Ted Bundy's girlfriend who inspired film starring Zac Efron had alerted police a year before his arrest
Theodore 'Ted' Robert Bundy was an enigma. The infamous serial killer had more faces than any person could have imagined. He did his undergraduate degree in psychology, volunteered to work with a Republican governor, worked at a suicide-prevention hotline, and was finally a law student who never finished his degree.
It was his charm, good looks, and wit that got him close to women, some of whom he brutally murdered. However, no telling of Bundy's story would be complete without mentioning the most significant woman in his life: Elizabeth Kloepfer.
Elizabeth 'Liz' Kloepfer and Bundy met at a local bar in Washington in September 1969. Many have theorized that this meeting and the subsequent start to their relationship took place just before he went on his violent killing spree. The recently divorced 24-year-old mother-of-one had left her hometown of Salt Lake City and was looking for a fresh start. Needless to say, she thought Bundy would be the perfect father figure for her young daughter when she met him.
In 1974, when reports of women disappearing from various states became national news on a daily basis that she decided to tell the police her boyfriend (who could have been her husband at one point) was probably the killer they were looking for. She told the authorities that she found a bag of ladies underwear at his apartment, a bowl filled with house keys, and even a knife in his car.
She also told them that, on the night Brenda Ball disappeared, Bundy had been with her and her family but had left early after dinner. She said he was late for her daughter's baptism the next day. What the police didn't realize is that this for the timeline of Ball's disappearance perfectly.
Unfortunately for Liz, the police didn't take the tip too seriously because they were too busy following other leads. Bundy went on to kill at least 20 more women after Brenda Ball.
Bundy was arrested in August 1975 after a routine traffic stop and was incarcerated in Utah. However, he managed to escape prison and was ultimately captured in Florida in 1978 where he was executed on January 24, 1989.
Netflix’s 'Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile' delves into the life of serial killer Ted Bundy.
The film focuses on his life during the time of his involvement with Liz, who now goes by Liz Kendall, and is based on the book: 'The Phantom Prince; My Life with Ted Bundy' by Liz Kendall published in 1981, years before Bundy was executed on January 24, 1989 for his crimes.
In the film, Zac Efron plays Bundy and Lily Collins plays Liz.
