MISSOURI KID

[Margaret-Anne Moore]

In at least one of his books, Jay Robert Nash mentioned a notorious bank robber named William Rudolph who was called the Missouri Kid.  He was hanged in Missouri in 1905.  He was only in his early twenties and was such a nice-looking young man that women flocked the jail and courthouse to see him and sent a great many flowers to his cell,  I understand that a number of them even sent him marriage proposals. Patterson did not mention him in his atlas.  Have any of you heard of him?

[Daniel Buck]

Google "Missouri Kid" + "William Randolph" and a couple hundred hits will pop up, among them, number 8 or so, your TW query.  I suspect the reason Patterson did not mention Rudolph in his "Historical Atlas of the Outlaw West," is that his career (safe-cracking, mainly, with time out to torture & rob an elderly couple) and period (early 1900s) fell outside his study.  Have to draw the line somewhere.

There's no accounting for taste, by the way.  Serial killer Ted Bundy was inundated with fan letters and marriage proposals.  One suitor he wed, though did not bed.  He had a date with the chair.  Dan

[Murray A. Gewirtz]

The chair was probably hotter than his bride.

[Sue Cauhape]

I had the dubious experience of meeting Bundy at a party held by my friend's daughter. I listened to one woman complain bitterly about her date with him. When he was introduced around and shook my hand, this banner headline passed across my brain as I looked into his dead eyes: This guy's got to be kinky somehow, he's just too perfect.  Next morning, I went to work at the Deseret News and saw his AP wire photo on the city desk. When I read that he'd been arrested for murdering several women, I nearly freaked.

[Bob 'Buckshot' Bradley]

Margaret, there's a six page article by Lonnie R. Speer in December 1988's True West.

 

I can copy the article and post on your page (files can't be attached to blogs unfortunately) if you would like to read it?

[Melvin Graf]

Sue, when did you meet Bundy?  I know he made escapes after his initial arrest and was finally collared in Pensacola, FL.  Did you talk to the guy at all?  What did the woman say about the date with him?  I take it you were in Salt Lake at the time?  Pretty incredible that you actually met one of the most notorious serial murderers of our time.

[Flying R]

Rotten.com has a picture of ol Ted after ol Sparky got thru with him if anyone is interested...

[Sue Cauhape]

At the time Bundy was in SLC, I was working as the city desk secretary at the Deseret News. Ted was big news after he tried to kidnap a girl at a local mall. Meanwhile, my friend, Norma, and her daughter, Pandora, had this law student friend who they all kidded because of his immaculate grooming -- pressed white tennis shorts, etc. One day, I went to Norma's and this young woman ranted about  how "swayve and deboner" Bundy was. I can't remember any of the details, but she was madder than the proverbial wet hen at his cavalier treatment of her. She was a blond and as you probably know, he liked long-haired brunettes -- lucky her!

I didn't quite connect the dots then. At the party, I was so weirded out by this gorgeously over-the-top handsome man that I headed for the nerdiest guy there and had a great time. Next morning, as I said, I saw his picture on the city desk and - huge journalistic mistake - mentioned that I'd met this guy the day before and told them the name of the woman who had dated him. Next time I saw her at Norma's, she was again madder than ... but at whoever told the press about her and Bundy. "I'm sending out an APB for whoever did this and ...." I tried to disappear into my chair. She never caught me. But hey, we're still both alive.