It has been confirmed that notorious American serial killer Ted Bundy committed an additional murder 52 years after it occurred.
Authorities in Summit County, Utah, held a press conference on the 27th local time and announced that Bundy was the suspect in the 1974 murder of Melissa Anne Smith.
[Anchor / Sheriff Kacey Bates: Fifty-two years ago today, on October 27, 1974, the body of 17-year-old Melissa Anne Smith was found by hunters in a wooded area.]
Bundy was a criminal who traveled across the United States in the 1970s, murdering at least 30 people in states such as Florida, Washington, and Utah.
Bundy, who also served as an inspiration for Hannibal in the movie The Silence of the Lambs, was executed in 1989, but his crimes continue to be confirmed even after his execution.
Investigative authorities explained that they utilized DNA from Laura Aime, another victim killed by Bundy, to solve this cold case.
[Anchor / Summit County Attorney Margaret Olson: When this DNA evidence is considered alongside evidence related to the pattern, motive, means, and opportunity of the crime, it is confirmed that Ted Bundy is the perpetrator of the murder of Melissa Anne Smith.]
Investigators explained that the means and motive of the murder were also consistent with Bundy's serial killing patterns.
Both Smith and Aime were 17 years old at the time of their deaths.
Prosecutor Olson, who announced the investigation results, stated, "Although Ted Bundy is no longer alive to be prosecuted, advances in forensics have allowed us to find answers to a case that has remained unsolved for over 50 years."
Bundy was sentenced to 15 years in prison for kidnapping a 17-year-old woman from a Utah shopping mall in 1974, but he escaped from a Colorado prison and moved to Florida, where he continued his killing spree.
Four years later, in 1978, he was arrested again after murdering two women at a Florida State University sorority house, and was ultimately executed 11 years later.
(Video Editing: Oh Jung-shik)
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