Editing Ted Bundy (section)

=== University years ===
After graduating from high school in 1965, Bundy attended the [[University of Puget Sound]] (UPS) for one year before transferring to the [[University of Washington]] (UW) to study [[Chinese language|Chinese]].{{sfn|Rule|2009|p=14}} In 1967 he became romantically involved with a UW classmate, Diane Edwards (identified in Bundy biographies by several [[pseudonym]]s, most commonly "Stephanie Brooks").<ref name="akaLeslieHolland" /> Bundy later described Edwards as "the only woman I ever really loved."<ref name="Brooks">{{cite web |url=https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/01/diane-edwards-ted-bundy-girlfriend-now/ |title=Diane Edwards, Ted Bundy's Girlfriend: How She Changed Him |last=McBride |first=Jessica |date=January 28, 2019 |website=[[Heavy (website)|Heavy.com]] |access-date=August 27, 2022 |archive-date=May 31, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531141725/https://heavy.com/entertainment/2019/01/diane-edwards-ted-bundy-girlfriend-now/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In early 1968, Bundy dropped out of college and worked a series of minimum-wage jobs. He also volunteered at the [[Seattle]] office of [[Nelson Rockefeller]]'s presidential campaign<ref name="timeline" /> and became [[Arthur Fletcher]]'s driver and bodyguard during Fletcher's campaign for [[Lieutenant Governor of Washington|Lieutenant Governor of Washington State]].{{sfn|Rule|1980|p=15}} Edwards graduated in the spring of 1968 and left Washington for [[San Francisco]]. Bundy visited her later that year after he earned a scholarship to study Chinese at [[Stanford University]] that summer.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 26, 2019 |title=Ted Bundy's Education |work=ati.com |url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/ted-bundy-education |access-date=March 6, 2023 |archive-date=May 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529105918/https://allthatsinteresting.com/ted-bundy-education |url-status=live }}</ref>

In August, Bundy attended the [[1968 Republican National Convention]] in [[Miami]].{{sfn|Larsen|1980|pp=5, 7}} Shortly thereafter, Edwards ended their relationship and returned to her family home in [[California]], frustrated by what she described as Bundy's immaturity and lack of ambition. Lewis would later pinpoint this crisis as "probably the pivotal time in his development."{{sfn|Nelson|1994|p=279}} Devastated by the breakup, Bundy traveled to [[Colorado]] and then farther east, visiting relatives in [[Arkansas]] and Philadelphia and enrolling for one semester at [[Temple University]].{{sfn|Rule|2009|p=19}} During his studies, he frequently visited [[New York City]], where he was drawn to [[pornography]]. He immersed himself in violent pornographic literature while nursing his wounds from the breakup.<ref>[https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/did-ted-bundys-murder-spree-000003837.html Did Ted Bundy's Murder Spree Begin With Two College Girls In New Jersey?]</ref> It was also at this time, Rule believed, that Bundy discovered his true parentage in Vermont.{{sfn|Rule|2009|p=19}}{{sfn|Michaud|Aynesworth|1999|p=53}}

Bundy returned to Washington in the fall of 1969, when he met Elizabeth Kloepfer (identified in Bundy literature as "Meg Anders," "Beth Archer" or "Liz Kendall"), a single mother from [[Ogden, Utah]], who worked as a secretary at the UW School of Medicine.{{sfn|Michaud|Aynesworth|1999|p=74}} Their tumultuous relationship would continue well past his initial incarceration in Utah in 1976.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Storey |first1=Kate |title=Elizabeth Kendall Dated Ted Bundy As He Murdered Dozens. She's Telling Her Side of the Story. |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a27179474/ted-bundy-girlfriend-elizabeth-kendall-kloepfer/ |access-date=May 22, 2021 |work=[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]] |date=January 31, 2020 |archive-date=August 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230810200455/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a27179474/ted-bundy-girlfriend-elizabeth-kendall-kloepfer/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Bundy became a father figure to Kloepfer's daughter Molly, who was three years old when he started dating her mother; he remained in her life until she was aged 10, after he had been arrested. As an adult, Molly wrote of incidents beginning at age 7 in which Bundy was abusive or sexually inappropriate with her. Her accounts include Bundy hitting her in the face, knocking her down, putting her at risk of drowning, [[indecent exposure]] and [[child molestation|sexual touching]] disguised as accidents or "games."<ref>{{cite web|first=Jill|last=Sederstrom|url=https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/molly-kendall-shares-disturbing-memories-of-ted-bundy-in-book|title=Naked Hide-And-Seek And Dangerous Lake Shenanigans: Daughter Of Ted Bundy's Girlfriend Details Disturbing Incidents In Book|website=[[Oxygen.com|Oxygen]]|date=January 13, 2020|access-date=February 24, 2022|archive-date=June 4, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604063923/https://www.oxygen.com/true-crime-buzz/molly-kendall-shares-disturbing-memories-of-ted-bundy-in-book|url-status=live}}</ref>

