Katie Ring

He was educated, clean cut, charismatic, and even considered attractive by some.

The fascination surrounding him isn't just about the crimes he committed, but the unsettling realization that evil people don't always look like monsters.

They can look like your neighbor, your coworker, your classmate, or even your partner.

Every crime tells a story about the people involved, the system that tried to stop it, and the nation that couldn't look away.

Some cases are so shocking, so deeply woven into who we are, that decades later, we're still asking, how did this happen?

I'm Katie Ring, and this is America's Most Infamous Crimes.

Every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I'll take you deep into the cases that have a lasting imprint on society and still haunt us today.

I want to thank you for being part of the CrimeHouse community.

Please rate, review, and follow America's Most Infamous Crimes wherever you get your podcasts.

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Before I get started, please be advised that this episode contains descriptions of physical and sexual assault and murder, so please listen with care.

This is the first of our three episodes on Ted Bundy, one of the most notorious serial killers of all time.

Today, I'll talk about his twisted origins, his descent into darkness, and what turned him into one of America's most terrifying murderers.

From the moment Ted Bundy was born, he was surrounded by lies.

Ted's mom, Louise, got pregnant in early 1946, but his dad abandoned them, which meant Ted was born out of wedlock that November.

This was a huge scandal that could have destroyed their family.

To avoid the stigma that came with being a young single mother, Ted's grandparents raised him as their own son in Philadelphia.

He actually spent his early life thinking Louise was his older sister and not his mother.

In interviews, Ted claims that his upbringing was completely normal.

But according to some family members and biographers, Ted's grandfather, Samuel, was known to have a violent temper, was racist and misogynistic, and would even harm animals.