Serial Killer Ted Bundy, And the Power of the Rosary

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It’s certainly a great story, but I couldn’t find confirmation of it. Do you have another impartial source for this incident?
 
Here is another link about the story.

hsjoy.blogspot.com/2009/05/power-of-rosary.html

This is the kind of story you will never see on the MSM. But the MSM does report two survivors of the killings that night in Tallahassee, one who was attacked, and one who slept through the entire massacre.

As you will see from this story, it is about Susan Denton, who only woke up that night when she heard the police. They don’t mention the rosary, but it would seem to be the same girl.

community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990124&slug=2940372
 
I hate to put the kibosh on this, but the second blog account is word-for-word the same as the first one you cited. That means it’s been copied–from one to another somewhere along the line.

What you need is a clear statement from the deceased Mgnsr. Kerr as to the facts, you see. Or a credible person who knows it’s true.

I have no doubt Our Lady’s Rosary has saved many a person, but this story doesn’t have enough confirmation to be cited as one of these. Sorry. 😊
 
You are certainly under no obligation to believe this story, that’s your prerogative. But the reason this story is making the rounds is because the priest involved, Msgr. William Kerr, recently died, and amazingly, he died while celebrating Mass. Here is an article about his last sermon, his last words on earth. And if you Google him, you will see that Ted Bundy specifically asked for him as a spiritual advisor when he was executed.

This article includes the same story about Ted Bundy, and yes, it is word for word. I don’t know why that makes it false, but . . .

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/9827881/The_last_unfinished_sermon_of_a_wonderful_priest/

Mary
 
As I said, it would be great if it there was a quote by Msgr. Kerr himself as to the validity of this story. We can’t believe things just because they sound good to us. There’s a danger in doing that. Firstly, it sets us up as prey for charletans and secondly it makes the faith look bad to others. You should read some of the comments on Snoops about this story by unbelievers.

Putting forward unproven stories makes our faith into a laughingstock–not that that was anyone intention, just an inevitable result in our day when everything needs to be verified. It’s why the Church doesn’t just accept every account of healing or locutions or visions without a thorough investigation.

Truth matters much more than wanting to believe a nice story. This isn’t about me or you, it’s about making sure we are relating what really happened. It in no way reflects on your faith or you that you read something that got you all enthused, but we need to be careful about these things is all I’m saying here.
 
I don’t know why you are so interested in putting down this story. If you do a Google search of “Ted Bundy and Rosary” you will find it is all over the Internet, and on some very respectable Catholic websites, including Spirtdaily.com, which I got it from, as well as other websites… If you notice, one of the sites I link to is the “The Telegraph”, which is a very well respected daily English newspaper. Spiritdaily.com is a sort of Catholic Drudge site, carrying Catholic news stories. I’m curious, do you find the stories of Fatima, or Lourdes, or Our Lady of Kibeho, or any Marian apparitions a “laughing stock” for Catholics? As I wrote, you don’t have to believe this if you don’t want to, but I pray the Rosary in front of abortion clinics, and I see for myself how powerful our Lady’s Rosary is in stopping evil, and I believe this story.

As far as people’s comments, I’m afraid I can’t go by that. I know Catholics who voted for Obama and other abortion supporters, and they have all kinds of ways of trying to justify themselves. People’s opinions don’t mean a thing to me.

Mary
 
I love this story of the power of the Rosary. It is most reassuring for us moms!
 
Brooklyn said:
I don’t know why you are so interested in putting down this story. If you do a Google search of “Ted Bundy and Rosary” you will find it is all over the Internet, and on some very respectable Catholic websites, including Spirtdaily.com, which I got it from, as well as other websites… If you notice, one of the sites I link to is the “The Telegraph”, which is a very well respected daily English newspaper. Spiritdaily.com is a sort of Catholic Drudge site, carrying Catholic news stories. I’m curious, do you find the stories of Fatima, or Lourdes, or Our Lady of Kibeho, or any Marian apparitions a “laughing stock” for Catholics? As I wrote, you don’t have to believe this if you don’t want to, but I pray the Rosary in front of abortion clinics, and I see for myself how powerful our Lady’s Rosary is in stopping evil, and I believe this story.

