True Crime & Headlines Presents: BTK Part 1&2

[00:00:00] Boah, bin ich breit. Du bist High, kannst nicht mehr fahren. Doch da kommt er. BUS. Bequem, unkompliziert, sexy. Der Bus. Steig ein! Nice. High fährt nicht, High lässt fahren. Kiffen erhöht dein Unfallrisiko. Nimm den sicheren Weg. Eine Initiative des Deutschen Verkehrssicherheitsrats. Oh, ich muss los.

[00:00:22] Du bist High, kannst nicht mehr fahren. Doch da kommt sie. M-A-M-A. Multifunktional, angenehm, mobil, allzeit bereit. Deine Mama. Häuschen, steigst du ein? High fährt nicht, High lässt fahren. Kiffen erhöht dein Unfallrisiko. Nimm den sicheren Weg. Eine Initiative des Deutschen Verkehrssicherheitsrats. Welcome to Prime Time Crime. I'm your host Kylie. Let's talk right now on True Crime. And then together we are going to work on warming up some cold cases. Let's go.

[00:00:49] Hey guys, welcome to another episode of Prime Time Crime. It's Kylie. We have a guest episode coming your way this week from True Crime and Headlines with Jules and Jen. Jules is going to take you guys through an amazing two-parter she did on BTK, which is very victim-focused. And she did a really great job of putting everything together. And I wanted to share it with you guys because her and Jen do a wonderful job with their podcast, True Crime and Headlines.

[00:01:18] I also will link their social medias below so you can follow along with them there. They are constantly churning out new things, new projects, and they are just simply the best. So please listen to this two-parter and then go over and catch up on all the episodes of their podcast that you haven't heard yet. So right now in True Crime, we are going to keep it pretty short and sweet because this two-parter is a little bit longer than my typical episodes.

[00:01:46] So let's go ahead and get into it. So the Menendez Brothers parole hearing was originally scheduled for June, but it has now been postponed to August 21st and August 22nd of this year. And of course, it's another delay, but on the bright side, it will give the teams and the brothers some time to kind of gather everything that they need for this parole hearing.

[00:02:13] And hopefully it's a one-and-done type of situation. The dates have officially been sent. The paperwork is out there and it is official. They will have their parole hearing in August. So I will keep you guys updated with any further information that comes out in regards to that.

[00:02:31] Second thing I want to talk about is Brian Koberger. Now, this Dateline episode that was released had a lot of new information and the judge is very much questioning how Dateline got this information. Dateline isn't in trouble because it is their job to report information, but somebody definitely messed up in some way, shape, or form.

[00:02:56] The prosecution and defense have access to the same materials. There is a gag order in this case. So someone along the line somewhere leaked this information to Dateline, and now the defense is saying that they want to postpone the August trial because of this leak and they need to try to sort through everything.

[00:03:20] And again, it is another thing that is just one step forward, two steps back for the state of Idaho in this case. And yeah, whoever released that information, if it's true, is going to be in a heck of a lot of trouble, especially if they violated their gag order. So it's going to be very interesting to see what happened, what transpired, who leaked this information.

[00:03:46] Everything is digital nowadays, so it should be pretty easy to trace, but it's going to be another bump in the road for the state in this case. Another thing I want to talk about is Sherry Pepini, who years and years ago was fake kidnapped, and it ended up being like this whole big hoax. And now she's coming out and saying that the hoax isn't true and that she really was abducted.

[00:04:13] And I am not giving any merit to anything she says because I don't believe a word that comes out of her mouth. I think that she should still be in prison, and the fact that she's not and she's out here giving interviews and making money off of the craziness that she put everyone through is just so wild and absurd to me. But if anything more happens, I will keep you updated, but let it be known that I believe 0% of what that woman says. I am recording this on Wednesday.

[00:04:43] The Karen Reed trial is still ongoing, but this morning it kind of had a little bit of a late start because the judge came in. And she sent everyone out except for the jury, the prosecution, and the defense, and the jurors, and she wanted to talk to each individual juror. So they shut down cameras. Nobody really knows exactly what went on because there were no cameras allowed. Nobody else was allowed in the courtroom.

