“I can’t stop it so, the monster goes on, and hurt me as wall as society. Society can be thankfull that there are ways for people like me to relieve myself at time by day dreams of some victim being tortore and being mine. It a big complicated game my friend of the monster play putting victims number down, follow them, checking up on them waiting in the dark, waiting, waiting…the pressure is great and somt-times he run the game to his liking. Maybe you can stop him. I can’t. He has already chosen his next victim or victims. I don’t know who they are yet. The next day after I read the paper, I will Know, but it to late. Good luck hunting.”
– BTK
Under the influence of “factor x,” family man Dennis Rader became one of the most elusive serial killers the United States has ever seen, with 10 victims over 30 years (1974-2004). His name, BTK, or Bind, Torture, Kill, came from his method and pattern for killing his victims.
But who is Dennis Rader, and how was he able to evade capture for so long?
Born on March 9, 1945, Dennis Rader was the oldest of four sons to parents, Dorothea Mae Rader and William Elvin Rader. He grew up in Wichita, Kansas, and while he seemed like a normal, fun loving kid, he had an odd penchant for torturing and killing animals, often by hanging them.
He graduated High School and went to college, but decided it wasn’t for him and joined the U.S. Air Force instead, in 1966. He returned to Wichita in 1970, he married his wife, Paula in 1971. Together they had two children.
Dennis went back to school at Butler County Community College and earned his associates degree in electronics, followed by his enrollment at Wichita State University. In 1979, he graduated and earned a bachelor’s degree in administration of justice.
He was a member of Christ Lutheran Church, and was even elected president of the church council. He was a Cub Scout leader and had a good job with ADT, which he kept from 1974 – 1988, where he installed security alarms.
When the BTK killings started, he was busy installing alarm systems for families concerned for their safety.
He became a census field operations supervisor for the Wichita area in 1989, and in May 1991, he took a job as a dog catcher and compliance officer in Park City, where he remained until March 2005.
Just an ordinary family man – or was he?
On January 15, 1974, sometime between 7:00 and 7:30am, Dennis Rader went to the Otero family home, with an idea that he would break in and carry out a sexual fantasy. However, plans changed when the family emerged from the home, he went to the back door, cut the phone lines, and waited until eventually the back door opened; one of the kids had opened it.
Inside the home, he pulled a pistol and confronted Mr. Otero, whom he hadn’t expected to be at the residence. He lied, telling him he wanted to get the car, that he was hungry, and he wanted food. He asked him to lie down in the living room, but changed his mind because the family dog was becoming a nuisance. He asked Mr. Otero to get the dog out, and one of the kids took care of it.
He took all four members of the Otero family back to the bedroom where he tied them up. Nervous, he tried to make them comfortable, loosening the knots a little, giving Mr. Otero a pillow and cushion for him as he had broken a rib in a car accident.
The family told him they would give him the car, money, whatever he wanted. That’s when he realized that he didn’t have a mask on, and that if he let them go, they could ID him. Things took an unexpected turn. Dennis Rader got a plastic bag and put it over Mr. Otero’s head and secured it with some cords.
He turned on Mrs. Otero next, and strangled her with his hands. He let her go when he thought she was dead, and moved on to 11 year old Josephine. He strangled her as well until he thought she was dead. He took another bag and secured it around, 9 year old, Junior’s head.
Mrs. Otero hadn’t been dead though, she regained consciousness and started to panic. She asked him to save her son. He made the choice to remove the bag from Junior’s head before going back and strangling Mrs. Otero, this time with a rope, making sure she was dead.
During this time, Mr. Otero had not suffocated, in fact, he managed to squirm until he fell over, tearing a hole in the bag on his head. Dennis put a cloth over it, and then another bag, and tied it down. He would not be able to tear it open again.
With Mrs. Otero dead, he took Junior back to another room, where he put a t-shirt over his head, and then a bag, so he couldn’t tear a hole in it. Junior suffocated and died.