As far as people’s comments, I’m afraid I can’t go by that. I know Catholics who voted for Obama and other abortion supporters, and they have all kinds of ways of trying to justify themselves. People’s opinions don’t mean a thing to me.

Mary
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Please don’t put words in my mouth or get so emotional. If the sources sited from don’t include the part about the rosary stopping Ted Bundy, then they mean nothing to this discussion.

I too love the rosary–it and Our Lady of Lourdes brought me into the Church. But, if the story isn’t verifiable it shouldn’t be promoted, that’s all. Do be as sensible about this as the Church itself is instead of just accepting a story that hasn’t been testified to by the people who were there.

Why is that so hard for you to understand/accept. Investigating and being sure of the facts is how the Church does these things. I have no opinion about this story one way or the other. I simply won’t accept it as true unless it can be verified. It’s just that simple, and my final word on the subject.
 
Brooklyn said:
I don’t know why you are so interested in putting down this story. If you do a Google search of “Ted Bundy and Rosary” you will find it is all over the Internet, and on some very respectable Catholic websites, including Spirtdaily.com, which I got it from, as well as other websites… If you notice, one of the sites I link to is the “The Telegraph”, which is a very well respected daily English newspaper. Spiritdaily.com is a sort of Catholic Drudge site, carrying Catholic news stories. I’m curious, do you find the stories of Fatima, or Lourdes, or Our Lady of Kibeho, or any Marian apparitions a “laughing stock” for Catholics? As I wrote, you don’t have to believe this if you don’t want to, but I pray the Rosary in front of abortion clinics, and I see for myself how powerful our Lady’s Rosary is in stopping evil, and I believe this story.

As far as people’s comments, I’m afraid I can’t go by that. I know Catholics who voted for Obama and other abortion supporters, and they have all kinds of ways of trying to justify themselves. People’s opinions don’t mean a thing to me.

Mary
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Not every wonderful Catholic story need undergo the same rigour of proof and testing that miracles proving Sainthood,or Marian apparitions do.Nor is every wonderful unauthenticated Catholic story a "folktale"either.I feel that its worthy of belief in that it reinforces Faith and fosters belief in Christ’s mercy in response to supplication for His Mother’s prayers.I agree that our Lady’s Rosary is powerful and that Satan fears it.Didn’t St.Padre Pio refer to the Rosary as his weapon?Good enough for me.
 
Della said:
Please don’t put words in my mouth or get so emotional. If the sources sited from don’t include the part about the rosary stopping Ted Bundy, then they mean nothing to this discussion.

I too love the rosary–it and Our Lady of Lourdes brought me into the Church. But, if the story isn’t verifiable it shouldn’t be promoted, that’s all. Do be as sensible about this as the Church itself is instead of just accepting a story that hasn’t been testified to by the people who were there.

Why is that so hard for you to understand/accept. Investigating and being sure of the facts is how the Church does these things. I have no opinion about this story one way or the other. I simply won’t accept it as true unless it can be verified. It’s just that simple, and my final word on the subject.
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You don’t have to accept it as true, it certainly doesn’t affect your status as a Christian or a Catholic in good standing. BTW, the link to The Telegraph does include the story about Ted Bundy a well as Msgr. Kerr’s last sermon.

Mary
 
Della said:
Please don’t put words in my mouth or get so emotional. If the sources sited from don’t include the part about the rosary stopping Ted Bundy, then they mean nothing to this discussion.

I too love the rosary–it and Our Lady of Lourdes brought me into the Church. But, if the story isn’t verifiable it shouldn’t be promoted, that’s all. Do be as sensible about this as the Church itself is instead of just accepting a story that hasn’t been testified to by the people who were there.

