31 years of the BTK killer

The aftermath
While Dennis Rader sat in his cell with no one to satisfy his desire to keep talking about himself— the police and a cast of dozens proudly announced his capture to the citizens of Wichita and the world.

But it wasn’t until late June, when Rader appeared in court for what was supposed to be the first day of his trial that people got a good look at — and earful from — the man who had killed so many people over so many years. Instead of maintaining the “not guilty” plea he had entered earlier, there was a surprise.

People in and out of court listened aghast to rader as he detailed each murder in his cold, chilling, emotionless manner.

Ron Loewen watched rader’s court appearance on TV.

Loewen: People make a lot of the point that he didn’t show any emotion.  He was showing incredible emotion. The detail that he used, he paused, and his search for words.  The graphic, graphic description he gave.  This wasn’t someone who was stumbling, who was nervous. This was show time for him.  He couldn’t have asked for a better stage.

The killer was clearly puffed up by his court appearance, bragging about it afterward when he spoke with the psychologist.

As you might expect, a certain former police chief would love to lower the curtain on Dennis Rader.

Lamunyon: I’d like to be the one to be able to put him in his cell and turn his lights out.  That’s what I’d like to do.

What will become of Dennis Rader? His wife of 34 years divorced him two weeks ago. And a hearing to determine his sentence begins next Wednesday, August 17, in which prosecutors will lay out their evidence against him and his victims’ families can speak up against their tormenter for the first time. 

Rader will get a chance to ask the court for mercy— and any expression of remorse he might make then can be weighed against the remarks he has made in this interview.

Magnus: So, how does someone like Dennis Rader get to be this way?

Fox: Well, that’s the $64,000 question that we don’t completely know. Part of it is the propensities that you’re born with and part of it too is what kind of environment you’re growing into. These are all the intangibles that we can’t predict and don’t fully understand.

The murders were committed before Kansas reinstated the death penalty. But it’s almost certain that Rader, who is 60 years old, will never see freedom again. He faces 175 years in prison. 

Rader says he's making his peace with God
He told the psychologist he’ll make amends in his way to his God.

Mendoza:  I know it’s personal, but could you tell me what you pray for?

Rader: Actually, like the other day, I prayed for the family would accept me on appearing in court.

Mendoza:  You...

Rader:  That they would accept that as forgiveness.

Mendoza:  Your family?  Whose family?

Rader:  My family.  And also I mentioned earlier, the victim families, that they would, you know, not that they could forgive me, but maybe someday they can realize, you know, I’ve got some problems.

We asked Jeff Davis, the son of Rader’s last victim, what he thought about that.

Davis: Oh yeah, there’s the classic understatement of the world. He does have problems, all of which are his own making. He did not come from any abused family. He can’t blame any environmental factors. He can’t blame anybody or any sickness or being dropped on his head. Wished they’d dropped him a little harder.  

Davis, who like so many other family members is also a victim of BTK, wrote a book to help him and others cope with the trauma of loss— and to make sure people knew how special his mother, Delores Davis, was.

Davis: I would be damned if her legacy ended with her being murdered. A beautiful, loving, kind, gentle person and her legacy is being murdered and dumped out in a ditch like a bag of dirty laundry for the dogs to go through.  And I was not going to let that happen.

Just after Davis’ book was published in 1996, he received a letter from “a taxpayer,” who Davis now firmly believes was Dennis Rader. It has never before been made public. 

The letter said: “We’ll call the serial killer, the phantom of northern Sedgwick County,” which is where Rader lived. It also said, “I’m sure that he probably blends in with a crowd.”

Davis has prepared remarks for Rader’s sentencing, but has no illusions that day will bring him any more solace than when he finally learned Dennis Rader was his mother’s killer. 

Davis: People used the word closure. There is no such thing. Closure happens when you go back to that moment in time and it doesn’t happen and the person’s still there.

Charlie Otero, who also faced a hard life after the murder of his parents, sister and brother, knows what Davis means.  He spoke to “Dateline” right after Rader was arrested.

Charlie Otero: I wonder about what they were thinking and the feelings that they had while this was happening to them.  My family’s murder is with me daily.  It never leaves me from the memories of my family come back to me. Whenever I see a husband hug his wife or a father and a son play, I think of my family and what I had lost.

For so long, Charlie Otero, Jeff Davis and so many others have wanted to know why their loved ones were victims.  And now they know. It was one man’s inability to control his sexual fantasies, one man’s depraved indifference to human life... and a terrible coincidence for ten 10 people who were caught in Dennis Rader’s murderous web.

Lawsuits have been filed against Dennis Rader by families of all ten of the victims. 

In the event he’s able to sell his story, the families want to ensure that he never profits in any way from the vicious murders he committed.

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