“I woke up in intensive care. Every bone in my face was broken. But my greatest battle wasn’t physical—it was learning to live without fear.”
— Kathy Kleiner Rubin, survivor
January 15, 1978: The Night Terror Came to Campus
Kathy Kleiner was studying in her Florida State University sorority room when the door slammed open. A shadowy figure swung a wooden rod at her face—crunch. As her roommate Karen screamed, the attacker struck again. Then the headlights flashed through the window. A car pulled into the driveway. Startled, the man fled.
That split-second interruption saved Kathy’s life. Down the hall, Lisa Levy and Margaret Bowman weren’t so lucky. Bundy had bludgeoned and strangled them moments earlier.
Kathy’s injuries were catastrophic:
- Her jaw shattered in three places
- Facial bones crushed
- Arm broken
- Fingers mangled
But the deeper scars emerged later:
“After the attack, I was terrified of men. I married six months later because my parents wanted someone to protect me at night.”
While Karen Chandler returned to the Chi Omega house to reclaim her space, Kathy fled to Miami, rewired her jaw shut, and carried nail clippers everywhere—in case she choked and needed to cut the wires.
Facing the Monster:
At Bundy’s 1979 trial, Kathy confronted him:
“He smirked at me. I stared back, thinking: I’m walking out of here. You’re not.”
Though she couldn’t identify him (she’d never seen his face), her testimony exposed Bundy’s brutality. When forensic experts matched his teeth to bite marks on Lisa Levy’s body, the courtroom gasped.
The Long Road Back
Kathy’s healing required radical courage:
Took a lumberyard job to conquer her fear of men
Raised her son, Michael, without burdening him with her trauma (until he touched her scars and asked)
Reconnected with an old flame, Scott Rubin, who embraced her pain: “I wanted to take it away—but couldn’t”
Returning to the Scene: 40 Years Later
In 2018, Kathy walked back into the Chi Omega house with former Sheriff Ken Kasaris—the man who’d prayed over her stretcher in 1978.
“It’s okay to be here,” she realized. “I’m not a victim anymore. I’m proof that life wins.”
What Kathy Wants You to Know
- On Bundy’s execution (Jan 24, 1989): “I cried for all the victims who didn’t live to see it.”
- To survivors: “Your trauma doesn’t define you. I’m more than ‘Bundy’s survivor’—I’m a wife, mom, and grandma.”
- Her mantra: “Keep going for those who can’t.”
Why This Story Matters
Kathy’s journey shatters the “victim” stereotype. She refused to let Bundy steal her joy—and today, she uses her voice to show others:
“No matter how dark the night, morning always comes. You get to decide what happens next.”
