Ted Bundy, like most other habitual killers, exhibited a pattern in his crimes. According to Women’s Health magazine, the most common attributes of his victims were a slim build, long dark hair, and caucasian ethnicity. While that might sound broad, the truth is that each and every one of the women that he murdered bore similar traits to his ex-girlfriend, Diane Edwards. Bundy and Edwards started dating while the two were enrolled at the University of Washington, and, for a while, their courtship was amicable. However, much of their time together was predominated by a looming sense of ineptitude on Bundy’s part. He admittedly felt inferior to her aristocratic upbringing and didn’t view himself as her equal. After she left him, those insecurities morphed into bitter resentments.
Some experts attribute Bundy’s patterns as a gesture of vendetta against Diane Edwards and that overwhelming sense of unworthiness he experienced while dating her. At the end of the day, it’s just a theory, but psychologists and true crime enthusiasts often refer back to it while pondering the visceral nature of his exploits and what could have inspired them. “He wasn’t real masculine. If I got mad at him because he did something he sort of felt apologetic about it. He wouldn’t stand up for himself,” Diane Edwards shared years later (per Mirror UK). While there’s no justifying his atrocious brutalities, the dynamics at the core of their relationship and subsequent break up may have contributed to his murderous deeds.
