Ted Bundy's Murderous Mysteries

by Kevin Sullivan

  I love you,

  Kathy

  Following is a transcription of an undated letter from Kathy to Christy McPhee, which is postmarked May 6, 1974.

  Christy, it was wonderful speaking with you – you lifted my cloud of loneliness for you. Bless Ma Bell! Even though she’s damned. I’ve just completed my ½ hour of overall exercises. Yes, this is my “May month of physical fitness program”, 2nd night of ½ hour exercises. I always feel so relaxed and limber afterwards. Going to keep at it for at least a month, this time around. I’m also playing a lot of basketball and riding my bike lately, so it’s not as if I don’t get enough exercise as it is. Right now, I think I must feel the same way a kitten does asleep before a fire. I’m content after talking with you, relaxed from doing those exercises, sleepy because I’m stoned, and drifting on a wave of classical music. Today I heard “Nutcracker Suite” for the first time in years, it seems. It sounded beautiful to me. I love certain classical pieces very much, and too often I miss hearing them. What they have got on the radio right now is okay, but I especially like old familiar favorites I grew up with.

  I love you – I feel I always will. You’ve lightened my heart tonight. I’m happy you were there – it was nice to hear your voice. Well, I’m very sleepy now, so, I think I’ll go to bed. Remember – I care for you.

  Friday night

  I saw B.B. King tonight. God, he is really something else! I’ll never forget him as long as I live. He radiates warmth and good feelings like no other performer I’ve seen or heard. He puts his heart into his music. A wonderful, wonderful man and musician! I wanted to shake his hand, just touch him to let him know how he touched me. He moved me very deeply. Sort of the feeling I have for Ray Charles. B.B. King truly is the “King of Blues” dedicated to the core. Tony Joe White also played (Poke Salad Annie). He was okay, in my opinion, in an a.m. radio style. B.B. King had the whole show, though I wish you could have heard him with me.

  I sat out in the sun for two hours with Joanne today. Love to feel the sun’s warmth on my body.

  Kathy Tornow is getting married tomorrow, today now -April 4th (Author’s note: Believe she meant May 4th). I’ve been thinking about her a lot off and on today. I smoked some hash with Ed a while ago. I’ll finish this tomorrow – I’m very, very sleepy – so sleepy I can barely think. Goodnight – I love you.

  Saturday Evening

  Christy – it was beautiful today! The weather is great. I sat out with Joanne again in the sun a long while. This is “Moms” weekend. Mothers abounding everywhere. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves. With this sun, how could they not? I just got back from riding my bike in the country. The setting sun threw a goldish hue over everything. I also did my exercises for ½ hour, and there was a fair up in the M.U. Quad this morning. All the usual arts and crafts. The one where I got you your ring had better craftsmanship, I thought. Still, it was fun. I bought a long, full, dark green skirt, very light material, and the blouse that went with it. It cost eleven dollars. I got a good deal.

  I’m stoned again, so I think I must be letting myself ramble on pretty much in my writing. That’s been my day, quite a bit of it, anyway, I want you to know I’ve been thinking of you. Oh, Christy, please don’t worry about ever losing me, don’t ever give it a thought. You are in my heart, and I think of you often, no matter whom I’m with, or what I’m doing. Nothing you could ever do could make me love you less. I accept you completely. If I loved you any less because of the way you are and live, I would not really love you. But I do, so I can say I love you, and I will, all my life. I know I’ll never find another you. You are a vital person, and have a hell of a lot to offer this world. I care for you, I want you to be happy, give yourself a good time and feel absolutely free in doing so, knowing that I’ll love you, simply because you are you. I miss you, Christy, and I love you very much. Guess I’d better get this off to you.

  I love you,

  Kathy

  The following is a transcribed copy of a letter which was written by Kathy and found in the wastebasket in her room. The letter bears no date or salutation and appears to be a recording of her thoughts at the time. It’s unknown when Kathy wrote this letter which was never mailed.

  I have been thinking seriously about this coming summer and my future. I want to live and work in California for a while. I do not want to live or work in Louisiana. The only reason I’d want to be there is because you are there. I’ve asked myself if I honestly feel ready to settle down and live with a man. Living together and being married have no difference, in my mind. In both situations, emotional bondage and dependency are present, as are other binding factors. To be completely honest with myself, which is not an easy thing to be sometimes, I have decided that I am not ready to settle down. It is only fair to be honest to you, in turn, and tell you of my thoughts. I think it a better thing to be honest now, rather than sorry later.

  There is something I feel I must do in becoming completely happy and at ease with myself inside, before I settle down. I must have the certain knowledge inside of me of realizing I can go it alone in this world. At this point, I know I am insecure and more than a little unsure of my own ability to cope with the world by myself. I want to have that feeling inside of me, and I want to build up my self-confidence and faith in myself. After this is done, then I can think of settling down, knowing I am a better person for it.

  This decision is nothing against you. You are a good man, and a loving one. I love you as much as ever. My feelings toward you have not changed in the least. My plans for my own future have, though.