When he returned to the other room, Josephine had woken up. He took her down to the basement, and hung her from a sewer pipe. He pulled down her panties over her rope-bound ankles and black Mary Janes. He tried to strangle her, but her long hair got in his way. She squealed, “Momma, Momma!” and then asked what would become of her.
“Well, honey, you’re going to be in heaven tonight with the rest of your family,” Dennis told her. He left her hanging there, toes dangling just a fraction of an inch from the floor, slowing her death. He watched her dying as he masturbated.
The Otero family was discovered by their oldest son, Charlie, who was a Sophomore in High School.
Dennis Rader had cleaned the house and stolen the family car before leaving – he left no clues behind, aside from seminal fluid, which at that time, did little for investigators. Police had no leads, until October 1974, when three men confessed to killing the Otero family. However Dennis knew they were lying, and he wasn’t going to stand around and watch them take credit for his work. He typed up a letter and placed it inside an engineering book in the Wichita Public Library, then called the media to find it. The letter read:
“Those three dudes you have in custody are just talking to get publicity. They know nothing at all. I did it by myself and with no ones help.”
He detailed specifics of the crime scene, that no one but the police and the killer could possibly know.
“I’m sorry this happen to the society…It hard to control myself. You probably call me “psychotic with sexual perversion hang-up”. Where this monster enter my brain I will never know. But, it here to stay. How does one cure himself? If you ask for help, that you have killed four people, they will laugh or hit the panic button and call the cops.
“I can’t stop it so, the monster goes on, and hurt me as wall as society. Society can be thankfull that there are ways for people like me to relieve myself at time by day dreams of some victim being tortore and being mine. It a big complicated game my friend of the monster play putting victims number down, follow them, checking up on them waiting in the dark, waiting, waiting…the pressure is great and somt-times he run the game to his liking. Maybe you can stop him. I can’t.
“He has already chosen his next victim or victims. I don’t know who they are yet. The next day after I read the paper, I will Know, but it to late. Good luck hunting.
“YOURS, TRULY, GUILTILY. PS: Since sex criminals do not change their MO or by nature cannot do so, I will not change mine. The code words for me will be…bind them, torture them, kill them, BTK, you see he at it again. They will be on the next victim.”
After the murder of the Otero family, Dennis Rader began looking for a new “project.” He started watching and following various people around town. One day, he drove by the home of Kathryn Bright, where he saw her enter the house with someone. He began to stalk her, learning her habits. Then on April 4, 1974, he broke into her home and waited for her.
Kathryn and Kevin Bright returned home, and Dennis surprised them, telling them he was wanted in California, and that he needed a car. He had Kevin tie Kathryn up, before he tied Kevin up. He secured Kevin’s feet to a bed post so he couldn’t run, and took Kathryn to another bedroom where he did the same.
He returned to the bedroom with Kevin, intent to strangle him, but the garrote broke, or Kevin had somehow broken his bonds. He jumped up real quick, and Dennis shot him in the head. Thinking he was dead, he went to the other room to strangle Kathryn. However, the bonds used to tie her were not very good either, and she was able to get free and fight back. Just when he thought he had gotten the best of her, he heard movement in the other room.
He went back to the other room, and Kevin was still alive. He tried to strangle him again, but Kevin jumped up and managed to get Dennis’ second gun. Dennis was afraid he was going to be shot, and so thinking the only way he could stop it was to jam it, he stuck his finger in it.
Kevin, clearly thinking he had the upper hand, did not expect it when Dennis bit his finger and got away. He pulled out his .22, and shot him again. He returned to Kathryn, but strangling her wasn’t working. He pulled out a knife and stabbed her multiple times in the lower abdomen and up, under the ribs. She stopped fighting, bleeding out on the floor.
He returned to the other room to check on Kevin and he heard the front door of the house open. Kevin escaped, running down the street. Moving as quickly as he could, he cleaned up and left, running because he couldn’t get the car keys to work. He had parked his car only a block or so away, at Wichita State University, so it wasn’t too far, and he was gone.
Three years went by with no new murders. Police thought he had stopped, but then on March 17, 1977, Shirley Vian was killed by strangulation.
