Utah authorities have officially closed a case that had remained unresolved for over 51 years after new DNA testing technology confirmed that the murdered woman was a victim of the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy.
Seventeen-year-old Laura Ann Aime disappeared after returning from a Halloween party in 1974, and her body was found a month later by a group of climbers in American Fork Canyon.
Yesterday (1 Apr), the Utah County Sheriff's Office announced that new forensic testing conclusively confirmed that DNA recovered from Laura's body contained Ted Bundy's DNA.
Between February 1974 and February 1978, Ted Bundy killed at least 30 women and was linked to several other murders nationwide. Although Bundy confessed to killing Laura before his 1989 execution in Florida, he refused to provide any details about the crime. Because of this, authorities did not close the case at that time and kept it open until irrefutable proof could confirm Bundy as the true killer.
Utah County Sheriff Mike Smith declared during a press conference, "This case is now officially closed," adding that if Ted Bundy were still alive, prosecutors would certainly seek the death penalty.
Ted Bundy is considered one of America's most notorious serial killers. He began his spree in the Pacific Northwest region along the US West Coast, then moved on to commit murders in Colorado, Utah, and Florida. At the time Laura was murdered, Bundy lived in Salt Lake City and was studying law at the University of Utah.
Bundy's method involved approaching women in public places, using his good looks to gain their trust, and pretending to be injured to lure victims to secluded locations before killing them.
He was first arrested in 1975 for kidnapping and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In 1977, he escaped by jumping from a prison library window. Although recaptured eight days later, he escaped again and committed several more murders before being arrested again in 1978.
,BBC
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