Authorities in Utah reportedly believe three additional murders could be linked to Bundy using DNA evidence in the near future

NEED TO KNOW

• Authorities in Utah have tied another 1974 murder to the serial killer Ted Bundy
• Bundy, who was executed in 1989, was also tied to another 1974 murder earlier this year via DNA evidence
• Summit County authorities said at a news conference Tuesday that DNA evidence recently tied Bundy to 1974 killing of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith

Authorities in Utah say they’ve connected another murder to the infamous serial killer Ted Bundy.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, officials with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office in Utah say DNA and other circumstantial evidence has tied the late Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith.

The announcement comes months after authorities in Utah also used DNA evidence to tie Bundy to the murder of another 17-year-old girl, Laura Aime.

In April, authorities announced the Utah State Crime Lab tied the DNA evidence found on Aime’s body to that of Bundy’s. Months later, the same lab says Bundy’s DNA also matches samples found on Smith’s body. Both murders happened the same year.

“Although Ted Bundy is no longer alive to face prosecution, advances in forensic science and continued dedication of law enforcement professionals have helped provide answers in a case that has remained unsolved for over 50 years,” Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson said at Tuesday’s news conference. “Most importantly, we remember Melissa Ann Smith and the somber significance of finally bringing this investigation to a close.”

Olson said forensics officials with the Utah State Crime Lab began testing the DNA found on Smith’s body in mid-July, roughly three months after first closing the Aime case. The lab soon got a match, Olson said.

The Summit County attorney said the DNA evidence match was “considered alongside evidence related to pattern, motive, means and opportunity,” that also pointed to Bundy being responsible for Smith’s death.

Tuesday’s announcement comes 52 years to the day after Smith was discovered in a wooded area on the northwest border of Summit County, roughly 100 miles north of Provo, Utah.

Summit County Sheriff Kacey Bates referenced that Bundy was long thought to be the primary suspect in Smith’s murder, saying Tuesday that “although there was much speculation regarding a suspect at the time, a suspect was never named, and the case was never officially closed.”

The Salt Lake Tribune reported that earlier this year, officials indicated three other cold cases from the mid-1970s are also believed to be tied to Bundy — though officials have yet to confirm that’s the case. The other victims include 16-year-old Nancy Wilcox, 15-year-old Susan Curtis, and Deborah Smith, whose body was found near the Salt Lake City Airport in 1976, according to the newspaper.

Bundy confessed to killing at least 30 women across Utah, Colorado, Washington, and Florida between 1974 and 1978. Bundy was initially arrested in 1975 but escaped prison and continued his killing before eventually being caught for good in 1978. He was later executed by electric chair on Jan. 24, 1989.

Bundy survivor Kathy Kleiner Rubin told PEOPLE in 2023 that Bundy had portrayed himself “as the good guy.” 

“Then at night, he would turn into another thing,” Rubin said. “That’s when he would go hunting for women. He killed most of his victims in their bedrooms at night. He wanted to take their souls, and keep them, not face them and fight them.”

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