Fast Facts: The BTK Murderer
WICHITA, Kan. – Confessed BTK serial killer Dennis Rader was sentenced on Thursday for his 17-year murder spree . Here are a few fast facts about Rader and the crimes he committed:
GENERAL FACTS
— Dennis Rader was arrested in February.
— All the murders were in the Wichita, Kansas area from 1974 to 1991.
— The self-nicknamed B-T-K's initials stand for "bind, torture, kill."
THE CONFESSED KILLER
— Dennis L. Rader.
— 60 years old.
— Active in his Lutheran church.
— Cub Scout leader.
— Municipal code enforcement supervisor from the Wichita suburb of Park City.
— From 1974 to 1988, he worked at an ADT Security Services branch office in Wichita, holding several positions that allowed him access to customers' homes.
TIMELINE
— January 15, 1974: Joseph Otero, 38, and his wife, Julie, 34, are strangled in their home along with two of their children, Josephine, 11, and Joseph II, 9.
— April 4, 1974: Kathryn Bright, 21, is stabbed to death in her home. Police later conclude she was a B-T-K victim.
— October 1974: The Wichita Eagle-Beacon gets a letter from someone taking responsibility for the Otero family killing and including crime scene details.
— March 17, 1977: Shirley Vian, 24, is found tied up and strangled at her home.
— December 8, 1977: Nancy Fox, 25, is found tied up and strangled in her home. The killer's voice is captured on tape when he calls a dispatcher to report the crime.
— January 31, 1978: A poem referring to the Vian killing is sent to The Wichita Eagle-Beacon.
— February 10, 1978: A letter from B-T-K is sent to KAKE-TV claiming responsibility for the deaths of Vian and Fox, as well as another unnamed victim. Police Chief Richard LaMunyon announces a serial killer is at large and has threatened to strike again.
— April 28, 1979: B-T-K waits inside a home, but leaves before the 63-year-old woman who lives there returns. He later sends her a letter letting her know he was there.
— August 15, 1979: Police get more than 100 tips in the first day of radio and T-V broadcasts that repeat the voice of the B-T-K strangler from the 1977 recording.
— September 16, 1986: Vicki Wegerle, 28, is strangled in her home.
— March 19, 2004: A letter arrives at The Wichita Eagle containing a photocopy of Wegerle's driver's license and photos of her body. Police link it to B-T-K.
— February 26, 2005: After receiving several more letters, authorities announce the arrest of B-T-K.
EXCERPTS OF B-T-K's LETTERS
(All spelling and grammatical errors are as written)
"I'm sorry this happen to society. They are the ones who suffer the most. It hard to control myself, You probably call me 'psychotic with sexual perversion hang-up'. Where this monster enter my brain I will never know. But, it here to stay. How does one cure himself? If you ask for help, that you have killed four people, they will laugh or hit the panic button and call the cops."
— Excerpt of letter left in the Wichita Public Library in 1974, discovered by The Wichita Eagle-Beacon on directions from B-T-K.
"The code words for me will be ... Bind them, Torture them, Kill them, B.T.K., you see be at it again. They will be on the next victim."
— Postscript to the 1974 letter.
"How many do I have to kill before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?"
— Excerpt of letter sent to KAKE-TV in 1978.
"What is this taht I can see,
Cold icy hands taking hold of me,
For Death has come, you all can see.
Hell has open it,s gate to trick me.
Oh! Death, Oh! Death, can't you spare
me, over for another year!
I'll stuff your jaws till you can't talk
I'll blind your leg's till you can't walk
I'll tie your hands till you can't make a
stand.
And finally I'll close your eyes so you
can't see
I'll bring sexual death unto you for me.
B.T.K."
— Poem, titled "Oh! Death To Nancy," sent to Eagle-Beacon on February 10, 1978, along with a letter claiming responsibility for murders of Shirley Vian, Nancy Fox and another unknown victim.
The Associated Press and the Wichita, Kan. Police Department contributed to this report.