Why is that so hard for you to understand/accept. Investigating and being sure of the facts is how the Church does these things. I have no opinion about this story one way or the other. I simply won’t accept it as true unless it can be verified. It’s just that simple, and my final word on the subject.
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No one is ASKING you to accept it.No one appointed you as arbiter or policewoman of Catholic stories either.Quit raining on other people’s parades.
 
Della said:
As I said, it would be great if it there was a quote by Msgr. Kerr himself as to the validity of this story. We can’t believe things just because they sound good to us. There’s a danger in doing that. Firstly, it sets us up as prey for charletans and secondly it makes the faith look bad to others. You should read some of the comments on Snoops about this story by unbelievers.

Putting forward unproven stories makes our faith into a laughingstock–not that that was anyone intention, just an inevitable result in our day when everything needs to be verified. It’s why the Church doesn’t just accept every account of healing or locutions or visions without a thorough investigation.

Truth matters much more than wanting to believe a nice story. This isn’t about me or you, it’s about making sure we are relating what really happened. It in no way reflects on your faith or you that you read something that got you all enthused, but we need to be careful about these things is all I’m saying here.
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Ok, so there is no quote from the priest. But does it hurt to believe that the rosary *might *have saved the girl ??
I mean, does it even hurt to believe in the rosary at all ??

Maybe the girl just got lucky that Bundy just got tired of killing that night and only that night huh?

How often did his victims escaped death.
There was only one who narrowly escaped death. But this girl, she was deeply asleep and untouched.

What was so different about this girl. Nothing except that she had a rosary. No quote is necessary to prove that she had a rosary. Either she did or she didn’t and I doubt the article would lie about it.

If this kind of situation doesn’t warrant a credit to our Lady, then I don’t know what is.
 
Amazing, the flak that Della is receiving on this.

Great story about the Rosary, if indeed it is true. I, too, would like to see a past citation from the deceased Fr. Kerr. Shame on me!

Della is simply being prudent and just in an age of Internet easy believism. Might be good to review the cardinal virtures of Prudence and Justice (CCC 1806,1807).

The suggestion that Della “[q]uit raining on other people’s parades” is something I would expect from unbelievers who want to believe whatever truth is convenient for them. Truth does matter.

No, it doesn’t necessarily “hurt to believe that the Rosary might have saved the girl”.

But does it hurt to confirm the veracity of the story?

Personally, I tend to believe the report (though my own belief of course does not make the story true). The inclusion of the Rosary reference by blog editor Damian Thompson of The Telegraph is noteworthy, though even top editors of major news agency get things wrong on occassion.

Good thing the Bereans (Acts 17:10-12) didn’t live in today’s Internet age. Back in St. Paul’s time, their desire to “examine” and “see if these things were so” resulted in them being called “noble”. Today they might be called “party poopers”.

I think I’ll pray a Rosary now … 🙂
 
crownleaf said:
Amazing, the flak that Della is receiving on this.

Great story about the Rosary, if indeed it is true. I, too, would like to see a past citation from the deceased Fr. Kerr. Shame on me!

Della is simply being prudent and just in an age of Internet easy believism. Might be good to review the cardinal virtures of Prudence and Justice (CCC 1806,1807).

The suggestion that Della “[q]uit raining on other people’s parades” is something I would expect from unbelievers who want to believe whatever truth is convenient for them. Truth does matter.

No, it doesn’t necessarily “hurt to believe that the Rosary might have saved the girl”.

But does it hurt to confirm the veracity of the story?

Personally, I tend to believe the report (though my own belief of course does not make the story true). The inclusion of the Rosary reference by blog editor Damian Thompson of The Telegraph is noteworthy, though even top editors of major news agency get things wrong on occassion.

Good thing the Bereans (Acts 17:10-12) didn’t live in today’s Internet age. Back in St. Paul’s time, their desire to “examine” and “see if these things were so” resulted in them being called “noble”. Today they might be called “party poopers”.

I think I’ll pray a Rosary now … 🙂
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Yes, we are supposed to discern everything. We can’t go on believing and promoting every Chicken-Soup-For-The-Soul story that comes our way.

