On this day, Leslie had skipped her usual routine of wearing her Levis or otherwise comfortable clothes, and instead wore an off-white two-piece outfit (top and skirt) that her Mom had given her for Christmas. She’s never worn it before today, and she topped it off with a pair of high heels. They might not have been the most comfortable shoes to walk home in, but she knew Danny was on his way. With the load of books in hand, Leslie set off for the K-Mart that was across Wesconnett Blvd and to the right a hundred or so yards away. As she crossed the street at the entrance way to the K-Mart, she was looking at the long stretch of road that ran along the side of the building and, as usual, she would be walking the strip of paved lot with the side wall of the store on her left, and a deep ditch (no longer there today) on her right which separated her from Wesconnett Blvd. As she walked, she could look directly to her right and across the street, to the softball field where many of her friends were playing on this otherwise normal day.
And then, out of nowhere, she saw a large white van coming toward her. During our conversation, Leslie said she wasn’t sure if the van had been driving down Wesconnett Blvd, spotted her, and turned left into the parking lot before heading in her direction, or if he entered the parking lot from the opposite end of the store from Blanding Blvd, drove along in front of the store until he came to the end of it and saw her walking up his way, which then would have caused him to turn right to meet her. But no matter the direction, as the van came her way, she found out very quickly what it was all about. Bundy, having seen the lone teenager, immediately drove down this little narrow road that runs parallel with the windowless side of K-Mart. As the van approached and slowed down, Leslie sensed something bad might happen. “I knew the second I had eyes on him he was up to something.” It was Bundy’s intention to stop alongside her, but as he did, Leslie kept walking, and by the time Bundy jumped out of the van, she was slightly past the rear of the van.
Upon jumping out, Bundy shouted, “Hey, hey, hey!” according to Leslie. “I’m Richard Burton, I’m from the fire department.” Turning around to face him, Leslie said he kept repeating these words as if he had nothing else to say. She also said not only did he refuse to look her in the eyes (they were darting about), but she noticed how unshaven and dirty he was, and that his clothes were also dirty and wrinkled.
As they talked, Leslie said she contemplated hurling the heavy books at him if he tried anything, while at the same time, she was looking (and hoping) that some of her friends across the street on the softball field would notice her and, if something was going to happen, would be able to render aid. Bundy, obviously looking for the moment to attack if his cajoling to get her into the van didn’t work, was about to be startled by the arrival of her well-built and soon to be very angry brother.
Bundy, never a brave one when confronting men, would soon make his exit after Danny quickly stopped, jumped out of his truck, and demanded of Bundy an answer as to why he was talking to his sister. After Bundy’s mumbling answers to the incensed brother, he quickly drove off and believed that would be the last of them. But he had attempted to abduct the daughter of a homicide detective of the Jacksonville Police, and he wasn’t going to get away so easily. As the derailed killer sped away, they wrote down the license number. Bundy quickly put distance between himself and Jacksonville, and would ultimately rent a room that night at the Holiday Inn in Lake City, Florida. Here, in this sleepy and peaceful Florida town, Bundy went on to kill twelve-year-old Kimberly Leach the following day. He didn’t yet know it, but he had committed his last murder.
Danny and Leslie raced home to figure out what to do. Their dad, Detective James Lester Parmenter (not wild about his first name, he was always referred to as Lester Parmenter) was out of the state and, as this was an age before cell phones, they knew they couldn’t reach him so they called and spoke to Detective John Bradley at the Jacksonville PD. Because the police had the ability to trace the license plate, they quickly determined that the van had come from Tallahassee. In the near future, that van would also be linked to the killing of Kim Leach, and ultimately, to Ted Bundy.
