Ted Bundy, the nation's most hated serial killer, died in the electric chair early today after expressing his love to his family and friends.

Bundy entered the death chamber at 7:01 a.m. looking frightened, but he headed directly to the chair. He made his last statement at 7:04.

Bundy said, "Jim and Fred, I'd like you to give my love to my family and friends."

Jim Coleman is Bundy's attorney from Washington, D.C., and Fred Lawrence is a Methodist minister who spent the night in prayer with him.

At 7:05, Gov. Bob Martinez told prison Superintendent Tom Barton by phone to go ahead with the execution for the 1978 murder of Kimberly Leach, 12, of Lake City.

"There are no stays," Martinez told Barton. "On behalf of the countless victims of Theodore Bundy, both dead and living, across Florida and the nation, I direct you to proceed to carry out the court-ordered sentence."

The executioner turned on 2,000 volts of electricity at 7:06 and kept the power on for a minute. When the switch was turned on, Bundy gently surged back in the chair and clenched his fists. He was pronounced dead at 7:16.

"He was executed right on schedule," said Martinez spokesman Jon Peck. He and four other aides were with Martinez today as he ordered the execution.

Bundy's body was sent to the medical examiner's office in Gainesville.

When a figure waving a white flag appeared at the corner of the building where Bundy was executed, some of the crowd recognized the signal that the killer had died.

A cheer went up from the more than 200 people waiting in the early morning cold. They were carrying signs expressing glee, outrage or hatred for Bundy - "Bundy BBQ," "Burn Bundy Burn," "Roast in Peace" and "Hey Ted, This Buzz is For You."

Some sang songs they had written about the serial killer, one to the tune of "On Top of Old Smokey."

In contrast, about 36 death penalty opponents sat silently, some holding lighted candles.

Among the crowd was Marilyn Williams of Lake City, a regular customer at the beauty shop owned by Kimberly Leach's mother.

She said she baked Kimberly's last birthday cake.

"We remember Kimberly and we realize it could be one of them," she said, referring to her son and daughter who were schoolmates of Kimberly.

Williams said she and her husband made the trip to let Kimberly's parents "know we haven't forgotten. Communities really need to stick together when something like this happens. It doesn't make me feel good that anybody is dying today. But I think it is necessary."

Marvel Burge, 30, a teacher from Brandenton, was one of the few death penalty opponents at the prison.

"The state of Florida is just as guilty as Ted Bundy," she said. "Certainly his crimes are horrendous. I don't think anyone is denying that. But I think life is life."

Mike Graves, a University of Florida freshman who stood outside the prison, had a different view. In one hand he held a "Bundy BBQ" sign. In the other he held a frying pan.

"It's about time," he said of Bundy's execution after 11 years on death row. "He is done stalling for time."

Ten-year-old Eric Quinn of Jacksonville came to Starke with his father to await the execution.

"I just want to see him get killed," he said. "I want to see him come out dead."

In Lake City, a crowd at Jimbo's Country Restaurant grew quiet when news of Bundy's execution came over the radio. Then restaurant cook Teddy Milford burst through the kitchen doors and shouted "they finally got the sucker."

"I'm proud," Milford said. "It's about time."

Patty Pearce, 21, another restaurant employee, said her customers earlier this week had asked her to put on her marquee the words "Tuesday is Bundy Day." Pearce said she refused because Tom Leach, Kimberly's father, is a regular customer.

"Tom comes here all the time. The less he hears about it the better."

Two hours before Bundy's execution, a handful of residents gathered in the parking lot of the K mart Shopping Center on U.S. Highway 90. They had heard that Leach planned to lead a caravan of cars to Starke for the execution. Leach had planned to do that in July 1986 before Bundy's execution was stayed.

However, Leach did not show up. The half-dozen drivers decided to make the 35-mile trip to Starke anyway.

"Does that make you a martyr to want to see that somebody is executed?" asked Celia Feagle, who helped search for Kimberly 11 years ago. "I don't think so."

Kathy Kleiner, one of the women Bundy beat at the Florida State University Chi Omega sorority house, said after the execution: "I got very emotional and very tearful. I woke up before 6 a.m. and I was listening to the reports, wondering if he got a stay or not praying it the execution would go through. I feel relief and hope it can finally be put behind us."

The mood was reserved in Tallahassee where Attorney General Bob Butterworth met with several Florida police officers who had investigated the Bundy cases.

"I came this morning looking for a sense of finality to this thing and I'm leaving without that sense," said Steven Hooker of the Florida State University police department who was involved in investigating the Chi Omega murders. "Ted Bundy has waited until the 11th hour to establish a whole, new generation of grief for a lot of people in the United States. Although I can appreciate the fact that the sentence of the court has been carried out, we're left now with just another chapter in that book of evil."

Steve Bodiford, of the Leon County Sheriff's Office, who questioned Bundy about Chi Omega murders in Pensacola, was also in Butterworth's office during the execution.

"I have no sense of joy," he said. "I have a sense of sadness that there is this type of evil in our society."

Butterworth said "This killer's actions in the days before his execution only serve to further prove his guilt and he has paid the price he deserved. Our thoughts should turn now to the families of his many victims whose burdens are very heavy."

The law enforcement officials were referring to the last few days before the execution when Bundy confessed to 23 murders in the western United States, including two in Idaho that authorities there had no idea he had committed.

Earlier Monday, Bundy recorded a video message to be played after his death, then prepared for his execution by praying and reading the Bible with friends.

Frightened and physically exhausted Monday afternoon, Bundy blamed all his problems on pornography and said he was afraid to die. "He is going through a lot of agony tonight," said psychologist James Dobson, who taped Bundy's comments.