Woman Who Escaped Famous Serial Killer Tells Her Story

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

At 62, Carol DaRonch is still emotionally affected by remembering what has been the worst night of her life. The woman, who lives in Utah today, spoke to PEOPLE about how she managed to escape the clutches of serial killer Ted Bundy. DaRonch was kidnapped when she was 18, more than four decades ago, by Bundy, one of the most feared criminals in history. Back then the young woman lived in Salt Lake City. "It still scares me," admits DaRonch, who a year after escaping Bundy's grasp in 1974, testified against her at her trial, helping to put her behind bars.

DaRonch shares his story in the Netflix documentary series Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes. In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, DaRonch confesses: “I was angry that he thought he could just kidnap me like that. I couldn't be a shy little girl anymore, I had to defend myself”.

Bundy approached DaRonch when she was a teenager in a shopping plaza in Murray while she was shopping one night in 1974. The man lied to her to accompany him to his Volkswagen car, saying that he was a policeman who was investigating a robbery. in her car in the parking lot. Bundy even showed him a fake police badge. According to DaRonch, she was not attracted to Bundy, who became a media figure after his capture due to his apparent charisma and physical attractiveness. DaRonch says that she only wanted to help an alleged police officer, an authority figure. When they were both in his car, Bundy tried to put handcuffs on his wrists but was unable to close them completely. The young woman had also not put on her seat belt, which helped her escape. Although he threatened her with a gun and a metal lever, she was able to open the car door and get out.

Although Bundy tried to hit her unconscious, she managed to run. There she was rescued by Wilbur and Mary Walsh, a couple who came in a car on the opposite side of the road. The young woman still had her handcuffs hanging and asked for desperate help. Fortunately, DaRonch escaped that night, but Bundy went to a nearby high school to kill his next victim, Debra Kent, 17.

DaRonch did not hesitate to report him and testify in the trial against Bundy, who is reported to have killed more than 30 victims. "I was happy to do it," he said of helping put him in jail, where he died in the electric chair in 1989. "That monster tried to kill me."