Jan. 24, 1989: Ted Bundy Executed

At approximately seven o'clock on the morning of January 24, 1989, Ted Bundy, perhaps the most notorious serial killer in the U.S., died in the electric chair. It had been a long journey consisting of multiple captures, escapes, manhunts, trials, appeals, and denials. The crowd gathered outside let out a jubilant cheer and set off fireworks. The assembled media outlets breathlessly reported the news that Ted Bundy had finally gotten what he deserved.

Bundy was guilty of murdering an estimated 35 women in the Pacific Northwest, most of whom had long, dark hair parted in the middle. He would routinely approach an intended victim wearing a fake plaster case, claiming he needed assistance, to lure her to his tan VW Beetle. He would bludgeon, sexually assault, and ultimately murder his victim before dumping the body in a remote area. Like most serial killers, he had a troubled childhood. During his college years, he was stunned to learn that his sister was actually his mother, and his parents were really his grandparents. This revelation came right on the heels of a devastating break-up with his college girlfriend, from which he would never recover.

Bundy was extremely smart and handsome, however. He studied law, psychology, and politics, and gave many the impression of a responsible young man with great ambition. He seemed especially trustworthy and was well respected by college professors and professionals. Few that knew him would ever suspect what he did in his spare time.

Bundy was captured more than once, but managed to escape twice -- first by leaping out of a courthouse window, and the second time by losing enough weight to crawl through the jail ceiling amd strolling right out a main door. Following his second escape in 1977, he traveled to Florida where he went on his final, murderous rampage. Forgoing his previous tactic of luring unsuspecting victims, he broke into a Florida State University sorority house and, using a tree branch, bludgeoned and assaulted four women, two of whom survived. After another failed kidnapping attempt and with police hot on his trail, Bundy claimed his final victim, 12-year-old Kimberly Leach. A week later, Bundy was caught driving a stolen car and subdued after trying to escape. Fingerprints identified him as the FSU killer.

He went through multiple trials and appeals, many just an effort to manipulate the system and put off his impending execution. He frequently changed lawyers and even defended himself at one point. He eventually confessed to several crimes unknown to police and helped investigators in the Green River Killer case. Eventually, his options ran out and his eleven-year stretch on Death Row came to an end.

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IN PRINT: The Stranger Beside Me, by Ann Rule

ON FILM: The Deliberate Stranger

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Jan. 23, 1990: The Happy Face Killer

On January 23, 1990, in Portland, Oregon, serial killer Keith Hunter Jesperson claimed his first known victim, 23-year-old Taunja Bennett. After watching Bennett drink too much while hanging out at a local bar, Jesperson took her back to his rented house on a false pretense, seduced her, and then strangled her with a rope. He left her body in the house for a few hours while he went back to the bar to establish an alibi. He later dumped her body off the side of the road some miles away. This would become his typical method of operation.

Jesperson was a textbook case. A tall, hulking man who was teased about his size as a child, he also suffered the wrath of his abusive father. He took much joy (and seemingly gained his father's approval) by killing dogs, cats, and gophers at his family's trailer park while growing up in British Columbia. A divorced father of three, a training injury dashed his dream of joining the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He turned to interstate trucking in the U.S. to earn a living, which allowed him the benefit of mobility in claiming his victims.

Laverne Pavlinac, an armchair detective stuck in an abusive relationship, read about Taunja's murder and decided to use it to her advantage. After studying the crime intensely, she convinced the police that her boyfriend, John Sosnovske, had murdered Taunja and had forced her to help. Her plan backfired when both of them were convicted. The innocent Sosnovske plead guilty to avoid the death penalty and she received 10 years. Since she was the chief witness, her claim that it was all a hoax fell on deaf ears.

Jesperson didn't like losing credit for his work, and wrote a confession on the bathroom wall of a truck stop. He signed it with a smiley face. When that didn't get any attention, he wrote numerous letters to newspapers and police departments, all with the same signature. The Oregonian dubbed him the "Happy Face Killer."

Most of Jesperson's victims were transient women, some of whom have yet to be identified. But in early 1995, Jesperson finally murdered someone he knew -- his longtime girlfriend, Julie Ann Winningham. This connection allowed police to eventually catch up with him. He's now serving three consecutive life sentences at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Pavlinac and Sosnovske were eventually released, both having served four years for a crime they didn't commit.

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Jan. 20, 1972: Born to a Serial Killer

On January 20, 1972, Marybeth Tinning rushed her two-year-old son, Joseph Jr., to the emergency room in Schenectady, NY. She claimed he'd suffered some kind of seizure, but doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him. Hours later, she returned again and, this time, little Joseph Jr. was dead. Tinning said she'd put him to bed, then found him tangled in the sheets. It seemed a horribly tragic loss for Tinning and her husband, Joe -- her father had died of a heart attack the previous October and their newborn daughter, Jennifer, had died just a month before, from meningitis and had never even left the hospital.

Police investigated, the but there was no evidence of a crime. However, less than six weeks later, Tinning returned to the emergency room with their remaining child, Barbara, age 4. The doctors wanted to keep Barbara, but Tinning insisted on taking her home. Hours later, Tinning returned with an unconscious Barabara, who later died. All three Tinning children had died within 90 days of each other.

Sadly, it didn't end there. Over the years, the Tinnings continued to have more children, and even adopted an infant, and most of them survived only a few months. Some deaths were blamed on SIDS, though the odds of it occurring more than once to the same family are astronomical. Doctors did all kinds of studies to see if the problem was genetic, which seemed to be ruled out when their adopted son, Michael, died as well. Questions were asked, but not enough people from different organizations put their information together to launch an investigation. Each time the Tinnings had another child, some people would wonder how long the baby would live.

It wasn't until the death of the Tinning's ninth child, Tami Lynne in 1985 (fourteen years after her killing spree began), that police finally arrested her. Tinning confessed to smothering Tami Lynne with a pillow, then confessed to killing two of the others. Later, she tried to recant her testimony. She was eventually convicted in of murdering Tami Lynne, the only one for which police could obtain enough evidence. Efforts were made to try her for two others, but were later dropped. She was convicted of second degree murder in July, 1987, and is currently up for parole.

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