We know that in real life, crime isn't as fancy as it is in the movies. Heists aren't carried out by slick operators in tuxedos, but by strung-out dudes looking for meth money. And in real life, most prison escapes aren't the result of mind-blowingly complex schemes, but a combination of dumb luck, indifferent guards, and unintentional hilarity.

5 A Notorious Serial Killer Asks to Study Law Books, Then Just Walks Out

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Unless you're confusing him with the father in Married: With Children, you know who Ted Bundy is. One of the most iconic American serial killers, Bundy terrorized the U.S. in the 1970s. Early in his career, Bundy was arrested in Colorado, where he waived his right to an attorney and decided to represent himself in court. This turned out to be the first step in an escape plan straight out of some wacky movie where the villain is played by Larry the Cable Guy.

Since Bundy was the lawyer as well as the accused, the judge excused him from wearing restraints so he would be able to move around the courtroom. You know, so he could do lawyer stuff. Then, during a court recess, Bundy was given permission to visit the courthouse's library, alone, to brush up on his lawyering. Come on, it's not like you can deny that request. The guy has a tough job. His client is a serial killer.

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Although his greatest crime was that unibrow.

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Sure enough, as soon as he was left unsupervised in the library, Bundy jumped out of a second-story window and escaped. See, this is why we don't guard serial killers using the honor system anymore.

Wait, it gets worse. Within six months, Bundy was caught again and his trial resumed. At this point, legal advisers told him to stay the course, because the prosecution's case was weak and he was likely to get off. Despite this, Bundy devised a crafty if cliched escape by slowly sawing a hole in his cell's ceiling. Then, on Christmas Eve, he hid books under his blanket to imitate a body and escaped through the ceiling.

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*FOONT!* "Wheeeeee!"

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It turns out that the ceiling led right to the apartment of the chief jailer, a situation that stupidly worked in Bundy's favor, because said jailer was out that night on a date. Bundy raided the guy's closet and stole his clothes, then simply walked out the man's front door to freedom, escaping to the retirement state, Florida. According to his later confessions, he intended to stop serial killing. Then, after he serial killed some more people, we executed the crap out of him. He really did forever ruin our ability to trust serial killers.