Ted Bundy was captured in 1975 and went on trial in 1979. During his trial, Bundy acted as his own attorney and put on a bizarre and theatrical defense, which included cross-examining witnesses and making grandiose claims about his innocence. Despite his efforts, Bundy was found guilty and sentenced to death. Ted Bundy spent the next several years appealing his sentence and attempting to escape from prison. He was successful in escaping twice, once in one aspect that stands out is his ability to charm and manipulate those around him.

This skill was evident throughout his life, and it played a crucial role in his ability to evade capture for so long. Bundy's charm was particularly notable in the way he interacted with law enforcement officials and in his courtroom demeanor during his trial.

Over the course of his trials, Bundy escaped twice from custody. On January 1978,
during his second escape, he broke into the Florida State University sorority house, and bludgeoned Margaret Elizabeth Bowman to death by firewood (Parker, 2018). He then snuck into 20-year old Lisa Levy's room. He beat her up, strangled her, bit into her left buttocks, and sexually assaulted her. Bundy proceeded to attack Karen Chandler and Kathy Kleiner, but both were saved when an event occurred, and he had to run away (Smith, 2021). His youngest and last victim, Kimberly Leach, was a 12-year-old girl abducted from her junior high school in Lake City, Florida (Terranova, 2020).

Following these gruesome crimes, Bundy was ultimately found guilty in July of 1979 for the murder of both Bowman and Levy. He was also convicted of attempted murder for the attacks on Karen Chandler, Cheryl Thomas, and Kathy Kleiner and was sentenced to death by the electric chair. On February 1980, he was found guilty of the kidnapping and murder of Kimberly Leach and executed on January 23, 1989 (Terranova, 2020).