Back More
Salem Press

Table of Contents

See Also

See Also in
Notorious Lives

Joe Ball

David Berkowitz

Kenneth Bianchi

Ted Bundy

Angelo Buono, Jr.

Andrei Chikatilo

Andrew Cunanan

Jeffrey Dahmer

Albert DeSalvo

John Wayne Gacy

Leonard Lake

Charles Ng

Richard Speck

Aileen Carol Wuornos

Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives

Dennis Rader

by Jenephyr James

American serial killer

Also known as: BTK Killer; BTK Strangler; Dennis Lynn Rader (full name)

Major offenses: Murder and attempted murder

Active: 1974-1991

Locale: Wichita, Kansas

Sentence: Ten consecutive life sentences

Early Life

From all accounts, Dennis Rader (RAY-dur) had a normal childhood, though some have reported his early bullying and abuse of animals (often an indicator of future violence). Rader attended Wichita State University and went on to join the Air Force, in which he served from 1965 until 1969, when he was discharged. In 1974 Rader began working for ADT Security Services.

Criminal Career

Rader would work for ADT until 1989. He also worked for the U.S. Census Bureau in 1989, collecting information at residences. In the 1970’s, he married and had two children. When not working, Rader volunteered his time with a local Boy Scout troop and was active in his church. He later was employed as a compliance officer in Park City, Kansas. Through his various employments, Rader easily could have gained trust and access to people’s homes and personal information.

Rader’s murders began in 1974. His first victims were four members of the Otero family. Joseph and Julie Otero were found dead, tied up and suffocated. Two of their five children, their daughter Josephine and son Joey, were also found dead in the house. Other murders soon followed.

Approximately nine months after the Otero murders, an anonymous phone call was placed to the Wichita Eagle, giving directions to a textbook in the public library. Inside the book a letter was found claiming credit for the Otero murders and promising more. Because the letter contained details that had not been released by the police, its authenticity was not questioned. This exchange began an extended correspondence between Rader and the police or media. The killer was dubbed BTK, for “Bind, Torture, Kill,” which was often the signature Rader used when communicating with law enforcement authorities or media.

Rader killed at least ten people and attempted to murder at least six more during his criminal career. Like some other serial killers, he enjoyed writing and phoning the press or law enforcement authorities. He reported his murders and enjoyed taunting police, using this outlet to terrify Wichita residents already fearful of an unknown serial killer in their neighborhood. Rader tended to wait for his selected victims in their homes. After the victims arrived, they would be bound, sometimes partially clothed, tortured, then strangled. Often, items were missing from the crime scenes, indicating that the killer was taking souvenirs of his crimes with him, possibly to relive the incidents at a later date. Although semen was found at some of the crime scenes, autopsies revealed that the victims had not been sexually assaulted.

As quickly as the murders had begun in 1974, they seemed to stop in 1979. The BTK case became cold through the 1980’s with no new murders, tips, or leads. Then, in 2004, the investigation was reopened after a letter sent to the Wichita Eagle claimed responsibility for a 1986 murder. After other correspondence from BTK was traced and investigated, Rader was arrested on February 26, 2005.

Legal Action and Outcome

After being arrested and tried for the BTK murders, Rader was sentenced to a minimum of 175 years in prison without the possibility of parole. The sentence was the toughest one the judge could impose for Rader’s crimes because Kansas allowed no death penalty at the time the crimes were committed.

Impact

Dennis Rader provides one of several examples of how a seemingly “normal” individual can lead a double life. Like serial murderers Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy, Rader did not appear to be the cold-blooded killer he eventually turned out to be. He appeared to be a normal middle-class husband and father. He worked in a “normal” job and was active in church and community affairs. Secretly, however, he held fantasies of torture and murder and acted upon them, killing at least ten people in Wichita and terrorizing the community by taunting the press and police. His eventual arrest shocked those who knew him, victims’ families, and others within the community.

Before Rader’s notoriety, many had believed that serial murderers stop killing only when they are jailed or otherwise incapacitated, move away, or die. Rader, who proved that sometimes serial killers “lie dormant,” had stopped killing in the late 1970’s and had seemed to disappear. When the thirtieth anniversary of his first murders drew near and a new book about the killings was ready for publication, he resurfaced to recapture the publicity he had received as BTK, which ultimately led to his arrest. His narcissistic and perverted need for attention and control speaks not only to the personality disorders of such sociopaths but also to Americans’ obsession with fame and notoriety, which may help explain Rader’s wanting to be heard from once again as BTK, even though it resulted in his undoing.

Further Reading

1 

Beattie, Robert. Nightmare in Wichita: The Hunt for the BTK Strangler. New York: New American Library, 2005. Discusses the search for the BTK Strangler when he was still terrorizing Wichita. The author provides an update of the case following Rader’s arrest.

2 

Singular, Stephen. Unholy Messenger: The Life and Crimes of the BTK Serial Killer. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. The author uses Rader’s confessions to the BTK crimes to discuss the killer’s life and criminal career. In addition, the author discusses the hunt for BTK while his crimes were still unsolved.

3 

Smith, C. The BTK Murders: Inside the Bind Torture Kill Case That Terrified America’s Heartland. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2006. This book discusses the investigation into the BTK murders and the eventual capture of Dennis Rader. In addition, the author discusses evidence against Rader and Rader’s confessions.

Citation Types

MLA 9th
James, Jenephyr. "Dennis Rader." Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives, edited by Carl L. Bankston III, Salem Press, 2007. Salem Online, online.salempress.com/articleDetails.do?articleName=GLN_1493.
APA 7th
James, J. (2007). Dennis Rader. In C. L. Bankston III (Ed.), Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives. Salem Press. online.salempress.com.
CMOS 17th
James, Jenephyr. "Dennis Rader." Edited by Carl L. Bankston III. Great Lives from History: Notorious Lives. Hackensack: Salem Press, 2007. Accessed September 17, 2026. online.salempress.com.