In the weeks that followed, Danny and Leslie assisted the police and even underwent hypnosis in the hope that they could remember additional facts about their encounter with the strange man in the K-Mart parking lot that February 8. Both assisted in making composite drawings of the individual. Once Bundy was arrested and they were shown photographs of men in a photograph line up, both picked Bundy out of the display. They also had a chance to sit across from Ted Bundy during a meeting with a Grand Jury judge. On one side of the table sat Danny and Leslie, along with their father, on the other was Bundy with his representation. Unlike that day in the parking lot, Bundy was neat, clean, and dressed in a nice suit. This time, those eyes that kept darting about as he tried to abduct the young girl, were now staring straight at her, unflinching, and it was clear to Leslie that he was being bolstered by the presence of his attorneys. Danny and Leslie Parmenter gave depositions in the case, and also testified at the murder trial of Kimberly Leach. It all must have been very annoying to Bundy, as he believed that on that day when he had fled from the angry brother, he’d never see them again.
In the years since, whenever the Parmenter family discussed the events of that day, the realization of what could have happened never left them. Being a homicide detective, and spending years seeing how far humans can descend to create destruction and havoc in the lives of innocent people, Lester Parmenter told a reporter, “I’ve felt that had my son not come up and picked up Leslie, I’d have never seen her alive again … I know Leslie would have been Bundy’s next victim.” It is a sentiment the retired detective repeats to this day.
VII. Dawn Kraut and Ted Bundy
In March of this year (2019), as I was putting the finishing touches on this book, I was contacted by yet another Ted Bundy contact; a lady by the name of Dawn Kraut. For a few seconds, I searched my mind as to who she was, as her named seemed familiar. And then, bam! I remembered: Dawn Kraut was an individual I’d written about in The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History. I remember when I came across her six-page statement to police, I needed to include most of the information about her encounter with Ted Bundy in the book. She spotted Bundy in the cafeteria at the University of Washington at Seattle. Bundy did not speak to her, although he had noticed the pretty young woman with long hair parted in the middle, and Dawn wasn’t about to let him get away without confronting him; albeit in a gentle, non-threatening manner.
The story of their meeting is a fascinating one, and it’s a well-written account of that day. Unknown to me (before she contacted me, that is), she has had a desire to see the report again for many years now, and once we began communicating, I had my wife scan and email the report to her. As I explained to her (with my usual splash of humor), it all began with her having a conversation with Ted Bundy, and after Dawn returned home and told her family, the police were notified. From this came a meeting at Dawn’s home with Detective Kathy McChesney who, in turn, returned to her office and typed up the report. Once finished, Detective McChesney made an appointment to meet Dawn at the University of Washington so she could look over each page of the six-page report and initial it after determining its accuracy. Then, Dawn handed the report over to Detective McChesney so that she could turn it over to her boss, lead Detective Robert Keppel. Years later, I gathered her report along with dozens and dozens of other similar reports, during the research phase of my book. Now, several years later, I was able to send her a copy of the same report by way of a simple email. It was a “coming-full-circle” of something that was important to her, and it was a journey that would take some forty-four years to complete.
Because of the volume and type of information Dawn has provided, giving us an excellent “back story” to the event reflected in her report, I believe it’s important to present the entire report as it will compliment this new information.
Date: 12-5-75
Statement of: Dawn Kraut:
On Thursday, December 4, 1975, I was at the Undergraduate Library Cafeteria at the University of Washington where I am a senior in psychology and anthropology. I had a class from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. and then went to the cafeteria by myself. I sat alone at a table and was studying.
At about 3:00 o’clock I noticed a man I recognized as Ted Bundy from the newspapers, sitting about two tables away. I had never met Bundy. I wasn’t really sure it was him as I thought he was in Salt Lake City.
The man I thought was Ted Bundy was talking with a hippy-type guy, he was about 25 years old and had long blond hair. Ted was eating a hamburger and laughing and smiling, although I could see under the table a kind of dichotomy – his legs and feet were moving as if he were very nervous. The blond man asked Ted what year he was in, in law school and said he had seen Ted’s photograph in the paper. Ted appeared to know the blond man.
