Katie Ring

Ted was a planner, and as always, he wanted to be prepared for every possibility.

To make sure he didn't get caught, he decided to learn everything he could about how the police operated.

So Ted deferred his law school admission and used his political connections to get a job with the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Commission.

Working there gave Ted access to all kinds of data on violent crime.

He learned about the investigative techniques detectives commonly use, and that communication between different jurisdictions was limited.

After about a year, 26-year-old Ted felt like he'd learned what he needed.

He left the crime commission and enrolled at a local law school in the fall of 1973.

But his concentration was starting to waver.

His desire to dominate and destroy was overwhelming him.

And in early 1974, Ted took it to another level.

On the night of January 4th, 1974, Ted drove to the University District in Seattle, a neighborhood that was popular with students.

Ted liked to peep on young women there, and that night, he decided to prey on 18-year-old Karen Sparks, a freshman political science major who lived in the basement of a house she shared with some friends.

Karen was pretty, brunette, and had her hair parted down the middle.

From far away, she looked a lot like Ted's ex-girlfriend, Diane Edwards.

Whether that was Ted's reason for choosing Karen, he was dangerously fixated on her.

He followed Karen home, blending in with all of the other students who were out that night.

He hung back as Karen went inside and got ready for bed, then watched her sleep through a small window.

It wasn't long before he was overwhelmed by rage and desire.

He slipped through an unlocked door on the opposite side of the house, then made his way to Karen's room.

It would have only taken one creaky floorboard or someone heading to the kitchen for a late night snack to stop him, but the place was quiet as Ted crept down to the basement, completely undetected.