UTAH COUNTY — DNA evidence has linked a prolific serial killer from Washington to a new victim more than three decades after his execution.
The Utah County Sheriff’s Office confirmed Wendesday that DNA found on Laura Ann Aime’s body belonged to Ted Bundy.
“The results were magnificent as they confirmed irrefutably that DNA evidence recovered from Laura’s body verified the existence of DNA belonging to Bundy,” the sheriff’s office shared on Wednesday.
Laura Ann Aime
Aime was last seen on Halloween of 1974, leaving a party to buy some items from a convenience store. She was 17 at the time.
Her body was found about a month later, on November 27. The sheriff’s office says two college students found her while hiking in the American Fork Canyon. Her body had been tossed several feet from the highway, near State Route 92.
She was naked, bound, and had been severely beaten. Deputies say they found a nylon stocking, used to strangle Aime and ultimately played a major role in her death.
Investigators believe Bundy kidnapped her and kept her alive for several days before killing her.
Aime is remembered by her family and friends to be a “tall, beautiful, outgoing free spirit who enjoyed outdoor activities and shared a passion for riding horses, hunting, and caring for her several siblings,” the sheriff’s office said.
Ted Bundy
Bundy, who grew up in Western Washington and attended school in Seattle and Tacoma, was a rapist and serial killer who confessed to 30 murders, though investigators believe the number is higher.
Bundy killed multiple women in Washington but was never convicted here before his death in a Florida electric chair on January 24, 1989. In 2018, KIRO 7 News spoke with a woman who survived a run-in with Bundy. You can hear her story here.
Bundy’s admission
In the days and hours leading to his execution, investigators say Bundy acknowledged his culpability in the death and disappearance of Aime but wouldn’t elaborate. At the time of his admission, the Utah County Sheriff’s Department and Utah County Attorney’s Office both declined to accept Bundy’s verbal accountability for her homicide. Why? They didn’t have enough evidence to convict him at the time.
The Sheriff’s Department elected to keep this case open until investigators could prove, without a shadow of doubt, that Bundy was or wasn’t her killer.
Existing evidence was submitted to the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services so they could utilize the various forms of advanced forensic sciences and professionals—and it came back as a match.