I wasn’t able to hear much of their conversation and when they stopped talking the blond man and Ted got up from the table and parted. Ted was going near the door and I went toward the vending machine to get something to drink. I wasn’t very far from Ted then and I quietly said, “Ted?” Ted turned around and said “Do I know you?” I said “No” and he nodded his head and asked my name. I frowned and he said, “Just your first name.” I said Dawn. Ted said, “I saw you looking at me, it was more than just a double-take.”
I said, “I never forget a face.” Then I didn’t want him to think I recognized him from seeing him in person before and I told him I had seen his picture in the papers. Ted said, “The mug shots.” And I said I had seen an old newsreel. Ted said he was surprised that they had kept them.
At first Ted seemed nervous and then composed as we talked longer. He told me he was Ted Bundy. He was wearing nicely pressed old jeans, new reddish-brown loafers, a navy-blue turtleneck and a beige and brown striped sweater with a loose cloth belt. When he was eating his hamburger, he wasn’t wearing gloves, but now he was. They were brown with leather stitching. We stood by the door and had a conversation for about 45 minutes.
I noticed Ted was carrying a clipboard, the kind that folds over. It was thin, like there weren’t many papers in it and he had no books. I asked him how the case was going and he smiled and said, “Well,” and then started talking about the sensationalism of the press. He also said, “It’s something people will never forget.” I told him I thought that people would forget. He disagreed with me about this, he seemed certain people would remember.
I asked him if it bothered him that I recognized him and he said it didn’t and that he wished everyone would talk to him and then they’d realize that “I’m not that kind of guy.”
We didn’t talk about anything other than him. I asked him what he was doing in the library and he said he had come from the law school where he was told they didn’t want him there using the facilities because of his reputation.
Ted told me that I was the first person to recognize him that didn’t previously know him. He asked me if an attractive young woman like myself wasn’t afraid to know that Theodore Bundy was around campus. I shrugged and didn’t answer.
I told him I knew one of the girls who disappeared – Denise Naslund. Ted said, “Oh, that’s a shame.” “I feel sorry for the genuine friends and family of the people who disappeared.” “I can really see why they’d be bitter and want the person or persons caught.” “It must have been a terrifying nightmarish experience.” I recalled that he only spoke about the incidents with the girls as disappearances.
Ted seemed talkative and I asked him if he had a sister. He said he had two and left it at that. He didn’t talk about his family but mentioned he had a fiancé, a “wonderful woman.” He talked about her when we were talking about the missing girls. He said he could understand how the families must feel because of his feelings for his fiancé and her daughter, whom he said was “the most beautiful 6-year-old girl.” He said that he loved this little girl as if he were her father.
Then he talked about a real old girl or woman friend who was writing a book on this case. He said that he didn’t know much about the evidence in this case but this older woman did and that she in fact knew more details than anyone and she “knows I wouldn’t be responsible.”
He talked about John D. O’Connell, his attorney from Utah. He said Mr. O’Connell wasn’t from around here. He used slang in describing O’Connell as a “laid back” kind of person, a neat guy, a good lawyer, and young. Ted said it was nice to have a lawyer who you know believes you. He said he had a good feeling when O’Connell smiled at him.
Ted said that he had a lot of influential friends and was good friends with the prosecuting attorney but that he hasn’t seen him since his arrest, thinking that would make things awkward for the prosecutor. He also mentioned that Seattle Police are putting pressure on to catch someone and get the case solved.
He said that he was staying at a friend’s apartment and that his friends have given him money and taken him around or lent him their car, I don’t recall which he said. He said he had a lot of friends who had written him letters.
He talked about the law system and the publicity in this case. He said the press had done a number on his case and had made him look guilty. He said when this was over he was going to get a lot of money suing people. I said, “That’s only if you get acquitted.” And I don’t remember what he said.
He said he wanted to become a criminal defense attorney and that he will be able to get back into law school when this is all over, that he’d already talked to the school about that. I said, “Couldn’t you be prevented from taking the bar exam?” He said he hadn’t thought about that.
