Ted Bundy Linked to 1974 Utah Murder Through New DNA Testing
Decades after his execution, serial killer Ted Bundy has been linked to another 1974 murder of a Utah teenager through advanced DNA testing.
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Serial killer Ted Bundy has been definitively linked to the 1974 murder of Utah teenager Melissa Ann Smith through new DNA evidence, authorities announced on Tuesday, October 27, 2026. This development comes exactly 52 years after Smith's body was discovered in the woods by a hunter. Investigators confirmed that besides the DNA connection, Smith's death exhibited Bundy's characteristic pattern, motive, means, and opportunity.
The crucial DNA connections in Smith's cold case were established through links to Laura Aime, another 1974 Utah murder victim whose case was resolved in April of this year using similar advanced forensic technology. The state crime lab had adopted new DNA extraction techniques in 2023, enabling the analysis of degraded evidence to match Bundy's profile from a national database. Bundy, who was executed in Florida in 1989, is confirmed to have killed at least 30 women and girls across multiple states in the 1970s, with new scientific advancements continuing to close long-unsolved cases.
What each outlet emphasizes
- CNN: Serial killer Ted Bundy is linked to another Utah teenager’s 1974 murder through new DNA testing, prosecutor says
- BBC: Serial killer Ted Bundy linked to teenage girl's murder after 52 years