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Dennis Rader

Also known as: BTK, BTK Strangler

Active

1974–1991

Region

Wichita, Kansas, USA

Status

Pleaded guilty

Victims

10

Dennis Rader killed ten people in and around Wichita, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991, and taunted police and the media with letters signed "BTK". He went unidentified for more than 30 years. In 2005 a floppy disk he mailed to a Wichita TV station was traced to his church, Christ Lutheran Church, which led to his arrest. He pleaded guilty to all ten murders and received ten consecutive life sentences.

Articles

• How BTK Was Caught: A Floppy Disk and a Church Computer

Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Joseph Otero, 38 · January 15, 1974
• Julia Maria "Julie" Otero, 33 · January 15, 1974
• Josephine "Josie" Otero, 11 · January 15, 1974
• Joseph "Joey" Otero II, 9 · January 15, 1974
• Kathryn Bright, 21 · April 4, 1974

  Her brother Kevin was shot during the attack and survived.

• Shirley Vian Relford, · March 17, 1977

  Sources differ on her age (24 or 26).

• Nancy Fox, 25 · December 8, 1977
• Marine Hedge, 53 · April 27, 1985
• Vicki Wegerle, 28 · September 16, 1986
• Dolores Davis, 62 · January 19, 1991

Timeline of locations

1. 1974
   Rader's home (Park City) (Killer's residence, approximate area)

   Rader lived in Park City, a suburb north of Wichita, at the time of his arrest.

2. January 15, 1974
   Otero family home (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Four members of the Otero family were killed in their home in east Wichita.

3. April 4, 1974
   Bright home (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Kathryn Bright was attacked in her home in northeast Wichita and died in surgery. Her brother Kevin was shot and survived.

4. March 17, 1977
   Vian home (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Shirley Vian Relford was killed in her home in south Wichita.

5. December 8, 1977
   Fox home (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Nancy Fox was killed in her home in southeast Wichita. Rader phoned police to report where her body could be found.

6. April 27, 1985
   Hedge home (Abduction, approximate area)

   Marine Hedge was killed after being taken from her home in Park City. Her body was found in a ditch about 7 miles away.

7. September 16, 1986
   Wegerle home (Crime scene, approximate area)

   Vicki Wegerle was killed in her home in west Wichita.

8. January 19, 1991
   Davis home (Abduction, approximate area)

   Dolores Davis was taken from her home in north Wichita. Her body was found under a bridge on February 1, 1991.

9. May 1991
   City of Park City (Workplace, approximate area)

   Rader worked for Park City as a dogcatcher and compliance officer from May 1991 until his arrest. (Earlier, from 1974 to 1988, he installed alarms for ADT Security Services in Wichita.)

10. February 25, 2005
    Arrest near his Park City home (Arrest, approximate area)

    Rader was stopped and arrested while driving near his Park City home shortly after noon on February 25, 2005.

11. June 27, 2005
    Sedgwick County Courthouse (Court / trial)

    Rader pleaded guilty to ten counts of first-degree murder on June 27, 2005, and was sentenced on August 18, 2005, to ten consecutive life terms.

12. August 19, 2005
    El Dorado Correctional Facility (Prison)

    Rader was moved to El Dorado Correctional Facility in Butler County, Kansas, to serve his sentence.

Sources

• Dennis Rader (Wikipedia)
• On This Day: Dennis Rader arrested 20 years ago, Feb. 25, 2005 (KWCH)
• Computer disk, DNA and messages helped lead police to BTK suspect (Lawrence Journal-World)
• Dennis Rader (Encyclopaedia Britannica)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.