This is the witness testimony of Margith Maughan, Ted Bundy’s downstairs neighbor at 565 1st Avenue and a previous casual girlfriend. The daughter of a Utah Supreme Court justice, she testified for the prosecution in the Carol DaRonch kidnapping trial on Tuesday, February 24, 1976.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY MR. YOCOM
Q: Will you state your name and address, please?
A: Margith Maughan, 565 First Avenue, No. 1.
Q: Here in Salt Lake City?
A: Yes.
Q: How long have you resided at that address, Miss Maughan?
A: Since the third week of September, 1974.
Q: Are you acquainted with the Defendant in this action, Theodore Bundy?
A: Yes.
Q: When did you first meet Mr. Bundy?
A: The end of September or the first of October, 1974.
Q: And how did you happen to meet him?
A: I met him out on our porch one day.
Q: Where did he reside at that time?
A: He resided upstairs.
Q: In the same apartment building?
A: Same apartment building, yes.
Q: Did you have an opportunity, shortly after meeting Mr. Bundy, to observe a vehicle owned by him?
A: Yes.
Q: What sort of vehicle was that?
A: Cream-colored Volkswagen.
Q: Do you know the year?
A: No, I don’t. It was a sedan.
Q: Did you have an opportunity to be in that vehicle during that period of time?”
A: Yes.
Q: Speaking in the months of October and November of 1974—
A: Yes.
Q: —how many occasions did you happen to be in the car during that period of time?
A: As I recall, two or three times.
Q: Did you have an occasion to observe the condition of the interior of the car during the time you were in the vehicle?
A: Did I have an occasion to observe it?
Q: Did you observe it?
A: Did I observe it?
Q: The interior of the vehicle?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you notice anything during the period of time with regard to the back seat of the vehicle, either while you were in the car or around the car?
A: Not that I can rightly recall of a certainty.
Q: Did you have an occasion to observe any tears in the back seat of that car?
A: At that time? I can’t remember.
Q: Do you ever remember seeing a tear in the back seat of that car?
A: Yes.
Q: Can you pinpoint the exact time when you observed it?
A: No. I can’t remember. Can’t remember.
Q: Generally, the time period?
A: I would say, as I recall, it would have been around the end of 1974 or the beginning of 1975.
Q: Did you have an occasion to be in the car during that time period?
A: No. At the beginning of 1975?
Q: Well, you said the latter part of 1974, early part of 1975?
A: No.
Q: Show you Exhibit 20, which consists of two photographs, Miss Maughan, a Polaroid shot – a smaller one – and a larger blow-up of the same photograph. Have you seen that photograph before?
A: Yes.
Q: And where was that?
A: Where did I see the photograph?
Q: Yes.
A: I saw it– have I seen this photograph?
Q: Yes?
A: Yes. I saw this in your office.
Q: Okay. And that was Saturday?
A: Yes, last Saturday.
Q: Now, have you had a chance to reflect in your memory as to the first time you realized that there was a tear in the back seat of Mr. Bundy’s car, and compare it with the photograph in Exhibit 20?
A: Do I– Would you please repeat that?
Q: Let me rephrase it. How does the photograph compare with the tear in the back seat as you recall it?
A: It’s exactly the way it was.
Q: Were you acquainted with Mr. Bundy in the month of August of 1975?
A: Yes.
Q: And the latter part of that month?
A: Yes.
Q: Were you still living in the same position in the apartment house?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you ever have an occasion during that period of time, latter part of August, first part of September, to have a conversation with Mr. Bundy about a search of his vehicle?
A: Yes.
Q: Do you recall when and where that conversation took place?
A: I recall that conversation took place in my apartment the first or second week of September 1975.
Q: And who was present?
A: Just Ted Bundy and myself.
Q: Would you relate to the Court what was said with regard to a search of his automobile by some police officers?
A: He told me after he was stopped by the police officers that they searched his car. And I asked him why, and he said that he didn’t know, but they searched his car. And he said that he let them search his car.
Q: He let them search his car?
A: I asked him, “Why did you let them search your car?” And he said he didn’t say anything, but – he evidenced to me that he let them search his car.
Q: No further questions.
CROSS EXAMINATION BY MR. O’CONNELL
Q: Margerith, you asked him– you were a little indignant about it, weren’t you?
A: About what?
Q: Well, about them searching his car out there?
A: Yes.
Q: And you asked him why he didn’t object, isn’t that the way it went?
A: Yes.
Q: And he said that he just didn’t object, right?
A: Yes. That’s the result of the idea.
Q: You thought he should have put up more– at least voiced his objection, or said something, right?
A: Because of the fact– yes, um-hmm.
Q: Now, you saw this car off and on up through September of this year, or up to September of this year, anyway, didn’t you? Or last year, ’75?
A: Yes.
Q: Okay. And when you identified this tear, that’s the way it looked the last time you saw it, right? Or that’s how you remember it, right?
A: The last time I saw it?
Q: Yes.
A: No.
Q: Well, I guess you saw it after it was fixed, right?
A: Yes.
Q: But you don’t know if it looked like that in October of 1974?
A: Not for sure, no.
Q: Well, things like that generally progress, don’t they? Get worse with time? Or do you know? If you know?
A: Do they get worse with time, tears in cars?
Q: Yes.
A: I guess so.
Q: All right. Now, think back to the fall of 1974, and that car. Do you recall pushing that car with your car?
A: Yes. But I– yes.
Q: Wasn’t he having a lot of trouble getting that car started during, say, November of 1974?
A: I can recall pushing his car. I can’t recall exactly when, except for a time in the spring of 1975 or summer.
Q: Well, do you recall getting so tired pushing his car that you told him of a place where he should take it, the Volkswagen place, to be repaired so you wouldn’t have to push it any more in the mornings?
A: As I recall, it didn’t happen that often. I recall telling him where he could get his car fixed if he had any problems.
Q: All right. You would see Mr. Bundy quite often during the fall of ’74, first part of ’75, didn’t you? You were neighbors?
A: Um-hmm.
Q: You’d visit each other, wouldn’t you?
A: Yes.
Q: Sometimes you’d have meals together?
A: Yes.
Q: Ever recall him to wear patent leather shoes?
A: No.
MR. O’CONNELL: That’s all.
MR. YOCOM: No further questions.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you, Miss Maughan.
Many thanks to Erin Banks for her generous assistance in transcribing this transcript.
Excellent! Great read