Biography[]
The man who would end up being one of the most infamous serial killers the United States would have, Dennis Rader was born on March 9, 1945, in Pittsburg, Kansas but his parents moved to Wichita, Kansas where he grew up. Born into a family of four siblings, and being the eldest son, his childhood was regarded as normal because he hid his abnormalities such as strangling animals from his family. He went to collage but dropped out instead joining the Air Force. When he returned from the service, he met and married his wife, Paula in 1971. It was not until 1974, however, when he started working for ADT, that he began the killing span that would terrorize Wichita for the next four decades.
Known as the BTK killer (Bind, Torture, Kill), his motives were purely sexual sadism, and power related in nature. He is a sexual sadist which is one of the most vicious kinds of killers and is a malignant narcissist. These types feel no remorse for what they do, their satisfaction and needs are the only ones that matter. His first kill, January 15, 1974, was a quadruple homicide. He killed four members of the Otero family. His modus operandi was specific, he would bind his victims, torture them, rape the women, and then kill them, hence the BTK name which he chose for himself. Not being happy enough with his crimes themselves he began sending letters to KAKE, a news channel in Kansas with taunts and clues. He reported his second killing to the police, calling 911 and advising them of where the victims would be found.
Mr. Rader was caught in 2004 because of his need for notoriety. He mistakenly believed that law enforcement must tell the truth. Instead, he was caught because of digital information on the floppy disk that he sent leading back to his church, where he was a deacon. By the time he was caught he had 10 murders and no remorse at all. He seemed very proud of his accomplishments and told the court unashamedly what he did and how he did it.
Victims[]
Confirmed victims[]
Name | Age | Date of Death | Cause of Death |
---|---|---|---|
Joseph Otero | 39 | January 15, 1974 | Suffocation |
Julia Maria Otero | 33 | January 15, 1974 | Strangulation |
Joseph Otero, Jr. | 9 | January 15, 1974 | Suffocation |
Josephine Otero | 11 | January 15, 1974 | Strangulation |
Kathryn Bright | 21 | April 4, 1974 | Stabbing |
Shirley Relford | 24 | March 17, 1977 | Strangulation |
Nancy Fox | 25 | December 8, 1977 | Strangulation |
Marine Hedge | 53 | April 27, 1985 | Strangulation |
Vicki Wegerle | 28 | September 16, 1986 | Strangulation |
Dolores Davis | 62 | January 19, 1991 | Strangulation |
Survivors[]
Name | Age | Date of Attack | Note |
---|---|---|---|
Kevin Bright | 19 | April 4, 1974 | Shot twice and strangled, feigned death and ran away while Rader killed Kathryn Bright. |
Anna Williams | 63 | April 28, 1978 | Escaped death by returning home much later than expected. Rader spent hours waiting at her home but became impatient and left when she did not return home from visiting friends. |
Disproven victims[]
Name | Age | Date of Death | Cause of Death | Real Killer |
---|---|---|---|---|
Shauna Beth Garber | 22 | November 3, 1990 | Strangulation | Talfey Reeves |
Timeline[]
Bibliography[]
Literature[]
- Beattie, Robert (2005). Nightmare in Wichita: The Hunt for the BTK Strangler, New American Library. ISBN 0-451-21738-1
- Singular, Stephen (2006). Unholy Messenger: The Life and Crimes of the BTK Serial Killer, Scribner Book Company. ISBN 1-4001-5252-6
- Smith, Carlton (2006). The BTK Murders: Inside the "Bind Torture Kill" Case that Terrified America's Heartland, St. Martin's True Crime. ISBN 0-312-93905-1
- Douglas, John E. (2007). Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer, Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-0470325155
- Wenzl, Roy; Tim Potter; Hurst Laviana; L. Kelly (2007). Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of the Serial Killer Next Door, HC an imprint of HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-124650-0
- Welch, Larry (2012). Beyond Cold Blood: The KBI from Ma Barker to BTK, University Press of Kansas. ISBN 978-0-7006-1885-9
- Ramsland, Katherine (2016). Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, Foredge. ISBN 978-1-5126-0152-7
- Rawson, Kerri; Thomas Nelson (2019). A Serial Killer's Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming,. ISBN 978-1400201754
Articles[]
- Roy Wenzl (February 1, 2019). "When your father is the BTK serial killer, forgiveness is not tidy". The Wichita Eagle. Archived from the original on June 5, 2021.
