Having developed a morbid fascination with extreme violence as a young boy, he often fantasized in his head about torturing and killing others. He was represented by a public defender. [21] He then enrolled at Wichita State University, and graduated in 1979 with a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Administration of Justice. The 1977 murders sent shock waves once again throughout Kansas and the police issued a public warning to the citizens, advising them to be more cautious as a serial killer was on the prowl. He was raised in Wichita. Rader also twice shot her brother, Kevin, though he survived. The Kansas Attorney General's office arranged for the settlement money to be distributed to families of the victims. William Rader{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "William Rader", "gender": "Male" }, Dorothea Rader{ "@context": "http://schema.org", "@type": "Person", "name": "Dorothea Rader", "gender": "Female" }, Wichita Heights High School, Wichita, Kansas, United States, Riverview School, Wichita, Kansas, United States, Butler County Community College, El Dorado, Kansas, United States, Kansas Wesleyan University, Kansas, United States These details were later released to the public. Ive always loved her. Powered by. He was sexually excited when he read books about murders, masturbating to his fathers copy of a book about the Lonely Hearts Killers. As part of his plea, he gave the horrifying details of his crimes in court. [36][37] In the letter, he claimed to be driven to kill by "factorX", which he characterized as a supernatural element that also motivated Jack the Ripper, the Son of Sam, and the Hillside Strangler murders. He was able to trick his community into thinking he was a friendly neighbor, loving husband and father. Serial killer Dennis Rader stands before Sedgwick County District Court Judge Greg Waller as sentencing is read Aug. 18, 2005, in Wichita, Kan. Rader was sentenced to nine life terms and a "hard . Despite his cat-and-mouse game with authorities, Rader was able to keep the lid on his secret, murderous life. Rader was a member of Christ Lutheran Church and had been elected president of the Congregation Council. He broke into her home on April 27, 1985, killed her, undressed the body, and loaded it into her car. By 2004, the investigation of the BTK Killer was considered a cold case. Because he committed his crimes before the state's 1994 reinstatement of the death penalty, Rader was sent to El Dorado Correctional Facility to serve his 10 life sentences. In March2004, The Wichita Eagle received a letter from someone using the name Bill Thomas Killman. On July 12, 1957 Gloria was united in marriage with Dennis Arnold Rader at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Frazee, Minnesota. 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 Kathryn Bright. He then became a dogcatcher and supervisor in the Compliance Department at Park City. The DNA of the Pap smear was processed by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at their laboratory in Topeka which provided a familial match to the DNA of the sample taken from the victim's fingernails, indicating that the killer was closely related to Rader's daughter. The BTK killer's last known communication with the media and police was a padded envelope that arrived at FOX affiliate KSAS-TV in Wichita on February 16, 2005. Rader's story inspired the Stephen King novella A Good Marriage, which was published as part of the 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars and later became a feature film. On August 12, 2005, Dateline NBC aired Confessions of BTK. Rader had stalked two women in the 1980s and one in the mid-1990s. Dennis is also referred to as the BTK Strangler and the BTK Killer. The author of the letter claimed that he had 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. But psychologist and professor Dr. Terence G. Leary, who helps lead the largest non-governmental serial killer database in the world, Radford/FGCU Serial Killer Research at Gulf Coast University, told Heavy he thinks there are even more secrets in Raders childhood that made him the serial killer he grew up to be. The following year, he killed Vicki Wegerle in her home. [48] In December 2004, Wichita police received another package from the BTK killer. His chosen victim was a young mother, Vicki Wegerle. On May 10, 2007, Mendoza settled the case for $30,000 with no admission of wrongdoing. The police answered his question in a newspaper ad posted in The Wichita Eagle, saying it would be safe to use the disk. His zodiac sign is Pisces and he holds American nationality. The poem expressed Rader's unhappiness about being caught, with one of the verses proclaiming, "The dark side of me has been exposed". [37], Two women Rader stalked in the 1980s and one whom he stalked in the mid-1990s filed restraining orders against him. This is a puzzlenot all is meeting the eye here. Police tape hangs across the street in front of Rader's house, 2005. He studied for only two semesters there and joined the US Air Force in 1966. This claim was found to be false and the death had been ruled a suicide. By Aly Vander Hayden Snapped Notorious BTK Killer: First Signs 1:25 Crime News Dahmer on Dahmer Bonus: Days Before the Internet 1:36 Crime News Rader replied, "Oh, I have suspicions why. Inside Dennis Raders Childhood: What Made Him the BTK Killer? NBC claimed Rader knew the interview might be televised, but this was false according to the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office. The UK's supply crisis puts extra pressure on Prime Minister Boris. [1], Rader was born on March 9, 1945, to Dorothea Mae Rader (ne Cook) and William Elvin Rader, one of four sons. Rader struck again a few months later: On April 4, 1974, he waited in the apartment of a young woman named Kathryn Bright, before stabbing and strangling her when she returned home. On March 2, 2005, the Park City council terminated Rader's