This week, Cassie covers the crime spree of Douglas Clark and his accomplice Carol Bundy, more widely known as the Sunset Strip Killers. In the summer of 1980, the couple committed a number of murders in Los Angeles, primarily targeting sex workers and runaways. Police arrested Clark and Bundy in August of 1980, but revelations during the trial lead many to view this case in a whole new light.
Douglas Clark was born in Pennsylvania on March 10, 1948. He was the son of a Naval Intelligence Officer, which resulted in his family moving frequently throughout his childhood for his father’s career. Douglas claims to have lived in 37 countries because of the frequent moves. In 1958, Douglas’ Dad left the Navy for an engineer job with the Transport Company in Texas, but the family continued to move frequently. They lived in the Marshall Islands for sometime, and would also live in San Francisco and India. Douglas attended an exclusive international school in Geneva, Switzerland and later Culver Military Academy, while his family continued to move all over the world. He graduated from the military academy in 1967 and then enlisted in the U.S. Air Force, where he was stationed in Colorado and Ohio.
After being discharged from the Air Force, Douglas drifted around for about a decade, working small jobs or as a mechanic where he could. He eventually landed in Los Angeles, CA and worked for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, before abruptly quitting the position. He then became a boiler operator at Jergens soap in Burbank, CA, but he was fired from that job because of frequent absences and violent threats he made towards his coworkers. Douglas was also a frequent drinker and visited bars in the area often. One bar he enjoyed was named Little Nashville; this is where he met Carol Bundy in 1980. The two would get to know each other quickly, move in together and then discover that they shared an interest in dark sexual fantasies.
Carol Bundy was born August 26, 1942. She had a very troubled childhood with both of her parents being abusive alcoholics. Her mother died when she was very young and her father began sexually abusing her when she was 11 years old. Her father got remarried and threw Carol into foster homes. At 17, she married a 56 year old man. Eventually this relationship grew to be abusive and leading to divorce. Carol married twice more, she would give birth to two sons with her third husband. However this relationship also grew abusive and eventually led to the couple separating when Carol was around 37 years old.
Carol then began an affair with her apartment manager, and part-time country singer, Jack Murray. Murray was also married so the two would often sneak around together. Jack often frequented bars and nightclubs playing small gigs. The two headed to one of Jack's gigs at a bar called Little Nashville. While Carol was there to support Jack, she caught the eye of Douglas Clark for the very first time.
The two hit it off and discovered they shared similar interests. Douglas and Carol quickly developed a relationship, leading the two to move in together. Their activities together soon escalated. They engaged in threesomes, and soon Douglas began engaging in pedophilia with the help of Carol. Douglas also convinced Carol to purchase two pistols for him because he thought it would be fun to "kill a girl during sex."
It's thought that in the early summer of 1980, Douglas committed his first murder. Killing runaway, Marnette Corner and dumping her body in the woods of the San Fernando Valley. In June of 1980, Douglas lured two teenage girls into his car, Gina Marano and Cynthia Chandler. He ordered them to perform oral sex on him and when the did he shot them both at point blank range. He then drove to an empty garage and raped their dead bodies, later heading near to the Venture Freeway and dumping the bodies. He then went home and told Carol about what he had done. 12 days later he repeated his process, with two sex workers, Karen Jones and Exxie Wilson. This time before dumping the bodies, he decapitated Exxie Wilson, and brought her head home and placed it in the refrigerator, which Carol would later put a full face of makeup on. After a few days, the two placed the head in a box and dumped it in a alleyway.
Carol continued her relationship with Jack Murray. However,after drunkenly revealing her and Douglas's crimes she grew paranoid he would turn the two into the police. After one of Murray's gigs, Carol lured him into his van to have sex with him. Instead she shot him and decapitated him. However Carol was fairly disorganized in her approach and left mounds of evidence behind.
After confessing once again, this time to a pair of co-workers, police arrested Carol Bundy, and upon her arrest she made a full confession regarding her and Douglas's crimes, leading to Douglas's immediate arrest. Police charged Douglas with six murders, and Carol was charged for the murder of Jack Murray, as well as for her involvement in Douglas crimes.
Law enforcement discovered another body on August 26th, 1980, while the adolescent victim remains unidentified, investigators strongly believe this was Douglas's last victim.
At trial, Douglas defended himself and claimed Carol was the mastermind behind the murders and manipulated him into doing her dirty work. But the jury disagreed, found him guilty on all counts, and sentenced him to death. Carol took a plea deal with an agreed upon sentence of 52 years to life. She would pass away from heart failure at the age of 61 on December 9th, 2003. Douglas Clark remains on death row at the San Quentin Prison.
Sources
“A Look at the Hard Life inside San Quentin's Death Row.” KSBW, KSBW, 13 July 2017, www.ksbw.com/article/a-look-at-the-hard-life-inside-san-quentin-s-death-row/1058443.
“Doug Clark (Serial Killer).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 4 Sept. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Clark_(serial_killer).
“Carol M. Bundy.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 Oct. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_M._Bundy.
Blanco, Juan Ignacio.Carol Bundy | Murderpedia, the Encyclopedia of Murderers, murderpedia.org/female.B/b/bundy-carol-coroner-photos.htm.
Comments