Ted Bundy's mother, Louise, 88, has died

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TACOMA, Wash., Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Authorities confirmed that the mother of one of the nation's most notorious serial killers, Ted Bundy, died last month after a long illness.

The News Tribune, of Tacoma, Wash., said Wednesday that Louise Bundy, 88, was a mother of five and worked as a secretary at the University of Puget Sound in the 1970s when authorities accused her son of being a serial killer.

Ted Bundy eventually confessed to murdering more than 24 women and was executed in 1989, The News Tribune reported. Louise Bundy, of Tacoma, denied her son's guilt for many years.

"Ted Bundy does not go around killing women and little children!" she told The News Tribune in 1980. "And I know this, too, that our never-ending faith in Ted – our faith that he is innocent – has never wavered. And it never will."

Louise Bundy reportedly talked to her son twice on the day of his execution, telling him, "You'll always be my precious son."

A local church's pastor, Rev. Melvin Woodworth, said Louise Bundy stayed in Tacoma after her son's execution and was an active member of the First United Methodist Church until she became too ill to attend.