employment for failure to report to work or to call in. "[46] Also enclosed was a chapter list for a proposed book titled The BTK Story, which mimicked a story written in 1999 by Court TV crime writer David Lohr. Dennis Rader was a very shrewd man, adept at living a double life. Between 1974 and 1991, he killed ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, and sent taunting letters to police and media outlets describing the details of his crimes. On May 3, District Court Judge Gregory Waller entered not guilty pleas to the 10 charges on Rader's behalf, as Rader did not speak at his arraignment. [43] DNA collected from under Wegerle's fingernails provided police with previously unknown evidence. Armed with a gun and some tools, Rader broke into the Otero home one morning, and killed four members of the familyincluding two young children. He later admitted that he was pretending to be his victims as part of a sexual fantasy. It was not proven until 2005 that this letter was, in fact, written by Rader. However, physical and circumstantial facts that would have corroborated Rader as the BTK killer include: Rader's grammar and writing style match letters and poems received from BTK, though none of his communications were handwritten, but typed, stenciled, stamped with a stamp set, or computer generated. Between 1974 and 1991, he killed ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, and sent taunting letters to police and media outlets describing the details of his crimes. The Facts. https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/dennis-rader. He was also a Cub Scout leader. The author credited the killer with having done "admirable work." When investigators drove by Rader's house, they noticed the black Jeep Cherokee parked outside. Other cold cases in Kansas were reopened to see if Rader's DNA matched crime scenes, but Rader's confession was limited to the 10 known victims, and police and prosecutors do not believe there were any more victims because of the extensive records and memorabilia he kept on each of his victims. In April 1979, Rader waited in an elderly womans home but left before she returned. Around this time he became obsessed with a Hispanic woman, Julie Otero, and her daughter, Josephine, who lived in a nearby locality. Born In: Pittsburg, Kansas, United States. NBC claimed Rader knew the interview might be on TV, but that was a false statement according to the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department. Dennis Rader. Born in 1945 in Pittsburg, Kansas, Dennis Rader went on to live a double life: Devoted family and company man by day, he also terrorized the Wichita, Kansas, area as the. [54] An Internet search determined that a "Dennis Rader" was president of the church council. Even though they hadnt identified him. After graduating from Wichita Heights High School,[16] Rader attended Kansas Wesleyan University, but received mediocre grades and dropped out after one year. However, he never stopped stalking potential victims or playing out murderous fantasies in his head. When a reporter knocked on Dortheas door after Rader was arrested, one of Raders brothers, Jeff answered. 2005), education: Wichita State University, Butler County Community College, See the events in life of Dennis Rader (BTK Killer) in Chronological Order, http://www.kansas.com/news/special-reports/btk/article10809929.html, http://www.hngn.com/articles/44918/20141006/btk-dennis-rader-letter-media-serial-killer-murder.htm. He also harbored a sexual fetish for women's underwear and would later steal underpants from his victims and wear them himself. Rader has always maintained that he was not physically or sexually abused as a child, according to an ABC News interview with his daughter, Kerri Rawson. But maybe, with me, acceptance is starting to creep in.. Convicted of murdering ten victims, he was planning to attack another victim at the time of his arrest. [18] On June9, a package was found taped to a stop sign at the corner of First and Kansas roads in Wichita. Surveillance tape of the parking lot from that date revealed a distant figure driving a black Jeep Cherokee leaving the box in the pickup. The next year, Rader graduated from Wichita State University with a degree in administration of justice. Ottis Toole confessed to killing more than a hundred people with his partner Henry Lee Lucas. On January 15, 1974, Rader strangled to death four members of the Otero family in their Wichita homeparents Joseph and Julie, and two of their children, Josephine and Joseph Jr.before leaving with a watch and a radio. [39], Marine Hedge, aged 53, was found on May5, 1985, at East 53rd Street North between North Webb Road and North Greenwich Road in Wichita. [31], On January 15, 1974, four members of the Otero family were murdered in Wichita, Kansas. [14], Years later, during his "cooling off" periods between murders, Rader would take pictures of himself wearing women's clothes and a female mask while bound. Ex-husband of Private He also left packages with clues, including a computer disk that ultimately led authorities to Rader's church. It was believed that the killer was dead, or maybe institutionalized. Known as a shy and studious boy, he had a darker side to his persona even as a teenagerhe used to kill dogs and cats in secret. Dennis Rader is a name that will forever be synonymous with terror. His nickname 'BTK' stood for 'Bind, Torture, Kill' - his modus operandi, and left a number of taunting notes for the police and the media, detailing his crimes. Dennis married Geraldine Rader in 1932, at age 23 at marriage place, West Virginia. Dennis lived in 1910, at address, West Virginia. His neighbors and fellow church members were stunned by the news, unable to believe that the man they knew was the serial killer that had haunted the area for so long. [45], In May 2004, television station KAKE in Wichita received a letter with chapter headings for the "BTK Story", fake IDs, and a word puzzle. Brian Rader is an American famous youth who is known as the son of an American serial killer or BTK strangler, Dennis Lynn Rader. In 2016, forensic [69][70][71], At Rader's August 18 sentencing, victims' families made statements, after which Rader apologized in a rambling 30-minute monologue that the prosecutor likened to an Academy Awards acceptance speech. Jeff said, My mother still cant believe it, he said. Beginning in 2006, he was allowed access to television and radio, to read magazines, and other privileges for good behavior.