30 years ago today, serial killer Ted Bundy was executed by electric chair

Serial killer Ted Bundy was put to death 30 years ago today. Keep clicking for more photos of famous -- and infamous -- UW grads... Serial killer Ted Bundy was put to death 30 years ago today. Keep clicking for more photos of famous -- and infamous -- UW grads... Photo: Anonymous/AP Photo: Anonymous/AP Image 1 of / 107 Caption Close 30 years ago today, serial killer Ted Bundy was executed by electric chair 1 / 107 Back to Gallery

At least three dozen women and girls were killed at the hands of serial killer Ted Bundy. Thirty years ago today, he confessed to the murders through tears as he was strapped to the electric chair and executed.

Theodore Robert Bundy, born in 1946, grew up in Tacoma (and possibly still haunts the house he lived in). He later attended and graduated from the University of Washington in 1972.

A year later, he murdered the first victim he admitted to killing, though he may have begun killing years before this. He told investigators he killed his first victim in 1973 after "being influenced by pornography," as told in a HistoryLink.org essay.

After killing 11 victims in Washington, Bundy moved to Colorado and Utah in late 1974.

One of his victims in Utah managed to escape after Bundy had handcuffed her and tried to force her into his car. She alerted the police, who arrested him in August 1975. He had already murdered several other women by then.

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Bundy was convicted of aggravated kidnapping in Utah and sentenced to 15 years in prison. While behind bars, he was charged with two murders in Colorado and was moved there for trial.

That was a fateful move for Bundy. He managed to escape from jail in Aspen in June 1977. After being recaptured, he escaped again.

Bundy stole several credit cards and assumed a false identity. He made it to Florida, where in January 1978, he strangled two sorority sisters at Florida State University. A few weeks later, he murdered a 12-year-old girl.

He was finally arrested again -- this time for good -- in 1978 by an officer who had stopped him for speeding.

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In Florida, he was convicted of the three murders and sentenced to death. He claimed innocence until his final days. He described more than 20 killings according to HistoryLink.org, often crying as he spoke. Biography.com reports he admitted to 36 killings, but experts believe the final tally could be up to 100 or more.

Police suspect he could have been responsible for unsolved deaths and disappearances dating back to when Bundy was just 15 years old.

On the morning of Jan. 24, 1989, Theodore Robert Bundy was put to death around 7 a.m., according to Biography.com. Outside, crowds cheered.

Producer Natalie Guevara can be contacted at natalie.guevara@seattlepi.com.