  It hasn’t been easy for me to ask myself what I truly want for myself but I did, and I know, I just know I need more time to become my own person. I need time to grow, and feel worthy of myself. If I come to live with you now, I will never know complete personal independence. I feel I must know this before I can give completely without any reservations ever blocking my love.

  I also think any ties of commitment should not be binding if they are decidedly going to interfere with one’s personal happiness and well-being. If I promise to jump off a cliff, I think it’s only fair to me to be able to change my mind, if I think it would be unwise for me to go through with the commitment. I’m not equating living with you as being throwing myself off a cliff, but, in a way, it is. I think after a year or so I would become discontent, simply because I have never had the chance of being on my own. I want to give myself that chance. I think it’s best for me.

  I feel as though I’ve just changed the course of my life before the future has even arrived. “Set me adrift in a sea of hope – I’ll set my sail to a new horizon”. Keep the faith in me, Christy. I love you, more than ever. Trust in me, I’ve got to have more time. I’ve got to know when I’m ready to settle down. You’ve got to accept that I have to know that if you love me like you tell me you do, you’ve got to give and take. We both do. Don’t turn your love away from me, just give me time. I need time to grow and let my love grow. Please try to understand my feelings.

  That letter is unsigned.

  The following is a similar transcribed copy which is undated and unaddressed, written by Kathy and found in her room.

  This is something I wrote a while back, there ain’t anything like the “real thing,” Christy, if what we feel for each other is the real thing, I think very strongly it can only grow stronger and stronger, and higher and higher.

  There is someone you never forget, no matter who you may be with. There is always someone in the back of your mind. I think you are the one I’ll never forget.

  My mother waited for her man five years, not “waited,” actually, more always had him in the back of her head, and he always had her in the back of his mind. They had an understanding between them. They were to go their separate ways, each was to go out with anyone they wanted. My father insisted that my mother go out and not sit at home. Both of them did just that. When my mom felt ready to s
ettle down, she had her self-respect, confidence, and an honest liking for herself. She was sure my dad was the right one for her, just as dad thought she was the right girl for him. Now, neither one of them asked the other to wait, it wouldn’t be fair to either of them. More than likely they would end up hating each other if they had promised to wait for each other, fingers crossed. My ma came to dad when she knew in her heart she was ready to settle down. Their love for each other was true, and they were ready for each other.

  Following is a transcribed copy of a letter written to Kathy from Christy dated April 23, 1974.

  Dear Kathy,

  I’m laying here in my bunk on the barge. I’m afraid Kathy, I’m afraid that we may be drifting apart. I don’t want that to happen, Kathy, I love you. I love you more than I could love anyone else, and I’m pretty sure that you love me. I don’t know why you made such a turnabout in plans I thought we had made. You said something about wanting to be independent and not have to be dependent on me. But then you say you’re going to be living at your sister’s. It seems to me you’re just transferring it from me to them. I want you to be dependent on me to a certain extent. You really mean something to me, Kathy you’re the most important thing in my life. You make it seem like there’s some meaning to my life when I have you, but without you there just doesn’t seem to be very much. You give me something to work for, certain goals to achieve. Without you those goals are unachievable. Sure, I could find something else to work for, but the life with you is the happy one. I don’t want to be away from you for so long. I’m afraid you’ll drift away from me and I might never see you again. When I think of not having you I get this really empty feeling or something in my gut. It happens all the time now because, since you dropped the bombshell last night, I think about it all the time. Tonight, while eating dinner I thought about it and I couldn’t eat. When I looked out the window at the ocean and thought of what it would be like without you I felt really sick, and all I wanted to do was go lie in my bunk. Writing this now makes me feel the same way. I’m confused, Kathy. I love you. I never want to be without you. Please stay with me. I’m very weary Kathy, I must sleep.

  April 24, 1974

  Kathy, I got the word this morning I’m going home, the job is over. I’ll be talking to you tonight but I’m sending this anyway. I really wonder why it is you changed your mind. I love you Kathy, I don’t want to lose you.

  The following is a transcribed copy of a letter to Kathy from Chris dated May 1, 1974.

  To my dearest Kathy:

  I hope you’ve been alright lately. I’ve only gotten the one letter from you so far. I hope you’ve written more than that. You know when I said that James and I were going to Baton Rouge to look at cars? Well, we never made it. Jeff still hasn’t come back with the truck we’re going to drive there in. But we’ll probably go whenever Jeff comes back. I sure do miss you sweetheart. I wonder what you think of me when I’m so far away. I wish I was with you Kathy. I want so bad to be able to hold you in my arms. I love you so much Kathy. I’d be happy just to wait for you. If I knew you’d be waiting for me also. I want you Kathy. I can’t see myself with anyone else. You’re the girl I want. I only hope I will be able to keep you as “my girl.” Well hon, I’ve got to go now. I’ve got some things to do. I love you. I’ll write or talk to you soon.

  Write me often!

  Love ya always,

  Chris

  What follows in a partial inventory of the items Kathy Parks left behind. Each item had to be catalogued by investigators before they could be turned over to the Parks’ family. For this book, I’ll be highlighting those items that most reveal what Kathy enjoyed such as reading material, and other objects she obviously had emotional attachments to. Hence the reasons why I have chosen to skip some items such as an umbrella and “a brown coffee cup.”

