Dennis Rader: The BTK Killer
“One killed for his personal pleasure while the other dedicated himself to protecting the lives of others. The choices they made destined Rader and Landwehr to become opponents in a deadly game of cat and mouse.” (Wenzl)
For over three decades a serial killer terrorized the citizens of south-central Kansas and perplexed criminologists across the world. Dennis Rader, the self-labeled BTK killer is notable in the history of criminology not just for his murder of ten victims in a period of 17 years, but for many events surrounding these murders. Rader’s legacy as a serial killer is highlighted by his desire for recognition resulting in unique interactions with local media, an inconsistent style of killing that separates him from many serial killers, and an often unsuccessful investigation that enveloped a city for 31 years.
Before delving into the style, the media, and the role of law enforcement it is important to lay out a timeline of the murders that have been tied to Rader. The city of Wichita was first introduced to the terror of a serial killer after the murder of four members of the Otero family in January 1974, including 9 year-old Joseph and 11 year-old Josephine. Wichita’s first disturbing sight of what BTK was capable of came through the eyes of the first police officer on the scene, “he found the light switch and saw a dead girl, nearly naked, hanging by a rough hemp noose from a sewer pipe. Her dark hair was draped across one cheek, and her tongue protruded past a gag” (Wenzl 10). Rader’s rampage across the city continued in April of the same year when he stalked and killed Kathryn Bright, nearly murdering her brother Kevin as well. Rader “wasn't expecting [Kevin] to be there” (Kansas v. Rader). Kevin was able to escape after being shot twice in the head by Rader, but was unable to prevent his sister form being killed. In March 1977 Rader strangled Shirley Vian while her three children were locked in a bathroom just feet away. While Rader stalked most of his victims, Vian was chosen when a neighbor that he had been stalking did not come to her door, “she was completely random” (Rader). Rader strangled Nancy Fox in December of the same year before going on an eight-year hiatus. In April 1985 Rader killed Marine Hedge, a 53 year-old woman that lived six houses down from Rader. In September of 1986 Rader killed Vicki Wegerle, a crime that would be unofficially tied to her husband Bill by law enforcement for nearly two decades. This would not be the last time that the Wichita Police Department made incorrect accusations during the BTK investigation. In January 1991 Rader killed what is believed to be his final victim, Dolores Davis. Rader used his Boy Scout connections as an alibi this time, leaving a campout to murder Davis and dump the body, and returning to the campout the same night.
A large reason for the effectiveness of Rader’s reign of terror over the city of Wichita was his control over the local media. This “relationship” only added to the mystery of Rader, and while it did a lot to feed his ego during his time as a free man, it actually played a huge role in his downfall and eventual arrest for the murder of ten Wichitans. Before delving into his interaction with the media it is important to emphasize that the media in Wichita worked with the police rather than working for increased profits, they “thought helping the cops catch the killer was more important than getting a scoop or challenging the investigative tactics” (Wenzl 28). Rader’s first interaction with the media was a letter placed in a book in the Wichita Public Library October 1974, just nine months after the disturbing murders of the Otero family. Rader called Wichita Eagle columnist Don Granger to inform him of the location of the letter in the hopes that the content of the letter would be made public. This call started a bond with local media that would lead to sometimes-difficult relations with the police over the next 31 years. While the police picked up this initial communication, the content gives solid proof that BTK would grow in the eyes of the media in the near future. During previous weeks rumors had been swirling regarding three men in a local jail with intimate knowledge of the Otero murders. Rader stated in his letter that they were “just talking for the publicity of the Otero murders” (Wenzl 28). This burning desire to receive “credit” for his work is by no means unique among serial killers, but it sadly gave Rader even more motivation to commit his crimes. With each murder done in the style of BTK, more and more attention would be paid to his crimes. This theme of desire for attention was continued in a 1978 letter sent to KAKE-TV in Wichita. In the letter Rader had become frustrated that his murders were not yet tied together by the public, “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” (Wenzl 60). Hundreds of pages can be spent analyzing the letters and actions of Rader in regards to the media, but without that time one vital point must be emphasized, Rader used the media when he felt he was not receiving enough public attention. This desire is what influenced Rader to reconnect with the media in 2004, and re-open a line of communication that would eventually lead to his arrest. Rader’s final message to the media came February 2005; a floppy disk was traced back to his name. These examples are just a few of countless interactions Rader had with the media and with law enforcement through the media. The interactions that were revealed to the public added to the mystery of the serial killer and helped to feed his ego. Those that were kept private helped the police to slowly narrow a suspect list over time and eventually helped to capture Rader in combination with DNA evidence.