[00:05:09] But somebody did say that they noticed that when they came back in that the jury appeared to some of them were sitting in different spots. So I don't know what was going on. God knows this trial is just one thing after another after another. I have been keeping up with daily trial coverage as much as I can, and it is so all over the place. And people continue, of course, to be divided on one side or the other.

[00:05:36] But it's going to be interesting nonetheless to see how everything plays out with everything that has gone on thus far. It's been a very interesting trial. It is riveting. It is wild. And at the end of the day, I really just care about getting justice for John, whatever that looks like. So next thing I want to talk about is the Diddy trial. Again, it's been a wild ride.

[00:06:03] No cameras allowed in the courtroom because it is a federal case. But everything that has been coming out is actual insanity. So many things are being corroborated. Diddy obviously is an abuser. He's a horrific human. I do think that they are slowly working on building their case, the whole sex trafficking, racketeering, all of that kind of stuff. That is his charges. So we know he's an abusive a-hole.

[00:06:29] But they have to prove their case as far as those charges go. And I do feel like slowly but surely, witness by witness, they are going to be proving that case with everything that every one of them is saying. I think they're slowly building the deck against Diddy. At least that's what I hope. I would look at myself if I was a juror and I had no prior knowledge to this and I was hearing all of this stuff from all of these different people.

[00:06:57] I would probably, without a shadow of a doubt, be able to say that he was guilty. But again, that is just me. So it's going to be interesting to see how this all transpires as well. This is another really high-profile big case that is going on right now. And again, I've been trying my best to stay up to date day by day. If anything crazy happens and it's like breaking news, I will be sure to bring it to you guys as fast as I can on Instagram, Facebook, whatever the case may be, via the podcast.

[00:07:28] But it has just been a lot. There's been so many different things to try to keep up with and it is getting a little bit overwhelming. And I know things aren't going to be slowing down anytime soon because it is literally trial season coming up here in the summer. So I'm going to do my best to keep up to date on all of the things, any other true crime breaking news. I will be sure to bring it to you in the Right Now in True Crime segment every Thursday night along with the new episode.

[00:07:54] So with all of that being said, we are going to go ahead and get into this week's episode, which is, like I said, a guest episode brought to you by Jules of True Crime and Headlines with Jules and Jen. I hope you guys enjoy. Bind them, torture them, kill them. A three-step process in fulfilling one man's sick and demonic sexual fantasies. So why share the story, Jules? Why are you going to give this monster more attention and more discussion?

[00:08:19] Because, you guys, he took the lives of people who aren't here to speak up for themselves any longer, to tell their story. Yet we can't, and we will, and we'll learn from this, we'll study this, we'll discuss it, so that maybe one day we can prevent another monster from taking another innocent life in the future. Hey guys, it's Jules, and this is True Crime and Headlines with Jules and Jen. Are you ready?

[00:08:48] Here at FireEyes Media, you know, Jen and I always strive to be better victim advocates. Each case we share, and I've learned a lot in the three seasons that we've been doing True Crime and Headlines. And I'm not afraid to admit that I was not the best victim advocate when I first started. And so I always believe that you have to always continue to educate yourself. Know better, be better, do better. So here we are, redoing the BTK serial killer episode.

[00:09:15] And I'm taking out some gruesome details that I originally put in when I did it the first time. Because my heart told me to, and it's not appropriate, and it wasn't serving victim rights. I'm also signed up to go through training to become a certified victim advocate. So the more I know how to do better, the more I'll be better for not only our victims, but also the people consuming True Crime.

[00:09:41] So at my discretion, I will be leaving out some details specifically surrounding the children victims. We're going to do something a little bit different today. I'm going to first tell you the timeline of the crimes, and then we're going to follow the path of the investigators and how they caught BTK. Okay, then we'll meet BTK, dive into his background, his family, his psyche, etc. So meet me in Kansas in the 1970s, where it all began.

