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Good news in Wichita, Kansas: Dennis Rader (search), the BTK killer, is in prison forever! The investigation took many years and there was great loss of life, but there is reason to "tip our hats" to the prosecution team. The Chief D.A. Nola Foulston (search) and her team did the perfect job — it was swift, fair and just.
I don't know about you, but I would very much like to watch an interview of BTK's wife. I am curious what it was like living with him and if, in hindsight, she saw signs. I have been told that she does not want to do any interviews and won't be doing them. Of course she is under no compulsion to do interviews. She has divorced BTK and is attempting to move on with her live and essentially put it back together. While I can understand her view, this is a crime that terrorized a community and the community may want to hear more about him from someone who was very close to him on a daily basis. The community may have questions that could be answered. On the other hand, maybe everyone in the Wichita community feels this case is now closed and that there should be no more said about BTK.
As for an interview with BTK, I am, at most, only mildly interested in watching an interview (or conducting) with him. I have not tried to interview him and doubt I will attempt to do so. I think my lack of interest is because so much of what he would say is now predictable. He has spoken in court and I am not sure what else he could say. I have tried pretty gruesome murder cases and eliciting the ugly details is not something new to me and I am just not interested in re-listening to how he tortured people and ruined lives of the living. He is a terrible human being. If he had never spoken, then I suppose I would be curious to interview him to try and see what makes him tick in his tiny sick world.
Finally, I would love to see a full hour on the "behind the scenes" investigation and what the police and prosecutors did to catch him and prosecute him. I like to see pieces on work well done — and in the "behind the scenes" you learn so much about an investigation that you don't see from the outside. A long piece on the "behind the scenes" would be fascinating to show the stress, the strategy, the clues, etc., of the police and the prosecutors. We watch from the outside... but the inside is the intriguing story and we don't have that.
And for the real inside/behind the scenes of our show: Thursday night on the show I had to tuck my blouse in REAL TIGHT since Ted Williams and others who traveled with me to Philly dumped all their bags on my clothes in the trunk of the car. My clothes were a mess! We did not discover the problem until about 10 hours later when we got back to D.C. and went to the trunk for our bags. My clothes for the show were so wrinkled, that it was a nightmare and the clothes were virtually un-wearable. I had no time to iron them (and I am not sure we have an iron in the bureau!) so I did the old "tuck in tight" trick for my very wrinkled blouse and donned a blazer that was hanging in my office that had not suffered the indignity of many bags loaded on it for hours. So yes, that is really "behind the scenes" and you see that we have very normal experiences. Don't tell me that you have never arrived some place with wrinkled clothes! We all have!
And now for some of your e-mails:
E-mail No. 1
Dear Greta,
I learned something new from your blog today. I learned that you used to be a lawyer. That must have been very interesting. Were you a prosecutor or defense attorney? What made you switch to journalism? Anyway, I learned what makes you a great journalist is your ability to ask all of the questions and cover all the bases. I love your show.
Lisa Dodge
Okinawa, Japan
ANSWER: Glad you watch from Japan. And, as for being a lawyer, I am still one (as long as I pay my yearly dues!) I was a criminal defense attorney and also tried civil cases and argued appeals.
E-mail No. 2
Dear Greta,
I noticed in the picture you showed last night of the man eating at the restaurant that he was eating his salad with his left hand. I was curious if Mr. Gricar was left-handed. I also noticed the watch he was wearing and wondered if the family thought it might look familiar. I also thought that the restaurant could check their daily sales records to see if this guy paid with a credit card. I suppose if he did they could track him down pretty easily.
Thanks and I love your show.
Stella Jessie
ANSWER: His family says Ray is right handed.
E-mail No. 3
Hi Greta,
Just read today's blog — oh man, what's up w/E-mail No. 2? Shame on you for lumping all of humanity into the cell phone using crowd... I'm disappointed in you, Greta... oh man, thanks for the laugh!
