Discovered Vial of Serial Killer’s Blood May Connect More Victims

[Jennifer Chase]

My area of specific interest may be forensic psychology, but I am fascinated by forensics in all of its applications.  I am regularly amazed by how experts can use a piece of clothing, a strand of hair, or a few drops of blood to build a case.  It was recently reported that forensic evidence stored in Florida may be the key to unlock the connection between one of our country’s most infamous serial killers and multiple cold cases.

A vial of Ted Bundy’s blood is being entered into the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System to discover any connection the convicted killer may have to other murders.  This process started due to the reopening of a cold case involving eight-year-old Ann Marie Burr, who went missing in 1961 and lived in the same neighborhood in which a then-teenage Bundy had a paper route.  Investigators in the shared town of Tacoma, Washington went in search of additional evidence that simply was not able to be analyzed until recently and found the vial of blood.  It is still in a state of composition that will allow for some possible connections to be made.

Most of you will know that Ted Bundy confessed to more than thirty murders of young women throughout the 1970s and was sent to his own death at the electric chair in 1989.  Many in law enforcement always believed that Bundy was responsible for more crimes than he ever admitted.  If that is so, let’s hope that this DNA technology will help some families receive peace that has eluded them for decades.

More than thirty years after it was collected, a small amount of blood may be exactly what is needed to solve horrible crimes.  Forensics is simply fascinating and I’m excited every day to be one of its most eager students.

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Books: Compulsion = Dead Game = Silent Partner = Screenwriting