[00:10:10] January 15th, 1974, Julia Otero, 33, and Joseph Otero, 38, originally from Puerto Rico and raised in New York, and their five children had just begun settling into their lives in Wichita, Kansas, where they had moved just six months prior. You know, Julie and Joseph, they were childhood sweethearts. Joseph was a retired military who had moved the family around different states and different countries, so the family was no stranger to new places.

[00:10:37] However, they were last in Panama and felt the move to the Midwest was a bit of a shock. They went from sunny and warm with a lifestyle outside to being indoors with the cold and the snow. On January 15th, 1974, Julie and Joseph's oldest kids, so we have Charlie, Carmen, and Danny, say goodbye to their parents and head off to school, just as they had done every school day prior.

[00:11:03] Josie, 11 years old, and her brother Joey, 9 years old, are the youngest of the siblings, and they're still at home with their parents in the morning. Now, I'm not positive if they weren't going to be going to school later as well, but Charlie does tell Daily Mirror that the family was very focused on academics, and he asked his dad if he could go to school early so he could do a study session before school for an upcoming test.

[00:11:28] So we can assume the older siblings likely went to school that had an earlier start time as well. So that leaves us at home with mom and dad, you know, Julie and Joseph, and the two youngest, Josie and Joey Jr. They're all home, and so is their family dog named Lucky. Now, Lucky was always inside the home or supervised. So when 15-year-old son Charlie Otero returns home from school, along with his two siblings,

[00:11:56] sister Carmen and brother Danny, and observes that Lucky is outside the house, he instantly knows that something is awry. Now, remember, this is Kansas in January, so there's snow on the ground. And as he enters the home, what he observes looks like something out of a home invasion textbook. Mom, Julie's purse is open on the stove and items taken out and strewn about the kitchen and on the floor. Charlie tells ABC's 2020 that this is the moment he begins to believe that something is wrong. He says, quote,

[00:12:26] That wasn't typical of my mother at all. She was a very tidy person, and the kitchen never looked like that. So I yelled out, I said, Is anybody home? End quote. He continues to scan the scene and waits for his parents to respond. Meanwhile, his other two siblings have gone into the home when Danny calls out to Charlie, quote, Charlie, come quick! Mom and Dad are playing a bad trick on us! End quote. It's then that Charlie sees what will forever change his life.

[00:12:54] He turns the corner, opens his parents' bedroom door, and before him are his parents, Julie and Joseph, dead. Julie is on the bed, and Joseph is beside her on the floor. Charlie directs Brother Danny to run next door and call the police right now, and the three oldest siblings go outside and wait for the police. Charlie recalls to Daily Mirror that one of the officers asked him if he believed his father could do this.

[00:13:20] And it's this question which he says would go on to fuel a lifelong distrust and attitude of anti-authority. His father was an amazing man who worked so hard for the family and dedicated his life to the military. How could someone ask such a thing, he thought? Carmen, Danny, and Charlie are taken down to the police station. While they're waiting to find out what happens next, the siblings continue to beg the police to bring their youngest siblings to them.

[00:13:48] They don't want them to enter the home and see their parents the way they did. This is why I believe Josie and Joey Jr. had later start times for school. The older siblings never checked the rest of the home for Josie and Joey Jr. Now, why would they if Joey and Josie would likely still be at school? Later start time? Later dismissal time? It's not until the police send in their chaplain to talk with the oldest three Otero kids

[00:14:15] that they learn that their little brother, Joey Jr., just nine, and their little sister, Josie, just 11, were also brutally murdered. The police had not discovered Joey Jr. and Josie's bodies until they did a sweep of the home and discovered Joey Jr. in his own bedroom, suffocated with a bag over his head, and Josie in the basement with obvious signs of sexual trauma.

[00:14:38] The killer confesses at his trial later that he had been sexually fantasizing about what he would do to either Julie or her daughter, Josie. And he chose Josie. I really wrestled with how much to share about that. So just know I took out a lot of details about that. They are readily available online. I just feel a duty and responsibility to not go in such detail about that. You know, Josie didn't live a long life.

