Bundy: Guilty

He faces life--or death

"Publish the verdict," ordered the judge. In a hushed Miami courtroom last week, Defendant Theodore Robert Bundy, 32, swiveled in his chair and stared intently at the jury of seven men and five women. He was accused in a seven-count indictment of murdering two Florida State University coeds and attempting to murder three others in January 1978. "Guilty," read Clerk Shirley Lewis in a high-pitched monotone. Then she repeated the verdict six more times:

"Guilty ... guilty ..." In the rear of the court, Bundy's mother Louise slumped in the arms of a friend. "It's just all wrong," said Louise Bundy. "There will be appeal upon appeal."

So ended the trial of the man who police believe may be one of the worst mass murderers in U.S. history, responsible for the deaths of up to 36 young women from Florida to the state of Washington. The jury needed only six hours and 40 minutes to reach its verdict, though the trial had lasted for more than a month. The case against Bundy rested heavily on circumstantial evidence. In his 60-minute closing argument, Assistant State's Attorney Larry Simpson recalled the testimony by two dental experts that bite marks on one of the slain girls came from Bundy's teeth.

Another expert testified that Bundy's hair was "microscopically" similar to strands found in a pantyhose mask that police discovered in the rooming house where one coed was assaulted. Finally, Simpson reminded the jury, Bundy had fled from a policeman who stopped his car in Tallahassee. Said Simpson: "The defendant ran. Why did he run? Why? Why? Why?"

Bundy, an ex-law student, led his own defense, occasionally cross-examining witnesses and raising legal points in a futile attempt to keep the prosecution from using its most incriminating evidence. But he left the closing argument to Defense Attorney Margaret Good. She attacked the case against him as "flimsy and unscientific." Said she of the bite marks: "It is a sad day for our system of justice if a man's life can be put on the line because they say he has crooked teeth."

As Bundy left the courtroom, he flashed a tight smile. He felt certain about the penalty that Judge Edward Cowart will pronounce: "He'll give me the death penalty. No question whatsoever."

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