Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer

by Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth

Book Overview

In a series of death row interviews done shortly before his execution, infamous serial killer Ted Bundy gave a third-person "confession" of his many murders. This definitive book on Bundy was recently... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451163559
• ISBN13: 9780451163554
• Release Date: October 1990
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 12.7" x 17.8" x 17.8"

Customer Reviews

Inside the mind of a killer

Bundy is on death row, indicted on charges of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and burglary for the Omega Chi killings and assaults. He has charmed the media, presenting himself as confident, attractive and intelligent. He publicly denies any involvement in the Chi Omega murders and has even gained a wife and supporters. He is hungry for any attention and validation and agrees to tell his story to journalists, Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth. They plan to write a book about Ted Bundy and begin recording a series of interviews in his prison cell. Bundy won't confess, but he's keen to say something clever that can be used in the book. He assumes the role of psychological expert and describes the profile of the killer in great detail. Speaking in third person he retells the events of his actual crimes, which at that time, was the closest he got to making an actual confession. A great read that cleverly exposes Bundy and provides insight into the mind and motives of a serial killer. "Even when the mouth lies, the way it looks still tells the truth." — Friedrich Nietzsche

very discreptive

This is really the content that I was looking for when wanting to get the up close and personal accounts of those who met and knew Bundy.

Utterly Incredible.

I have facinations with the minds of serial killers and a disticnt love for reading, learning, hearing, and or seeing ( not in rea life movie potrayals mostly) of what they have done, this book although i am not even finished yet, i read when the book arrived at my house at 5:00pm until 1 in the morning! i couldn't put it down, i didn't even want to go to school just so i could finish it! haha, but i did :) Ted bundy killed over 30 women in the 70's and he basically discribed what he did, but in 3rd person. He was not confessing, you can tell that this was what had happend. He also goes through what makes a killer want to do these things how they feel, there tactics everything down to the slightest detail. And you'll always find yourself laughing at the coy remarks he makes. It goes through letters he writes to the authors, tapes he makes of his thoughts and comments, and one on one interviews with the two authors and bundy. There is never a dull page, you'll find amazing facts you never knew, and will make you think more and more about what the life of this man was before he killed, and how it lead up to him actually doing it. This book is the best by far i have read about bundy. and i DEFFINATLY recommend it for anyone who has an intrest in ted, or just fascinated by the whole life and mind of a killer thing. i can't wait to go home and read the rest :)

Great Information

Stephen G. Michaud ,again, has done an outstanding job in writting a great book about Bundy. There ARE some new insights not seen in other books regarding Bundy's crimes (Like details of Naslund's and Ott's murders, and some insight on Donna Manson's fate. Bundy spent the next 10 years on Florida's Death Row, using legal tactics to delay his execution and offering confessions to his crimes in exchange for a reprieve. After years of living in denial - insisting he was innocent - Bundy finally came clean, although he referred to himself in the third person and claimed the killings were carried out by an "entity" within him. He said he became obsessed by hardcore pornography involving sado-masochism and bondage and said he enjoyed the feeling of being in complete control of his victims. He said the primary motive was rape and that he had to kill the victims to prevent them testifying against him. Strongly recommended

Insightful--excellent book!

Conversations is an excellent book in Ted Bundy's own words. I found it compelling, informative, provocative and enlightening. The authors (Aynesworth & Michaud) put hours of work into conducting these interviews, and the result is a book which I believe psychologist, criminologists, and the layman can learn much from. I highly recommend this book...you will learn much, and be provided much to think about.

Inside the mind of a serial killer!

The authors used an interesting ploy to get Bundy to confess and describe his killings. Whether he was unwilling to admit guilt for psychological reasons or due to legal concerns, no one had reached "first base" with Bundy. The authors cleverly got him to describe his thoughts and feelings in the third person! So his comments were more detached, such as, "The killer would have taken her..." To my mind, that makes it even more chilling. Great reporting and a must read by those who want to understand the obsession and motive of serial killers.

Articulate, horrific, compelling, complex, insightful.

Drawn from more than 150 hours of taped death-row interviews with mass murderer Ted Bundy, veteran journalists Stephen Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth take the reader inside the mind of a serial killer who police believe bludgeoned and raped more than 30 young women in a cross-country spree that finally ended with his arrest in 1978. These taped conversations are the fullest self-portrait ever drawn by a serial killer and a form a kind of guided tour to the psyche of a mass murderer. Ted Bundy: Conversations With A Killer reveal a man who was intelligent, savage, degenerate, complex, articulate, horrific, compelling, repellent, and a consummate gamesman. Here revealed is the mind of a monster in the guise of a man, as well as an incidental commentary on the uncertainties of humanity, law and justice.