As an example, I was reading something about how 100 years “to the day” of the last Marian apparition at Fatima, something catastrophic happened in the Soviet Union to effectively end the evil empire. Like some big explosion or something. Well, it was 100 years but not “to the day”. Big deal ? I think so. If the Catholic Church were not so careful and prudent in approving apparitions, miracles, and the like, it would have lost credibility centuries ago, with all the hoaxes that pilgrims flock to (e.g. crying statues).

We as Catholics have a duty not to be so gullible, because Satan gives 99% truths and then tries to trip us up with the 1% lie. He’s not stupid, and he’s hell-bent on evil…
 
For all of you who want to play it safe and not have people laugh at us - c’mon, who is going to believe that a bunch of beads could stop a savage killer - you better get busy and contact all the many, many people who are promoting this story. You won’t have to contact the MSM, though, because, like you, there is no way they are going to believe it. Also, do you think you could find out what exactly did stop Bundy from even going into that young girl’s bedroom that night? It absolutely is a fact that he didn’t touch her, as was pointed out in the link in a previous post. She didn’t even wake up until the police were there. I’m sure those other girls made noises as they were dying, but funny that she didn’t hear any of that. It couldn’t possibly be the Rosary, and we don’t want anyone laughing at us for saying it was.

Sorry for being so sarcastic, but I believe that the Rosary is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons against evil that we have, and that alone lends credence to this story. I believe that most of you who refuse to accept this story believe that also, so I don’t know why you give in to your fear of being laughed at.

Mary
 
Brooklyn said:
For all of you who want to play it safe and not have people laugh at us - c’mon, who is going to believe that a bunch of beads could stop a savage killer - you better get busy and contact all the many, many people who are promoting this story. You won’t have to contact the MSM, though, because, like you, there is no way they are going to believe it. Also, do you think you could find out what exactly did stop Bundy from even going into that young girl’s bedroom that night? It absolutely is a fact that he didn’t touch her, as was pointed out in the link in a previous post. She didn’t even wake up until the police were there. I’m sure those other girls made noises as they were dying, but funny that she didn’t hear any of that. It couldn’t possibly be the Rosary, and we don’t want anyone laughing at us for saying it was.

Sorry for being so sarcastic, but I believe that the Rosary is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons against evil that we have, and that alone lends credence to this story. I believe that most of you who refuse to accept this story believe that also, so I don’t know why you give in to your fear of being laughed at.

Mary
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I think we are talking about two different concepts here. The fact that, after the Holy Mass, the rosary is the most powerful weapon we Catholics have, doesn’t mean that we should blindly believe every rosary-related story that comes our way, that’s all. There are so many lies on the Internet, and just because several different sources cite the same story does not make it more true.

It has nothing to do with being scared of ridicule, and everything to do with discerning the truth.
 
Here, Snopes is a fairly good site that tries to get to the bottom of many urban myths, and while a formal statement has not been made by the site itself, the discussion part here contains certain information that adds a different perspective to the story:

message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=46027

One person who read a book on the subject said: **Actually, more girls were spared than were harmed, as his rampage lasted between 15 and 30 minutes (probably). Among the survivors were the housemother Mrs. Crenshaw, Nita Neary (who arrived home just in time to see Ted leaving by the front door with the weapon still in his hand - so no, he didn’t drop it in someone’s room), Nancy Dowdy, Melanie Nelson, Carol Johnston, Leslie Waddell, and Terry Murphree. **

The rosary story may still be true, but the point is to be cautious in believing everything you read or hear – discern !
 
Hi- I came by after goggling this story from an email forward. I like to make sure things are actually true before forwarding them on. I’m glad to find that the Monsignor was a real person who did minister to Bundy… but so far no direct quotes about the Rosary.
For those who don’t understand how a ‘nice’ story could be bad… think of it this way:
If you are the girl who survived and there was no Rosary involved, how do you now feel about Catholics using this horror and making up a story that is not true to promote the faith?
If this is not true and we do promote it we do risk alienating people who might have more information about the actual events or even the survivors themselves.
pax tibi
Lori
 
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