In mid-1970, Bundy, now focused and goal-oriented, re-enrolled at UW, this time as a [[psychology]] major. He became an honor student and was well regarded by his professors.{{sfn|Rule|2000|pp=18–20}} In 1971, he took a job at Seattle's Suicide Hotline Crisis Center. There, he met and worked alongside Rule, a former [[Seattle Police Department|Seattle police officer]] and aspiring crime writer who would later write one of the definitive Bundy biographies, ''[[The Stranger Beside Me]]''. Rule saw nothing disturbing in Bundy's personality at the time; she described him as "kind, solicitous, and empathetic."{{sfn|Rule|2000|pp=22–33}}

After graduating from UW in 1972,{{sfn|Michaud|Aynesworth|1999|p=76}} Bundy joined [[Governor of Washington|Governor]] [[Daniel J. Evans]]'s re-election campaign.{{sfn|Rule|2009|p=39}} Posing as a college student, he shadowed Evans' opponent, former governor [[Albert Rosellini]], and recorded his [[stump speech]]es for analysis by Evans's team.{{sfn|Larsen|1980|pp=7–10}}<ref name="Ellensburg1973-08-30" /> Evans subsequently appointed Bundy to the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Committee.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wImbDAAAQBAJ&q=ted+bundy+ironic+crime+prevention+daniel+evans&pg=PT176|title=Statesmen and Mischief Makers: Volume III: Officeholders and Their Contributions to History from Kennedy to Reagan|publisher=[[Xlibris]]|location=Bloomington, Indiana|isbn=978-1514469750|last1=Crass|first1=Scott|year=2016|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-date=May 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240523005225/https://books.google.com/books?id=wImbDAAAQBAJ&q=ted+bundy+ironic+crime+prevention+daniel+evans&pg=PT176#v=snippet&q=ted%20bundy%20ironic%20crime%20prevention%20daniel%20evans&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> After Evans was re-elected, Bundy was hired as an assistant to Ross Davis, Chairman of the [[Washington State Republican Party]]. Davis thought well of Bundy and described him as "smart, aggressive&nbsp;... and a believer in the system."{{sfn|Rule|2009|p=46}} In early 1973, despite mediocre [[Law School Admission Test|LSAT]] scores, Bundy was accepted into the law schools of UPS and the [[S.J. Quinney College of Law|University of Utah]] (U of U) on the strength of letters of recommendation from Evans, Davis and several UW psychology professors.{{sfn|Rule|2009|pp=22, 43–44}}{{sfn|Michaud|Aynesworth|1999|p=79}}

During a trip to California on Republican Party business in the summer of 1973, Bundy rekindled his relationship with Edwards. She marveled at his transformation into a serious and dedicated professional, seemingly on the cusp of a significant legal and political career. Bundy continued to date Kloepfer as well; neither woman was aware of the other's existence. In the fall of 1973, Bundy [[Matriculation|matriculated]] at [[Seattle University School of Law|UPS Law School]],{{sfn|Rule|2009|pp=45–46}} and continued courting Edwards, who flew to Seattle several times to stay with him. They discussed marriage; at one point he introduced her to Davis as his fiancée.{{sfn|Rule|2009|p=51}}

In January 1974, Bundy abruptly broke off all contact with Edwards; her phone calls and letters went unreturned. When she finally reached him by phone a month later, she demanded to know why he had unilaterally ended their relationship without explanation. In a flat, calm voice, he replied, "Diane, I have no idea what you mean," and hung up. She never heard from him again.{{sfn|Rule|2009|p=52}} Bundy later explained, "I just wanted to prove to myself that I could have married her";{{sfn|Foreman|1992|p=16}} but Edwards concluded in retrospect that "Ted's high-power courtship in the latter part of 1973 had been deliberately planned, that he had waited all those years to be in a position of where he could make her fall in love with him, so that he could drop her, reject her, as she had rejected him."{{sfn|Rule|2009|p=52}} By then, Bundy had begun skipping classes at law school. By April, he had stopped attending entirely,{{sfn|Rule|2000|pp=44–47}} as young women began to disappear in the [[Pacific Northwest]].{{sfn|Michaud|Aynesworth|1999|pp=81–84}}