Dennis Rader is also a notable serial killer in his lack of consistency during murders. While he was sexually aroused by the suffocation of women, Kathryn Bright was stabbed, not strangled, unlike his ten other victims. Rader killed two men and attempted to shoot and kill Kevin Bright; showing that while women and the idea of murdering women aroused him, he had no opposition to killing men and boys. Another surprising inconsistency came in range of age of the victims. His victims were as young as nine years old and as old as 63. What stands out most about Rader compared to other serial killers is his demeanor during the acts themselves. He describes one point during the Otero murders when “they started complaining about being tied up, and I re-loosened the bonds, tried to make Mr. Otero as comfortable as I could” (Kansas v. Rader). How ridiculous is the fact that Rader is worried about the comfort of Joseph Otero moments before he kills his whole family? When Rader strangled and sexually assaulted Shirley Vian he took care to throw blankets and toys into the bathroom in which he locked her children. He later described this as an attempt at “comforting them” (Wenzl 38). It is my personal belief that these actions and thoughts by Rader are explanation for the fact that many around the community were stunned after discovering that he was a serial killer. In interrogations, court testimony, and letters sent over the past four decades Rader has described the reason for his actions as a “monster” that takes him over internally. I do not want to give Rader any excuse for his actions but it is tough to believe that a man that led Boy Scout troops, his church council, and helped his community through his work as a compliance officer was without any heart and thought for the good of other humans. It is difficult to come to that conclusion considering the blood on his hands, but it is important to consider nonetheless.
While the Wichita Police Department has much to be commended for during the BTK investigation, there are two instances that stand out as decisions made by law enforcement that greatly hindered the investigation into the serial killer. As mentioned previously, WPD tagged Bill Wegerle for the murder of his wife. While there was never enough evidence to charge him, this belief prevented the case from being pursued. This led to issues on many front, it “crippled the investigation. An innocent husband is the investigator’s best source because he holds the key to countless leads: he knows the names of his wife’s family and friends, the stores where she shopped, the kid she hired to mow the lawn” (Wenzl 103). Not only did this belief halt the investigation, but it took away information that could have come from Bill and his knowledge of Vicki’s daily activities. The most public mistake in the BTK investigation was the December 2004 arrest of Roger Valadez. While Valadez was technically arrested on housing code violations, media members witnessed his house being staked out by homicide detectives assigned to the BTK investigation and later got photographs of KBI and more detectives going through his house. Valadez was cleared as a suspect, but not before “police trampled his family photographs and knocked holes in his wall…later he heard a woman on TV call him a murderer” (228 Wenzl). While the BTK investigation led by Ken Landwehr and the “Ghostbusters” was for the most part a success, it is important to look at the areas in which they fell short. In the study of law enforcement examination of history can help prevent similar mistakes in future cases and possibly save lives.
After three decades of murder and terror, Dennis Rader was arrested and sentenced to ten life terms in prison. Rader will go down in history as one of the most fascinating serial killers, not just because of his style of killing, but because of his desire for attention and the games he played with law enforcement while he was free.
Works Cited
Kansas v. Rader. District Court of Kansas. 12 Mar. 2007. Print.
Wenzl, Roy. Bind, Torture, Kill: the inside Story of the Serial Killer next Door. New
York: HC, 2007. Print.
Before delving into the style, the media, and the role of law enforcement it is important to lay out a timeline of the murders that have been tied to Rader. The city of Wichita was first introduced to the terror of a serial killer after the murder of four members of the Otero family in January 1974, including 9 year-old Joseph and 11 year-old Josephine. Wichita’s first disturbing sight of what BTK was capable of came through the eyes of the first police officer on the scene, “he found the light switch and saw a dead girl, nearly naked, hanging by a rough hemp noose from a sewer pipe. Her dark hair was draped across one cheek, and her tongue protruded past a gag” (Wenzl 10). Rader’s rampage across the city continued in April of the same year when he stalked and killed Kathryn Bright, nearly murdering her brother Kevin as well. Rader “wasn't expecting [Kevin] to be there” (Kansas v. Rader). Kevin was able to escape after being shot twice in the head by Rader, but was unable to prevent his sister form being killed. In March 1977 Rader strangled Shirley Vian while her three children were locked in a bathroom just feet away. While Rader stalked most of his victims, Vian was chosen when a neighbor that he had been stalking did not come to her door, “she was completely random” (Rader). Rader strangled Nancy Fox in December of the same year before going on an eight-year hiatus. In April 1985 Rader killed Marine Hedge, a 53 year-old woman that lived six houses down from Rader. In September of 1986 Rader killed Vicki Wegerle, a crime that would be unofficially tied to her husband Bill by law enforcement for nearly two decades. This would not be the last time that the Wichita Police Department made incorrect accusations during the BTK investigation. In January 1991 Rader killed what is believed to be his final victim, Dolores Davis. Rader used his Boy Scout connections as an alibi this time, leaving a campout to murder Davis and dump the body, and returning to the campout the same night.
