The Stranger Beside Me
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''The Stranger Beside Me'' is a 1980 autobiographical and biographical
true crime True crime is a genre of non-fiction work in which an author examines a crime, including detailing the actions of people associated with and affected by the crime, and investigating the perpetrator's Motive (law), motives. True crime works often ...
book written by
Ann Rule Ann Rae Rule (''née'' Stackhouse; October 22, 1931 – July 26, 2015) was an American author of true crime books and articles. She is best known for '' The Stranger Beside Me'' (1980), about the serial killer Ted Bundy, her co-worker and one-ti ...
about
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
Ted Bundy Theodore Robert Bundy (; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989), known colloquially as Ted Bundy, was an American serial killer who kidnapping, abducted, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978. His ''modus ...
, whom she knew personally before and after his arrest for a series of murders. Subsequent revisions of the book were published in 1986, 1989, 2000, 2008, and 2021.


Plot summary

Rule met Bundy in 1971 when he was a psychology student at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
and contemplating a career in law and politics. They worked together at a crisis center taking telephone calls from those at risk of suicide or facing other difficulties. Rule, who was over a decade older than Bundy, developed a close friendship with him, sharing meals and conversations. They fell out of contact in late 1973 after he stopped working at the crisis center. Starting in early 1974, a series of brutal murders of young women in the Seattle area shocked the city and gained major attention. Women were killed at a rate of roughly once every 30 days. Bundy was considered a possible suspect from the summer of 1974, when the unidentified killer was observed by several witnesses talking with two young women who later disappeared at
Lake Sammamish State Park Lake Sammamish State Park is a park at the south end of Lake Sammamish, in King County, Washington, United States. The park, which is administered by the Washington State Park System, covers an area of and has of waterfront; Issaquah Creek m ...
. The man was described as tall, handsome and identified himself as "Ted." A sketch based on eyewitness descriptions was noted by several people—including Rule—to resemble Bundy. Rule thought it unlikely that Bundy was a killer but nonetheless reported him to police. However, authorities were overwhelmed with tips regarding the murders and did not initially believe Bundy was a likely suspect due to his superficially respectable persona. Bundy relocated to Salt Lake City in late 1974 after being admitted to law school at the University of Utah. The killings in Seattle stopped, but young women in Utah, Colorado and Idaho began disappearing and being murdered under similar circumstances to the Seattle-area crimes. Police investigators in several states began sharing information, increasingly narrowing down on Bundy as their suspect in the string of unsolved murders. In September 1975, Bundy telephoned Rule from Salt Lake, requesting help via her police department contacts to know why police in Seattle were serving subpoenas for his school records from Utah. He did not mention that in August 1975 he had been arrested and charged with the November 1974 kidnapping of a young woman who had been abducted by a man who posed as a police officer in Murray, Utah. After a
bench trial A bench trial is a trial by judge, as opposed to a jury. The term applies most appropriately to any administrative hearing in relation to a summary offense to distinguish the type of trial. Many legal systems ( Roman, Islamic) use bench trials ...
, Bundy was sentenced to 1 to 15 years in Utah. He was extradited to Colorado to face murder charges, but Rule was still resistant to admitting that her friend was a possible killer. Bundy twice escaped from custody in Colorado, sending letters or postcards to Rule while on the run. He proclaimed his innocence and asked for money to help enter Canada. The fugitive eventually made his way to Florida. In January 1978, he went on a rampage at a
Chi Omega Chi Omega (, also known as ChiO) is an American women's collegiate fraternity. It was established in 1895 at the University of Arkansas. Chi Omega has 181 active collegiate chapters and approximately 240 alumnae chapters. Since its founding in 18 ...
sorority house at
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...
, beating several women (two of whom later died). This incident here is narrated in third person, but not omnisciently, as the perpetrator is not identified as being Bundy, thus keeping the documentation of these events in-sync with the knowledge available to officers ''at the time'' Rule wrote. Bundy went on to attack another adult woman, and then rape and kill a 12-year-old girl whom he snatched from outside her school. It is not until Bundy's capture in February 1978, and his subsequent trials in Florida when he represented himself in court, that Rule fully accepts that Bundy is a serial killer. The turning point came after forensic dentists testified that Bundy's teeth matched the deep bite mark on the body of one of the Florida State victims. This was the first physical evidence that definitely linked him to the crimes, making it impossible for Rule to maintain doubt about his guilt. Rule finds the idea shocking to the point that she " unsto the ladies room and throws up." Rule later describes the trial of Bundy for the murder of 12-year-old Kimberly Leach in Florida. Bundy was sentenced to death in Florida. He continued to assert innocence for years, but shortly before execution confessed to over 30 murders in an apparent bid to delay his death. The 1989 update outlines Bundy's execution, and the 2000 update touches on many things, including various women claiming to have encountered Bundy in the 1970s, Robert Keppel's retirement from detective work and his employment at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
, and Bundy's possible involvement in the unsolved disappearance of Ann Marie Burr, a girl who disappeared in 1961 when Bundy was 14.Rule, Ann. ''The Stranger Beside Me''. Signet, 2000, paperback. 548 pages. . Updated 20th-anniversary edition. A 2008 update of the book includes more stories from women who have contacted Rule with stories of their "near-miss" contacts with a man they believe was Ted Bundy, and also a "Ted Bundy FAQ" section in which Rule, among other things, includes the fact that he was not responsible for the 1973 murder of Kathy Merry Devine, for which he was long suspected.
DNA profiling DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting and genetic fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is cal ...
linked that killing to William Cosden, an ex-convict who was subsequently tried and convicted of her murder.


Film adaptation

In 2003, ''The Stranger Beside Me'' was adapted into a
made-for-TV film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrestr ...
starring
Billy Campbell William Oliver Campbell (born July 7, 1959) is an American film and television actor. He first gained recognition for his recurring role as Luke Fuller in the TV series ''Dynasty'' and in '' The Rocketeer''. Then, he became known for playing R ...
as Bundy and
Barbara Hershey Barbara Lynn Herzstein, better known as Barbara Hershey (born February 5, 1948), is an American actress. In a career spanning more than 50 years, she has played a variety of roles on television and in cinema in several genres, including Wester ...
as Rule.


References


External links


''The Stranger Beside Me'' - book information on publisher website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stranger Beside Me, The 1980 non-fiction books American autobiographies Autobiographies adapted into films Non-fiction books about Ted Bundy Simon & Schuster books Non-fiction books about murders in the United States Books by Ann Rule