Shirley had not been an intended victim. Dennis had actually been watching someone, but when he went to the door, no one was home, so he picked a new victim on the same street.
He knocked on the door, and told them he was a private detective. He held out a photo asking if they could identify the picture, but he went ahead and forced himself in. He pulled out his gun, a .357 magnum. He informed his victim, Shirley Vian, that he had a problem with sexual fantasies, and that he was going to tie her up, and would have to tie the kids up. He told her she would cooperate.
She did, they went back to her bedroom, where he proceeded to tie all the kids up, but all the kids were crying and upset. He decided to move them into the bathroom, with Shirley’s help. They put toys and blankets in there with them, then tied the door shut, and then together, they pushed the bed up against the other bathroom door.
He tied Shirley up, and then she got sick. She threw up, so he got her a glass of water and comforted her a little, before putting a plastic bag over head to strangle her. He tied each of her legs to the bedposts, then worked the rope all the way up and looped it around her neck.
The kids were still screaming, and the phone began to ring. He remembered hearing one of the kids saying the neighbor was going to call and check on them, so he took the opportunity to clean up his things, put them back into his briefcase, which he referred to as his “hit kit,” and left.
He struck again on December 8, 1977. He had been watching Nancy Fox for a time, even had put her down as a potential victim. He knew where she worked, and even stopped by to size her up. He began to feel more comfortable, so he picked a night and went for it.
That night, he knocked on her door, knowing no one should be home. When nobody answered, he went around the back, cut the phone lines, then broke in and waited for her to return home.
Nancy came home and he told her he had a problem, a sexual problem, and he would have to tie her up and have sex with her. She was visibly upset, so he took some time, talking to her. They smoked a cigarette. He went through her purse until she finally said, “Well, let’s get this over with so I can go call the police.”
Dennis agreed, and she went to the bathroom, with the instruction to come out with no clothes on. She did as she was told, and he handcuffed her. He had her lie down on the bed, where he tied her feet. He took his belt off, reached over her and strangled her.
Satisfied she was dead, he removed his belt, and re-tied her neck with pantyhose. He took off his handcuffs, and tied her wrists and feet with pantyhose. It was at that time he was finally able to have his release; he masturbated.
When he was finished, he dressed, then went through the house, taking some of her personal items, and cleaned up the house before leaving.
On January 31, 1978, he sent a poem to the Wichita Eagle, containing a poem he had written for Shirley Vian. Shortly after, he sent a letter to television station KAKE in Wichita, claiming responsibility for the murders of the Otero family, Kathryn Bright, Shirley Vian, and Nancy Fox.
“I find the newspaper not writing about the poem on Vian unamusing. A little paragraph would have enough. I know it not the media fault. The Police Chief he keep things quiet, and doesn’t let the public know there a psycho running around lose strangling mostly women, there 7 in the ground; who will be next?
How many do I have to Kill before I get a name in the paper or some national attention. Do the cop think that all those deaths are not related? Golly -gee, yes the M.O. is different in each, but look a pattern is developing. The victims are tie up-most have been women-phone cut- bring some bondage mater sadist tendencies-no struggle, outside the death spot-no witness except the Vain’s Kids. They were very lucky; a phone call save them. I was go-ng to tape the boys and put plastics bag over there head like I did Joseph, and Shirley. And then hang the girl. God-oh God what a beautiful sexual relief that would have been. Josephine, when I hung her really turn me on; her pleading for mercy when the rope took whole, she helpless; staring at me with wide terror fill eyes the rope getting tighter-tighter. You don’t understand these things because your not underthe influence of factor x). The same thing that made Son of Sam, Jack the Ripper, Havery Glatman, Boston Strangler, Dr. H. H. Holmes Panty Hose Strangler OF Florida, Hillside Strangler, Ted of the West Coast and many more infamous character kill. Which seem s senseless, but we cannot help it. There is no help, no cure, except death or being caught and put away. It a terrible nightmarebut, you see I don’t nose any sleep over it. After a thing
“May you not be the unluck one!
“P.S.2
“How about some name for me, its time: 7 down and many more to go. I like the following How about you?
