Edna Martin, Ted Bundy’s cousin, reveals the moment she knew he was guilty
The law school student was arrested a few months ago in Utah and released on bail. By then, investigators had begun to link him to a series of kidnappings and murders. Bundy had an uncanny resemblance to the suspect they were looking for. The family refused to believe he was their man.
Martin covered his mouth with her hand and led him back to the car. They drove in silence. After a few minutes I looked at him. He was smiling.
Theodore “Ted” Bundy is shown here after the murders of NFL students Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy, circa 1978. (Getty Images)
Martin’s heart sank. At that moment I realized that the accusations were true. She panicked quietly, wondering if she would need to Car crash If he suddenly rushes into her. When they arrived at his house, he remained silent, got out of the car quietly and went inside. Martin collapsed against the wheel and said to herself, “He did it.”
“My parents and my brother — we were just saying, ‘This can’t be it. There has to be some kind of mistake. They got the wrong guy,'” Martin, now 74, told Fox News Digital. “Maybe he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Ted Bundy, who was active in the 1970s, admitted to killing several young women in several states. (Bateman via Getty Images)
Insurance broker in Washington state She admitted that her family did not want to believe that Bundy – who was once a sweet child who loved to fish and swim – could commit such horrific acts that would later shock the nation. Over and over again, they said to each other: “This cannot be.”
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“The first thing I wanted to do was meet Ted and hear from him,” she said. “The Ted I thought I knew wasn’t the Ted I had. He was a different person. I went from feeling comfortable to feeling terrified.”
Martin shares her story in the new film Oxygen True crime documentary“,”My idol, Ted Bundy.” The film explores how one of America’s most famous serial killers formed a close relationship with her cousin when she was a child — a relationship that disintegrated into what she calls “an evil person” who stalked her for more than five decades. It also highlights the letters Bundy sent her while he was on death row.
Ted Bundy’s cousin reveals ‘chilling moment’ she knew ‘he was a monster’
Photo of serial killer Ted Bundy, circa 1975 in Salt Lake County, Utah. (worldwide)
Bundy killed at least 30 women Across several states during the 1970s. For Martin, this number is staggering because every victim was someone’s daughter, sister or friend.
Ted Bundy was one of America’s most famous serial killers. (Oxygen © Versant Media)
“I knew one side of Ted,” Martin said. “He was the guy I hung out with. When I returned to Washington to finish my junior and senior years at the University of Washington, he lived about five or six minutes away. My parents were happy to have him around — they thought he could take care of me if I needed anything. I looked to him as a big brother figure and someone I could trust, someone I could introduce to my girlfriends.”
“We looked like the girls he started killing,” Martin said.
Serial killer Ted Bundy in his high school yearbook, circa 1965. (worldwide)
According to Martin, Bondi was five years older than her. When his family moved to Washington, they lived under the same roof with her family for about a year.
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Investigators believe Ted Bundy may have killed more than 30 women and young girls. (Getty Images)
“His mother gave birth to him out of wedlock,” Martin explained. “In the mid-1940s, that was a tough description to live with. People were tough on single mothers back then, and my parents wanted to give Louise, his mother, a second chance. So it was Part of our family From the beginning.”
“He was always so nice to me,” she said. “He always took time to talk to me. He seemed normal — outgoing — and my parents loved him.”
Ted Bundy, left, with Leon County police officers in this undated file photo. (Tallahassee Democrat/IMAGN)
Looking back, Martin said she witnessed moments of Bundy’s strange behavior that startled her — “as if he had transformed in front of me.” Around her friends, his jaw suddenly clenched, and he looked “mean.” His bright blue eyes will turn black. When Martin calls him, he shakes his head and smiles, as if nothing had happened.
Edna Martin previously wrote a book published in 2024 called “Dark Tide: Growing Up With Ted Bundy.” Before speaking publicly, Martin remained silent for more than 50 years. (Oxygen © Versant Media)
For years, Martin wondered what went wrong with Bundy.
“I have speculated a lot about this, and it may have been due to the circumstances, but his mother never told him who His biological father She explained, “It became more urgent for him to know who he was. I don’t know if that was because he was discovering things about himself or if he just wanted to know what that relationship was on that side of the family.”
“Love, Ted Bundy” features letters the late serial killer wrote to his cousin Edna Martin. (Oxygen © Versant Media)
“In 1969, he came to see us On the way to Philadelphia “So he could try to research and find out who his father was. I think that had a big impact on him,” Martin continued. He never found out, and his mother withheld this information. “She may have thought she was protecting him, but it may have had another effect on him.”