A large reason for the effectiveness of Rader’s reign of terror over the city of Wichita was his control over the local media. This “relationship” only added to the mystery of Rader, and while it did a lot to feed his ego during his time as a free man, it actually played a huge role in his downfall and eventual arrest for the murder of ten Wichitans. Before delving into his interaction with the media it is important to emphasize that the media in Wichita worked with the police rather than working for increased profits, they “thought helping the cops catch the killer was more important than getting a scoop or challenging the investigative tactics” (Wenzl 28). Rader’s first interaction with the media was a letter placed in a book in the Wichita Public Library October 1974, just nine months after the disturbing murders of the Otero family. Rader called Wichita Eagle columnist Don Granger to inform him of the location of the letter in the hopes that the content of the letter would be made public. This call started a bond with local media that would lead to sometimes-difficult relations with the police over the next 31 years. While the police picked up this initial communication, the content gives solid proof that BTK would grow in the eyes of the media in the near future. During previous weeks rumors had been swirling regarding three men in a local jail with intimate knowledge of the Otero murders. Rader stated in his letter that they were “just talking for the publicity of the Otero murders” (Wenzl 28). This burning desire to receive “credit” for his work is by no means unique among serial killers, but it sadly gave Rader even more motivation to commit his crimes. With each murder done in the style of BTK, more and more attention would be paid to his crimes. This theme of desire for attention was continued in a 1978 letter sent to KAKE-TV in Wichita. In the letter Rader had become frustrated that his murders were not yet tied together by the public, “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” (Wenzl 60). Hundreds of pages can be spent analyzing the letters and actions of Rader in regards to the media, but without that time one vital point must be emphasized, Rader used the media when he felt he was not receiving enough public attention. This desire is what influenced Rader to reconnect with the media in 2004, and re-open a line of communication that would eventually lead to his arrest. Rader’s final message to the media came February 2005; a floppy disk was traced back to his name. These examples are just a few of countless interactions Rader had with the media and with law enforcement through the media. The interactions that were revealed to the public added to the mystery of the serial killer and helped to feed his ego. Those that were kept private helped the police to slowly narrow a suspect list over time and eventually helped to capture Rader in combination with DNA evidence.
Dennis Rader is also a notable serial killer in his lack of consistency during murders. While he was sexually aroused by the suffocation of women, Kathryn Bright was stabbed, not strangled, unlike his ten other victims. Rader killed two men and attempted to shoot and kill Kevin Bright; showing that while women and the idea of murdering women aroused him, he had no opposition to killing men and boys. Another surprising inconsistency came in range of age of the victims. His victims were as young as nine years old and as old as 63. What stands out most about Rader compared to other serial killers is his demeanor during the acts themselves. He describes one point during the Otero murders when “they started complaining about being tied up, and I re-loosened the bonds, tried to make Mr. Otero as comfortable as I could” (Kansas v. Rader). How ridiculous is the fact that Rader is worried about the comfort of Joseph Otero moments before he kills his whole family? When Rader strangled and sexually assaulted Shirley Vian he took care to throw blankets and toys into the bathroom in which he locked her children. He later described this as an attempt at “comforting them” (Wenzl 38). It is my personal belief that these actions and thoughts by Rader are explanation for the fact that many around the community were stunned after discovering that he was a serial killer. In interrogations, court testimony, and letters sent over the past four decades Rader has described the reason for his actions as a “monster” that takes him over internally. I do not want to give Rader any excuse for his actions but it is tough to believe that a man that led Boy Scout troops, his church council, and helped his community through his work as a compliance officer was without any heart and thought for the good of other humans. It is difficult to come to that conclusion considering the blood on his hands, but it is important to consider nonetheless.
While the Wichita Police Department has much to be commended for during the BTK investigation, there are two instances that stand out as decisions made by law enforcement that greatly hindered the investigation into the serial killer. As mentioned previously, WPD tagged Bill Wegerle for the murder of his wife. While there was never enough evidence to charge him, this belief prevented the case from being pursued. This led to issues on many front, it “crippled the investigation. An innocent husband is the investigator’s best source because he holds the key to countless leads: he knows the names of his wife’s family and friends, the stores where she shopped, the kid she hired to mow the lawn” (Wenzl 103). Not only did this belief halt the investigation, but it took away information that could have come from Bill and his knowledge of Vicki’s daily activities. The most public mistake in the BTK investigation was the December 2004 arrest of Roger Valadez. While Valadez was technically arrested on housing code violations, media members witnessed his house being staked out by homicide detectives assigned to the BTK investigation and later got photographs of KBI and more detectives going through his house. Valadez was cleared as a suspect, but not before “police trampled his family photographs and knocked holes in his wall…later he heard a woman on TV call him a murderer” (228 Wenzl). While the BTK investigation led by Ken Landwehr and the “Ghostbusters” was for the most part a success, it is important to look at the areas in which they fell short. In the study of law enforcement examination of history can help prevent similar mistakes in future cases and possibly save lives.
After three decades of murder and terror, Dennis Rader was arrested and sentenced to ten life terms in prison. Rader will go down in history as one of the most fascinating serial killers, not just because of his style of killing, but because of his desire for attention and the games he played with law enforcement while he was free.
Works Cited
Kansas v. Rader. District Court of Kansas. 12 Mar. 2007. Print.
Wenzl, Roy. Bind, Torture, Kill: the inside Story of the Serial Killer next Door. New
York: HC, 2007. Print.