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Terrible Secrets: Ted Bundy on Serial Murder
Ted Bundy is the most darkly fascinating, and widely analyzed, serial killer of the past century, possibly ever. No sex criminal, from Jack the Ripper to Zodiac to the Green River Killer, inhabits the popular mind as does Bundy. Now, the two men who know Bundy’s criminal nature best – Dr. Robert Keppel and author Stephen Michaud – have teamed to write the definitive narrative of Bundy’s bloody career, as well as the inside story of how Keppel tracked the elusive killer for 15 years, from his first days as a rookie Seattle homicide investigator to a series of tense encounters within the Florida State Prison where Bundy, in a doomed attempt at forestalling his execution, finally gave up some of his Terrible Secrets. The story of Keppel’s long struggle to identify the handsome, articulate onetime law student, and confront him with his crimes, is abundantly illustrated with photos, drawings and documents from the investigator’s personal file. The book’s dozens of pictures include a map of Bundy’s Issaquah, Washington, hillside body dump that Ted drew for Keppel at the prison. Also shown for the first time are handwritten notes from Bundy’s investigative file. The authors also draw from Keppel’s extensive mail correspondence with Bundy. The result is a riveting, close-up portrait of a “diabolical genius,” as a federal judge described Bundy, stripped of myths and misinformation and revealed - in his own words – for the archly-sly, murder-obsessed predator he became. There’s never been a book quite like Terrible Secrets.
241 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2011
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439 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
February 4, 2015
This book is all over the place. It doesn't follow any type of chronological narrative. But then again if you're interested in Ted Bundy and, more importantly, his victims and how he encountered them, you don't buy this type of book for that sort of basic information (if you're deep enough in to the case to want this book, you probably know the basics by heart). Therefore the real meat and value of this work comes from all the included documentation, straight from homicide detective Bob Keppel's files. For example this is the only volume I've ever seen that showed a different picture of Janice Ott (abducted from Sammamish State Park) than the primary one used in most sources. It also managed to tell me things I don't already know--which when it comes to this case is honestly pretty rare at this point--like the fact that Ted's childhood friend Terry and victim Susan Rancourt were in a running club together and that Ted was visiting Terry in Ellensburg when Susan went missing. Or the fact that he appears to have stalked Lynda Healy for a few days prior to abducting her from her basement room in Seattle's University District. (The odds are that Lynda Healy was not his first murder. She is just the first one we know about for sure. Plus, he admitted to several murders in a few states where he never learned or couldn't remember the victim's names; they remain unidentified to this day).
It doesn't discuss his possible victims as much as I would have liked. The sad part is he killed so many that a detailed look at all of them would be thousands of pages long, but more than half a page, surely? I think The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story is the only Bundy book (at least I think it's this one) to tell me that, for example, Margret Bowman loved The Secret Garden, and was working on sewing a green dress the week she was killed. In The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History we learn that Roberta Kathy Parks was likely battling depression when she encountered Bundy, and that Janice Ott and her husband had an open relationship. While looking at their lives like this is painful--what might they have become if they weren't so cruelly taken?--it's certainly better than letting them fade in to obscurity while their killer lives on in our memories so strongly.
One quibble I had with Keppel's method is that he comes down hard on the no nonsense cop side, which in my opinion is not really the best way to speak with a psychopath (though he has more degrees than I do in the subject, two on my side, like seven on his!) Ted was never going to outright give him the who, where, and how, as Keppel kept repeating. Letting Ted ramble on about dump sites (apparently a favorite topic) would have probably yielded Keppel more information, albeit in a roundabout way, if he'd had the patience for it.
While I am against the death penalty in most cases due to its highly racist and sexist implementation, Ted Bundy was the perfect candidate for it. He was a known escape risk--had he been killed sooner several girls would still be alive, considering he escaped twice--and I don't think he would have ever given up truly useful information beyond what he already had. Even then, some murders were confessed to literally on the way to the electric chair; without the pressure caused by watching his life tick away, he doubtless would have kept quiet forever. In a very real way he changed how the U.S. thought of strangers, ourselves, the limits of the human mind, and stretched our idea of what an atrocity truly is. I'm glad he's dead. He was a shell with nothing inside but the need to destroy others. It is because of people like him that I can never 100% say the death penalty isn't something I would consider if I were asked to be on a jury.