“‘THE B.T.K. STRANGLER’, WICHITA STRANGLER’, ‘POETIC STRANGLER’, ‘THE BOND AGE STRANGLER’ OR PSYCHO’ THE WICHITA HANGMAN THE WICHITA EXECUTIONER, ‘THE GAROTE PHATHOM’, ‘THE ASPHIXIATER’.
“B.T.K”
He wanted media attention, and he received it. It was finally announced that Wichita did indeed have a serial killer at large.
Again, he took another break. He had tried to kill Anna Williams in 1979, but when she didn’t return in a timely manner, Dennis grew tired of waiting and left. He later admitted he was “absolutely livid” that she had evaded him.
Marine Hedge was not so lucky. Unbeknownst to her, the 53 year old woman had become Dennis’ newest project.
Marine lived just down the street from him, and he was able to keep a very close eye on her comings and goings. On April 27, 1985, after returning from a prior commitment, Dennis parked his car at the bowling alley and changed clothes. He went into the bowling alley, on the pretense of bowling, but called a taxi instead. With his kit, this time in a bowling bag, he had the taxi take him to Park City.
He swished some beer around in his mouth and pretended to be drunk. He asked to be let out to get some fresh air, then walked the rest of the way to Marine’s home.
He found her car in the driveway. Not expecting her to be there, he went around the back and snuck in, like a “cat burglar.” He checked though the house, but she wasn’t there.
Then he heard a rattling, and he hid in one of the bedrooms. Marine had returned with a male visitor. He waited for the man to leave, then waited until early the next morning, when he snuck into her bedroom and flipped on a light. She screamed, and he jumped on the bed and strangled her with his hands.
Marine lay dead in her bed, but that wasn’t enough. He stripped her naked and tied her up before masturbating. He went through her purse and other personal items. He had to figure out how to get her out of the house.
He got her and put her in the trunk of her car, and drove her to Christ Lutheran Church. He took some pictures of her with his Polaroid camera in different bondage positions before getting her back in the car and driving east on 53rd. He had to find a place to hide her body.
The body of Marine Hedge was recovered on May 5, 1985 at East 53rd Street North, between Webb Road and North Greenwich Road in Wichita.
September 1986, he set his sights on Vicki Wegerle. He watched her, learned her patterns, and even posed as a telephone repairman to gain access to her home. Once inside, she led him to the phone line. But as we all know, he was no telephone repair man, and he proved it when he pulled a gun and asked her to go to the bedroom with him.
She went with him, and he tied her up, using material from her bedroom. But it didn’t hold, and she broke free. She fought him, but it was no use. Dennis had a nylon stocking, and got it around her neck, just in time to regain control. He strangled her until he was sure she was dead. He re-arranged her clothing and took a few photos of her.
He remembered her mentioning something regarding her husband coming home, and the dogs out back were raising a commotion. All the windows in the house were open, and it was possible people had heard them fighting. He cleaned up all his things, packing them into his kit, and took her car keys.
He got away, thinking Vicki Wegerle was dead. She wasn’t however, and paramedics arrived and tried to revive her. Despite all their efforts, she did not make it, dying as a result of BTK’s strangulation.
He went dormant until 1991. That is when he set his sights on Dolores E. Davis. On the evening of January 19, 1991, he made his move. He left some commitments early, changed his clothes and took his hit kit. He parked his car and walked to the home. He was more nervous about this one, as he was unsure how he would gain access. He had staked the home out, but never saw a good entry point.
Dolores was home, so he chose to just go for it, grabbing a concrete block and throwing it through a plate glass window in the patio door. He went in, and Dolores came out, thinking a car had just hit her home. Instead, she was met by Dennis Rader. He told her he wanted and on the run. He just needed some food, time to warm up, and the keys to her car.
He handcuffed her, but took his time, reassuring her, trying to keep her calm. He got up and looked for her car, then made a point of acting like he was getting food, and getting ready to go. He removed her handcuffs, but little did she know, he wasn’t done.