[75][76]. He worked for a time in the meat department of Leekers IGA supermarket in Park City alongside his mother, a bookkeeper for the store. The metadata contained "Christ Lutheran Church", and the document was marked as last modified by "Dennis". Dennis Lynn Rader (born March 9, 1945) is an American serial killer known as BTK (an abbreviation he gave himself, for "bind, torture, kill"), the BTK Strangler or the BTK Killer. He would serve two more years in the reserves. On August 18, 2005, he was sentenced to serve 10 consecutive life sentences, one life sentence per murder victim. The Wichita Eagle received a letter from someone using the return address Bill Thomas Killman. He had been arrested for the murders five days earlier. Dennis Rader was a family man and a leader in his community. He is currently 77 years old as of 2022. There were four people present inside: Julie Otero, her husband Joseph Otero, and two of their children, Joseph Jr. and Josephine. In 1966, Richard Speck committed one of the most horrifying mass murders in American history when he brutalized and killed eight student nurses living on Chicago's South Side. In terms of his family, he was born to William Elvin Rader and Dorothea Mae Rader. In October 1974, Rader placed a letter in a public library book in which he took responsibility for killing the Oteros. ", The Raven that Refused to Sing Concert Review, B.T.K. On February 16, 2005, he sent a floppy disk to Fox TV station KSAS in Wichita. These featured another poem, "Oh Anna Why Didn't You Appear", a drawing of what he had intended to do to his victim, as well as some small items he had stolen from Williams's home. After exhaustive investigations, none of these agencies discovered any further murders attributable to Rader, confirming early suspicions that Rader would have taken credit for any additional murders that he had committed. On the afternoon of January 15, 1974, 15-year-old Charlie Otero and two of his siblings came home from school to . He sent her a letter to let her know that BTK had been there. Donald asks the courts to let him tweet. After sending many letters to the police, Rader sent them a floppy disc. Several weeks later, he sent a letter to a local television station stating that he was responsible for killing Vian, Fox and another unknown victim. Married with children by now, he now focused more on his career and rose to the position of installation supervisor. [41] In October2004, a manila envelope was dropped into a UPS box in Wichita. [12][13] Rader acted out sexual fetishes for voyeurism, autoerotic asphyxiation, and cross-dressing; he often spied on female neighbors while dressed in women's clothing, including women's underwear that he had stolen, and masturbated with ropes or other bindings around his arms and neck. Photo: Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office via Getty Images. She was born in Harvey, Illinois, USA. The first was a letter that had been stashed inside 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 March, he strangled Shirley Vian to death and later that year, he murdered Nancy Fox. (Photo Credit: Larry W. Smith / Getty Images) Dennis Rader has been an enigma to many of us in the field because I dont think the people who claim to be experts are, regarding Dennis, and Ill tell you why, Leary said. This includes one person who was saved when Rader called off his planned attack upon his arrival near the target's home due to the presence of construction and road crews nearby. Born in 1945 in Pittsburg, Kansas, Dennis Rader went on to live a double life: Devoted family and company man by day, he also terrorized the Wichita, Kansas, area as the "BTK killer" for "bind, torture, kill" with 10 murders and brazen correspondence with authorities between 1974 and 1991. This was the evidence the police needed to make an arrest. Rader attended Butler County Community College in El Dorado, earning an associate degree in electronics in 1973.He then enrolled at Wichita State University and graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in administration of justice. This proved to be his major mistake as the police was able to trace the source of the floppy disc to the church Rader frequented. American serial killer and rapist Ted Bundy was one of the most notorious criminals of the late 20th century, known to have killed at least 20 women in the 1970s. On April 4, 1974, the killer struck again, killing 21-year-old Kathryn Bright by stabbing her multiple times. [52], Police found metadata embedded in a deleted Microsoft Word document that was, unknown to Rader, still stored on the floppy disk. Chilling online comments made by suspected killer Bryan Kohberger when he was a teenager have resurfaced, revealing how he felt "blank", had "no emotion" and felt "little remorse" years before he allegedly murdered four University of Idaho students in a brutal . The BTK killer is now the subject of an episode in the second series of the Netflix documentary Catching Killers, airing on February 9, 2022. He is currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility. Officers were seen removing a computer from his City Hall office, but it is unclear if any evidence was found at these locations. Brian is the son of Dennis Rader (father) and Paula Dietz (mother). Rader was born in Pittsburg, Kansas on March 9, 1945, but raised in Wichita. 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