'Serial Psyche': How BTK killer Dennis Rader terrorized the people of Kansas and evaded arrest for 31 years
Dennis Rader would look like any other ordinary man if someone spotted him on the street. He was a government worker, president in his church council and a cub scout leader. With such designations under his name, it would be rare for someone to think that he could be a serial killer. On January 15, 1974, fear erupted in Kansas city when the death of an entire family was reported.
The victims were Joseph Otero, 38, Julie Otero, 33, Joseph Otero Jr, 9, and Josephine Otero, 11. Before entering their house, Rader cut off their phone line to make sure none of the members were able to call for help. Then, he strangled them to death and the bodies showed clear evidence of sexual torture. When police arrived at the scene, they were shocked to find the body of Josephine tied to a pipe.
It was later revealed that Rader had masturbated watching Josephine tied to the pipe. However, when the police first arrived at the location, there was no concrete evidence to pinpoint the incident on one particular person. After months of searching for the killer, the case was all set to go cold. In October that same year, police finally arrested three suspects who they thought could be the killer.
While they thought they had finally cracked the case, they were shocked to find that the real killer had sent a note to one of the newspapers claiming he was the real killer. The note had details about how the crime was committed and the state of the victims at the time of death. The details made it clear that it had to be the real killer as there was information that no one else knew before.
The letter also mentioned that the killer wanted to be known as "BTK" as it described his method of killing, "bind, torture and kill". He noted in his letter that the police would be hearing from him after he is done with his next victim. His letter made one thing clear — he wanted publicity. He wanted people to know he existed and thought his act of killing was something to be proud of.
Unlike some killers, Rader did not have a selection method. He used to see a person on the street and if he felt like they would be his next victim, he thought of a plan to attack them. The mere existence of BTK spread fear among people. They did not know who the next victim would be and became conditioned to check their phone line to make sure they were safe.
BTK's signature was cutting the phone lines before attacking his victim. People felt relieved when they knew it wasn't them on his kill list. One thing that helped Radar carry out his killings was the fact that he was the leader of a cub scouts group. He used to take the group out for camping and as others slept in the tent, he would take this moment to go and spy on his next victim to make an action plan that would be successful.
If for any reason he saw that the victim might pose a problem, he moved on to the next one. While he did not hesitate to find his victims, he did have a problem not being in the spotlight. After three of his killings, he sent a third letter in which he asked the police how many more times he would have to kill to make sure he was national news. The letter implied that BTK is someone who wants fame and took pride in the cruel act of killing.
As the police tried their best to find him, BTK suddenly ghosted his act of killing. Everyone was surprised and people thought he was either dead or had moved to another place. However, he made a return when he thought people had been forgetting about him. In one year, BTK sent 11 letters to the newspapers in which he confessed to several crimes that were committed before.
It was the last letter that sent a shiver down everyone's spine. BTK confirmed he was already on a lookout for his next victim. It almost sounded as a threat that put the officers on alert. They managed to trick BTK into sending them a floppy disk with some flies. Through this, they were able to trace his location that directed them to the church that Rader was a leader in. After investigating, it was confirmed that Rader was BTK and police arrested him.
On investigating further into the matter, the cops found that Rader kept trophies from his victims and used them to play an auto-erotic game. There were pictures of Rader where he was dressed like the victim and has a mask on his face to take pictures. There were other pictures where he was seen wearing the clothes of the victim he had killed.
The police confirmed Rader used to engage in self-bondage and exhibited zoosadism, the act of deriving pleasure by torturing animals. It was revealed that Rader was aroused when he saw his grandmother killing a chicken. With much evidence to support that Rader was BTK, he was taken to court. He confessed to all the murders without any hint of emotion. He was sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences, with a minimum of 175 years.
'Serial Psyche' airs on Fridays at 8 pm ET on Reelz.