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Ted Bundy: A Classic Example of a Narcissistic Serial Killer

Anmol Prithani



The ‘handsome and charming’ Ted Bundy killed, raped and engaged in necrophillia with over 30 women in the 1970s. In my essay, I will explore why this serial killer was a narcissist. Bundy exhibited a variety of signs of Narcissism throughout the series called Confessions with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes.


According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), an individual only needs to fit 5 of the characteristics of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) given in the manual to be diagnosed with the disorder. Throughout my analysis of the series and the information given about Ted Bundy’s life, I identified five characteristics of narcissists that were very evident. While these traits are not given in the exact same way in the DSM, many psychological journals associate the following traits with narcissism.


First is the lack of empathy. Bundy spoke very casually about his victims when he finally decided to open up. He lacked remorse or any kind of empathy about them, describing them as mere objects. He stated facts very simply and without any emotional ties, and was not guilty about his crimes. Bundy remarked in this netflix series, saying, "It [guilt] is a kind of social control mechanism and it's very unhealthy. It does terrible things to the body." He also couldn’t understand the feelings of others, as he himself confessed saying, “I didn't know what made things tick. I didn't know what made people want to be friends. I didn't know what made people attractive to one another. I didn't know what underlay social interactions.” Additionally, Debra Kent, who escaped from Bundy’s attempt at murdering her called his eyes, “flat and lifeless”.


Secondly, narcissists tend to be hypersexual, which is tied in with their need to be in power and control. Very early on, he was exposed to discarded violent pornography after which he developed an addiction. He attributed his behaviour entirely to his early obsession with extremely violent pornography, which manifested later in necrophilia, rape and murder, “I’ve met a lot of men who were motivated to commit violence just like me. And without exception, without question, every one of them was deeply involved in pornography.” He often revisited his sites of crime to prepare and groom the corpses for further seuxal acts. His first girlfriend from college also left him, after which he began killing similar-looking and similarly aged women as a revenge mechanism. He called these murders acts of “possession”. Ted liked being in control, finally confessing, “You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!”


Thirdly, Bundy very clearly exhibited Interpersonally exploitative behaviour. He used and manipulated others to achieve his own satisfaction and goals. This was two fold. One was the women that he tricked into believing him using disguises and then killing them, and using them to satisfy his sexual and egoistic urges. Second was his manipulation of the media and interviewers to create a legacy and grand narrative for himself, which also brings us to another characteristic of a narcissist — a grandiose sense of self.
Ted Bundy had a grandiose sense of self and wanted to be constantly admired. As mentioned above, he made sure that he created an image of a charming and charismatic serial killer, to be remembered in history. He often spoke about himself in the interviews and his achievements such as law school and being a ‘good student’ and revealed very little about his crimes or victims. He used the attention media was giving him to make himself famous and was often seen attention-seeking, by making grand entrances in courtrooms and making bold remarks.


Lastly, Bundy was also a constant liar, a trait associated with narcissists. In many interviews, he lied about the first time he killed someone, the number of victims and how he killed them. He kept changing his stories and the numbers in different interviews. For instance, in one interview he said he started killing in 1974 and in the other he said 1968. Till date, no one knows the exact number of Bundy’s victims as he lied very often.


Many of these traits also tied into each other — he lied and manipulated to satisfy his grandiose sense of self by cold-heartedly killing and ‘possessing’ women.  In conclusion, Ted Bundy, apart from these characteristics also showed signs of being entitled, being preoccupied with fantasies and committing violence against those who hurt his ego, i.e killing women who looked like the girlfriend who left him. In conclusion, according to my analysis, there is a very strong likelihood that Bundy was a narcissist as explained above.


Works Cited


https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-disorders/narcissistic-personality-disorder.htm/







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