Serial killer Ted Bundy linked to another murder as victim tally continues to grow

Serial killer Ted Bundy has been connected to another murder in Utah, with authorities set to reveal how they linked him to the killing at a news conference Tuesday.The Summit County sheriff and county attorney "will provide information regarding the investigation, the findings that led to this conclusion, and the decision to close the case," the sheriff’s office said.Authorities have not yet announced the victim's identity, though the local 1974 death of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith has long remained an open cold case.Before his execution in 1989, a homicide detective out of Salt Lake County interviewed Bundy about the murders of Smith and Laura Ann Aime, and the disappearances and possible homicides of Nancy Wilcox, Debby Kent and Nancy Baird.Utah County Sheriff's Deputy Jake Hall hugs Tommi Aime, the youngest sister of Laura Ann Aime, after announcing that definitive evidence linked Ted Bundy to Laura's murder (The Deseret News)Bundy admitted to killing Kent and Wilcox but denied killing Baird, according to local Utah news station KTVX. Bundy said he had a hard time “placing the names” when it came to Aime and Smith and was unable to remember encountering either of them.Ted Bundy’s victim tallyDuring the 1970s, Bundy murdered at least 30 women and girls across several states, while others escaped his attacks or survived with injuries.Despite Bundy being dead for nearly 40 years, the count of his confirmed victims keeps rising as DNA testing technology advances.Earlier this year in April, Utah authorities announced that Bundy was responsible for killing Aime, who disappeared on Halloween in 1974.He was executed in 1989 by electric chair in Florida for the 1978 homicides of two women at Florida State University's Chi Omega sorority house.In his final days, Bundy made a series of confessions, including details regarding crimes previously unknown to law enforcement. Not all of those cases have been verified.