Ted Bundy Has A Daughter Who He Secretly Conceived In Prison
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A new Oxygen series, Killers on Tape, which premieres April 2, looks at stories of notorious serial killers, including the infamous woman-killer, Ted Bundy. A sneak peek previews an interview with one of Bundy's old girlfriends, "Sandy," who sheds light on Bundy's college days, per E! News.
Bundy has already been subject of several true-crime series and movies recently, including, Falling for a Killer, which interviews many women who knew him, either because they shared a romantic relationship with him, like ex-girlfriend Liz Kendall, or because they, like Karen Sparks, survived one of his vicious attacks.
But one important woman in Bundy's life never appears on screen in these series and docs: Ted Bundy's real-life daughter, Rose Bundy, who is also sometimes called "Rosa."
Even though some old family photos of Rose, Bundy, and her mother/Bundy's wife, Carole Ann Boone, are shown in Falling for a Killer, Rose's face is blurred out.
Boone was convinced of Bundy's innocence throughout his trial and even while he was on death row. The couple dated before his initial arrest and got married in a courtroom in 1980 (after he proposed to her in the middle of his highly publicized trial), according to Ann Rule, a writer who knew Bundy, in her biography of him, The Stranger Beside Me. Much of their relationship—including Rose's conception—occurred while Bundy was on death row.
When was Ted Bundy's daughter, Rose, Born?
Rose Bundy was born on October 24, 1982. Boone got pregnant while visiting Bundy when he was on death row, according to E! News. How that happened… people still aren’t sure.
Bundy technically wasn’t allowed conjugal visits, so once Boone became pregnant, rumors began to surface about just how that happened (and if her child was even really Bundy's). In a 1981 newspaper article in The Deseret News, Boone said "it’s nobody’s business" how she conceived a child with Bundy.
That's not the only question Ted Bundy left unanswered. Here are some others:
Still, The Sun speculated about Rose’s possible conception, guessing that Boone may have passed "an empty condom to Bundy via a kiss, which he then filled and returned it in the same manner." (Blech.)
But Ann Rule has said that Bundy and Boone wouldn't have had to go to such desperate measures. Instead, it was common for inmates to bribe the prison guards so couples would be allowed to have sex in various parts of the prison, which is likely what Bundy and Boone did.
And in fact, Boone says in Netflix's Conversations With a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes that after the first day, "they just, they didn’t care," and that they even “walked in on us a couple of times.” So that answers that.
Obviously, Boone gave birth to Rose while Bundy was still in jail. It’s been largely publicized that Boone believed Bundy was innocent, and she even may have helped him escape his Colorado prison and flee to Florida in 1977, per Rolling Stone. Oh, and btw, Rose wasn't Boone's first child, she also had a teenage son named James from a previous marriage.
And Rose wasn't the first child Bundy ever parented—though she was his first biological child. Bundy once served as a father figure to his ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Kloepfer's (a.k.a. Liz Kendall) daughter Molly from a previous marriage.
What is known about Rose Bundy?
Not much. She’s lived an under-the-radar life (I mean, fair), and all that's known about her are bits and pieces. For instance, according to Oxygen, Rose has been called "kind and intelligent" by Rule.
In fact, the full quote from Rule, posted on her website, explains how she could know so much about Bundy, but so little about his family: "I have deliberately avoided knowing anything about Ted's ex-wife and daughter's whereabouts because they deserve privacy. I don't want to know where they are; I never want to be caught off guard by some reporter's question about them. All I know is that Ted's daughter has grown up to be a fine young woman."
Where is Rose Bundy now?
In 1986, Boone and Bundy divorced, and she and Rose left Florida for Washington. It’s been said that Boone was so devastated by Bundy's death row confessions to his murders that she even refused a final phone call from him. Three years after their divorce, Bundy was executed on January 24, 1989. According to E!, Rose is now 40 and has stayed out of the spotlight.
The Sun notes that it’s likely that 6-year-old Rose was never allowed to contact her dad before his execution. It’s also likely Boone has since changed her and Rose’s names. And who can really blame them?
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