I am left again with a kind of weathered sadness, the events in these books given a kind of strange sacred cast by the intervening years and the sheer brutality of what took place. I often find myself shaking my head and saying, he had so much going for him and it just didn't matter. Even Ed Cowartt, the judge who ultimately put him to death, said "I would have liked to see you practice in front of me (Ted wanted to be a lawyer, and tried to represent himself several times with terrible results), but you went another way partner."
tl;dr required reading for people who are interested in Bundy and his crimes, but it's not well written or organized. it's main strength is the police documents and other files included along with the book.
It doesn't discuss his possible victims as much as I would have liked. The sad part is he killed so many that a detailed look at all of them would be thousands of pages long, but more than half a page, surely? I think The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy The Shocking Inside Story is the only Bundy book (at least I think it's this one) to tell me that, for example, Margret Bowman loved The Secret Garden, and was working on sewing a green dress the week she was killed. In The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History we learn that Roberta Kathy Parks was likely battling depression when she encountered Bundy, and that Janice Ott and her husband had an open relationship. While looking at their lives like this is painful--what might they have become if they weren't so cruelly taken?--it's certainly better than letting them fade in to obscurity while their killer lives on in our memories so strongly.
One quibble I had with Keppel's method is that he comes down hard on the no nonsense cop side, which in my opinion is not really the best way to speak with a psychopath (though he has more degrees than I do in the subject, two on my side, like seven on his!) Ted was never going to outright give him the who, where, and how, as Keppel kept repeating. Letting Ted ramble on about dump sites (apparently a favorite topic) would have probably yielded Keppel more information, albeit in a roundabout way, if he'd had the patience for it.
While I am against the death penalty in most cases due to its highly racist and sexist implementation, Ted Bundy was the perfect candidate for it. He was a known escape risk--had he been killed sooner several girls would still be alive, considering he escaped twice--and I don't think he would have ever given up truly useful information beyond what he already had. Even then, some murders were confessed to literally on the way to the electric chair; without the pressure caused by watching his life tick away, he doubtless would have kept quiet forever. In a very real way he changed how the U.S. thought of strangers, ourselves, the limits of the human mind, and stretched our idea of what an atrocity truly is. I'm glad he's dead. He was a shell with nothing inside but the need to destroy others. It is because of people like him that I can never 100% say the death penalty isn't something I would consider if I were asked to be on a jury.
I am left again with a kind of weathered sadness, the events in these books given a kind of strange sacred cast by the intervening years and the sheer brutality of what took place. I often find myself shaking my head and saying, he had so much going for him and it just didn't matter. Even Ed Cowartt, the judge who ultimately put him to death, said "I would have liked to see you practice in front of me (Ted wanted to be a lawyer, and tried to represent himself several times with terrible results), but you went another way partner."
tl;dr required reading for people who are interested in Bundy and his crimes, but it's not well written or organized. it's main strength is the police documents and other files included along with the book.
August 29, 2012
terribly written.
June 16, 2021
After recently watching the Amazon four hour series on Ted Bundy, Falling for a Killer, which is mostly interviews with Liz Kendall, I discovered a few more books on the affable murderer. Terrible Secrets is a rehash of previous works by Michaud and Keppel and so there is nothing new here. Excerpts of interviews with Bundy are repeated and it is the same old stuff. I wish that the producers of the Amazon series had asked Kendall about Ted's disclosure that he had incinerated Donna Manson's head in her fireplace. Keppel went on to further his education and is still unsure as to the number of victims and if it really started in 1973-74.He also includes his meetings with Bundy and his opinion of the Green River Killer. In her book, attorney Polly Nelson reported 30-35 murders admitted to her by her client. I am amazed that thirty years after the execution, books and films continue to be produced. I guess we are fascinated by the darkest part of our natures. Terrible Secrets is a quick and average read.