Ingrid
Escondido, CA
ANSWER: I know... I will burn in hell for that one!
E-mail No. 4
Dear Greta,
You did the right thing to have Congressman John Linder on your show, but as important as this is to the total economy of The United States, this subject needs more than two, or three minutes.
Respectfully,
Alfred L. Smith
Springfield, MO
ANSWER: Alfred, I agree. We did not do justice to the topic. We should spend an hour on it. I am fascinated by the issue of taxes and how to "fix" what is a broken system in my mind.
E-mail No. 5
Laci Peterson (search), Lori Hackett, Jennifer Wilbanks (search), Natalee Holloway and Elizabeth Smart (search). See anything in common with those three? I do. It would seem that if LaToyia Figueroa were a young, middle-class white woman, she'd be household name by now. But, why would you want to drive 130 miles in all that traffic to Philly when you can jet down to beautiful Aruba? She hasn't had a fraction of the coverage these other ladies had. But I guess that's FOX News: "Fair & Balanced.”
Kyle
ANSWER: I guess you did not watch Thursday night's show... or if you did, you wrote the e-mail before the show aired. I also suspect you have not seen the many previous shows where we talked about her disappearance. If you had watched last night's show, you would know that we got up very early, drove four hours (through three cities of rush hour traffic) to Philadelphia and went to her home... and the home of the father of her child. We conducted interviews about he disappearance and also showed them last night. After the interviews in Philly, we drove the several hours back to D.C. and then got ready for our 10 p.m. show. While I agree we could do better, our show does cover many missing people of various ethnic backgrounds.
E-mail No. 6
I have always been addicted to your show to allow us viewers, to be involved advocates for victims such as Chandra Levy, Elizabeth Smart, Jessica Lunsford (search), LaToyia Figueroa, and of course the Holloway case. Us viewers cheer you on as you search for justice. Some stories remain unsolved, some form happy endings, and some have terrible closure. Although in viewing coverage on those like BTK Dennis Rader, I could barely stand to watch the sentencing. To allow him the media attention he "craves" in his own words, is disgusting. To allow him to speak candidly on all cable news networks for what seemed like forever, while he spoke of everything down to thanking the woman who cuts his hair is absurd! My point is, your job in the media is hard. You face criticism for the stories you cover, for the stories you don't, and for the time allocated to one vs. another. I realize that you do the best you can to bring to the table what captivates America. I just hope us viewers realize in times like these, the attention and thoughts should go out to Dennis Rader's victims and their families, and less attention should go toward the monster himself. Why give him the attention he wants?
Chandra
Jacksonville, FL
E-mail No. 7
Greta,
I guess you might need to book a flight from Philly to St Louis as there is another eight-month pregnant woman missing since Sunday here in the Show-Me State.
Check out the St. Louis Post Dispatch Web site for the latest: stltoday.com.
Another sad state of what men in our society will do to avoid child support... just my inclination.
Keep up the good work and we will keep praying for all those poor missing women like Natalee and LaToyia!
Sincerely,
Michelle Ferritor
Columbia, MO
ANSWER: Well, not sure why these women are missing, or whether they are dead... but it is a bit premature to convict the fathers. I agree, the fathers of the infants are "people of interest" to me since they were the last to see them... but we need to investigate further.
E-mail No. 8
Greta,
I am astonished and disappointed that you would think your viewers want to see those vile, sick, and evil pictures associated with the BTK murderer. Thank God for the remote. If you had viewers that stayed through the pictures, then I'm glad they are not friends of mine.
Margie Gaffney
Siloam Springs, AR
ANSWER: I can see your point, but I am not sure we should "sugarcoat" the news. Seeing the real evidence is powerful — and it is exactly what the judge saw in making his decision. I don't think I should edit that for the viewer and make a decision whether the viewers see it or not — I think it better to show you some of the real evidence and allow you, with the remote, to make your own decision. You do raise an important issue — not sure there is a perfect or "right" answer.
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