[00:15:06] And this is a story that will be told over and over again, and I want to give her a little bit of dignity in that. But we do need to continue to talk about this and read about it and learn about it. But just know she was sexually abused and harmed before she was killed. Be warned, it's gruesome what's coming up, and it's hard to listen to. Skip forward if you need to. I respect that decision.

[00:15:32] The BTK killer was waiting outside the Otero home, lurking and watching at 8.30 a.m. Charlie and his older siblings were already at school when at 8.40 a.m., the BTK killer cut the phone lines and waited at the back door, wondering whether or not to go through with his plan. The killer did not believe that Joseph Otero was home, the father. So when the back door opens and little 9-year-old Joey Jr. steps outside along with dog Lucky,

[00:16:02] the killer seizes opportunity and charges the young boy, taking him by knife and gunpoint and bringing him back. The killer then proceeds to tell the remaining family that he is conducting a robbery, was a wanted criminal from California, and he needed a car and money. He recounts this event during his testimony in court and says he did this to ease the family. He brings all four of the Oteros into Julie and Joseph's bedroom. He ties their hands behind their backs and then proceeds to kill the parents by strangulation,

[00:16:32] forcing the young children to watch. Joseph has a plastic bag over his head, and when BTK turns to Julie, he realizes he's never strangled someone before, and per his own admission, he has to figure out on the spot how much pressure to apply and for how long. And he thinks he kills her, but instead he realizes he causes her to pass out. So when she comes through again...

[00:17:07] He has to strangle her again. Now, during his confession later on, the killer is recorded saying that he tries to make Mr. Otero as comfortable as he could, as Mr. Otero had a broken rib from a car accident, so the killer puts a pillow under his torso for him, and it's then that he's realizing that this is out of hand.

[00:17:35] He works with Julie, you guys. The BTK killer works with the mother. Everyone in this home has seen his face. He is not wearing any face coverings, and so he decides he has to go forward with killing them all. He then takes Joey Jr. and brings him to his own bedroom, and it's there that the killer takes the boy's life through suffocation.

[00:18:03] Next, the killer moves 11-year-old Josie downstairs. He later admits to federal agents that this family murder was out of sexual motivation and that his main target was the young girl. Josie's life ends at the hands of this killer as she is tied to a pipe in the basement and hanged. According to a statement later given by the killer, before Josie was killed, she asked the monster what would happen to her, and he replies that she would be in heaven soon with the others.

[00:18:32] The surviving Otero children would go on to be sent to New Mexico to live and be raised by a man who was Joseph's friend from the military. And their lives, well, you know, they would never be the same again. The killer then tidied the home, took Joseph Otero's car and left at a grocery store, and he would go on to kill six more people spanning over three decades without ever being caught. Or was it more?

[00:18:58] We recently sat down with a crime analyst who claims to have cracked the killer's word search sent to authorities years... Or was it more? We recently sat down with a crime analyst who claims to have cracked the killer's word search sent to authorities years later in 2004, and she believes she's discovered more victims. And you won't want to miss that episode coming up later this season. So why the Oteros?

[00:19:26] Julie Otero was working on an assembly line at a company called Coleman. Coleman was known for hiring many residents of Wichita, and among them was also the killer, later to be known by the public as BTK. BTK would watch Julie, stalking and spying on not just her, but her entire family. And this is how he became infatuated with Julie's youngest daughter, Josie. The killer later would go on to testify that, quote,

[00:19:56] After I got into that house, I lost control of it. But it was, you know, in the back of my mind that I had some ideas of what I was going to do. End quote. Now let's talk evidence he left behind. He would likely have fingerprints and, of course, seminal fluid at the scene, but we learned in season one of True Crime and Headlines from the D.B. Cooper case. If you haven't listened to that one, that's a crazy one. Go back and listen to that. But DNA testing was not widespread, and it wasn't used in crimes until the 80s.

[00:20:25] The killer would later refer to this as his first PJ, or project, and took two items from the home as keepsakes. He took Joseph Otero's watch and a radio.

