Case file · Florida and Utah state courts, United States

Theodore Robert Bundy: charges, verdict and sentence

Bundy

State

Florida and Utah state courts, United States · 1975 to 1989

Theodore Bundy was convicted of aggravated kidnapping in Utah, then convicted in two Florida trials of three counts of first-degree murder and related offenses arising from crimes in January and February 1978. He received three death sentences in Florida, which the Florida Supreme Court affirmed, and he was executed by the State of Florida on 24 January 1989.

Where it stands nowBundy was executed in Florida on 24 January 1989.

Charges and outcomes

Charge	Outcome	Date
Aggravated kidnapping (Utah)⁴	Convicted
First-degree murder, two counts (Tallahassee case, tried in Dade County)^1,2	Convicted	31 July 1979
Attempted first-degree murder, three counts (Tallahassee case)^1,2	Convicted	31 July 1979
Burglary, two counts (Tallahassee case)¹	Convicted	31 July 1979
Kidnapping (Lake City case, tried in Orange County)²	Convicted	1980
First-degree murder (Lake City case, tried in Orange County)²	Convicted	1980

Sentence

Two death sentences in the Tallahassee case (1979) and a death sentence plus life imprisonment in the Lake City case (1980). The death sentences were carried out on 24 January 1989.

Court record, stage by stage

16 August 1975
arrestBundy was stopped by police in Granger, Utah, an encounter described in the Utah Supreme Court opinion⁴
verdictConvicted of aggravated kidnapping at a bench trial in Utah district court⁴
Utah district court
15 February 1978
arrestArrested in Pensacola, Florida²
21 July 1978
indictmentIndicted for murder and kidnapping in the Lake City case²
Florida Circuit Court
28 December 1978
appealUtah Supreme Court affirmed the aggravated kidnapping conviction⁴
Utah Supreme Court
31 July 1979
sentenceJudgment entered in Dade County on two murder counts and related counts, with two death sentences^1,2
Florida Circuit Court, Dade County (venue changed from Leon County)
1980
trialTried and convicted in the Lake City case, sentenced to death for murder and life imprisonment for kidnapping²
Florida Circuit Court, Orange County (venue changed from Suwannee County)
21 June 1984
appealFlorida Supreme Court affirmed the convictions and both death sentences in the Tallahassee case¹
Supreme Court of Florida
9 May 1985
appealFlorida Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and death sentence in the Lake City case²
Supreme Court of Florida
24 January 1989
executionExecuted by the State of Florida³

Notable rulings

Supreme Court of Florida, 9 May 1985. Held that hypnotically refreshed testimony is per se inadmissible in Florida criminal trials, applied the rule prospectively, and found the error in this case harmless.²
Supreme Court of Florida, 21 June 1984. Rejected challenges including pretrial closure, identification procedures, joinder and the admission of bite mark evidence, and affirmed the death sentences.¹

Sources

Justia (Supreme Court of Florida opinion), Bundy v. State, 455 So. 2d 330 (Fla. 1984) (21 June 1984) · court or official record
Justia (Supreme Court of Florida opinion), Bundy v. State, 471 So. 2d 9 (Fla. 1985) (9 May 1985) · court or official record
Florida Department of Corrections, Execution List: 1976 to present · court or official record
Justia (Utah Supreme Court opinion), State v. Bundy, 589 P.2d 760 (Utah 1978) (28 December 1978) · court or official record

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