Ted Bundy married Carol Boone while the serial killer was on trial, and Boone was standing as a witness for him. He had found a legal loophole which meant that a declaration of marriage in front of a judge would make their marriage legal. The two also had a daughter when he was on death row.
Carol Boone, a twice-divorced mother, first met Ted Bundy in 1974 at work. Bundy was working for the Washington State Department of Emergency Services in Olympia, WA. During the day, he would help in the search of the women that had gone missing, but by night he would kill them, committing the very crime that his department was trying to solve.
Carol, who also worked at the Emergency Management, found him rather charming and hit it off with him without knowing his secrets. Since the two were in separate relationships of their own, it didn’t go further.
In 1977, when Bundy was imprisoned in Utah for his heinous crimes involving kidnap, rape, and murder, the two reconnected and exchanged letters. In 1978, when Bundy was arrested for kidnapping and murdering a 12-year-old girl, Boone stood as a witness in his trial. Since the two wanted to marry but couldn’t due to their circumstances, they had to resort to crooked means.
Bundy had found a legal loophole that would make their marriage possible. According to Florida Law, “…a public declaration, properly phrased, in an open courtroom in the presence of court officers would make the [marriage] ceremony legal.”
Bundy proposed to her in court, and with proper phrasing by the two of them, they were declared married. Though he was sentenced to death a third time for the 12-year-old’s murder, Boone visited often. After two years of lock-up, Boone gave birth to their daughter, even though conjugal visits were not allowed in that prison. (1, 2, 3)
7 Doreen Lioy and Richard Ramirez
Doreen Lioy sent serial killer Richard Ramirez 75 letters in 11 years while he was imprisoned. When she saw his mugshot on TV, she noticed something captivating in his eyes. Eventually, Ramirez proposed to her, and their relationship continued for nine years before they got married.
Doreen Lioy and Richard Ramirez (in the middle) Image credits: Dear Mr. Gacy/Flickr
Doreen Lioy was a freelance magazine editor who came upon a mugshot of Richard Ramirez while watching television. When she saw his picture, she was captivated by him, and the hint of vulnerability in his eyes drew her in. Richard Ramirez, often dubbed as the “Night Stalker,” would enter homes, murder, and sexually abuse the victims. He would rob valuables and leave behind pentagrams, a symbol that was associated with the Devil’s worship.
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Lioy reached out to Ramirez with a birthday card soon after his arrest, followed by letters, before they finally met a year later. After a third visit with the “Night Stalker,” Lioy decided that he was the man of her dreams. When Ramirez proposed, she accepted it, even though he was on death row.
She had written him 75 letters in the 11 years of his incarceration, and throughout their relationship, she maintained that he was innocent. On October 3, 1996, the two married in California’s San Quentin State Prison. In 2013, after being on death row for 23 years, Ramirez died of complications related to B-cell lymphoma at 53. (1, 2, 3)
8 Sal9000 and video game character
A Japanese gamer who goes by the username Sal9000 married Nene Anegasaki, a character in the Nintendo DS video game called Love Plus.
Back in 2009, a man from Tokyo married a video game character called Nene Anegasaki, who appears on a Nintendo DS game, Love Plus. Anegasaki is a doe-eyed, witty, and beautiful woman. Her ravishing good looks and personality caught the 27-year-old’s fancy, and he called her his “dream woman.”
The man, who goes by the username Sal9000, said that she is better than a human girlfriend because she does not get mad at him for replying late to her, and even if she does, she forgives him quickly. He went on to say that he does not feel the need to get a human girlfriend now that he has her.
Their “relationship” began when he started playing the game, which allows players to develop and nurture a deep relationship through the unique gameplay. Sal9000 started carrying his beloved around the streets of Tokyo. They went to a beach resort in Guam and also to Disneyland.
So, when the man decided to marry the love of his life, he decided to broadcast the whole thing on the Japanese video sharing site called Nico Nico Douga. The human-to-avatar union was viewed by thousands of people. Sal9000 donned a white tux and married Anegasaki in front of his friends and other web users.
Although the nuptials were not exactly legal, that is the best way the man could express his devotion to his lady love. (1, 2)
9 Peter the Dolphin and his trainer
Peter the Dolphin became incredibly close to his trainer Margaret Howe, who was supposed to teach him to communicate with humans. After several weeks of constantly being around each other, he fell in love with her. When he was shipped to another lab, after the experiment ended, he committed suicide as he could not deal with the broken heart.
Six-year-old Peter the Dolphin was part of a NASA-funded research project that aimed at teaching Peter to speak through his blowhole. Margaret Howe was the research assistant who was working on trying to teach Peter to communicate with humans. She was supposed to spend three months teaching him English words, but it did not go as planned.
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Since Peter was a maturing adolescent dolphin, he soon fell in love with Howe owing to her constant presence around him. This playfulness and attention-seeking nature often disrupted his communications lessons. Once the experiment ended, Peter was shipped to another lab, and this caused his health to deteriorate. After a few weeks, he committed suicide, and the veterinarian ruled the cause of death as a broken heart. (1, 2)
10 Carl Emil Pettersson and Princess Singdo
In 1907, Carl Emil Pettersson, a Swedish sailor, became shipwrecked on an island inhabited by cannibals. He was taken to the king of the island, but fortunately, the princess fell in love with this outsider. He married her, had nine children, and eventually took over the throne after the death of his father-in-law.
Carl Emil Pettersson, a Swedish sailor, began sailing at 17. In 1898 he wound up in the Bismarck Archipelago of German New Guinea, where he worked for the German trading house, Neuguinea-Compagnie, headquartered in Kokopo.
On Christmas, 1904, when Pettersson was on his recruiting trip in the Pacific, his vessel sank off the Tabar Island in New Ireland Province. He washed ashore near a village and the native islanders soon surrounded him. The island was believed to be inhabited by cannibals, and at that time, cannibalism was not uncommon.
Though he was considered strong, his survival was still bleak. But luckily for him, instead of being devoured, he was captured and taken to their king. Princess Singdo, the daughter of the local king, Lamy, soon fell in love with this outsider.
The two married in 1907 and bore nine children. When the king passed away, Petterson took over the throne and ruled. He was called “Strong Charley” among the locals for his famed physical strength. This is the story of the man whose life changed from a sailor to a king because of a princess. (source)
