Dennis Rader
Rader's mug shot, taken during booking at the Sedgwick County Jail on February 27, 2005
Background information
Birth name	Dennis Lynn Rader
Also known as	The BTK Killer, The BTK Strangler
Born	March 9, 1945 (age 67) Pittsburg, Kansas
Conviction	Murder
Sentence	Life imprisonment with no parole for 175 years (10 consecutive life sentences)
Killings
Number of victims	10
Country	United States
State(s)	Kansas
Date apprehended	February 25, 2005

Dennis Lynn Rader (born March 9, 1945) is an American serial killer who murdered ten people in Sedgwick County (in and around Wichita, Kansas), between 1974 and 1991.

He is known as the BTK killer (or the BTK strangler). "BTK" stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill," which was his infamous signature. He sent letters describing the details of the killings to police and to local news outlets during the period of time in which the murders took place.

After a long hiatus in the 1990s through early 2000s, Rader resumed sending letters in 2004, leading to his 2005 arrest and subsequent conviction. He is serving 10 consecutive life sentences at El Dorado Correctional Facility, with an earliest possible release date of February 26, 2180.

Early life
Rader is the oldest of four sons. Though born in Pittsburg, Kansas, he grew up in Wichita. According to several reports, including his own confessions, as a child he tortured animals.[1] He also harbored a sexual fetish for women's underwear and would later steal underpants from his victims and wear them himself. Rader attended Kansas Wesleyan University from 1965 to 1966. He subsequently spent four years (1966–70) in the U.S. Air Force.[2][3]

When he returned to the United States, he moved to Park City, a suburb located seven miles north of Wichita. He worked for a time in the meat department of Leekers IGA supermarket in Park City alongside his mother, a bookkeeper for the store.[4]

Personal life
Rader attended Butler County Community College in El Dorado, earning an associate degree in electronics in 1973.[5] He then enrolled at Wichita State University and graduated in 1979 with abachelor's degree in administration of justice. He married Paula Dietz on May 22, 1971, and they had two children.[2][6]

Rader worked as an assembler for a camping gear firm and then, from 1974 until 1988, he worked at a Wichita-based office of ADT Security Services, a home security company. He installed alarms as a part of his job, and many of his clients had booked the company to stop BTK from ever entering their homes, unaware that BTK himself was installing them.[2][7] Rader was a census field operations supervisor for the Wichita area in 1989, prior to the 1990 federal census.[8] He then became a dogcatcher[3] and supervisor in the Compliance Department at Park City.[2] In this position, neighbors recalled him as sometimes overzealous and extremely strict; one neighbor complained that he euthanized her dog for no reason.[9] On March 2, 2005, the Park City council terminated Rader's employment for failure to report to work or to call in.[10] He had been arrested for the murders five days earlier.

Rader was a member of Christ Lutheran Church and had been elected president[2][11] of the Congregation Council. He was also a Cub Scout leader.[2] On July 26, 2005, after Rader's arrest, Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Yost waived the usual 60-day waiting period and granted an immediate divorce for his wife, agreeing that her mental health was in danger. Rader did not contest the divorce, and the 34-year marriage was ended. Paula Rader said in her divorce petition that her mental and physical condition has been adversely affected by the marriage.[6][12]

Victims

#	Name	Sex	Age	Date of Death	Place of Death	Cause of Death	Weapon Used	Date Body Found	Place Body Found
1	Joseph Otero	M	38	January 15, 1974	803 North Edgemoor Street, Wichita	Suffocated	Plastic bags	January 15, 1974	803 North Edgemoor Street, Wichita
2	Julie Otero	F	34	January 15, 1974	803 North Edgemoor Street, Wichita	Strangled	Rope	January 15, 1974	803 North Edgemoor Street, Wichita
3	Joseph Otero Jr.	M	9	January 15, 1974	803 North Edgemoor Street, Wichita	Suffocated	Plastic bag	January 15, 1974	803 North Edgemoor Street, Wichita
4	Josephine Otero	F	11	January 15, 1974	803 North Edgemoor Street, Wichita	Hanged from a drainage pipe	Rope	January 15, 1974	803 North Edgemoor Street, Wichita
5	Kathryn Bright	F	21	April 4, 1974	3217 East 13th Street North, Wichita	Stabbed once in the back and once in the lower abdomen	Knife	April 4, 1974	3217 East 13th Street North, Wichita
6	Shirley Vian	F	24	March 17, 1977	1311 South Hydraulic Street, Wichita	Strangled	Rope	March 17, 1977	1311 South Hydraulic Street, Wichita
7	Nancy Fox	F	25	December 8, 1977	843 South Pershing Street, Wichita	Strangled	Belt	December 8, 1977	843 South Pershing Street, Wichita
8	Marine Hedge	F	53	April 27, 1985	6254 North Independence Street, Park City	Strangled	Rader's hand(s)	May 5, 1985	East 53rd Street North between North Webb Road and North Greenwich Road, Wichita
9	Vicki Wegerle	F	28	September 16, 1986	2404 West 13th Street North, Wichita	Strangled	Nylon stocking	September 16, 1986	2404 West 13th Street North, Wichita
10	Dolores E. Davis	F	62	January 19, 1991	6226 North Hillside Street, Wichita	Strangled	Pantyhose	February 1, 1991	West 117th Street North and North Meridian Street, Sedgwick

All his known crimes occurred in the state of Kansas. He collected items from the scenes of the murders he committed. He also intended to kill others, notably Anna Williams, 63, who in 1979 escaped death by returning home much later than he expected. Rader explained during his confession that he had become obsessed with Williams and was "absolutely livid" when she evaded him. Rader spent hours waiting in her home but became impatient and left when she did not return home from visiting friends.

Rader had stalked two women in the 1980s and one in the mid-1990s. They filed restraining orders against him and one moved away.

Rader also admitted in his interrogation that he was planning to kill again. He had even set a date, October 2004, and was stalking his intended victim.[14]

Investigation
By 2004, the investigation of the BTK Killer had gone cold. Then, Rader sent a letter to the police, claiming responsibility for a killing that had previously not been attributed to him. DNAcollected from under the fingernails of that victim provided police with previously unknown evidence. They then began DNA testing hundreds of men in an effort to find the serial killer.[15]Altogether, over 1300 DNA samples were taken.[16]