U.S. · Crime & justice · 17 outlets (L 3 · C 6 · R 5 · 3 not rated)
DNA links Ted Bundy to 1974 murder of Utah teen Melissa Ann Smith
Utah authorities announced Tuesday that DNA evidence links serial killer Ted Bundy to the 1974 murder of 17-year-old Melissa Ann Smith, closing a cold case more than 50 years after her death.[5, 8, 12 +1] The Summit County prosecutor said investigators are satisfied Bundy was responsible for killing Smith, whose body was found days after she went missing in 1974.[3, 16] Officials held a news conference to present the findings and the decision to close the case.[4, 9]
The announcement comes months after DNA testing tied Bundy to the killing of Utah teenager Laura Ann Aime, also in 1974.[2, 3, 10 +1] Bundy was executed in 1989, and the number of his confirmed victims continues to grow as DNA testing advances.[1, 15]
Why it matters Summit County officials closed the 1974 cold case, adding a victim to the tally of Bundy's confirmed killings.[3, 5, 8]
Covered by The Guardian, CBS News, Fox News and 14 more
Read first Serial killer Ted Bundy linked to another Utah girl's cold case murder
How balanced is this coverage?
Of the 14 rated outlets that covered it, 3 are left of center, 6 are center and 5 are right of center (4 of them in the Right group). 3 more are not rated.
- Left: none.
- Leans left: HuffPost (−1.06), The Guardian (−0.70), The Daily Beast (−0.64).
- Center: PBS NewsHour (−0.48), Newsweek (−0.30), ABC News (−0.19), CBS News (−0.14), Yahoo News (+0.07), UPI (+0.17).
- Leans right: New York Post (+0.64).
- Right: The Washington Times (+1.27), Washington Examiner (+1.34), Fox News (+1.52), IJR (+1.52).
Not rated BBC News, Los Angeles Times, NewsNation. Not placed: they have no lean score.
Each dot is an outlet that covered it, placed by its audience-lean score (Eady et al. 2025), which measures who shares its links, not how accurate it is. The ticks under the line are all 113 rated outlets Tare reads.