10, 1978: https://archive.org/details/the-orlando-sentinel-wed-jul-25-1979