Dennis Rader“THE BTK KILLER”

BY: MORGAN LANG

“When this monster entered my brain, I will never know, but it is here to stay. How does one cure himself? I can’t stop it, the monster goes on, and hurts me as well as society. Maybe you can stop him. I can’t."

Background Born in Pittsburg, Kansas

Rader joined the U.S. Air Force after attending local high school

Spent the next four years as a mechanic for the Air Force and was stationed abroad in South Korea, Turkey, Greece and Okinawa.

Attended Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Kansas Earned Associate’s Degree in electronics

Held two main jobs in his life

Home security specialist

Assembler for Coleman Camping Company

Member of Christ Lutheran Church

Married Paula Dietz

Had two children

Criminal Acts/Offenses

First Offense: Euthanized a dog while working as a dogcatcher for no reason.

Hired prostitutes

Charged with ten counts of first-degree murder

First murder was the Otero family in 1974

Bond set at $10 million

On June 27, 2005, Dennis Rader plead guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder then calmly told the court the chilling details of the "Bind, Torture, Kill" slayings that terrorized the Wichita, Kansas area between 1974 and 1991

Ten consecutive life sentences

Crimes Convicted of Committing-Convictions: Murder of Ten People in Total

• Joseph Otero• Male-38-Suffocation

• Julie Otero• Female-33-Strangulation

• Joseph Otero, Jr.• Male-9-Suffocation

• Josephine Otero• Female-11-Hanged from a drain pipe

• Kathryn Bright• Female-21-Hanged

• Shirley Vian• Female-24-Strangled

• Nancy Fox• Female-25-Strangled

• Marine Hedge• Female-53-Strangled

• Vicki Wegerle• Female-28-Strangled

• Doloros E. Davis• Female-62-Strangled

Evidence Towards Being Guilty in Most Recent Crime

KWCH 12 Eyewitness News correspondent Liz Collins reported that Rader "told Thomas that it was extremely hard to kill someone by strangulation and that he'd never done it before on a person but he had strangled cats and dogs before." (relating to Otero family murders)

Saliva samples from Otero house matched perfectly with Rader’s saliva samples

Blood samples

DNA evidence

BTK letters to police which proved to match previous handwriting records of Rader

Surveillance

A computer disk with footage of Rader’s killings found by police at the Christ Lutheran Church which he attended*Sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences & bond set at $10 million*

Dennis Rader Quotes

“I actually think I may be possessed with demons, I was dropped on my head as a kid.”

“It was this moment that the victim was tied and bound. He could live in that moment forever.”

• Nickname: Dennis Rader was also known as the “BTK” killer or Blind, Torture, Kill

Cultural References

Movies inspired by Dennis Rader “A Good Marriage” –movie by Stephen King

“The Hunt for the BTK Killer”

Books written about the BTK Killer “Blind, Torture, Kill: The Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next

Door”

“BTK Killer-The Story of Dennis Rader” (Biography)

“A Good Marriage”- written by Stephen King inspired by BTK

*No songs written about Dennis Rader*

Sociological Theory of Deviance The theory of deviance that best describes Dennis Rader’s criminal history is

the Anomie Theory. The Anomie Theory is defined as when an individual turns elsewhere when desires cannot be met through legitimate means. He/she does things that society considers “deviant,” in order to meet goals/desires. Dennis Radar demonstrates this on often occasions.

Dennis Rader strived for fame and to be well-known. In order to achieve these desires, he committed acts of deviance, such as murder, to receive the attention he desired. Some examples of Rader demonstrating the Anomie Theory are as follows:

In October 1974, Rader sought fame and attention for his crimes, placing a letter in a public library book in which he took responsibility for killing the Oteros, (his first murder victims.) Distraught at the lack of publicity, BTK wrote another letter on February 10, 1978 to a local television station. "How many do I have to kill," he wrote, "before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?" At times, he even compared his work with that of Jack the Ripper, the Hillside Stranglers, and Son of Sam, in order to gain more publicity.