With the premiere of Netfix's highly-anticipated Ted Bundy biopic, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile , viewers can't help but be curious about the real Ted Bundy and his heinous crimes . On death row, he confessed to murdering 30 women (though authorities suspect he killed far more-as many as 100).
One of those "women" was actually a 12-year-old girl, Kimberly Leach. She was not only Ted Bundy's last victim , but she was also one of the youngest. Most of Bundy's victims were women in their twenties, but Leach hadn't even reached her teenage years before she was abducted and murdered by Bundy.
On February 9, 1978 in Lake City, Florida, the seventh grader went missing in the middle of the school day. "We knew something was wrong," former classmate Sheri Roberts McKinley told ABC News . According to McKinley, Leach wasn't the type to skip class or leave campus. "I mean, we were 12," she added. "And she was very shy."
Childhood friend and classmate Lisa Little also told ABC News that she was supposed to meet Leach at their "designated spot" after class, but she wasn't there. The Lake City police began to search for Leach but found nothing...for two months. Finally, in April 1978, Leach's body was found in a small shed behind Suwannee River State Park. She'd been sexually assaulted and beaten before Leach was ultimately murdered.
Two years later, in 1980, Bundy was tried in court for the kidnapping and murder of Leach. There was clear evidence against Bundy in this case, including eyewitness testimony, fibers, and hotel receipts from Lake City, according to Bob Dekle, the trial's lead prosecutor. The jury convicted Bundy and sentenced him to death-again. Bundy had previously been convicted for the two murders of two Chi Omega sorority sisters, Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman, at Florida State University in Tallahassee, per Deseret News .
Even though Bundy was sentenced to death (three times) by 1980, he wasn't executed until January 24, 1989 via electric chair . Now, 30 years later, Ted Bundy's name is everywhere-much to the dismay of Leach's friends and families.
"I don't want people to focus on Ted Bundy, the monster [that] came to visit our lives for such a short time but had such profound impact. I want everyone to remember the angel, Kimberly Leach, that was with us, that shared her life with us, her smiles with us, her hopes and dreams with us," Little told ABC News. "I would like for people to remember that she is who needs to be remembered and not him."
That's why Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile has come under fire ahead of its May 3 premiere. Some have said that the biopic starring veritable Hollywood heartthrob Zac Efron glamorizes the serial killer , rather than holding him accountable for his atrocities. "In all the TV shows, all the movies, very little has been said about the murder of Kim Leach-the murder of a 12-year-old," Dekle told the publication. "You can't have a glamorous serial killer if you look at that last killing. ... He's nothing more than a monster."
Joe Berlinger, director of Extremely Wicked and The Ted Bundy Tapes explains why he took on these dark projects:
Still, Extremely Wicked's director Joe Berlinger has previously said that is the opposite of his intentions, previously telling Buzzfeed News that the biopic "is a serious portrait of how Bundy deceived the people closest to him and his manipulation of the American media allowed him to flourish and evade detection and capture for so long." He also made clear that "our film in no way glorifies Bundy or his atrocious acts."
Whether that's true-and whether those close to Leach will agree-is still yet to be seen.