“Advances in forensics and police work now tend to catch potential serial killers early before they can run up a score.”
I think this is probably the most succinct explenation right there.
I was watching the “Ted Bundy Tapes” on netflix a little while back...and it did occur to me...that when he racketed up a body count of other 30 women...that likely would not have been possible in modern day Criminal foresnics.
Also...I was shocked to learn that when he escaped and went to Florida, and was recaptured after murdinging I think three more women...THEY DIDN’T EVEN KNOW WHO HE WAS IN CUSTODY for like three days.
They have footage of him literally in court for charges of resisting arrest, he wont tell them who he is...and they dont know who he is.
National databases of criminal history, fingerprints, and DNA are now able to identify suspects and help make cases stick in court. Analytical software can compare investigative files and leads over time and across jurisdictions.
Perhaps just as important, police officers, detectives, crime scene investigators, and forensics technicians are now better trained and credentialed. Defense lawyers pounce on lapses in professional standards.
After Bundy got to Florida, he could have faded into the background. Killing though had become a compulsion, and, as you point out, he committed three murders in the state and several violent assaults. After that, Bundy was on his way out of Florida but was caught by a diligent patrol cop who ran a check on the license plate on his stolen VW beetle.
In order to delay execution, Bundy dangled bits of information about women he had killed, many of whose remains had never been located. Bundy's obvious dishonesty and gamesmanship soon alienated the authorities and the victims' families and he "rode the lightning" at Raiford. Too bad that the electric chair has been retired.