Dennis Rader AKA The BTK Killer

 

After leaving the US Marine Corps in 1948, William and his wife Dorothea Rader birthed the first of what would total 4 boys. March 9^th, 1945, Dennis Rader made his way into the world in a quiet little part of Kansas. The house at 4815 N. Seneca in Wichita, Kansas would remain known as “The Rader Home” from 1948 until 2005. Growing up he showed signs of being a polite young man who was very quiet and to himself for the most part. Dennis Rader was also widely known in high school for his lack of hobbies and interests.  1963 marked beginning of Rader’s life, post-adolescence. He completed a few of semesters at Kansas Wesleyan College located in Salina, Kansas, 92 miles from his home. 3 years after graduation, Dennis signed himself up for the US Air Force and was shipped off to San Antonio, Texas where he completed basic training at a facility named “Lackland Air Force Base”. Rader received the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon, and the National Defense Medal. 1970 was the year that ended Dennis’ time in the US Air Force, although he would remain in the reserves until 1972, he then made his way back to Wichita, Kansas.

               After his return to Wichita, he met Paula Dietz. They dated for a short period of time before they were “engaged shortly after Christmas 1970, out in the middle of the frozen Arkansas River”. Less than a year after his return from the Air Force they were married. Paula Dietz was 23 years old, Dennis Rader 26 when they were married on May 22, 1971. They struggled together in finding careers and navigation within their young lives. Dennis eventually returned to school. Taking night classes, he earned his associate degree from Butler County Community College in 1973. He struggled through school making C’s and D’s, he suffered from a learning disability that affected his ability to read and write in the “correct” way. He had very few jobs that didn’t last long before 1974.

 With Paula working at the VA hospital with odd hours, Dennis would drive her to work during the ice and snow as her anxiety would rise to an unhealthy level. After dropping his wife at her job, rather than searching for a new income, Dennis would perform what’s referred to as “Trolling”. Walking around and “stalking” potential victims before the “stalking” period would begin. He would pinpoint a neighborhood, troll and find women but did not yet advance to doing the things that he would fantasize about. Julie Otero was 34 and her and her 11-year-old daughter, Josephine were new to the neighborhood and by happenstance they were outside one day that Dennis was dropping Paula off at work and became a subject of infatuation for Dennis Rader. January 15^th would change the course of Rader’s life forever. He walked through the backdoor of the Otero home where he was greeted by the entire family being home, including a dog that would usually tear the face off an intruder. Rader held the Otero’s 9-year-old boy at gunpoint while he tied the dog outside. Rader then commenced to terrorizing the entire family before stealing small items. He was not stealth with his exit, as he was spotted going back to his car by a local woman that was in the same area by happenstance. When the 3 older Otero children returned home from a school day that had already begun before the attack on the rest of her family was at home, they discovered the remains of their family members, exactly as Rader left them in their home. Rader’s attacks increase. 3 months later on April 4^th, 1974, Rader broke into the home of 21-year-old Kathryn Bright. To his surprise, briefly before the attack took place Kathryn and her brother Kevin, who had been running some errands with Kathryn this specific day. A horror movie began playing out as both victims fought Rader off, immensely.

Dennis Rader felt like the “big man on campus”. Writing in his unintelligent way with handwriting worse than chicken scratch, he sent a letter to the local newspaper, declaring that the crimes being committed were being done solo and finished the letter with Rader’s preferred nickname ‘BTK’ which were what Rader called his “code words…Bind them, toture (sic) them, kill them”. Rader had a total of 10 victims (Joseph, Julie, Joey, and Josephine Otero, Kathryn Bright, Shirley Vian, Nancy Fox, Marine Hedge, Vicki Wegerle, Dolores E. Davis) all his victims varied in age and had occurred between the years of 1974-1991 and was arrested on February 25^th, 2005. It was later found that Rader signed his name on the crime scene photos of all his victims.

For Kerri Rawson (premaritally known as Kerri Rader) was the daughter of this vicious killer. Kerri lived a very normal life. She remembers fondly on memories of Dennis and Paula dancing in the living room, laughing and smiling all of the time, heavily involved in Kerri’s childhood. So, when an FBI agent knocked on Kerri’s door on February 25^th, 2005, it’s safe to say “blindsided” was an understatement, probably the understatement of the century. For Kerri, this was equally as terrifying because she looked EXACTLY like most of the victims themselves. Kerri was born smack-dab in the middle of the BTK killings, June 1^st, 1978. Every day Kerri remembers her father’s words telling her that in his house he was safe and that no one would cause harm to her. She struggles with the loss of the father she knew and struggles to accept the reality that her father has forced upon her. Kerri went on to write a book entitled “A Serial Killer’s Daughter”, a 4.5/5 star rating about the experience of finding out her father was a vicious man with a whole second life. She has become a very large advocate for victims of abuse, crime, and trauma. Unbeknownst to Kerri, it was actually herself that led investigators to the capture of Dennis Rader. Law Enforcement had acquired a warrant for the DNA of a pap smear of Kerri’s to connect the DNA to DNA found under a victim’s fingernails. Kerri continued to talk to Dennis Rader and has since 2012, she mentions in various interviews that at first, she struggled with the relationship with her father, but she had since begun the journey to forgiveness. However, in 2021 Rawson was very vocal about the no-contact order she had to set in place the day before his birthday against Rader due to the “cyber-stalkish” behavior he had begun.

This 30-year investigation might have come to an end, but the terrors that Kansas felt and the grief that struck not only the families of the victims, but there was a country wide fear of the BTK. Once again, there are so many cases that deserve not only the attention that the BTK killer received but also the awareness that a single man, no matter how picture perfect the outside is, always has secrets hiding in the dark.

Resources for this blog include:

               Bind, Torture, Kill: The BTK Investigation - Police Chief Magazine

               Bind Torture Kill: The BTK Investigation | Office of Justice Programs (ojp.gov)

               Dennis Rader | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

‘A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming: Kerri Rawson (©2019 by Kerri Rawson)