I asked him if it weren’t the case that some young attorney might want to take his case to make a name for himself and Ted said Mr. O’Connell was not a status seeker.
Ted said that he used to want to be a prosecutor but now that he seen the other side and the amount of power the prosecutor has, he does not want to be one.
I asked him if he studied in jail and he said he had been in 8 to 12 weeks and was so upset he couldn’t concentrate.
I remember that in referring to the woman he said that all the police had was coincidental information, and I said I thought that you could be convicted on circumstantial evidence. I mentioned the Eric Haga case and he didn’t recall it. I told him a little about it and he said, “Isn’t he out?” (of jail, referring to Haga) and I said I thought he was but that he had been convicted on circumstantial evidence.
I noticed Ted made quick glances and movements but he wasn’t trying to hustle me. He appeared intellectual, articulate and careful about what he said although he responded quickly to my questions.
I asked him if he was afraid of being out and around, afraid that someone might shoot him? He said he didn’t care what people thought, that he was going to do what he wanted to be happy. He said he was not bitter about anything and was being objective. He also mentioned the moral support of his friends and “donations.”
He didn’t talk much about money, he said he was 29 years old and I could see from his face he had wrinkles around his eyes, particularly when he smiled or laughed. He said he had gotten a B.S. at the University of Washington.
He said he had not pleaded guilty or not guilty yet in Salt Lake. He acted confident of being acquitted and seemed surprised that charges weren’t dropped before.
He said he had been Christmas shopping. He didn’t use slang expressions and looked in my eyes when we talked. He kept his head turned somewhat to the left. He didn’t have a deep voice or accent that I noticed.
He said that he didn’t know what the evidence was against him and that a witness at Lake Sammamish did not recognize him. I asked him if he thought he was being framed and he said it was too long and complicated of a case to be framed.
When we parted, he said he was going to get Christmas cards and thank you
notes. Our parting was abrupt, he turned and went back across Red Square toward Montlake, and I went back to where I was sitting.
Dawn Kraut
What follows are some of Dawn’s very insightful observations concerning her encounter with Bundy, as well as some very interesting information about another attack which, although it has not been greatly discussed, may very well have been committed by Bundy in northern Washington state. Keep in mind that Bundy admitted to killing eleven in Washington State, but only provided the names of eight victims. That said, there are not only a number of unknown victims out there, but there must also be a number of potential victims who did not fall victim to Ted Bundy, and so the following story might—and I stress might—be one of these.
Although I was a University of Washington student for years, in June of 1974, I enrolled for a brief summer quarter foray at Western Washington College in Bellingham, Washington, located near the Canadian border. (It is now Western Washington University.) It’s a beautiful campus on the undulating hills overlooking the Puget Sound. I rented a small apartment in a converted old house that straddled the hillside. Although my apartment was on the upper floor, it was accessed from the house’s backside via an alley and a wooden boardwalk. I had my 10-speed with me and initially biked the short distance to classes. But a couple of troubling things happened that summer. College coeds were disappearing like crazy in the Northwest. Everyone was really scared. My art class professor told us how upset he was about Susan Rancourt disappearing from Central Washington campus. Either he knew Susan, her family, or her professor, I forget, but he was very upset and his voice was cracking mentioning her. She disappeared April 1974, just 2 months prior. Then early that summer while I was at Western, rumors/news circulated that a coed on a bike was accosted in an alley by a guy, she struggled with him and a fake moustache he was wearing came loose. She got away & the assailant took off. Women were warned to beware, avoid alleys, avoid walking alone or at dark. My boyfriend came up from Seattle and nailed shut all my windows & put extra locks on my door. I was afraid to come and go. And I was reticent to zip freely around campus on my 10-speed like I had originally planned. Kevin, I haven’t read of any verified accounts of Ted trolling at Western, but it defies credulity that he didn’t. It’s a straight shot up I-5, maybe 1.5 hours or so from Seattle.
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