The Other Ted Bundy: Suspicion, Denial, and the Warnings That Came Too Early
Once Upon A Crime
Esther Ludlow
4.6 • 5K Ratings
🗓️ 10 February 2026
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the summer of 1974, Seattle was gripped by fear as young women disappeared and witnesses began describing a polite man named “Ted” and his tan Volkswagen. As newspapers cautiously reported on a possible suspect, few believed the man they were describing could be dangerous.
He looked like a law student.
A volunteer.
Someone people trusted.
In this Once Upon a Crime minisode, we examine Ted Bundy before his trials—through the people who knew him best and the warning signs that surfaced long before his name became infamous.
About This Series:
Ted Bundy for the Defense examines Ted Bundy’s criminal cases through the lens of his courtroom behavior and his insistence on controlling his own fate. This series separates myth from fact, focusing on documented evidence, trial records, and survivor testimony.
Next up in Part Three:
The Chi Omega sorority house attacks, the assault on Cheryl Thomas, and the final unraveling of Ted Bundy’s carefully constructed persona.
Sources:
The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History, Kevin M. Sullivan, McFarland and Company, 2020 (Second Edition).
Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers, Caroline Fraser, Penguin Press, 2025.
The Devil’s Defender, John Henry Browne, Chicago Review Press, 2016.
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Events & Appearances:
Meet Esther and Lorena in person at:
- Beyond the Crime Convention – Albuquerque, NM | April 11–12 - beyondcrimeconvention.com - Use our discount code BEYOND-OUAC.
- CrimeCon – Las Vegas, NV | May 29–31 - crimecon.com - Use our discount code ONCE.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This podcast details true crime cases. It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of |
| 0:06.3 | violence. It is not intended for children. Listener discretion is advised. By the summer of |
| 0:17.3 | 1974, something had shifted in Seattle. |
| 0:21.8 | It wasn't just that women were going missing. |
| 0:24.6 | It was how often it was happening, and how close together the disappearances were, and how |
| 0:30.6 | little sense they made. |
| 0:32.9 | Young women vanished from college campuses, parks, and neighborhoods that had once felt safe. |
| 0:39.2 | Some were last seen in broad daylight. |
| 0:41.8 | Others simply never came home. |
| 0:44.6 | At first, the cases were reported separately, tragic isolated events. |
| 0:50.1 | But as the weeks turned into months, the pattern became harder to ignore. |
| 0:55.0 | Witnesses began to come forward with similar stories. |
| 0:59.0 | A man named Ted, a polite stranger asking for help, a tan Volkswagen Beetle. |
| 1:05.0 | Local newspapers cautiously began connecting the dots. |
| 1:09.0 | Police acknowledged they were looking for a suspect, |
| 1:11.6 | and quietly, fear settled in. |
| 1:14.6 | Women began traveling in groups. |
| 1:17.6 | Parents worried about daughters who were late returning home, |
| 1:20.6 | and an entire city began to wonder if a predator was moving among them unnoticed. |
| 1:26.6 | What almost no one suspected was that the man described in those articles, |
| 1:32.0 | the ones witnesses were talking about, |
| 1:34.3 | was already living in ordinary life in plain sight. |
... |
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