The Bundy Murders: A Comprehensive History by Kevin M. Sullivan
Authors: Kevin M. Sullivan
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concern about her father's heart attack, and then added: "I'm feeling down right now, due to a combination of things, I suppose. To tell you the truth, I don't even feel like finishing this letter. I think IT go walk around outside awhile." Perhaps pushing through the wall of her depression, Kathy ended by saying : "Well - I'm looking forward to seeing you - very much. When you come, please put your arms around me and make me feel everything's OK. I'm needing the comfort of your presence now. I love you, Kathy."" Because the letter bears a May 7 postmark, it may have been mailed that evening, possibly placed in a mail box just a short time before her disappearance.
Her moodiness may have caused her to want to be alone. Sometimes, in the solitude of our thoughts, decisions can be made, alternatives made clearer, and problems averted. Periodically shutting out the noise of others can actually be therapeutic as we seek to discover the directions our lives should take. And for Kathy, those quiet times often included walking alone through the campus at night. A friend of Kathy's, Joanne Stevens, would later say that Kathy "took frequent walks in the evening from her room in Sackett Hall to the Memorial Union Commons to get refreshments. This was usually between 9:30 P.M. and 11:00 P.M."23 Another friend, Sarah Ann Dugan, whose father was an FBI agent stationed in Portland, Oregon, apparently had an openended invitation from Kathy to join her on these nocturnal strolls, but always declined.
Kathy and Miriam Joan Schmidt shared room 325 in Sackett Hall while at Oregon State University. At 10:55 P.M. on the evening of May 6, the two planned to visit other students in room 334, but as they were leaving, Kathy said to Miriam: "Go ahead and IT be over in a while."24 After about fifteen minutes, Miriam returned to their room, but Kathy wasn't there.
At a few minutes past 11, Lorraine Fargo, another friend, saw Kathy walking alone and would tell police: "She appeared to be dazed and in a dream."25 It was a chance meeting, as Lorraine was on her way back to Sackett Hall after an evening of studying at the library. It was warm and clear that night, and as the two of them stood there, Lorraine listened as Kathy expressed her desire to "be on her own [and that] she did not want any obligations, and did not want to continue [her] relationship on a permanent basis." Lorraine, who had recently ended a relationship and could see how depressed she was, asked Kathy to break off the walk and come back to her place so they could talk about it. But Kathy, she said, "just felt like being alone, taking a walk, and trying to straighten things out in her own mind."26 She also admitted to having skipped her classes that week, and that she had been drinking too much.
It is unknown exactly when her killer first spotted her. Perhaps it was while she was eating in the cafeteria, and he sat down beside her and began to talk? Or he may have seen her stop and speak with Lorraine. Maybe he'd been following Lorraine and noticed the distraught coed with the pretty, waist-length hair and decided he wanted her instead. Perhaps he could see the vulnerability in her countenance. No one knows for sure. Yet at some point he made contact with her. And, no doubt by some type of ruse, he convinced her to go with him. He was polite, good-looking and well-mannered. What could be the harm, she might have thought? And somewhere, having left the university behind, he would make his move. He would overpower her and there would be nothing she could do to stop him. He had traveled far to strike this time (some 250 miles), yet he would immediately return to that area where he was most comfortable. It had been a long day for him, and it would prove to be a long night for Kathy too. Like a child who spends dedicated hours playing with a favorite doll, he was now free to play with her. And again, an invisible homicidal maniac, he had come and gone without leaving so much as a trace
Her moodiness may have caused her to want to be alone. Sometimes, in the solitude of our thoughts, decisions can be made, alternatives made clearer, and problems averted. Periodically shutting out the noise of others can actually be therapeutic as we seek to discover the directions our lives should take. And for Kathy, those quiet times often included walking alone through the campus at night. A friend of Kathy's, Joanne Stevens, would later say that Kathy "took frequent walks in the evening from her room in Sackett Hall to the Memorial Union Commons to get refreshments. This was usually between 9:30 P.M. and 11:00 P.M."23 Another friend, Sarah Ann Dugan, whose father was an FBI agent stationed in Portland, Oregon, apparently had an openended invitation from Kathy to join her on these nocturnal strolls, but always declined.
Kathy and Miriam Joan Schmidt shared room 325 in Sackett Hall while at Oregon State University. At 10:55 P.M. on the evening of May 6, the two planned to visit other students in room 334, but as they were leaving, Kathy said to Miriam: "Go ahead and IT be over in a while."24 After about fifteen minutes, Miriam returned to their room, but Kathy wasn't there.
At a few minutes past 11, Lorraine Fargo, another friend, saw Kathy walking alone and would tell police: "She appeared to be dazed and in a dream."25 It was a chance meeting, as Lorraine was on her way back to Sackett Hall after an evening of studying at the library. It was warm and clear that night, and as the two of them stood there, Lorraine listened as Kathy expressed her desire to "be on her own [and that] she did not want any obligations, and did not want to continue [her] relationship on a permanent basis." Lorraine, who had recently ended a relationship and could see how depressed she was, asked Kathy to break off the walk and come back to her place so they could talk about it. But Kathy, she said, "just felt like being alone, taking a walk, and trying to straighten things out in her own mind."26 She also admitted to having skipped her classes that week, and that she had been drinking too much.
It is unknown exactly when her killer first spotted her. Perhaps it was while she was eating in the cafeteria, and he sat down beside her and began to talk? Or he may have seen her stop and speak with Lorraine. Maybe he'd been following Lorraine and noticed the distraught coed with the pretty, waist-length hair and decided he wanted her instead. Perhaps he could see the vulnerability in her countenance. No one knows for sure. Yet at some point he made contact with her. And, no doubt by some type of ruse, he convinced her to go with him. He was polite, good-looking and well-mannered. What could be the harm, she might have thought? And somewhere, having left the university behind, he would make his move. He would overpower her and there would be nothing she could do to stop him. He had traveled far to strike this time (some 250 miles), yet he would immediately return to that area where he was most comfortable. It had been a long day for him, and it would prove to be a long night for Kathy too. Like a child who spends dedicated hours playing with a favorite doll, he was now free to play with her. And again, an invisible homicidal maniac, he had come and gone without leaving so much as a trace
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