- Mark Oliver (January 4, 2021). "The Grisly Story Of Dennis Rader, The Man No One Suspected Was The BTK Killer". All That's Interesting.
- "Dennis Rader". Biography (October 13, 2017).
- Charles Montaldo (September 23, 2021). "Dennis Rader - The BTK Strangler". ThoughtCo.
- Bonn, Scott A. (February 1, 2023). The Capture of Serial Killer Dennis Rader, BTK. Psychology Today.
Documentaries[]
Television[]
- Cold Case Files S5E1: Finding BTK (December 1, 2005) on IMDb
- I Survived B.T.K.: BTK And The Otero Family Murders (2010) on IMDb[note 2]
- Born to Kill? S4E6: Dennis Rader — The Bind and Torture Killer (BTK) (March 2013) on IMDb
- World's Most Evil Killers S3E5: Dennis Rader - BTK (January 2020) on IMDb
- The Mark of a Killer S2E9: Bound To Kill (June 6, 2020) on IMDb
- Catching Killers S2E1: Bind. Torture. Kill: BTK (February 9, 2022) on IMDb
- BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer (2022) on IMDb
YouTube Documentaries[]
- Dennis Rader: The Bind and Torture Killer, Real Crime - World's Most Evil Killers on YouTube
- Dennis Rader: The BTK Killer, Biographics on YouTube
- 1 Serial Killer From Every State, Pixels After Dark on YouTube
Podcasts[]
- Dennis Rader - Part 1. Serial Killers with Greg Polcyn & Vanessa Richardson.
- Dennis Rader - Part 2. Serial Killers with Greg Polcyn & Vanessa Richardson.
- Dennis Rader: The BTK Killer, The Casual Criminalist on YouTube
In popular culture[]
- Stephen King has said his novella A Good Marriage, and the film based on it, were inspired by the BTK killer.
- Novelist Thomas Harris has said that the character of Francis Dolarhyde in his 1981 novel Red Dragon is partially based on the then-unidentified BTK Killer.
Film/TV adaptations[]
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Season 6, Episode 4: Scavenger (2004) on IMDb, is based on Rader's murders.
- The Hunt for the BTK Killer (2005) on IMDb
- B.T.K. Killer (2005) on IMDb
- Criminal Minds, Season 1, Episode 15: Scavenger (2006) on IMDb, is based on Rader's murders.
- B.T.K. (2008) on IMDb
- A Good Marriage (2014) on IMDb, is based on Rader's murders.
- Mindhunter (2017-2019) on IMDb
- The Clovehitch Killer (2018) on IMDb, the antagonist of the movie was inspired by Dennis Rader.
Music[]
- "BTK" by Thrash metal band Exodus, was inspired by Dennis Rader's crime history.
- The song "Raider II" from Steven Wilson's 2011 album Grace for Drowning is written primarily about Rader's murders.
Related Articles[]
See also[]
Links[]
- Dennis Rader at Wikipedia
- Dennis Rader on IMDb
- Dennis L. Rader. Radford University.
- Kansas Prison Inmate Database. Kansas Department of Corrections. “Rader, Dennis L (KDOC# 83707)”
- Charles Montaldo (August 26, 2020). "Court Transcript of BTK's Confession". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on May 20, 2022.
- Hidden Traits of Serial Killers (BTK "Dennis Rader") with Katherine Ramsland, Surviving The Survivor on YouTube
- Criminal Psychologist Explains The Demented Mind Of The BTK Killer, BuzzFeed Unsolved Network on YouTube
- Dennis Rader (BTK) - Obsessive-Compulsive Killer (Mental Health & Personality), Dr. Todd Grande on YouTube
- Dennis Rader. Studying Serial Killers.
- Devil In Dennis Rader. Studying Serial Killers.