It isn’t known when Ed Kemper would have been caught if it wasn’t for his confession. According to Women’s Health, Kemper was already on his way to skip town after killing his mother but had a change of heart in the middle of his drive. Instead of fleeing, he called the Santa Cruz Police Department to come clean of his crimes.

At first, the police were skeptical of his confession as they knew Ed from bars and even drank and had conversations with him. With a 6-foot, 9-inch height, the police he hung out with gave him the nickname “Big Ed.” Kemper also wanted to be a police officer but his height was a hindrance. In the confession call, (via Inside Detective), Kemper said, “I killed my mother and her friend. And I killed those college girls.” He gave them other details of the crimes and after verifying the information, the police were finally convinced that the guy they know as Big Ed was the same “Co-Ed Killer” that they have been looking for.

Kemper called in his confession using a telephone booth in Pueblo, Colorado, and he stayed and waited at that location until the police arrested him. In an interview with Front Page Detective‘s March 1974 issue, Kemper said that he confessed so that he “wouldn’t kill again.”