How the BTK Strangler Was Caught

The Wichita, Kansas area was traumatized by a string of ten killings between 1974 and 1991. The murderer would send insulting letters, poetry, and drawings outlining what he had done to the local police and news organizations.

In order to claim credit for his actions, he signed communications with the letters "BTK," which stood for his own murderous technique of "bind torture kill."

After his last murder in 1991, BTK's communications ceased. Before a 2004 article in the Wichita Eagle with the headline "BTK Case Unsolved, 30 Years Later" stated the murderer was either dead or in prison.

Due to the fact that serial killers don't stop until they are apprehended, the majority of people think he was either locked up for another crime, committed suicide, or something similar.

Although it had been 13 years since his previous murder, BTK felt the need to prove to the world that he was still alive and at large. He made the decision to write once more in response to the Eagle piece, this time admitting to a murder he had committed in 1986.

He enclosed a copy of the victim's driver's license in the letter as proof. In order to continue taunting police, BTK sent a postcard to a Wichita news station in January 2005 letting them know about two packages he had left for them.

One was left by the side of a road, and the other was found behind a Home Depot. Both were cereal boxes. The box with vivid descriptions of his first murders was shortly discovered by police on the side of the road.

Though more challenging to find, the box behind the Home Depot would ultimately bring BTK to its knees. The package was nowhere to be located after a thorough search of the Home Depot because an employee had unintentionally thrown it away.

Authorities located the abandoned cereal box and discovered a number of documents within. The most significant object was a note that started,

"Can I communicate with Floppy, "and not be traced to a computer? "Be honest."

The document continued by requesting that police publish an advertisement reading, "Rex, it will be okay." if a floppy disk would indeed be untraceable.

The police advertised with the intention of finding the disk. Police also looked at Home Depot security footage and came to the conclusion that a man driving a black Jeep Grand Cherokee had placed the cereal box there. Two weeks after the police published the required newspaper ad, BTK sent a package to a nearby news station.

A floppy disk was included with the package. One file on the floppy disk had the text "This is a test." However, what BTK didn't want to put on the floppy disk is what altered the trajectory of human history.

Police tracked the disk and discovered that it had been used at Christ Lutheran Church and the Park City Library. Additionally, they were able to establish that Dennis was the author of the document.

The name of the congregation president of Christ Lutheran Church was easily found online. Donald Rader

After scanning the suspect's driveway, the police discovered a black Jeep Grand Cherokee. Additionally, a DNA sample from a previous pap smear Rader's daughter had was subpoenaed and linked to DNA found during one of BTK's homicides.

She was found to be the man's daughter, according to the test, which was conducted. Dennis Rader was detained on February 25th, 2005. Rader made an effort to appear innocent, but soon he started making complete confessions to the ten killings he had carried out over the years.

His recorded confession lasted for around 30 hours because, in the words of the chief interrogator, "We couldn't shut him up."

The police's deception in claiming to have been able to locate the floppy disk left Rader feeling especially betrayed. How did you lie to me, the interrogator was questioned by Rader. The detective responded, "Because I was attempting to catch you," to which I would add,

Rader was found guilty of all ten killings with such strong evidence against him. He is currently incarcerated in Kansas for ten life sentences.

So don't count on the police for IT support if you're trying to commit murder and get away with it.