NewsNation

Growing up with Ted Bundy: ‘We all looked up to him,’ cousin says

(NewsNation) —  Edna Martin details the deception she experienced growing up with one of the nation’s most prolific killers in her memoir “Dark Tide: Growing Up With Ted Bundy.”

Martin, Bundy’s cousin, shared on “Banfield” that at the time, she thought her cousin was “a great guy” and that he was “a lot of fun to hang out with.”


“He was very charming, very put together. A lot of my friends really liked him,” Martin said Friday on “Banfield.” “It was fun when he came over. We all looked up to him because he was accomplishing a lot.”

Before Bundy was executed in 1989, he confessed to more than 30 murders across seven states, including Utah, Idaho and Colorado, but some experts believe that number could be much higher, according to a local Wyoming news outlet.

In his confession, Bundy described where some of his victims were buried, descriptions that turned out to be accurate.

Looking back, Martin can’t believe she welcomed Bundy into her home. 

“While this guy was murdering women, young girls like us, he was coming over to my apartment, I was exposing him to my friends. It still sets me back that we welcomed him into our home,” Martin said.