Netflix released its newest original documentary, Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, this past month. As a fan of true crime, I immediately binged the four-episode series and had a lot of thoughts.
Image Courtesy of Denver Post
I’m familiar with Ted Bundy and his horrific crimes. If you read true crime novels or listen to podcasts on the subject, Bundy’s name is one of the first you’ll hear and learn about. If you’re not into this specialty genre, I urge you to follow the advice being given online and watch this documentary with a friend. The minor details of the killings and the assaults are disturbing and while they don’t reveal all the details, it might be too much for someone new.
As background info, Ted Bundy was a rapist, murderer, and necrophile who terrorized the western U.S. for four years in the 1970s. He admitted to 36 abductions and murders, but others have estimated the real number is somewhere in the hundreds. He was a horrific monster, completely manipulative and egocentric, and obsessed with having power by murdering innocent women. The reason America continues to be fascinated by Bundy is that he revealed the fact that some serial killers hide in plain sight. As one taped recording in the show emphasized, Bundy showed people that not all murderers came out of the dark with drool dripping down their chins.
This documentary is based around reporter Stephen Marchaud’s taped conversations with Bundy on Florida’s death row in the 1980s. Marchaud is interviewed throughout the documentary, as are police detectives from Seattle, Colorado, and Florida, prosecutors, and defense attorneys from Florida, and former acquaintances of Bundy’s from his college days. Each tells of their own interactions with Bundy and their own thoughts on his personality, demeanor, and actions. My positive thoughts on the documentary are based more on the production and design of the documentary, rather than the subjects involved.
The documentary is not totally linear; it narrates and jumps from the late 1960s through to the 1970s and 1980s. But, it is original and captivating in this method of storytelling. Whoever thought to structure the documentary in this fashion (and whoever did the special effects and graphics) did a wonderful job in doing so. By keeping the story jumping from time and place, it captivates viewers and keeps them engaged. It’s easy to follow along with the 20+ years in the four episodes and it’s easy to remember from one case to the next. The production also includes standard footage from the time period, as well as police evidence and old news footage.
What kicks the series up a notch in suspense is when you actually hear Bundy’s taped voice. After a failed few weeks of Bundy refusing to discuss his murders, Marchaud suggested Bundy profile the suspect. Bundy, who had a degree in psychology and had attended law school for one year, was only happy to do so. The tapes then play with Bundy talking about himself in the third person, giving details and ‘supposed’ insights that could never be seen as a straight confession. Bundy’s voice reveals no remorse, but rather his own interest and relived glory as he ‘speculates’ on what the killer’s motives were. In fact, a majority of taped recordings are of Bundy moaning about the unjustness of his life in prison and he often states he is innocent and will prove it. The tapes are interesting in that they reveal just how narcissistic Bundy was even when caught and they show how skilled he was at manipulation.
The documentary is powerful and respectful to the victims and their families, but in doing so, the production crew failed to reveal the amount of cruelty Bundy inflicted on others. To a viewer not in the know, it would sound like Bundy was just another run of the mill murderer, who caught the nation’s attention because people argued he was too handsome to commit the crimes. In reality, the reason Bundy became such an awful sensation was that he was horrifyingly brutal in private with these victims while seemingly charming and normal in public. He committed such despicable acts I don’t even want to type them instead, here’s a San Francisco Chronicle article that did it for me. The Ted Bundy Tapes are chilling, but neglect to show how psychopathic the man and his actions were. The series is based in hard fact but is not entirely honest.