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coming so close together in
    1969, did not bury Ted Bundy. Instead, he became possessed of a kind of icy resolve. By God, if it took whatever he had, he was going to change. By sheer force of will, he would become the kind of man that the world-and particularly Stephanie-saw as a success. The years that followed would see an almost Horatio Alger-like metamorphosis in Ted. He didn't want to go back to McMahon Hall; the memories there were too filled with Stephanie. Instead, he walked the streets of the University District, knocking on doors of older homes that flanked the streets just west of the campus. At each door, he would smile and explain he was looking for a room, that he was a student in psychology at the University.
    Freda Rogers, an elderly woman who, along with her husband Ernst, owned the neat, white two-story frame house at
    4143 12th N.B. was quite taken with Ted. She rented him a large room in the southwest corner of the home. He would live there for five years and become more of a son than a tenant to the Rogers family. Ernst Rogers was far from well, and Ted promised to help with heavy chores and the gardening-a promise he kept.
    Ted also called Beatrice Sloan, his old friend from the Seattle yacht club. She found him the same as he'd always been, full of plans and adventures. He told her he'd been to Philadelphia where he'd seen his rich uncle, and that he was on his way to Aspen, Colorado to become a ski instructor.
    "Then I'll knit you a ski hat," she replied promptly.
    "No need. I already have a ski mask. But I do need a ride to the airport." Mrs. Sloan did drive him to the airport and saw him off on 18

THE STRANGER BESIDE ME
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    his trip to Colorado. She wondered a little at the expensive ski gear he carried. She knew he'd never had any money, and the equipment was clearly the best.
    Why he went to Colorado at that point is unclear. He did not have a job or even the promise of a job as a ski instructor. Perhaps, he only wanted to see the skiing hamlet that Stephanie had raved about. He was back by the time the fall quarter started at the University of Washington.
    In a psychology curriculum, Ted seemed to have found his niche. He pulled down mostly A's with a sprinkling of B's, in courses like physiological psychology, social psychology, animal learning, statistical methods, developmental psychology, deviant personality, and deviant development. The boy who had seemed to be without direction or plans now became an honors student.
    His professors liked him, particularly Patricia Lunneborg, Scott Fraser, and Ronald E. Smith. Smith, who three years later would write Ted a glowing letter of recommendation to the University of Utah Law School which read in part:
    Mr. Bundy is undoubtedly one of the top undergraduate students in our department. Indeed, I would place him in the top 1% of undergraduate students with whom I have interacted both here at the University of Washington and at Purdue University. He is exceedingly bright, personable, highly motivated, and conscientious. He conducts himself more like a young professional than like a student. He has the capacity for hard work and because of his intellectual curiosity is a pleasure to interact with. ... As a result of his undergraduate psychology major, Mr. Bundy has become intensely interested in studying psychological variables which influence jury decisions. He and I are currently engaged in a research project in which we are attempting to study experimentally some of the variables which influence jury decisions. |j I must .admit that I regret Mr. Bundy's decision to pursue a career in law rather than to continue his professional training in psychology. Our loss is your gain. I have no doubt that Mr. Bundy will distinguish himself as a law student and as a professional and I recommend him to you without qualification.
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THE STRANGER BESIDE ME
    Ted needed nothing more than his scholastic excellence to stand him in good stead with his professors. It