A Brief History
On January 15, 2005, the serial murderer known as BTK (bind, torture, kill) was finally arrested while driving near his home in Park City, Kansas.
Digging Deeper
Digging deeper, we find Dennis Rader, a Lutheran church deacon and president of the church council, living in suburban Wichita and 60 years old at the time of his arrest.
Rader got his nom de guerre courtesy of himself, as he had suggested several possible names for him to be called in messages left for the police and the media. In spite of the audacity of taunting police with messages, Rader went uncaught from 1974 to 1991 in which time he committed 10 known murders.
Rader might never have been caught, except he apparently missed the notoriety so much that he began sending messages to the police again in 2004! He also claimed he was going to start killing again, but this time police had new technology to help them capture BTK.
It was advancements in DNA testing that helped catch Rader when a pap smear from his daughter was taken (with a court-ordered warrant), after cutting-edge computer technology had traced a floppy disk he had sent to the media to a computer at his church.
Pleading guilty to 10 murders, Rader is serving life sentences for each. Victims ranged in age from 9 years old to 62. Apparently some murders attributed to BTK were actually copycat murders, and the 10 for which he was convicted are the only positive cases.
Interestingly, Rader held a number of surprising jobs for a serial killer! In the middle of his killing spree, he installed home alarm systems, many of which were for people who were “protecting” themselves against BTK! Although he had earned a Bachelor’s degree in the Administration of Justice, the only law enforcement job he ever held was that of a dog catcher which he held until arrested. Between the two previously mentioned jobs, he frighteningly worked as a census taker, which presents a lot of potential for abuse!
Rader also admitted to having abused animals as a child, common in serial murderers, and also to having a fetish for women’s panties. Rader must have concealed his devilish nature well enough to get elected president of the church council, making him a real wolf in sheep’s clothing!
Question for students (and subscribers): What would be an appropriate punishment for Rader? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information on this despicable waste of life, see…
Potter, Tim and Roy Wenzl. Bind, Torture, Kill: The Inside Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next Door. HarperCollins e-books, 2009.
Dodd, Johnny and John Douglas. Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer. Jossey-Bass, 2008.
Capps, Mary and Jim Dobkins. My boss was the BTK killer. UCS PRESS, 2011.
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<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="1027 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=1027">42 Comments
Dear readers, why are so many so fascinated by such disgusting people as this particular serial killer? Thank you for your thoughts! Sincerely, Dr. Zarzeczny
Mostly because the fear of knowing these people could be out there and no one can catch them. That fear is like a rush. And it’s just interesting.
I find it fascinating how people like him can get away with so many murders, especially considering the jobs he held. It is crazy to think that someone installing security systems in people’s homes is someone who is also killing people on the side. Their motives and their ability to do so without being caught for a while at least is what makes so many interested in these serial killers.
It is truly amazing how a “good church going man ” could be so evil on the inside. These people are pathetic and disgusting and society should not be so fascinate with these individuals.
I think this whole situation is rather ironic. A person who attends church should be the one who is against wrong doings such as murder. They shouldn’t be committing them! It is also a little scary to know basically anyone who you think is normal could be highly dangerous.
I think people are so fascinated with people such as this because these are completely radical acts for any person, especially a church official, to be committing. Any sort of radical acts get noticed because we as people are so drawn to learning about things that are far removed from the normality of our lives. It also amazes me that such a well known man could get away with such horrible acts for a long period of time.
I think that people are so fascinated with these types of people because it’s not a very common thing that people go around killing others, which interests people everywhere. People start to wonder how someone could even get away with something so big for so long. The science behind the murder is also, very interesting to people because how could someone plan and develop these thoughts of killing someone else through their head, and how would you even for sure know the plan will work. That is my opinion about why people think this topic is so fascinating.
Personally speaking, I watched a documentary on BTK sometime back. I watched the documentary on TV when I was channel surfing and it was introduced as a serial killer that held significant positions in society and showed the comments of his neighbors. I was interested because the documentary explained his involvement with a boy scout troop, the community church and other things most people would regard in a positive way. The fact he was seen as a man of purity and in such a positive light stunned me because he was actually a serial killer. I was watching the documentary in hopes of discovering why he was never questioned when he was killing. I wanted to know if he was antisocial and had no emotional value for people to catch on to. If he would admit to what he had done. Would he show remorse? What happened to the victim’s families? The way the crime was advertised was simply interesting.
In my psychology class in high school, each person did a report on a serial killer. The serial killer I researched was the Zodiac Killer and one of my friends did BTK. I think the reason people are fascinated by serial killers is because it is interesting to learn how people think and act and these people are so different from the ones we encounter in our lives, so the psychology behind it is neat to learn. Of all the serial killers we learned about, it was interesting to see how normal their lives were based on their jobs or family and friends. It was also interesting to see what kind of people they targeted for killing and how they got away with it. I think people are fascinated by it because it is something unusual and we want to learn how other people act and think, and why they do the things they do.
i always thought that it was really interesting that they link harming animals to killers. i have always thought that it was interesting the way that people figure out who the killers are and even though it may seem that they are different they all have the same type of traits in them. i have always wondered why this is.
I think that the public is fascinated by people
like Rader because he and many other serial killers never seem to have a motive
for their crimes. They just pick their victims at random and I think that
frightens people. I think that it makes them want to learn more about the
killer in order to rationalize the terrible things that have been done to the victims.
I think people are fascinated with people like Rader because it is hard for us to understand the way serial killers minds work and why they commit the crimes they do. This particularly story shows us a serial killer can be just about anyone because who would every accuse the church deacon of murder. Scary to think people are not who they say they are!