Edna Martin speaks out in Oxygen’s true crime documentary “Love, Ted Bundy.” (Oxygen © Versant Media)
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However, Martin emphasized that any struggles Bundy faced could never justify the lives he destroyed.
Ted Bundy is shown here in custody on February 18, 1978. (to imagine)
From 1972 to 1974, female college students, like Martin, began to disappear. Seattle Times I mentioned. It scared her and many others. Four of the missing women were from the same university area where she lived. Linda Ann Healy, Bundy’s first known victim, disappeared in 1974 and was reported to be one of her roommate’s best friends.
Mrs. Nita Jean Neary shows a sketch of the Chi Omega sorority house during her testimony in the Ted Bundy murder trial. Neary said she was certain Bundy was the man she saw sneaking out of the house at Florida State University the morning two of her sorority sisters were murdered. (Getty Images)
Martin stressed that she never believed that Bundy could have a dark side. The documentary shows how she introduced him to her friends, and charmed them with his cheerful personality. When witnesses described Light colored Volkswagen Beetle It was led by a man who called himself “Ted” and ridiculed the matter as a case of mistaken identity.
Martin believed him.
In this 1977 photo, serial killer Ted Bundy, center, is escorted out of the courthouse in Pitkin County, Colorado. (Glenwood Springs Post Independent via AP)
“I remember being in Alaska and getting a phone call that he had been arrested,” Martin said. “I just ran[until]I finally felt safe enough to get that out of my system — because how could that be? Everything I thought I knew about someone was wrong. What it does — and you have to really fight this — is shake Your ability to trust anyone. Now, when I look at people, I always wonder what’s behind the facade.”
Edna Martin told Fox News Digital that she doesn’t like touching Ted Bundy’s handwritten letters with her bare hands, because it makes her feel uneasy. (Oxygen © Versant Media)
On December 30, 1977, Bundy was being held at the Garfield County Jail in Colorado. He called Martin’s brother and asked him which states had the strictest death penalty laws. “Most likely Texas or Florida,” his cousin replied.
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An image of Ted Bundy on a television screen on the lawn of the Florida State Prison. He was executed in 1989. (Getty Images)
In January 1978, the FBI arrived at Martin’s home. Bundy has escaped. According to the documentary, she wondered if he had a “death wish.” Martin said she will never know the answer.
Ted Bundy is seen here waving to television cameras while his indictment is read at the Leon County Jail. Bundy wanted to make a statement to the press but was told that a court order prohibiting him from speaking to reporters was still in effect. (Getty Images)
“Maybe he was drawn to the challenge of being in a place that had a lot of risk,” she told Fox News Digital. “Maybe it was a place where getting caught could mean execution. You can’t help but wonder.”
On January 15, 1978, Bundy carried out a horrific attack in Tallahassee, Florida, killing two Chi Omega sorority sisters and wounding three other women, the Associated Press reported. Less than a month later, he said Kidnapping, sexual assault The outlet reported that a 12-year-old girl named Kimberly Leach killed a 12-year-old girl in Lake City, Florida. She was Bundy’s final victim.
WATCH: Ted Bundy survivor says light through bedroom window saved her from serial killer in her new book
On February 15, 1978, Bundy was arrested for the last time. in florida, He was convicted of murder in 1979 and 1980. He was sentenced to death.
Photo of Kimberly Leach, who was murdered on February 9, 1978. (Acey Harper/Getty Images)
Martin said she wrote to Bundy repeatedly, hoping to understand what drove him to kill. In her letters, she asked if there were other victims who had not previously been identified, and urged him to reveal the whereabouts of the undiscovered remains. Bundy responded to that, but didn’t give her any answers.
WATCH: Ted Bundy survivors reveal horrific similarities between the Bundy killings and Idaho murders in FOX NATION special
In 1989, Bundy was executed by electric chair in Florida at the age of 42. For Martin, his death marked the end – but many questions remained.
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Edna Martin admitted to Fox News Digital that she still has difficulty trusting people. (Oxygen © Versant Media)
Decades later, Martin said the experience permanently changed her outlook on trust.
“I loved that person,” she said. “Is that hard to believe? I didn’t like the bad guy. I really cared about the guy I knew. All I could remember was the guy I knew. I didn’t know this other guy. … The trauma didn’t go away. And I discovered that trauma wasn’t supposed to be buried.”
Oxygen’s “Love, Ted Bundy” airs February 15 at 6 p.m
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