Dr. Richard Souviron presents evidence at Ted Bundy’s appeal trial.
One of the most famous criminal cases to result in a conviction based on bite mark analysis is that of Ted Bundy. Bundy was a generally charming man, liked by the public throughout his trials due to his charismatic charm and good looks.
In 1975, Bundy was arrested for speeding and evading police in Colorado, positively identified by one of his victims who managed to escape from him, and subsequently escaped on two occasions, once at a courthouse and once from the prison he was being held at, both in Colorado. He then travelled to Florida where he raped and murdered multiple women, most notably Lisa Levy in the Chi Omega house on Florida State University’s campus. Bundy had bitten Levy’s buttock, leaving a mark for forensic scientists to use to their advantage.
This mark was ultimately what convicted Bundy in 1979 of the murder of Levy and the other sorority woman he killed. Bundy’s case is one of those that experts chalk up to being “luck.” Bundy had extremely crooked lower teeth, the molds of which allowed for easy identification within the bite mark analysis. This is not typical of bite mark cases, especially when advancing technology has allowed for ease of access to teeth straightening methods, such as braces.
A dentist getting impressions of Ted Bundy’s dentition.
Bite molds of Bundy’s dentition. These molds were matched with the bite mark in Levy’s buttock, leading to Bundy’s conviction.