He quickly tied her up, then rummaged through her things before finally strangling her with a pair of pantyhose. He put her body in the trunk of her car and dropped her body off. He gathered his kit, his gun, the clothes he was wearing, and drove them to another location and dropped them off.
Finally he drove her car back to her house, tossed her keys, and realized he had misplaced one of his guns. He searched all over before finding it by the broken plate glass window. He left and walked to his own car, drove to pick up his discarded kit and other items, then picked up the body of Dolores Davis and drove to West 117th Street North, by North Meridian Street where he left her body under a bridge. She wasn’t discovered until February 1, 1991.
He might have gotten away with it, if it weren’t for his desire to be known in the media. By 2004, the case had gone cold. However, it was then that he began to communicate with the local media once again.
He sent a letter to the Wichita Eagle in March 2004, claiming to have murdered Vicki Wegerle on September 16, 1986. He enclosed photographs of the crime scene as well as a photocopy of her drivers license – something that had been stolen at the time of her murder. Police were unsure if the case of Vicki Wegerle was the doings of BTK, but now they were sure. DNA evidence collected from under her fingernails provided police with new evidence.
They began to DNA test hundreds of men in an effort to find the killer. Altogether, they had collected and tested over 1,300 DNA samples, none of which led them to a killer, and were later destroyed by court order.
In May 2004, he sent a letter to the television station KAKE in Wichita. He was so hungry for notoriety that the letter contained chapter headings for the “BTK Story,” as well as fake ID’s and a word puzzle. June 9, 2004, a package was found taped to a stop sign at the corner of First and Kansas in Wichita. The package contained graphic descriptions of the Otero murders along with a sketch that was labeled, “The Sexual Thrill Is My Bill.”
In July a package was dropped into the return slot at the downtown public library. Inside it included the claim that he was responsible for the death of 19 year old Jake Allen, in Argonia, Kansas earlier that month. However, that was determined to be a lie, as that death had been ruled suicide.
In October a manila envelope was dropped into a UPS box in Wichita. It contained cards with images of terror and bondage of children. There was also a poem which threatened the life of lead investigator, Lt. Ken Landwehr. He also included a “false” autobiography which included many details of his real life. One might say he wanted to be caught.
In December, he sent another package to police. It contained the driver’s license of Nancy Fox, another item stolen from the crime scene, as well as a doll that was symbolically bound at the hands and feet, with a plastic bag tied over its head.
January 2005, he continued sending packages with postcards, and another bound doll, this one intended to symbolize the murder of young Josephine Otero. He asked if is writings, if put on floppy disk, could be traced. Police responded via a newspaper ad, indicating that it would be safe to use the disk. Then on February 16, 2005, FoxTV in Wichita received a 1.44-Megabyte Memorex floppy disk with a letter, a gold necklace with a large medallion and a photocopy of the cover of a 1989 novel about a serial killer: Rules of Prey.
Unbeknownst to Dennis, the floppy disk contained a deleted Microsoft Word document, with embedded metadata which included the words “Christ Lutheran Church,” and marked as last modified by “Dennis.” It didn’t take investigators long to trace it back to Dennis Rader.
Unfortunately all they had was circumstantial evidence. But they had a way – they obtained a warrant to test the DNA of a pap-smear his daughter had taken at the Kansas State University medical clinic when she was a student. Once tested, the DNA demonstrated a familial match to the DNA taken from underneath Vicki Wegerle’s fingernails.
Police arrested Dennis Rader shortly after noon on February 25, 2005. When asked, “Mr. Rader, do you know why you’re going downtown?” he replied, “Oh, I have suspicions why.”
Dennis Rader was charged on February 28, 2005 with 10 counts of first degree murder. On March 1, his bail was set at $10 million, and he was appointed a public defender. On May 3, the judge entered a plea of not-guilty on his behalf, as Dennis would not speak at his arraignment. Then on June 27, he changed his plea to guilty.
Dennis Rader was sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences, with a minimum of 175 years. He currently resides at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.
Now that you’ve read about BTK, we think you may like this one about the Toy Box of Torture.