Oxygen’s Love, Ted Bundy Reveals Letters Notorious Serial Killer Wrote From Death Row

For years on death row, notorious serial killer Ted Bundy wrote his cousin Edna Martin. Now, she’s revealing the letters—and the killer’s private thoughts—in Oxygen’s upcoming documentary Love, Ted Bundy.

Ted Bundy may have been a killer, but to Edna Martin, he was family.

For decades, Bundy’s cousin has kept her silence, but now Martin is opening up about life with the killer—including the personal letters he sent her from Florida’s death row—in Oxygen’s upcoming documentary Love, Ted Bundy, premiering Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. ET/PT.

“As America’s most notorious serial killer Ted Bundy awaited execution, he exchanged a series of death row letters with the woman who loved him like a brother—his cousin, Edna Martin,” reads a press announcement. “For fifty years, Edna concealed her identity, desperate to protect her family from public scrutiny. Now, she is finally ready to tell her story and reveal her deeply personal collection of letters for the first time in Love, Ted Bundy.”

What is Love, Ted Bundy About?

Bundy—a one-time law student—confessed to killing 30 women during his chilling murder spree, hiding behind his charismatic persona as he hunted for victims in the 1970s across the Pacific Northwest, Colorado and Florida.

“Through exclusive photographs and first-time interviews with family and friends, Edna reveals stories about her cousin only she can tell,” the description of the documentary continues. “Love, Ted Bundy offers an intimate and unsettling portrait of one of America’s most notorious serial killers through the eyes of someone who believed she truly knew him.”

The two-hour special will take viewers into Bundy’s carefully crafted double life as he worked to juggle everyday responsibilities with his secret dark side.

“Ted and I we were best friends,” Martin remembered in a trailer. “Imagine having someone you care about turn out to be a monster.”

Artwork for Oxygen’s special Love, Ted Bundy

Photo: Oxygen

Ted Bundy’s Killing Spree

Martin recalled the fear that gripped the Pacific Northwest as a killer began to target college-age girls.

“Once a month almost another girl would disappear,” she explained. “The ironic thing is I felt safer because Ted lived so close.”

Bundy’s dark nature finally came to light in 1975 after he was pulled over prowling in a Utah neighborhood and police discovered burglary tools, a crowbar and pantyhose with holes cut in. Bundy was arrested and later linked to the attempted abduction of  Carol DaRonch—one of the few women to escape his grasp.

“My brother said they’ve arrested someone. It’s Ted,” Martin said in the trailer. “I’m just screaming, ‘No, this can’t be true.’”

Ted Bundy

Photo: Getty Images

Bundy’s killing spree didn’t end there. After escaping custody twice, he headed to Florida where he attacked a college sorority house and unsuspecting 12-year-old girl before he was arrested a final time in 1978.

What Was in Ted Bundy’s Letters?

While on Florida’s death row, Bundy reached out to his cousin through a series of letters. She admitted she still doesn’t like to touch the letters today, explaining, “I was convinced evil was coming out of them.”

In one letter revealed in the trailer, Bundy seemingly addressed the killings, writing, “Dear Edna, I have no guilt, remorse or regret over anything I’ve done.”

To truly cut ties with her cousin, Martin knew she needed to confront him, asking in her own letter “Did you really kill those girls?”

To which Bundy replied, “Dear Cousin, Let the dead bury the dead. Be good. I love you, Ted.”

Love, Ted Bundy is produced by Marwar Junction Productions and directed by Christopher Cassel. Cassel also served as an executive producer on the project along with Joseph Freed and Allison Berkley.

“Every family has secrets,” Martin remarked in the trailer. “But who would want to confess their cousin was a serial killer.”