Obsession
As you might have guessed from a previous post, I have something of an obsession with true crime. It’s not exactly a new love. I’ve flirted with true crime repeatedly since I was a little kid and saw an old documentary about Jonestown on PBS. Clearly it left an impression as Jim Jones and the horrors he wrought have been a particular interest of mine for more than 20 years. Shortly after my fascination with Jim Jones began, however, it hit a road bump. Turns out people are pretty creeped out by a 9-year-old talking about Jonestown. I learned early on that the darker things that I find compelling are frowned upon by the general population.
That’s why I’ve only told my housemate about Rita Curran.
Rita Curran was 24 in 1971 when she was brutally raped, beaten, and murdered in her Burlington, VT basement apartment. That apartment is mere blocks from mine. And I’m only slightly ashamed to say that I’ve taken a wander or two past it. The place looks totally normal now. Of course it does. The terrible thing that happened there was more than 40 years ago. If there was any residual nastiness or vibes hanging around I didn’t notice them. Then again, it was a rare and precious beautiful day when I went on my wander and I may have been distracted. Regardless, I feel it’s important to mention a bit about Rita’s life. She was a second grade teacher who had just moved out on her own for the first time. She was living with 2 other young women. To make extra money in her time off she worked as a maid at a motel next to the Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers in Burlington’s South End. She was pretty and sweet and wore her long brown hair parted down the middle.
I found out about Rita a little more than a week ago during a discussion about Ted Bundy. Stick with me, it will make sense in a minute. I think most true crime aficionados would agree that Bundy is considered one of the big 3 when it comes to serial killers. Gacy, Dahmer, and Bundy – that’s the American top 3. I’m sure there are plenty of folks who’d disagree with me, and that’s perfectly acceptable, but for me those guys are the worst of the worst. (SIDE NOTE: I’m pretty sure a certain Joseph DeAngelo will be joining there ranks soon…but the Golden State Killer is a fascination for another day). Their behavior is so abhorrent, absolutely foul, and it fascinates me that a mind can become so twisted. While most of my fixation lies with these horrible individuals and why they did what they did I am trying to mitigate my more macabre tendencies by examining the lives they cut short. And that’s what led me to Rita.
One factoid that many people don’t know about Ted Bundy is that he was actually born in Burlington. He’s so associated with the Pacific Northwest (or Florida) that his connection to my tiny New England state tends to be overlooked. He didn’t live here long. He was born in at the, wait for it, Elizabeth Lund Home for Unwed Mothers (see where I’m going with this) to a 22-year-old woman whom he would know his entire childhood as his sister. After multiple moves, an official adoption by his “sister” and her new husband, and 4 step (half) siblings, Bundy decided he needed to figure out “where he came from.” In his early 20’s he made several trips to Burlington to look at vital records and get the details on his birth. This happened between the years of 1969 and 1971.
Just in case you’ve forgotten, Rita Curran was murdered on July 19, 1971. Ted Bundy was in Burlington at that time. Rita was raped, beaten, and strangled. Bundy liked to rape his victims and beat or, more commonly, strangle them to death. Although Bundy never admitted to killing Rita, even in his last-minute execution chamber confession, I can’t help but wonder if Rita was one of his early victims. He had killed by this point, but he had yet to refine his methodology. That might help to explain why Rita doesn’t exactly fit with the full Bundy murder modus operandi.
There’s a little bit about Rita online, but, as the case is still open, there’s nothing conclusive. I’ve resisted the urge to order her police report. All this is to say that I don’t have the details, but I have a strong inclination that Rita was not just the victim of a brutal crime, but one in a long list of women who were brutalized and murdered by a true monster. It just makes too much sense to me for that not to be the case. However, even if it wasn’t Bundy who took Rita’s life, I want her case solved. I want to know what happened to her, I want her family to have closure. I wish I was better at data-mining and armchair detecting (two new buzzwords in the true crime community from the last week). I wish I could find an answer and bring her spirit some rest. Rita had a whole life in front of her. She was just starting out, just becoming who she was going to be, and someone took away all that possibility and promise. I wish I could find the answer.