February 9, 2015
Just the facts Ma'am
Koppel is very knowledgeable about Ted Bundy and all of his crimes. However, for a person looking for information that the other books, such as Ann Rule's amazing book The Stranger Beside me, and Michaud and Aynesworth's, Only Living Witness this book didn't have any previously unknown information about Ted Bundy although it was interesting to hear more from the real Ph.D in serial murder, to steal a title Bundy once claimed for himself, from Robert Keppel. He certainly keeps you entertained and does not exempt any hideous details, however they are written with less prose and more of a straightforward style then perhaps Rule or Michaud and Aynesworth, simply put he writes like what he is, a cop. No frills or dark suggestions and possibilities. "Just the facts ma'am" Robert Keppel is definitely a man I would love to meet and interview.
Koppel is very knowledgeable about Ted Bundy and all of his crimes. However, for a person looking for information that the other books, such as Ann Rule's amazing book The Stranger Beside me, and Michaud and Aynesworth's, Only Living Witness this book didn't have any previously unknown information about Ted Bundy although it was interesting to hear more from the real Ph.D in serial murder, to steal a title Bundy once claimed for himself, from Robert Keppel. He certainly keeps you entertained and does not exempt any hideous details, however they are written with less prose and more of a straightforward style then perhaps Rule or Michaud and Aynesworth, simply put he writes like what he is, a cop. No frills or dark suggestions and possibilities. "Just the facts ma'am" Robert Keppel is definitely a man I would love to meet and interview.
March 9, 2012
This does repeat a lot of info from Keppel and Michaud's other books, but there is a little new information and some good stuff collected from Bill Hagmeier. If you haven't read any other books on the case, this is a great concise intro. It's also a necessity for completists.
March 6, 2012
Due to my fascination with serial killers, Ted Bundy in particular, I had to read it. Not bad, but repeated a lot of the information already covered in other books by Michaud & Keppel.
January 27, 2021
There is a lot of information out about Ted Bundy. I’ve read numerous books about him and most of it is pretty repetitive. This book was a fascinating read from the point of view of a man who lived it and was changed by it. Dr. Keppel does an amazing job of telling his experiences with Ted Bundy and there were several new pieces of information I have not read before. This book was well written and very engaging. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of Dr. Keppel’s books.
April 29, 2024
Most of this information is already in another book by Robert Keppel, the one where he titled it about he and Bundy hunting for the Green River Killer. It is still informative and interesting for those who like to read true crime.
August 17, 2020
LOVED
An excellent read. Kept me captivated. Easy to read.
Please do your self a favor and read this awesome book.
An excellent read. Kept me captivated. Easy to read.
Please do your self a favor and read this awesome book.
January 27, 2021
Very derivative of Keppel's previous book The Riverman. If you have read that and Michaud and Aynesworth's The Only Living Witness, give this a miss.
February 8, 2021
A quickie but it's good
January 12, 2024
I think I'm burnt out on bundy.
May 1, 2025
I liked Robert keppels approach and seeing his side of dealing with such an individual as well as leaving out more graphic parts of his knowledge. Amazing detective.
November 19, 2020
I've been interested in these confessions - the only ones he made aside from the third party psychological review in previous interviews. Some say Bundy murdered over a hundred, which he scoffs at here, but the 30 he's admitted to are certainly not the full amount! Or at least, from my own knowledge of the egos of serial killers, I'd assume there'd be some he'd be holding close even in the face of death.
It still makes many shiver, the brutality and the twisted nature of this man, and there have been many more like him in the intervening years, and more imprisoned killers dying every year - Peter Sutcliffe became a footnote in the news not a week back, not even the headline was given to the prostitute killer of 1970s Yorkshire and Lancashire women when he died - a pandemic will do that! One good thing a killer of 500+ a day will do is overshadow it's human counterparts!
Bundy's secrets, and his insight into the crimes of Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer, which were more accurate than the FBI's, are fascinating, as they do cement the idea that it takes a killer to catch a killer. Worth a read just to hear the words of a man 30 years dead about his crimes in his last bid to save a few months of his life!
