Ted Bundy: Manipulation at Lake Sammamish By Sensei Liam Musiak

On July 14th, 1974, thousands of people gathered at Lake Sammamish State Park in Washington. Families were swimming, relaxing, enjoying the summer sun. It was broad daylight, and safety felt like a guarantee.

But that same day, Ted Bundy abducted two women — Janice Ott and Denise Naslund — using nothing more than charm, deception, and manipulation.

The Disguise of Normality

Bundy was well-dressed, handsome, and polite. He didn’t storm in with violence. Instead, he approached young women calmly and respectfully, introducing himself as “Ted” and pretending to be injured. With his arm in a fake sling, he asked for help with his sailboat.

This is the terrifying brilliance of Bundy’s method: he made his victims feel useful, not threatened. Helping an injured man seemed harmless. In reality, it was the start of a trap.

How the Manipulation Worked

Bundy’s strategy had layers:

Public setting = false sense of safety. Who expects danger at a busy lake in the middle of the day?

Politeness = disarming suspicion. His manner lowered their guard instantly.

Sympathy = control. By faking an injury, he flipped the dynamic — instead of him being a threat, he made himself the one in need.

This combination was powerful enough to make women walk willingly toward his car — the exact place where danger waited.

The Lesson

Bundy’s actions at Lake Sammamish show why self-defence isn’t just about fighting techniques. It’s about recognising manipulation:

Location doesn’t guarantee safety. Crowds, daylight, or “nice areas” don’t erase risk.

Kindness can be exploited. Predators twist human decency into a weapon.

Listen to instinct. Many witnesses later admitted they felt something was “off,” but Bundy’s politeness overrode that feeling.

Final Thought

The most frightening part of Bundy’s Lake Sammamish murders is that he didn’t use violence to capture his victims. He used psychology. He made women walk into danger on their own.

That’s why awareness matters as much as technique. Because real predators don’t always jump out of the shadows. Sometimes, they smile, ask politely, and lead you toward the trap — all in the middle of a sunny afternoon.

— Sensei Liam Musiak