Catching a Killer

Hi all,

Man, I got some angry e-mails from you all today. Well, a few of you anyway. Why are you yelling at me for turning away from the White House briefing to go to the Michael Jackson trial (search)? For instance:

You at Fox are about to lose a long time watcher and listener due to this stupid MJ waste of time crap...
— Gary, Maryland

Gary, do you think I run the joint? In my dreams. Guess what? I'm like you — I'm takin' orders. I've got some control over content, but not in this case. So cut me a little slack, okay? Moving on...

The man arrested as the BTK serial killer, Dennis Rader (search), will make his first court appearance Tuesday, and the Kansas attorney general will be with me live on “DaySide.” Police have been searching for this guy for years — how quickly do you think he'll go to trial? Now that he's been caught — and has started confessing — do you think he should be on suicide watch? Another thing I started wondering, after hearing how active Rader was in his church: do you think Rader wanted to get caught? Do you think the pastor of Rader's church ever gave sermons about the case?

Michael Tucker (search) will also be on the show — he's the producer/director of the new film about the war in Iraq, "Gunner Palace." As the movie itself says, "Some war stories will never make the nightly news." So true — so I'm hungry for a film about the war that is just the soldiers — not someone else's spin on them. I hope "Gunner Palace" is it. Haven't seen it yet, but I'm watching clips of it tonight. Apparently Tucker got total access to the 2/3 Field Artillery (search); when he arrived in Iraq in 2003, they were camped out in Uday Hussein's palace. Do you want to ask Tucker anything about his film? Send your questions or comments to me at: dayside@foxnews.com.

Also in the studio with me Tuesday is the Afghan Minister of Women's Affairs. Before taking this post, Dr. Massouda Jalal (search) was the only woman who ran for president in Afghanistan. Considering that country's history, I'd call that gutsy. There are still plenty of Taliban holdouts who'd probably try to kill Dr. Jalal just for having the nerve to run for office! She's here to field your questions about what's going on in her country, so please send them to me by e-mail.

One other thing happening Tuesday: the book "Hunting Eric Rudolph" (search) is coming out, and the author will be on “DaySide.” In case you've forgotten who Rudolph is, he's the sicko who left a bomb in Atlanta's Centennial Park during the Olympics and had a habit of bombing abortion clinics. Finding Rudolph took years and was extremely frustrating to both police and the FBI. He went on the run and people in North Carolina were said to be helping him hide. What made this man become a murderer? What finally cracked the case? Author Henry Schuster will answer those questions for you Tuesday.

Now, feedback on Monday’s “DaySide” — specifically, the increasing number of cases of female teachers having sex with their male underage students.

I have worked at several different high schools and there are always those teachers who are in the profession because they need the acceptance of teenagers to feel "cool." It is as if they are re-living high school. A lot of the teachers under arrest at this time are attractive females, and frankly — speaking as a female teacher — I do not think they portray themselves in a manner that is professional....
—Nash Reddy, Contoocook, New Hampshire

There is no difference in these female teachers... and what Michael Jackson is accused of. Listening to that... guest talking about these teachers being still in a "childlike state of mind" made me think about what I have often heard about Michael Jackson.... Maybe Michael and these teachers have some sort of mental problem in common.
—Greg Todd, Church Hill, Tennessee

Now, some of you wrote that you don't see what the big deal is about boys having sex with their older female teachers. But at least a few guys put it pretty bluntly:

It's about power, nothing else.... taking advantage of younger partners to enjoy control over the relationship.
—Brian St.Cyr, Gretna, Louisiana

That's all for now — see you on the air on Tuesday.

Linda

Watch "DaySide with Linda Vester" weekdays at 1 p.m. ET

Send your comments to dayside@foxnews.com.