A part of the obsession in reading these serial killer books could be the fear of this pandemic, where the indiscriminate deaths merely in the UK are reaching over 500 atm, not to mention the rest of the world. I always said, through my life, that nature would cap the population of earth in this sort of way. I feel vindicated, but not in a good way. I wish I'd been wrong!
It still makes many shiver, the brutality and the twisted nature of this man, and there have been many more like him in the intervening years, and more imprisoned killers dying every year - Peter Sutcliffe became a footnote in the news not a week back, not even the headline was given to the prostitute killer of 1970s Yorkshire and Lancashire women when he died - a pandemic will do that! One good thing a killer of 500+ a day will do is overshadow it's human counterparts!
Bundy's secrets, and his insight into the crimes of Gary Ridgeway, the Green River Killer, which were more accurate than the FBI's, are fascinating, as they do cement the idea that it takes a killer to catch a killer. Worth a read just to hear the words of a man 30 years dead about his crimes in his last bid to save a few months of his life!
A part of the obsession in reading these serial killer books could be the fear of this pandemic, where the indiscriminate deaths merely in the UK are reaching over 500 atm, not to mention the rest of the world. I always said, through my life, that nature would cap the population of earth in this sort of way. I feel vindicated, but not in a good way. I wish I'd been wrong!
March 13, 2021
I read this following Ann Rule's admiration of Robert Keppel as a police investigator then academic. He was described as one of the linchpins in identifying Ted Bundy and securing his convictions. As such, I went into this book with high hopes. I ended up feeling quite disappointed. As mentioned a few times, the narrative feels disjointed and all over the place. The content of the book is quite a banal recollection of facts that feel cobbled together and have appeared in other sources prior to this book. There wasn't anything new or of interest here. I also found it quite horrifying the lack of victimology present in the book. The women killed came across as nothing but ciphers. It felt like another erasure on top of their lives being erased by the vile men being scrutinised in this book by Keppel.
Other than the few moments where Robert Keppel shared his views on what he felt about Bundy himself (eg. when he detected Bundy trying to manipulate the interviewers or observing he felt he had successfully done so, the psychological approaches he took in order to obtain the information he did via interview etc) I felt there was very little revealed about the inner workings of the great mind Keppel is depicted to be in Ann Rule's book "The Stranger Beside Me". This is what I was seeking. Perhaps this was the wrong book to have started with, maybe I needed to have read "The Riverman". I suspect what I am truly looking for would be found in his academic text "Serial Violence: Analysis of Modus Operandi and Signature Characteristics of Killers". Another time perhaps. But this one is a miss.
Other than the few moments where Robert Keppel shared his views on what he felt about Bundy himself (eg. when he detected Bundy trying to manipulate the interviewers or observing he felt he had successfully done so, the psychological approaches he took in order to obtain the information he did via interview etc) I felt there was very little revealed about the inner workings of the great mind Keppel is depicted to be in Ann Rule's book "The Stranger Beside Me". This is what I was seeking. Perhaps this was the wrong book to have started with, maybe I needed to have read "The Riverman". I suspect what I am truly looking for would be found in his academic text "Serial Violence: Analysis of Modus Operandi and Signature Characteristics of Killers". Another time perhaps. But this one is a miss.
April 3, 2016
Bundy and the detective
Interesting recounting of Ted Bundy and Robert Keppel, in charge of the Ted murders in Washington state. Parallel and intersecting lives. For people interested in Bundy and serial killers, it's excellent.
I bought the Kindle version for $7.99, which doesn't have the audio. However, there are descriptions where the audio should be. So this version isn't enhanced, just text.
Interesting recounting of Ted Bundy and Robert Keppel, in charge of the Ted murders in Washington state. Parallel and intersecting lives. For people interested in Bundy and serial killers, it's excellent.
I bought the Kindle version for $7.99, which doesn't have the audio. However, there are descriptions where the audio should be. So this version isn't enhanced, just text.
Read
January 20, 2020Keppel was one of the last people to interview Bundy before his execution. It was to Keppel that Bundy finally confessed to all of the PNW abduction/murders.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews