Dennis Lynn Rader: Serial Killer

Dennis Lynn Rader was born on March 9, 1945 in Pittsburg, Kansas. He was the oldest of four boys born to Dorothea Mae Rader and William Elvin Rader who was a member of the US Marine Corps. Not much is known about Rader’s childhood, but he did join the Boy Scouts as a boy. According to himself, Rader admitted that he had fantasies about torture and control from a very young age, and as he grew older his fantasies normally consisted of tying up gullible girls and having his way with them. Those that knew him in youth described him as quiet, polite, and lacking a sense of humour. He kept to himself in high school and gave full attention when he spoke but his classmates characterized him as not totally socially awkward, rather someone who thought

On January 15th, 1974, Rader killed his first victims, four members of the Otero family, who he had stalked for some time. According to his confessions and statements, Rader had stalked Julie Otero and her daughter because he liked Hispanic women and their exotic beauty, as he stalked the women he would enter into his fantasies of bondage, torture and killing. He killed the Otero family in their home; he restrained the children and left them upstairs. On the main floor of the home, after restraining Mr. and Mrs. Otero, he tortured both in front of the other and later killed them. Semen was found on the scene as well, and later it was discovered that Rader derived pleasure from torturing and killing. He left the scene with a watch and a radio, and this became his modus operandi (pattern of behaviour); strangulation and taking souvenirs also known as

He sent local media outlets and the police many letters filled with items related to his crimes, including a picture of one of his victims, a word puzzle and an outline for the “BTK news story”. Between 2004 and 2005, he left packages with more clues, including a computer disk. The disk lead the police to Rader’s church, then from the white van on the security tapes and a DNA sample from Rader’s daughter, they were able to build a case against Rader.
Dennis Rader was arrested on the 25th of February in 2005. He was charged with 10 counts of first- degree murder. He plead guilty to all charges in June of the same year, and as part of his plea, he gave the disgusting details of his crimes in court. Observers noticed that as he described these horrifying details, he did so with no sign of remorse and emotion. He was not put to death because he had committed his crimes before 1994, which was when the death penalty had been reinstated, but he is serving 10 consecutive life sentences in a Kansas state