The story, told honestly
In the early hours of 15 January 1978, escaped killer Ted Bundy slipped into the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University and beat four women with an oak log — killing Margaret Bowman, 21, and Lisa Levy, 20, and gravely injuring Kathy Kleiner and Karen Chandler. He then attacked a fifth student, Cheryl Thomas, nearby. A young Tallahassee priest, Fr. William Kerr, was called out that night to anoint a dying victim — and years later he counselled Bundy on death row.
Kerr told friends — who retold it after his death — that one unharmed girl in the house believed she had been spared because she had fallen asleep praying the rosary she had promised her mother (in another version, her grandmother) to pray nightly, and that Bundy later said he could not go on in her room. The girl's belief is a moving act of faith. The polished “mysterious force” version, however, appears in no early source — and Bundy attacked another woman minutes later.
What is documented
- The priest is real, and he was there. Msgr. William A. Kerr (1940–2009), FSU campus minister and rector of St. Thomas More Co-Cathedral, “administered the last rites to a woman killed in her sorority house” in 1978 — and Bundy received spiritual counselling from him before the January 1989 execution (Catholic News Service obituary).
- The attack record: c. 3:00 a.m., 15 Jan 1978, entry through a rear door with a faulty lock. Kleiner's own account: Bundy fled Room 8 when car headlights shone in as sorority sister Nita Neary was dropped off; Neary saw him leaving and identified him at trial.
- Bundy's final days: he confessed to investigators from several states — 30 homicides in total is the standard figure (20 confirmed by police). Evangelical psychologist James Dobson interviewed him the day before execution; Methodist minister Rev. Fred Lawrence spent the final night in prayer with him. Bundy's last words, to Lawrence and his attorney Jim Coleman: “Jim and Fred, I'd like you to give my love to my family and friends.”
- The execution: electric chair (“Old Sparky”) at Florida State Prison, Raiford/Starke — not the gas chamber (a common retelling error), not lethal injection, not hanging. Current applied about 7:06 a.m.; pronounced dead 7:16 a.m. EST, Tuesday 24 January 1989, aged 42.
The viral video, claim by claim
| Claim as retold | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Bundy was “repelled by the rosary” (the Short's title) | Unverifiable | No early source says this — and Bundy attacked Cheryl Thomas minutes later that same night. |
| An unnamed girl promised her mother/grandmother to pray the rosary nightly and fell asleep with it in her hands | Tradition only | She is never named; the versions disagree (mother vs. grandmother); the story first appears in print in 2002 — 24 years later. |
| Bundy was stopped by a “mysterious force,” dropped his weapon and fled | Unsupported | The 2002 reporter, Bill Zlatos, told the Epic Pew investigation he was not told this by Kerr — he would have used it. The stronger 2009 blog claim was later retracted by its own author. |
| Fr. Kerr counselled Bundy on death row | Documented | Confirmed by his Catholic News Service obituary. Whether Bundy requested Kerr by name is disputed — the obituary says he “sought out” Kerr; Epic Pew's reporting says he was not specifically requested. We report both. |
| Fr. Joseph Esper was the priest who questioned Bundy | False | Esper is the author who retold the story in his book With Mary to Jesus. The priest was Kerr. |
Our verdict: pray the rosary — the girl's faith, as Kerr's friends preserved it, is a genuine witness. But a Church that is true does not need a force-field story the record can't carry. What is documented is remarkable enough: a priest who anointed Bundy's victims spent years counselling their killer toward repentance.
