Theodore Robert "Ted" Bundy (born Theodore Robert Cowell; November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, and necrophile who assaulted and murdered many young women between 1974 and 1978. After more than a decade of denials he confessed to 30 homicides shortly before his execution; the true total remains unknown, and could be much higher.