Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers

In December 1974, The Ecologist published an article synthesizing current research into lead exposure. The article suggested that lead emissions may have played a role in recent rises in crime rates in the UK. That same year, the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports revealed that murder rates in Washington state rose more than 30%, a shocking jump compared to the 5.5% national rise. Although officials did not make the connection, pressure from environmentalists and health advocates increased in the early months of 1975, even as the city of Tacoma pressured ASARCO officials to begin cleaning up its smelters.

Starting in January 1975, Bundy’s killing sprees took him beyond Utah, beginning with the murder of 23-year-old nurse Caryn Campbell in Wildwood, Colorado. Two months later, he kidnapped and assaulted 26-year-old Julie Cunningham in Vail, Colorado. Cunningham tried to escape, but Bundy ultimately killed her. Some later that spring, Bundy returned to the site to bury her body. In May, he kidnapped 12-year-old Lynnette Culver from her middle school in Pocatello, Idaho, killed her, and abandoned her body in the Snake River.

In March 1975, the remains of the skulls of Brenda Ball, Susan Rancourt, Kathy Parks, and Lynda Ann Healy were found in a remote area near Taylor Mountain, outside of Tacoma.