Many see Washington State as the home of caffeinated hipsters, apples, and big planes. However, there are only a few who know Washington State as the home of infamous serial killers. Washington State has produced well over 40 serial killers, of which include nasty masterminds like Ted Bundy, Gary Ridgeway, and Robert Lee Yates Jr. The question that plagues many fearful citizens and law enforcement is this: what is it about Washington that steers these people to kidnap, rape, and kill innocent men, women, and children? Speculations are constantly made about the unique environment of the Evergreen state. It’s too rainy, cold, gloomy, our depression rate is too high, schools aren’t progressive enough, schools are too progressive—the list can go on for hours. While these assumptions may hold a sliver of truth, Washington State does have “one of the highest depression and suicide rates in the country” (Chang 2010), 260 days of cloudy weather can not possibly influence someone to decapitate, mutilate, and destroy the bodies of people. This paper will focus on three well-known, convicted murders, their backgrounds, and the constructionist/essentialist approach to their behavior.
Ted Bundy was attractive, smart, and had a future in politics. He is also one of the most infamous serial killers in U.S. history. Ted Bundy screamed his innocence until his death in the electric chair became imminent, then he tried to use his victims to keep himself alive. He is known to have raped and kill a numerous number of young women throughout the 1970’s. He confessed shortly before his execution to 30 homicides committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978, though the number could possibly be more. When looking at a person like Ted Bundy, it can be very difficult to remember that, at one time, he had a mother, a childhood, friends, and girlfriends. His childhood, however, is a little messy. He was born Theodore Robert Cowell, birthed by Eleanor Louise Cowell. The identity of his...