  INVENTORY OF PERSONAL BELONGINGS OF ROBERTA KATHLEEN PARKS

  On the morning of June 13, 1974, William R. Harris, Investigator, and Amos Shaw, Director of Security, removed the following items from room 325 Sackett Hall “B” which was occupied by Kathy Parks. These items are presently stored at the OSU Campus Security Office in Gill Coliseum.

  • A total of sixty-two letters, most of which are from Chris McPhee to Kathy. Five of these letters arrived since her disappearance.

  • Seven envelopes containing bank statements and canceled checks from Citizen’s Bank, Corvallis, in the name of Kathy Parks.

  • One savings account book, Lafayette Federal Savings, Lafayette, California, in the name of Kathy Parks, showing the most recently withdrawal of $16, on January 4, 1974, with a balance of $44.87.

  • Three statements from OSU Department of Housing to Kathy Parks showing a balance due of $309.

  • One cardboard box containing six books of personalized checks from Citizen’s Bank of Corvallis in the name of Kathy Parks.

  • One OSU general information booklet.

  • One wedding invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Tornow and Mr. and Mrs. Roy T. Sutrow announcing the marriage of Kathryn Colman and Thomas Michael on May 4, 1974, in Walnut Creek, California.

  Here we begin the cataloguing of items that, for the most part, reflected the personality of Kathy Parks and those things she enjoyed.

  Cardboard box containing the following items:

  • Eighty-six paperback novels

  • Four paperback books on university subjects

  • Assorted hand-written pages on the origin and history of Belly Dancing

  • One paperback book titled Astrology Made Simple

  • One university paperback book titled Cognitively Oriented Curriculum

  • One paperback book titled One Family

  • One blue-colored spiral notebook containing notes on Hinduism and world religions

  • One dark gray-colored three-ring spiral folder titled Food and Man

  • Old English Ballads

  • Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics

  • New Hudson Shakespeare

  • A novel titled My Cousin Rachael

  • Very old book from the Sacramento Public Library titled Cyril Hamilton: His Adventures by Land and Sea

  • The Prophet

  • Collected Poems by Robert Frost

  • Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

  • The Prose and Poetry of John Milton

  • Chinese Fairy Tales

  • Flower Thoughts

  • The Indispensable Edgar Allan Poe

  • Wuthering Heights

  Closing out the information on Kathy Parks, I’m including two letters that are worth noting. The first is from Kathy’s father, Charles Parks Jr., and it’s clear from this communication that he wants—and is grateful for—the press getting the word out about these terrible murders.

  August 21, 1974

  Mr. Kerry Webster

  The News Tribune

  1950 So. State Street,

  Tacoma, Washington

  Dear Mr. Webster:

  I sincerely appreciate your letter of August 15, together with the copy of the special report on the missing girls, including my daughter.

  I’m afraid that the similarities of these unplanned disappearance(s), together with the personal knowledge of my own daughter’s character, are too coincidental to be anything other than foul play.

  Thank you very kindly for your courtesy in sending this very fine, well-organized and highly descriptive article. I would hope that the Bay area would pick this whole story up.

  Again, my deepest appreciation.

  Very truly yours,

  Charles E. Parks, Jr.

  What follows is a letter from Captain Nick Mackie to the parents of Kathy Parks. Although the brief communication appears almost “standard,” if I may use that word, nothing could be farther from the truth. The law enforcement community in Washington State, and especia
lly those in the Seattle area, were not just doing everything they knew to do to catch this killer, but it was taking an emotional toll on them as well:

  April 28, 1975

  Mr. and Mrs. Charles Parks

  1117 Rahara Avenue

  Lafayette, California 94549

  Re: Roberta Kathleen Parks

  We wish to take this opportunity to express our sympathy for you and your family over the loss of your daughter. Be assured that our detectives are exhausting all possible leads in connection with the death of Kathy.

  We have enclosed a certified copy of the death certificate as Mrs. Parks requested. If you have any questions about the investigation, please contact Detective Roger Dunn or Detective Robert Keppel.

  Lawrence G. Walt, Sheriff-Director

  Joseph N. Mackie, Captain

  Criminal Investigation Division

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Susan Rancourt

  I first told the story of Bundy’s travels to Central Washington State College (CWSC), and the murder of Susan Rancourt, in my first Bundy book, The Bundy Murders. I was not able to visit this college, or any other Washington State location for the writing of the book, but that wasn’t a hindrance as I had all pertinent case file material for all of the Washington murders, as well as photos (both from the time of the murders and current), as well as numerous maps, which allowed me to sort it all out.

  However, for my second Bundy book, The Trail of Ted Bundy: Digging up the Untold Stories, published in 2016, I traveled to Washington and visited all of the sites where Bundy had hunted and abducted his victims, including CWSC. In 1974, Bundy, ever the sly and attentive-to-details type of killer, had parked his VW in an isolated area of the campus, so that as he led his unsuspecting victim to his car, he’d have a much better chance of overpowering her and quickly getting away without being noticed by anyone.