[00:20:54] April 4th, 1974. Just a few short months after the Otero family tragedy, the killer takes on another one of his projects, or one of his PJs, and this time turns his attention to 21-year-old Catherine Bright. Catherine also worked at the Coleman plant, which was very common for Wichita residents in the 70s. The killer would later go on to tell federal agents that he saw Catherine entering her home one day,

[00:21:22] and he decided on the spot that she would be next. The killer testified at his trial that Catherine was in the stalking stage of his projects, having just completed the trolling stage to find his next victim. He also indicated that he felt it wouldn't work out during the trolling stage, and boop! He also indicated that if for whatever reason he felt it wouldn't work out during the trolling stage, that he would just go on to find another victim in the trolling stage.

[00:21:53] The killer then breaks into the home through the back door and waits for Catherine to return home. When she enters the home around 2 o'clock p.m., the killer is taken by surprise to see that she has a man with her, something the killer did not anticipate. Kevin Bright, Catherine's brother. The killer charges them with a gun and forces Kevin to tie up Catherine's hands and feet first. He then takes Kevin into another bedroom and proceeds to do the same to Kevin. Kevin was able to somehow come loose from the binds,

[00:22:21] and he begins to fight for his life, almost taking the gun from the killer. But the killer shoots Kevin in the head. Watching Kevin collapse and how much blood is leaving the wound, the killer believes Kevin to be dead. He returns to Catherine to, quote, finish his project, unquote, when he hears noises from the other room. He runs over to Kevin and shoots him again, this time knowing Kevin has died. However, Catherine has now managed to get loose,

[00:22:51] and the killer and Catherine engage in a physical fight. Catherine fought like hell to live. During this, Kevin, miraculously, you guys, was still alive and was able to open the front door and run out to his car to drive and search for help. The killer realized that police would arrive soon, so when he was unable to kill Catherine by strangling her,

[00:23:18] he took a knife and began stabbing her. He stabbed her 11 times before she went down. She was a fighter, and when he realized that she was dead, he took off. Sadly, she required multiple surgeries and blood transfusions, but she would ultimately... Boop! The killer realized that the police would arrive soon, so when he was unable to kill Catherine by strangling her because she was a fighter,

[00:23:47] he took a knife and began stabbing her. He stabbed her 11 times before she went down. He didn't know if she was dead, but he had to take off, not knowing if she was dead. Sadly, she survived this, and I say sadly because she had to have multiple surgeries and blood transfusions, and she would ultimately pass away after going through all that from the injuries at the young age of 21. But Kevin?

[00:24:16] Kevin survived. He was just 19. CNN reports that Kevin, quote, said he never saw his sister's body and didn't learn of her death until several days after the attacks. End quote. It's important to note that the killer was not wearing any type of face covering for this murder either, and now we have an eyewitness who survived. Kevin Bright later spoke bravely at the trial of the killer by providing a victim impact statement

[00:24:46] calling his sister's murder and execution and stated how proud he was that his sister, quote, fought like a hellcat. End quote. Per the killer's confession. Kevin shares regret that he never got, Kevin shares regret that she never got away from the killer, but shares how he doesn't question whether God was ever in control. Kevin did not have brain damage,

[00:25:14] but he does suffer with nerve damage for feeling heat and has nerve damage with how he eats and digests food. He also bears a scar on his face and on his skull from the gunshots. Now, one more thing I'll share about Kevin is he said he was thankful he was there with his sister as he would go on to know the killer's intentions and plans and he was able to intervene. In October of 1974, nine months after his first murders

[00:25:43] of the Otero family, the killer introduced himself to the police by taking credit for the murders. Why did he do that? Boop! In October 1974, nine months after his first murders of the Otero family, the killer introduced himself to the police by taking credit for the murders. Why did he do this? One theory is that he was so upset that there was someone else out there confessing to his crimes that he couldn't handle it

[00:26:12] and he had to take credit for himself. Now, what he does next, you guys, starts a decades-long cat-and-mouse taunting game between the killer and the Wichita police. The killer makes a phone call to the local paper, the Wichita Eagle. Newspaper employee Don Granger answers the call and is told that there is a letter in between the pages of an engineering book at the library. Don Granger informs authorities immediately and the contents of the letter

[00:26:41] will not end up being released to the public until another newspaper, a fairly new newspaper, releases it. The killer has poor grammar and writing skills and goes on to write in part, quote, I can't stop it so the monster goes on and hurts me as well as society. It's a big, complicated game, my friend, the monster play, putting victims' number down, follow them, checking up on them, waiting in the dark, waiting, waiting, end quote.

