Ted Bundy’s Last Day of Freedom

An excerpt from the book, “Pensacola’s Finest,” available on Amazon

By Mike Simmons

Ted Bundy’s Last Day of Freedom

1:30 AM on Wednesday, February 15, 1978, was a quiet time for David Lee. Officer Lee was a Pensacola Police Officer, working the midnight shift on the west side of Pensacola. Two of the qualities of a good beat officer are to know the people and businesses on his beat and to protect them like a guard dog. That is what Officer Lee did. As he usually did when working midnights, Officer Lee was checking the buildings on his beat. His main objective was to prevent burglaries. 

Old friends met there. It was that kind of place – when you walked in, you probably knew somebody, or felt like you did. Most people loved eating at Oscar’s Restaurant. When it was open, the parking lot was usually full. And it was not unusual to find one of Pensacola’s Finest eating there. It was a Pensacola icon. Located in an old building in a less-than-affluent area of town, Oscar’s had that special charm that drew people to it. It felt…familiar.  

David Lee drove his patrol car slowly through back streets, between the businesses, and along West Cervantes Street. He used his spotlight to better see that neighborhoods and businesses were safe. As he eased his cruiser behind Oscar’s Restaurant, 2805 West Cervantes Street, he saw a tan Volkswagen Beetle slowly making its way through the parking lot. This sight attracted David’s attention. Like all good beat cops, he knew the employees at Oscar’s and what they drove. “Strange,” he thought to himself. “Nobody that works here drives a VW. He tried to think of scenarios that would cause such a sight. He considered driving off, but the guard dog in him convinced him to go back, so he decided to check it out. Just then, the vehicle fled from the parking lot. As Officer Lee followed it, he called his situation in on the radio, checking the tag. It came back as a stolen vehicle belonging to Kenneth Misner from Tallahassee. This transmission attracted the attention of other officers, who headed toward the pursuing officer.

Officer Lee prepared to stop the car and possibly find out who the driver was and why he was driving a stolen vehicle in HIS town behind Oscar’s Restaurant. When he turned his blue lights on, the Volkswagen sped up in an obvious attempt to elude David. Finally, he stopped the vehicle a mile and a half up the road. He pulled it over outside the city limits at “W” and Cross streets near Catholic High School. David didn’t know what he had. He did know that he was approaching the driver of a car parked behind a closed business (in HIS area of town) and that the vehicle fled when he approached it. Not taking any chances, he ordered the driver out of the car and made him lie down. When Lee approached, the man kicked Lee’s legs from under him and a fight ensued. Finally, the man broke free and began running northeast into the neighborhood. Lee chased the man through the area, finally catching him in the road two blocks away. As he approached the man, Lee was attacked and another fight began, but this time over the gun. Lee and responding officers finally subdued the man and placed him in cuffs. He was taken to jail. A search of the man’s possessions and the contents of the car revealed several documents, including many credit cards, in the name of Kenneth Misner, the owner of the stolen car. Things didn’t add up. Why would a man be driving his own stolen car?

Detective Norman Chapman lived 40 miles from the police station, near the small town of Jay, Florida. He lived out in the country, and his accent and mannerisms reflected his laid-back country life. When Norman got out of the U. S. Army, he decided to become a Pensacola Police Officer. Soon, he was transferred to Investigations as a detective. In the early morning hours of February 15, Norman’s phone rang. 

“Sorry to wake you detective, but you need to come in. Officer Lee stopped a vehicle that is listed as being stolen out of Tallahassee. We have the driver in custody.”

rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Norman dressed and headed out. Detectives often make a habit of having clothing and equipment laid out – just in case they are called into work during the night. When Detective Chapman arrived, he met the man that had Kenneth Misner’s ID, but who wasn’t Kenneth Misner. The man was not used to Norman’s slow, southern drawl, but he liked him. The man made the mistake of believing the stereotype of a southern country boy being slow and backward. Chapman interviewed the man and immediately made a connection with him. Chapman sensed there was something different about this man who called himself Kenneth Misner, something unusual that the man was hiding. Chapman established, not a friendship, but a relationship with the man which would last for many years. The man was very personable and extremely intelligent. However, he was proud of himself…in an arrogant sort of way. His pride was the element that Detective Chapman focused on. In an almost Gomer Pyle manner, Norman acted as if he was fascinated with the man’s intelligence. As he freely spoke with the man, something wasn’t right. He had just been arrested in a stolen car with stolen items, fled from the police, and then tried to take an officer’s weapon. Yet he appeared relaxed and smooth. He was personable – almost charming. How would a man of his intelligence and ability find himself in this situation? It didn’t feel right. The man was fingerprinted and his prints were immediately sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. After a period of time, the FBI identified the man through his fingerprints. His name was Theodore Robert Bundy.

Ted Bundy’s name had been in the papers and on television across the United States. He was last seen in the northwest where he escaped and fled. He was on the FBI’s Ten Most-Wanted List. The infamous serial murderer and escape artist had disappeared from the Glenwood Springs, CO Jail and resurfaced in Pensacola.

During the hours that Chapman interviewed Bundy, he made statements that were to prove significant in the murder case of Florida State University students Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman at their sorority house. Bundy was subsequently found guilty of this crime and sentenced to die in the electric chair.

The information that Bundy related to Detective Chapman was important to the case. As Bundy’s date with electric chair “Old Sparky” neared, he requested that Chapman – now the chief of police – come to visit him on death row. It was obvious that Bundy wanted to extend his life by having additional charges brought against him, therefore postponing his execution. Chapman refused to see Bundy, who was put to death on January 24, 1989. Bundy is suspected of murdering at least 30 women between 1974 and 1978.

Good job, Team PPD!