Carol Bundy

Names and identifying information

Carol Bundy was an American serial killer.

She was known as Carol M. Bundy and Carol Mary Bundy. Her birth date was August 26, 1942, and her death date was December 9, 2003.

Background

Carol M. Bundy was a divorcee with two children living in the San Fernando Valley.

She told police that her lover, Douglas Clark, had told her he had killed several young women. Bundy said the killings were all shot with a gun Bundy had purchased.

Bundy initially claimed she knew nothing of the murders, “only what (Clark) told me”.

Shortly before going to police, Bundy shot to death, stabbed and beheaded another lover, Jack Murray.

Bundy worked as a nurse.

Bundy eventually confessed to the murder of Jack Murray but claimed it was self-defense.

Later, Bundy admitted that she had been present during one of the murders for which Douglas Clark was charged.

That murder took place in a car parked behind a gas station in East Hollywood.

Bundy claimed Clark shot a prostitute in the head while the prostitute was in the act of fellatio.

Bundy claimed she had hired the girl for Clark's birthday.

Clark insisted Bundy was the shooter.

Both agreed that they had disposed of the body together.

The offence

Bundy and Douglas Clark became known as “The Sunset Strip Killers” after being convicted of a series of murders in Los Angeles during the late spring and early summer of 1980. The victims were young prostitutes or runaways.

According to Bundy’s account, John Murray was shot in the head, then decapitated to remove ballistic evidence.

Bundy also admitted being present during a murder involving a prostitute found dead along the Sunset Strip in July 1980.

Bundy said that during that murder she handed Clark the gun with which he shot an unnamed prostitute.

Bundy was convicted on the basis of her own confession regarding the murder of Jack Murray and a murder of one of the unidentified females.

Bundy’s characteristics included decapitation.

Investigation

During a series of killings, Bundy and Clark became linked through evidence including a gun and forensic material.

Bundy’s confession to police included details of her involvement with Jack Murray.

During the investigation, detectives and police treated Bundy’s calls to law enforcement as unreliable at first when she used the name “Betsy” and claimed her lover was responsible for murdering the two girls. Heinlein and Westbrook thought she was a crank and failed to take her seriously, and they cut off her call at the switchboard.

Later, Bundy and Douglas Clark were arrested, and police confiscated items Bundy handed over, including three pairs of panties and a photo album of Clark in compromising positions with an eleven-year-old neighbor girl.

Ballistics testing linked a gun with bullets recovered from five of the known “Sunset” victims.

Arrest

Bundy was arrested after she called police and later after she admitted her involvement in murders.

Detectives Pida and Landgren had rushed to the medical centre when the call came through of Carol’s confession, and they found she had already left.

Detectives Pida went to see Doug Clark at work while Landgren went to her apartment.

Bundy’s arrest followed her confession and her statements to detectives.

Trial

Bundy pled insanity before reversing herself and admitting the slayings.

She pleaded guilty to two charges of first-degree murder.

At her trial, Bundy withdrew her “not guilty by reason of insanity” plea and entered guilty pleas to the two first-degree murder charges.

Sentencing

Bundy received consecutive terms of twenty-five years-to-life on one count and twenty-seven years-to-life on another count, plus a sentence for illegal use of a gun.

She was sentenced on May 31, 1983.

The sentencing reflected her guilty pleas and a plea arrangement that spared her from the death penalty.

She was transferred to the California Institution for Women at Frontera.

Her first eligible parole date was described as 2012.

Appeals

No appeal outcome was recorded for Bundy in the provided material.

Outcome

Bundy died in prison on December 9, 2003.

Other details

Bundy had a period in which she attempted to kill herself.

On 29 July, she attempted to kill herself by injecting 1250 units of insulin and 100 milligrams of Librium, then swallowing 100 milligrams of Librium tablets.

She was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Burbank.

She called Jack Murray, who came to take her home.

Verbatim statements

Carol Bundy said: “only what (Clark) told me”.

“I was making her up like a Barbie with makeup.”

Carol Bundy said she had killed Jack Murray because he was “an asshole who deserved to die.”

“We had a lot of fun with her. I was making her up like a Barbie with makeup.”