[00:27:10] He then ends the letter with, quote, P.S. Six, boop, P, boop, quote, P.S. Since sex criminals do not change their M.O. or by nature cannot do so, I will not change mine. The code for me will be bind them, torture them, kill them, B.T.K. You see, he's at it again, end quote. And from then on, he is known as the B.T.K.

[00:27:40] serial killer. And he will continue to taunt the police throughout the next few decades through communications, souvenirs, proof of crimes, and even go as far to warn them ahead of time of one of his next murders. It's now 1977. The country hasn't heard from the B.T.K. Boop! It's now 1977. The country hasn't heard from the B.T.K. serial killer in three years.

[00:28:10] Has he died? Was he in jail? Who was he? And why did he go silent? Bind them, torture them, kill them. By now, the state of Kansas is familiar with B.T.K. as he has taken public credit for the Atero murders, but not the Bright murder. One thing that may be scarier than a serial killer is a serial killer who is self-aware and patient. B.T.K. has sat dormant for three years doing what? And why?

[00:28:40] Well, you guys, of course, we are going to go into this in part two, but for now, we're taking you along the story of his crimes as they unfold just as the public was informed. Stay with me here. At this point in March of 1977, nobody knows it's your identity. Nobody knows the identity of the man who calls himself the B.T.K. killer. And it's on March 17, 1977, that B.T.K. attempts to exit

[00:29:10] his trolling phase and enter the stalking phase of a woman named Cheryl Elmore Jagen, a woman who he met one evening at a bar and enjoyed her company. He began stalking her and on March 17, he went to her home which she shared with another female roommate. When B.T.K. realized that both women were gone, he decided to drive by another family in the same neighborhood which he was considering stalking. However, they were also gone so he parked his car and went for a walk down a nearby street

[00:29:39] called Hydraulic. He spotted five-year-old Stephen Relford. Stephen was walking alone home from the market to pick up a few items for his mother, Shirley Vien Relford. She was just 24. B.T.K. stopped the boy and pulled out a photo and asked the boy if he knew the people in the photo. Stephen said he did not and he turned to continue on home. The photo was actually a real photo that B.T.K. boop!

[00:30:09] And that photo, you guys, that was a real photo of B.T.K.'s family that he carried with him in his wallet of his own wife and his own son. B.T.K. watched the young boy as he went back home, thus showing B.T.K. where he lived unknowingly. Stephen recalls how traumatizing this event was to the point in which he explains that for an entire two years after this, the boy went mute. He felt responsible

[00:30:39] for what happens next. He felt responsible for what happens next as he was the one who led B.T.K. to his home and would ultimately open the door when just a few moments after returning from home, he hears a knock. At the door was B.T.K. and he tells the boy he is a private detective and asks where Stephen's mother is. When Stephen tells him that she's in bed and not feeling well, B.T.K. pushes past the boy, turns on the television,

[00:31:09] closes the blinds. Stephen's mother, Shirley, comes out of the room and is startled to see a strange man in her room. He quickly pulls out a gun and has Shirley and her three, yes, you guys, three children. Stephen had an eight-year-old brother and a four-year-old sister and B.T.K. moves them into the main bedroom. He then instructs Shirley to lock the kids in the bathroom and give them toys and blankets, which she does believing that they won't be harmed if she complies. The man then ties the bathroom door closed,

