Written by Scott Williams-Collier
Theodore Robert Bundy (Ted Bundy) is probably the most infamous serial killer in American history, perhaps in the world. Good looking, intelligent and articulate Ted seemed like the all-American boy on the surface, the kind of boy a lot of parents would be very happy to see their daughter dating. However, that was just superficial charm, underneath that facade lay a much sinister character who would brutally abduct and murder scores of young women and girls across America.
After years of denial, charismatic and handsome Ted Bundy admitted to 30 murders on the eve of his execution but alluded to there being many more. Once asked if 36 was an accurate figure Bundy responded with "add one digit to that and you'll have it." Bundy was suspected at the time of at least 36 murders but by the time law enforcement agencies had finished speaking with him, the figure was closer to one hundred. I personally believe Bundy killed many more than the 30 he admitted to. I also believe that he started killing years before his official killing spree which started in 1974 and ended in 1978.
Bundy's first known and confirmed crime started with the brutal assault on Karen Sparks on the 4th of January 1974, Sparks survived the attacked but was left with horrific injuries that still affect her to this day. His crimes finally came to an end with the tragic murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach on the 9th February 1978 while he was on the run from law enforcement after escaping from prison for the second time on December 30th 1977. Ted Bundy was finally arrested for the last and final time six days after killing Kimberly Leach on the15th of February 1978.
There are many professionals in law enforcement, historians and the true-crime community alike, who believe the true decade Bundy started killing was actually the 1960's and not the 1970's. in fact, some including myself believe the exact date to be the 31st August 1961.
Eight-year-old Ann Marie Burr lived in the 3000 block of North 14th Street in Tacoma, Washington with her parents Beverley Burr, Don Burr and her three siblings. On the 31st of August in 1961, Ann took her younger sister (whom she shared a room with) into her parent's bedroom. Her sister had a broken arm at the time, which was bothering the child. The Burr's sent their daughters back to their bedroom. This would be the last time anyone would ever see Ann Marie Burr again.
The following morning Beverley Burr woke around 5:30 am to find that her daughter was missing. The front door, which was locked the evening before was found open and a living room window which was always kept ajar was found open wider than normal. Some red material was found on the windowsill. A footprint was found outside the property near the window believed to be a Ked Sneaker size 6 or 7, which would be the size of a small man or teenage boys feet. A similar footprint was found at the back of the property by the basement window. The Burr's also recalled their pet dog barking during the early hours but at the time dismissed it as the thunderstorm that evening scarring the dog. The police believed that the assailant had entered the house through the window, entered Ann's bedroom then lead her out through the front door.
At the time 14-year-old Ted Bundy lived not far from the Burr's home. He also had a paper round in the area which would have passed close by to Ann's house. The Burr's home was also very close to one of Bundy's earlier childhood homes, the home of his favourite great-uncle.
Sadly, with hardly any valuable evidence or suspects, the search for Ann Marie Burr soon went cold and the crime slowly became a distant memory. That was until years later when the police had caught Ted Bundy and suspected him of being a prolific serial killer who preyed on young girls and women.
Beverley Burr wrote to Ted in prison numerous times to ask if he had abducted and murdered her daughter. Ted always denied involvement in Ann's disappearance, but an interview Ted gave shortly before his execution raised big doubts over his innocents. Bundy told a story in the 3rd person, as he usually did to avoid the stigma of the crimes he commited. He told a story of a crime where he took a young girl out of a house and assaulted her in an orchard next door before leaving her in a ditch. The Burr family lived next door to an orchard. At the time there was also construction work going on at the nearby University. Don Burr had apparently told the police that they need to check the ditches at the University construction site, some of these ditches were over 30 feet deep and full of water. By the time the police went to check the ditches, they had all been filled in and pathed over.
Ever since learning of the case of Ann Maria Burr years ago, I have suspected Ted Bundy was her killer. The manner in which she disappeared fits Bundy's modus operandi perfectly. We already know that Bundy was known to on occasions break into victims homes and attack them while they slept. In the Linda Healy murder, Bundy broke into her home and entered her basement room, assaulted her in her bed, then dressed her and even made her bed before leaving the property with the young women; she was never seen alive again. Ted was a self-professed peeping tom who liked to peer through windows watching women in their homes while he masturbated. According to Ted, this was something he did quite a lot in his early deviant behaviour. Neighbours of the Burr family had said they saw someone peeping through their windows a few days before Ann went missing. Don Burr also believed he saw Ted Bundy on the nearby construction site the morning his daughter disappeared, and the fact that Bundy lived nearby and had a paper round in the area speaks volumes to me.
Some think that Bundy was too young to commit a crime like this when he was just 14. But as far as I am concerned he wasn't too young at all! This was likely a period in his life where he was having dark fantasies and was also becoming interested in sex at the same time. Most serial killers who commit sex crimes have dark fantasies during adolescence, this is a period were going through puberty and starting to become interested in sex while also having dark fantasies can be a dangerous mix. We only have to look through the annals of criminal history to know that children can be just as cruel and wicked as adults. Bundy's own auntie recalled an incident when Ted was very young. She awoke from her nap to find all the sharp knives from the kitchen had been arranged around her body, with her very young nephew watching with a smile on his face, This is very unusual behaviour for a child to do something like that.
Ann Marie Burr's case is still open today and remains unsolved, and unfortunately, it's very unlikely we will ever see this case solved. With Ted Bundy dead and no DNA evidence to go off its extremely difficult to see any closure to this one, officially anyway. Ted Bundy is the standard that all other serial killers in America are compared to today and I believe that Little Ann Maria Burr was his first victim. There are too many coincidences and the method of operations fits perfectly with how Budy behaved in some of his crimes. Let's not forget that Bundy also stated that there are some crimes he will not talk about because they were too close to home, too close to family and very young.
Sadly Don Burr passed away in 2003 followed by Beverley in 2008. They passed without ever finding out what became of their daughter and who had committed the crime. It's up to us to draw our own conclusions on this tragic mystery of the Ann Marie Burr disappearance. Did he or didn't he? for me he did!
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