Insider double life of Bobbi-Anne McLeod’s killer with evil Ted Bundy obsession

The evil Cody Ackland was obsessed with serial killer Ted Bundy, it turns out.

The 24-year-old musician brutally murdered innocent teenager Bobbi-Anne McLeod before disposing of her body at sea.

But now it can be reported that Ackland, who has never had trouble with the police in his life, was fixated on the American mass murderer Ted Bundy and possibly wanted to emulate him.

Investigators fear Ackland was acting out those twisted fantasies the night he abducted Bobbi-Anne, 18, from a bus stop near her home in Plymouth last year.

Mike West, Detective Superintendent and head of the Devon and Cornwall Major Crime Investigation Team, told The Mirror: “There are clear parallels to Bundy because of the kind of person Ackland is.”

He explained, “He had an unhealthy fascination with Bundy.

“Thousands of images of autopsies, murder scenes, mutilations, soiled clothing, people in distress and other serial killers were found on his phone.

“It shows the level of obsession and certainly fondness for looking at these dark and emotional things on the internet.

“That’s an area that prosecutors have focused on.

“It’s because of the manner of the murder, the way Bobbi was approached, the fact that she was alone, the fact that she was kidnapped and taken away from the scene of the initial attack, and the general character of Ackland and me, I think that’s why parallels were drawn.”

Bundy, who was sent to the electric chair in 1989, killed at least 36 young women in the 1970s.

But he was by no means the typical killer, charming, handsome and intelligent, he was a monster hiding in plain sight.

He tended to target good-looking young women before kidnapping and bludgeoning them to death.

His methods and demeanor bore a startling resemblance to Ackland’s.

To outsiders, he was the affable lead guitarist for a Plymouth-based indie rock group Rakuda.

He was also the main songwriter and had previously played on BBC South West Radio with his bandmates.

But despite being a handsome, seemingly popular local star, Ackland lived a deeply sinister double life online.

He had a secret, morbid fascination with serial killers from around the world, particularly Bundy, whose kidnapping and murder of young women bore striking similarities to Ackland’s heinous crime.

Police found several pictures of Bundy and the guns he was using on his cell phone, and in the days and weeks leading up to Bobbi-Anne’s death, Ackland scoured the internet for information about serial killers’ crimes, their aftermath, and the bodies left behind.

He also had a vast stash of grisly images on his phone, showing dismembered or dead bodies, autopsies and murder scenes.

Investigators uncovered 3,216 images on Ackland’s phone, many of a disturbing and dark nature, reminiscent of horror movies.

In the days and hours leading up to the murder, Ackland searched out-of-the-way places on Dartmoor and for potential weapons and items of clothing such as baseball bats and ski masks.

Poor Bobbi-Anne had just told her father that she loved him on November 20, 2021 at the family home in the Borough of Leigham.

She was on her way to see her boyfriend Louie at around 6:15 p.m. when the ailing Ackland spotted her at the bus stop.

The monster pulled into a secluded parking lot and snuck up behind her before viciously attacking her with a claw hammer.

He told detectives he then returned to his car, but noticed Bobbi-Anne moving, so he picked up her slender body and threw her into the footwell of his car.

The devil then took her to Bellever Forest car park on Dartmoor where he repeatedly attacked and eventually killed her.

Then he went to popular Bovisand, a sheltered cove with a small beach near Plymouth, and undressed Bobbi-Anne by laying her body in the undergrowth.

Shockingly, the beach had often featured in his Instagram posts as a place where he’d partied with friends in years past.

The next day, he dumped the hammer in the River Tamar and a tote bag containing his and her blood-stained clothes at nearby allotments on Coombe Lane.

The claw hammer was never found despite a thorough police search.

Ackland would then go out for pizza with a friend, join in practice with bandmates in his rock band, grab some takeout, and drink with friends at a pub lock-in until the early hours of the next day.

Friends recall that he was “happier than usual”.

Ackland even went to the cinema the day after, where he enjoyed the blockbuster Dune.

It’s the kind of chilling behavior that investigators like DS West have pursued.

He said: “He has been described as a learned and thoughtful person who keeps to himself what you often say here about such people.

“But what surprised me was that someone who seemed to show little emotion for him, seemed so full of joy, happy and joking, hugging friends, was exceptionally rare for Ackland, and in my experience, someone who has just committed a horrific attack and murder of a defenseless woman.”

Three days later, on November 23, Ackland suddenly turned himself in to police and confessed to the murder, telling detectives where he had dumped Bobbi-Anne’s body.

In an interview, he told police he didn’t think about the murder because it was “so out there” and extreme that it was almost like a movie or a fantasy, something that hadn’t actually happened.

He admitted he didn’t know what he thought about the murder, that it felt like someone else had committed the crime, but deep down he knew it was him.

Forensic evidence and phone location data gathered during the murder investigation corroborated Ackland’s account.

The investigators of the criminal police found the garment bag in the allotment gardens. Ackland’s blood-stained sneakers were also found in his closet.

Bobbi-Anne’s blood was found in and around the car.

But Ackland was an annoying character in the interview that made the detectives uncomfortable.

DS West stated that officers found the “level of detail” he went into regarding the attack on Bobbi “disturbing.”

He said: “It was the lack of regret, the fact that he was more than happy to give is a level of detail as to what he did, not why he did it.

“The only time he showed any slight emotion was slightly watery eyes, I wouldn’t even call it swelling but that was it.

“No apologies, no explanation as to why other than trying to blame absolutely everyone but themselves.

“He felt badly done. He claimed he wasn’t very well understood growing up, claimed he didn’t have the same opportunities as others when he grew up, said mom and dad weren’t overly interested but none of that was a triggering event, none of that was life changing and none of that is an excuse for what he did to Bobbi-Anne.”

Shockingly, Ackland revealed that Bobbi-Anne bore a resemblance to his former girlfriend, although police questioned her and found no evidence of any sinister behavior.

In fact, Ackland had not shown any red flags at all before his disgusting actions, although police do not rule out that he may have injured others and would encourage anyone who believes he may have harmed them to come forward.

DS West said: “I don’t know if his desires would have been satisfied by attacking Bobbi-Anne, but all I can say is I’m very glad we caught him doing it.

“There was no initiating event, there was no escalation of behavior, there is no indication whether it is police records or anecdotal information or evidence from someone who knew him that there might be a suspicion or concern that he was like that could have done something.

“It’s worrying, but what I would say is that as soon as he was arrested and certainly that level of scrutiny that was attached to absolutely everything that Ackland did in his life, all previous offences, we had that level of scrutiny imposed on him , particularly anything related to violence against women and girls.

“But that’s not going to stop now, I want to make it very clear to everyone out there that if you have any concerns about how Ackland has previously interacted with you, please let us know, we can always look back and reopen the book.” ”

Speaking in court this morning, Senior Crown Advocate Richard Posner said Ackland’s interests were “dark and relevant to his motivations,” saying: “His interest in the macabre presents itself as deep-rooted; a fascination with death, murder, and murderers, and the means of committing murder.”

He added: “In his phone are numerous images of American serial killer Ted Bundy and images of guns he used to kill his victims.

“Bundy would approach his victims in public places and knock them unconscious before killing them. “It is no coincidence that Bobbi-Anne McLeod met her fate in the same way.”

Ackland, of Southway, Plymoth, pleaded guilty to murder in Plymouth Crown Court on April 5 and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 30 years.