BTK, Wichita Kansas

My hometown of Wichita, KS, known as  an “All American City,” and the “Air Capitol of the World,” but for 30 years my hometown was haunted by the many unsolved murders of the many people who fell victim to the BTK Killer.  The first known BTK killing was in 1974, which is only six years before my birth. My family has lived in Wichita since the late 50’s, and have been residents since before the beginning of his killing spree.  My mother and grandmother were single moms and could have easily fell victim to BTK had they been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

BTK stands for Bind Torture Kill, which is the name Dennis Raider gave himself in a letter he wrote to police. He named himself BTK claiming his MO would not change, that manner in which he killed his victims was a fetish killing; he bound, tortured and then killed his victims.  BTK preyed on his victims, got to know their routines, and then entered their homes, where the felt safe, and tortured them until their lives ended.

                BTK put fear into society.  He was a sick son of a bitch!  He wrote many letters to authorities admitting that he had a monster inside of him, and it was too late to get rid of it, that authorities would have to find him to end it.  He killed men, women, and children, and left semen throughout his crime scenes.  In most cases, the females, regardless of age, were left bound and mostly undressed, but never sexually assaulted.  The fact that he was sexually aroused is sickening but he was aroused just by the killing itself.  He was truly a monster.

                When BTK was finally apprehended I was working for a law office in Wichita and my manager was a resident of Park City  and a neighbor to Dennis Rader. She told of how he had stalked her, using his authority as a city employee to gain access to her property.  He wrote her several citations for her dog being a nuisance, and then for her dog being out of the yard.  She would come home from work and he would be there.  Although she had left her dog locked in the house or in the backyard, Rader would write her a ticket for the dog being out.  There were times that she came home, the door which she had locked was open and the dog was loose or in custody of Rader.   

                I feel that Wichita is overall a safe place to live.  It is really sad and scary to have our city recognized because we had a crazy serial killer attack our safe haven!  I’m so glad that he finally made a mistake after all these years and was put in prison for the rest of his life!