I think people find people like this so fascinating due to the obscurity and insanity of serial killers. People never know much about serial killers until they are caught, so it is fascinating, and scary, to think that there might be a serial killer anywhere around them.
I think that people are fascinated with serial killers because they think very differently from other people. Rader especially, because he was able to manipulate the public and get away with murdering 10 people.
The extremes to which these serial killers go sparks the interest of many people. Psychologically serial killers stray further away from the average person making their minds fascinating to examine.
The reason why I believe people are so fascinated with individuals such as serial killers is because they initiate many psychological questions as to why they commit the actions that they do. These questions then lead to different psychological studies and discoveries.
Serial killers are a very interesting topic to much of society. This is why there are numerous movies and television shows (fiction and non-fiction) about serial killers. People are fascinated by how their mind works and what causes them to do such horrible things. Many of them do it for the fame that they receive. I feel that when a serial killer is captured there should be no mention of his/her name or any photographs released to the public. By giving the killer such publicity we are giving them what they want and that is not good.
I think the reason people are fascinated by serial killers is people get to study these people on why they did the crap (murders) they did. While people do these studies, there are possibly many questions that arise as to why these serial killers found killing people a passion.
People are fascinated with serial killers because they want to know how they did it, why they did it, and what’s the reasoning behind it. There are so many question that need to be answered so it intrigues the person to “stay tuned.” Also you have to consider the fact that this guy was the president of a church council?!?! Like this makes no sense because people who go to church they believe in God and know that you shall not commit murder.
I think people are so fascinated by serial killers because of the plethora of questions that arise as to why someone would do such a thing, how they are choosing their victims, etc. People are curious about it because most humans would not commit that crime so they don’t understand why someone else would be able to. People are intrigued by the unknown.
I believe the fascination with serial killers stems from curiosity in the differences between your average person and someone who is capable of committing such violent acts, specifically differences in the brain and quilty conscious. Many serial killers and murders are brought to light through movies, television, and news which only drives people to want to learn more about these killers motives and abilities, especially if the murders are clever and secretive.
I think the fascination with serial killers comes from people wondering how the mind works and why people murdered someone. Curiousity i believe is a trait that everyone has and that is why people are so fascinated with serial killers because the curiosity kicks in on them wanting to know why they did what they did.
I found this amazingly disturbing. People are so unpredictable. I feel sorry for his victims, because I am sure no one would have assumed he could be a killer. The fact that he installed security systems is terrifying. He could have really taken advantage of that.
I found this article disturbing, but yet I still wanted to read it. We all want to know what’s going on the head of a serial killer and see why they do what they do. Our society is infatuated by serial killers, and we can see that because of all the movies made about them. We are curious to see how their mind works.
I found this very disturbing, but also interesting. I can not even begin to think what goes through a serial killer’s mind let alone this one. The amount of time he had to have taken to try and broadcast his killing’s just for his own enjoyment is absolutely sick.
This article is very disturbing. For a “man of faith” to do such horrible acts and to not be caught for so long is horrible. Thank goodness for modern technology and that he was able to be caught.
This article is very disturbing and sick. I cannot even fathom the thoughts that run through a serial killer’s mind.
It’s hard to believe that a man with a “golden reputation” would do these horrendous acts. I don’t know why anyone would desire to prey on people like this. And to think that people trusted him with home security alarms is really something considering the fact that he was out to kill people.
Kayla L
Crazy that a religious figure could live in contradiction for so long
This article is distrubing because he was basically taunting the police about the murders he was going to commit, but he wasn’t caught until many years later.
I found this article to be disturbing to think that a supposed “Man of God” would this waked out. Its crazy to think about what actually goes on in a serial killers head.
It’s incredible to think that a religious figure could be so devious and mysterious. Not only does it make me wonder about other religious figures, but it makes me wonder about ADT workers as well.
I believe that many people are fascinated with serial killers because of their “different” way of thinking. It is disturbing that a “man of God” like the Deacon could be so devious, but in his mind he was doing what he thought was right.
Working for ADT was an advantage for Rader because he probably learned ways around different security systems. Someone once told me that serial killers are very educated people, this article fully supports that opinion.
Very Shocking…….
I find people like this so fascinating due to the obscurity and insanity of serial killers
I don’t think this is fascinating at all due to the fact of what these horrible people due to people.. I think people are fascinated because of how different these people are and how they act.. These people are can be very smart and it is horrible that they use there intelligence in such a horrible manner…
I think it is truly frighting that people such as this could be living right next door to you, or engaged in your everyday life. It is truly impossible to understand as to why a man of God would commit such atrocious acts, or to even begin to fathom the psyche of this individuals after they continually commit murder.
I think people find this fascinating because the general thought of a man in this position is that he would be a good man and when you see something like this happen people are just very surprised. It is truly crazy that some people do certain things of this magnitude and especially someone with his profession.
this is a frightening situation. A man in his position committing the acts he did is insane. This makes me wonder if men in positions like this today would commit acts like these.
I like how this article was brought up. I heard about BTK back in elementary school from a friend of mine. He described what BTK what do to his victims and that gave me the chills! It’s a shame how a man that is a great help to his religious community along with his honorable jobs could commit such heinous crimes.
I don’t find that him being a religious figure is that surprising. I find it more surprising that it got out on the media. I feel this way because typically churches are really good at keeping these things hidden, like molestation of children for example. But I do find it terrifying and messed up, especially because I am religious it makes me question a lot of things.