A Notorious Serial Killer, A Determined Young Woman Escaping Ted Bundy

Carol DaRonch was just 18 when she fought off the smooth-talking killer responsible for the murders of dozens of women. How she survived—and helped put him behind bars

- Adam Carlson

After more than four decades, it’s his smirk that Carol DaRonch remembers most about Ted Bundy. She recalls his creepy arrogance when he impersonated a police officer outside a Salt Lake City mall to force her into his car and his smug assurance as he questioned her in court, serving as his own counsel in multiple murder trials. The man who authorities believe killed at least 30 women seemed to enjoy toying with the one who escaped him. “He said, ‘Now, Miss DaRonch, no one’s going to hurt you now. You’re safe. You can sit back and relax.’ And then he’d kind of laugh,” she recalls. “I just think he thought he was going to get away with everything.”