Original Post Date: 1-15-10
Overview:
Ted Bundy was a convicted serial killer that had been sentenced to be executed for his crimes. He had three stays of execution. Finally, with all appeals exhausted and his execution approaching, he confessed to eight murders. He promised to tell of their details in hopes of another stay of execution, or even a possible commute to a life sentence. In all Ted Bundy confessed to more than 30 murders, some suspect it was far more.
Less than 24 hours before his scheduled execution he conducted an interview with Dr. James Dobson. Part of Dr. Dobson’s biography is that he was member of a commission in 1986 that filed a report called the Attorney General's Commission on Pornography, also known as the Meese Report. The report documents what the committee found to be the harmful effects of pornography. Ted Bundy had read the report in its entirety. Ted Bundy claimed he wanted it known how violent forms of media and more specifically violent forms of pornography was the root cause of his actions, and this was the main topic of discussion during the interview. Critics believed this was a ploy by Ted Bundy to get another stay of execution. This interview became his last. He was executed on January 24, 1989.
Analysis:
Some questions I had prior to reviewing Ted Bundy’s final interview was what truths might a person like him reveal through reverse speech as they faced imminent execution? Would they be remorseful? Could there be clues to the cause of his behavior that may help understand him and others like him?
Although, there is one reversal that verifies he did view pornography as a young teenager, there appears to be no speech reversals from Ted Bundy that is congruent with his claim that pornography was the root cause of his actions. As you will see from the examples of his reverse speech provided below, he did reveal exactly what the true reason was.
Brackets [ ] indicate where the reversal occurs. Click on the reversal to hear the mp3 file.
Ted Bundy Final Interview with Dr. James Dobson January 23, 1989
(Dr. James Dobson: Ted, it is about 2:30 in the afternoon. You are scheduled to be executed tomorrow morning at 7 o'clock
if you don't receive another stay. What is going through your mind? What thoughts have you had in these last few days?)
Well I won't
kid you to say that it's something that I feel that I'm in control [of, or something I've come to terms with] 'cause I haven't.
I was
the worst. Did not validate my soul.
(Dr. James Dobson: What are the antecedence for the behavior we have seen? Where did it
start? How did this moment come about?)
...but as a young boy, twelve, thirteen, certainly that I encountered, outside the home again,
in the local grocery store or the local drug s[tore the soft core pornography what people] call soft core...
Would make believe that
I would walk past it all.
But as I think I explained to you last night Dr. Dobson, in an anecdote, as young boys do we explored
the back roads and sideways and byways of our neighborhood and [oftentimes people would dump] the garbage, and whatever they
were cleaning out of their house.
("Mystic" used here may mean: obscure significance. The entire interview is based upon the premise that violent types of media and violent pornography are the root causes of him being a sexual predator, and killer. Notice he laughs just before the reversal. Does it appear he can’t keep a straight face while talking about this as being the truth? Does it seem that what he just said is laughable because in reality it is a tale of “obscure significance”, and therefore not the root cause of his actions?)
(Dr.
James Dobson: Ted after you committed your first murder, what was the emotional effect on you? What happened in the days after that?)
It
was like coming out of some kind of horrible trance, or dream. I can only liken it to, I don't want to over dramatize it, but to have
been possessed by something so awful and so alien, and then the next morning wake up from it, [remember what happened and realize
that basically], I mean in the eyes of the law certainly and eyes of God you're responsible.
This alone in the battle of memory.
(Dr.
James Dobson: As you come down to perhaps your final hours, are you thinking about all those victims?)
I know that people will accuse
me of being self-serving, but we're beyond that now. I mean I'm just telling you how I feel. But through God's help, I've been able
to come to the point where I, [much too late, but ne better] late than never feel the hurt and the pain that I am responsible
for.
In the past few days, myself and a number of investigators have been talking about unsolved cases.
Murders that I was involved in. And it's hard to talk about all these years later because it rev[ives in me all those terrible] feelings,
and those thoughts that I have steadfastly and diligently dealt with, and I think successfully with the love of God.
(Dr. James Dobson: Can you help me understand this desensitization process that took place? What was going on in
your mind?)
Well by desensitization I'd describe it, in specific terms, is that each time [I'd harm someone. Each time I'd killed someone
there'd be an enormous amount], especially at first, enormous amount of horror, guilt, remorse afterwards. But then that impulse to
do it again came back even stronger.
I was surrounded in the normalcy. No marking on this murder.
[The unique thing about how this worked Dr. Dobson is] that I still felt, in my regular life, the
full range of guilt and remorse about other things.
Satisfied with that person not having it in me.
(Dr. James Dobson: You
had this compartmentalized...?)
This compartmentalized, very well focused, very sharply [focused area where I, it was like a black
hole. It was like a], you know like a crack.
It doesn't work out because of the very sick wolf.
(“Wolf” is a metaphor. According to David J. Oates’ dictionary of Metaphors in Reverse Speech:
Wolf; the part of personality that is the hunter & protector of the Psyche; prime motivator behind behavior. The state of the Wolf metaphor directly influences success and control of life. And so it would appear through the use of reverse speech analysis, in one interview, the true reason behind Ted Bundy’s actions have been revealed! This shows his actions had nothing to do with the influence of violent forms of media, and violent forms of pornography.)
I'm
aware that I can't begin to understand the pain that the parents of these, of these children that I've, and these young [women that
I've harmed feel].
(Dr. James Dobson: Do you deserve the punishment the State has inflicted upon you?)
...On
the one hand, well meaning decent people will condemn behavior of a Ted Bundy, while they're walking past a magazine rack [full of
the very kinds of things] that send young kids down the road to be Ted Bundy's.
It's a myth that I cure the wolf.
(His response appears to indicate the imposed punishment may be just, because he is still in the state of being capable of murder. It would seem by this reversal we are capable of making changes and healing ourselves, but he has not been able to do it for himself. David J. Oates had developed a technique he had called Metaphor Restructuring. This evolved to what he now refers to as a Metawalk. This is a unique technique for working with the human mind utilizing a combination of hypnosis and Reverse Speech therapy. Reverse speech can be used to help diagnose problems as well as provide solutions. Combine this with hypnosis, where you are working with the deepest levels of the human mind, and amazing changes can occur. In this case knowing he has a “very sick wolf” a follow up session may reveal, through reverse speech analysis, how to help him make his “wolf” strong and healthy. A 1997 study on the recidivism rate of sexual offenders was found to be as high as 52%. If reverse speech analysis, combined with tools such as Metawalks, were applied with sexual offenders, could there be in turn a significant reduction in the rate of recidivism? If so, imagine the potential social and economic impact of applying reverse speech in just this one area of our lives.)
We're talking here, [not just about] more, what I'm talking about is
going beyond retribution. Which is what people want with me. Going beyond retribution, and punishment. Because there is no way in
the world that killing me is going to restore those beautiful children to their parents, and correct, and soothe the pain.
