Dennis Rader

Dennis Lynn Rader (born March 9, 1945) is an American serial killer, who murdered at least ten people in Sedgwick County (in and around Wichita), Kansas, United States, between 1974 and 1991. He was known as the BTK killer (or strangler), which stands for Bind, Torture, and Kill, which was his modus operandi. Letters were written soon after the killings to police and to local news outlets, boasting of the crimes and knowledge of details. After a long hiatus, these letters resumed in 2004.

Letters

Rader was particularly known for sending taunting letters to police and newspapers. There were several communications from BTK during 1974 to 1979. The first was a letter that had been stashed in an engineering book in the Wichita Public Library in October, 1974 that described in detail the killing of the Otero family in January of that year. In early 1978 he sent another letter to television station KAKE in Wichita claiming responsibility for the murders of the Oteros, Shirley Vian, Nancy Fox and another unidentified victim assumed to be Kathryn Bright. He suggested a number of possible names for himself, including the one that stuck - BTK. BTK demanded media attention in this second letter, and it was finally announced that Wichita did indeed have a serial killer at large. A poem was enclosed entitled "Oh Death to Nancy". In 1979 he sent two identical packages, one to an intended victim who was not at home when he broke into her house and the other to KAKE. These featured another poem, "Oh Anna Why Didn't You Appear", a nasty drawing of what he had intended to do to his victim, as well as some small items he had pilfered from Anna's home.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

All of Rader's communications were poorly written with many misspellings and incorrect grammar usage. It was even theorized at times that the writing style was a ruse to conceal his intelligence, but it turns out Dennis Rader really does write that way in his everyday life even though he earned a college degree in 1979.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In 1988 after the murders of three members of the Fager family in Wichita, a letter was received from someone claiming to be BTK in which he denied being the perpetrator of this crime. He did credit the killer with having done admirable work. It was never proven until 2005 that this letter was a genuine BTK communication, although BTK is not considered by police to have committed this crime.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In March 2004 began the series of eleven communications from BTK that led directly to his arrest in February 2005. The Wichita Eagle newspaper received a letter from someone using the return address Bill Thomas Killman. The writer claimed that he murdered Vicki Wegerle on September 16, 1986, and enclosed photographs of the crime scene and a photocopy of her driver's license, which had been stolen at the time of the crime. In May 2004 a word puzzle was received by KAKE. In June a package was found taped to a stop sign in Wichita containing graphic descriptions of the Otero murders. In July a package was dropped into the return slot at the downtown public library containing more bizarre material, including the claim that he, BTK, was responsible for the death of 19 year old Jake Allen in Argonia, Kansas earlier that same month. This claim was found to be false and the death remains ruled as a suicide. In October, 2004 a manila envelope was dropped into a UPS box in Wichita containing a series of disturbing cards with images of terror and bondage of children pasted on them. Also included was a poem threatening the life of lead investigator Lt. Ken Landwehr and a false autobiography giving many details about his life. These details were later released to the public as though possibly factual, but the police were mostly trying to encourage the killer to continue to communicate until making a major mistake.

Related Topics:
The Wichita Eagle - Murder - September 16 - 1986 - Photograph - Crime scene - Photocopy - Driver's license

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In December 2004, Wichita police received another package from the BTK killer. This time the package was found in Wichita's Murdock Park. It contained the driver's license of Nancy Fox, which was noted as stolen at the scene of crime, as well as a doll that was symbolically bound at the hands and feet with a plastic bag tied over its head. In January 2005 Rader attempted to leave a cereal box in the bed of a pickup truck at a Home Depot in Wichita, but the box was at first discarded by the owner. It was later retrieved from the trash after Rader himself asked what had become of it in a later message. Surveillance tape of the parking lot from that date revealed a distant figure driving a black Jeep Cherokee leaving the box in the pickup. In February there were postcards to KAKE, and another cereal box left at a rural location that contained another bound doll symbolizing the murder of 11 year old Josephine Otero. Rader asked the police that if he put his writings onto a floppy disk if the disk could be traced or not. He received his answer in a newspaper ad posted in the Wichita Eagle saying it would be OK. On February 16, 2005 he sent a floppy disk to Fox TV station KSAS in Wichita. Forensic analysis quickly determined that the disk had been used by the Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita, plus the name Dennis. A Google search determined that Dennis Rader was president of this church. He was arrested on February 25.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

After his arrest Rader stated he chose to resurface in 2004 for various reasons including the release of the book "Nightmare in Wichita - the Hunt for the BTK Strangler" by Robert Beattie. He wanted the opportunity to tell his story his own way. He also said he was bored because his children had grown up and he had more time on his hands.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~