Ted Bundy's grisly death before brain was cut out and vile last wish was granted

Serial killer Ted Bundy took his last breath on January 24, 1989. The execution chamber at Florida State Prison was packed with 42 witnesses, all there to see the end of the man who had terrorized and murdered at least 36 women and girls .

Outside the prison walls, a festive atmosphere prevailed, with hundreds gathering to drink beer and chant for the killer's demise. University of Florida students even hosted an evening cookout, serving up 'Bundy burgers' and 'electrified hot dogs' . However, Bundy himself was far from celebratory. He declined to select a final meal and didn't touch the standard fare of steak, eggs, hash browns, and toast that was served to him before his execution in the electric chair, reports the Mirror .

As 2000 volts coursed through his body, his hands clenched, his body stiffened, and a puff of smoke rose from his right leg. After a minute, it was over. During his trial, it was revealed that Bundy had been a model young man on the surface. Articulate and handsome, he was a law student who even volunteered on a suicide prevention hotline.

• Death row serial killer who fed victims to crocodiles made chilling confession before final words
• Gay slayer serial killer's farm was graveyard for 10,000 pieces of human remains

But beneath the facade, Bundy preyed on young women and girls throughout the '70s - raping and murdering them before discarding their bodies.

In a final horrifying affront to his victims, he would often return to where he had left the bodies to engage in necrophilia. This depraved murderer ceased his horrific defilement once the bodies decayed too severely or were feasted upon by wildlife. He grotesquely obtained several heads as perverse mementos, performing sexual acts on them after applying makeup.

Some truly heinous admissions came from Bundy, including consuming parts of his victims. He likened this act to "possessing" them, making them a part of him. The serial killer described his addiction to killing, stating: "You feel their last bit of breath leaving their body. You're looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God! ".

Only his ex-partner Elizabeth Kendall's report led to his capture and incarceration. After a trial, Bundy faced his fate with a death sentence. His life ended by electric chair on January 24, 1989. Subsequently, scientists aimed to discover what catalyzed his transformation from being an individual of good standing to a diabolical monster.

Bundy's brain was extracted for a series of tests to determine the root cause of his horrific deeds. Some scholars have associated certain brain injuries with delinquency.

Interestingly, Bundy conveyed to the detective who played a key role in detaining him that his compulsion to violate and kill felt like a "chemical tidal wave washing through his brain". He drew comparisons between his murderous urges and drug addiction. However, scientists found Bundy's brain normal; no damage, abnormalities, or lesions were detected.

The notorious serial killer's body was cremated, and his ashes were scattered on the same mountain where he had disposed of several of his victims' bodies. Bundy's reign of terror began in 1974 when he broke into an 18-year-old student's basement, brutally assaulted her, and sexually violated her with a metal rod.

The victim was left comatose for ten days and lived with her brain injury for the rest of her life. Despite having no prior criminal record, Bundy committed his first murder just a month later.

He invaded another student's apartment, Lynda Ann Healy, knocked her unconscious, dressed her, and carried her to her car. She was never seen again, but a fragment of her skull was found where Bundy dumped many of his victims.

Bundy often exploited his victims' kindness by wearing a fake cast on his leg or arm and asking them for help carrying something to his car. Then, he would bludgeon them until they were unconscious before raping, killing, and disposing of them.

Even before his eventual capture, several women came forward claiming they had been approached by 'Ted'. Three women, including one of his ex-girlfriends, directly accused Bundy, but the police dismissed their claims due to his reputation as a respected member of society. Bundy was accepted into law school and relocated to Utah, but his violent tendencies only escalated.

Ted Bundy's chilling spree of violence began with the abduction of a hitchhiker whom he raped, strangled, and discarded in a river, only to return the next day for a macabre photo session with her dismembered body. In Salt Lake City, the notorious killer took the life of 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, raping and strangling her before concealing her remains.

Melissa Anne Smith, the 17-year-old daughter of a police chief, met a grim fate after leaving a pizza parlor, abducted by Bundy. Her body was discovered nine days later, with autopsy reports suggesting the tragic possibility that she survived for up to a week after her disappearance.

Bundy treated murder like a twisted game, even acknowledging an "off-season" during which he would abduct women only to hone his predatory skills before releasing them. He reveled in outsmarting law enforcement, convinced of his superior intellect.

His capture came in 1975 when he was arrested for the kidnapping of Carol DaRonch, one of the rare survivors of his attacks, resulting in a 15-year sentence. However, Bundy's incarceration was short-lived. In 1977, while representing himself in court, he made a daring escape by jumping from a library window and vanished.

Although recaptured eight days later, Bundy managed another escape in December 1977 through a hole in his cell ceiling, this time fleeing to Florida. There, his reign of terror escalated to a nightmarish crescendo when he brutally attacked the Chi Omega sorority at Florida State University, raping and murdering four women in a span of just 15 minutes in January 1978.

He brutally murdered Margaret Bowman with a piece of firewood before strangling her with a stocking. Next, he savagely attacked and strangled Lisa Levy, 20, before sexually assaulting her with a bottle, mutilating one of her nipples, and leaving a deep bite mark on her buttock.

Then, he senselessly killed two more students, Karen Chandler and Kathy Kleiner, as they slept in an adjacent bedroom. His final known victim was 12-year-old Kimberly Leach whom he abducted from school, raped, killed, and left her body beneath a pig shed.

A few days later, Bundy was finally apprehended when his stolen Beetle car was recovered. After confessing to 36 murders, Bundy was imprisoned and rumors circulated that he was subjected to repeated rapes by four men while awaiting execution on death row.

On the day of his execution, a massive crowd gathered outside, chanting 'burn, Bundy, burn'. Eleanor Rose, mother of victim Denise Naslund, shared: "For everything he did to the girls - the bludgeoning, the strangulation, humiliating their bodies, torturing them - I feel that the electric chair is too good for him."

Upon his cremation, his ashes were scattered per his sickening last wish - across Washington's Cascade Mountains, the same mountains where he had discarded the bodies of several victims.