[00:31:38] but Stephen tries to get out to save his mom and that's when the killer screamed that he would shoot the kid's head off if he tried that again, thus prompting Shirley to tell her kids, just listen, listen to whatever he says. The killer then tells Shirley he wants, quote, to have his way with her, end quote, but proceeds to convince her that he is not referring to rape. Shirley was indeed home ill that day and she proceeds to throw up, likely a combination of illness and fear and the killer goes

[00:32:07] to pour her a glass of water to give her a drink. He then lets her smoke a cigarette to calm her and then does the opposite of what he said. He does indeed harm her, his way, by strangling her with a cord around her neck, all while her three little innocent children are locked in the bathroom behind the door. The telephone rings and according to the killer's confession, this causes him to spook and he takes off, but not before leaving semen on Shirley's underwear

[00:32:37] next to her now lifeless body. Had the telephone not been ringing, the killer would have remained at the home to kill the children next, as was his original plan. In fact, CrimeLibrary.org quotes the killer proclaiming, quote, I probably would have hung the little girl. Like I said, I'm pretty mean or could be, but on the other hand, I'm very, you know, I'm a nice guy. End quote.

[00:33:07] This boy, just five, stood on the toilet on his tippy-toes to look over the door and watched helplessly as his mother was murdered. Just nine months after Shirley's senseless murder, the killer contacts authorities once again. This time, it's his intent to report his next victim, Nancy Fox. Here's what happened. Nancy Fox was what BTK referred to in his tape confession as his, quote,

[00:33:37] next project. End quote. It's interesting to hear this kill. Beep. Nancy Fox was what BTK referred to in his tape confession as his, quote, next project. End quote. Now, it's interesting to hear the killer speak. He speaks to the judge in a very matter-of-fact tone when talking about the stages of serial killers and how they go through them, almost as if he's standing before a college course and teaching about himself in third person. The juxtaposition of his self-awareness and understanding of what he is is,

[00:34:06] for lack of better terms, scary, alarming. Now, I say this because a judge asks BTK what he means when he says he saw Nancy during his patrolling phase, and it's the way BTK explains that his trolling phase was what most killers go through while picking their next victim. It turns out that the judge was actually asking BTK if he was working when he saw Nancy because he used the term patrolling

[00:34:34] and what he meant to say was trolling. And BTK corrects him and clarifies that he was not working on a job when he spotted her. So on December 8, 1977, Nancy Fox will become the next murder victim of BTK. Nancy Fox was a single woman who was an incredibly hard worker, you guys. She had two jobs. She lived alone in a duplex. BTK began trying to learn more about her so he could

[00:35:04] become more comfortable with killing her, per his own words. What's interesting is we tend to think the less you know of someone, the more detached you become. But BTK's MO? was quite the opposite. The more intimate he knew their lives, the more confident he became in killing them. Nancy's sister, Beverly Fox, would later tell ABC's 2020 show that Nancy was incredibly outgoing and friendly and she was one to speak up and give her honest opinions.

[00:35:33] Nancy Fox was just 25 years old when she returned home from her job at a jewelry store and is ambushed by gunpoint in her kitchen by the awaiting BTK monster. He had cut the phone lines and told Nancy exactly the truth. He had sexual problems and he would need to tie her up. However, he does not indulge that he's going to kill her as part of his sexual desires. She remains calm and goes to undress in the bathroom and when she emerges into the bedroom BTK

[00:36:03] handcuffs her and ties her feet and proceeds to strangle her. And while he strangles her, he confesses everything he has done in the past to her. Once he knew Nancy was no longer living, he proceeds to self-stimulate, then clean up, and then leave. The next day, BTK heads into work, ADT Security. That's right. He worked for a security company. But along the way, he makes a stop at a

[00:36:33] payphone. Now, it's there that he calls the police and tells them, quote, you will find a homicide at 843 South Pershing, end quote. And it's from this call that the police now have his voice on record. Just the next month in January of 1978, BTK again reaches out to the Associated Press, the Wichita Eagle, by sending a note on an index card. Now, this time, it's with a poem. Yes, a poem. And it reads,

[00:37:03] quote, Shirley Locks, Shirley Locks, wilt thou be mined? End quote. Now, that's a play on the nursery rhyme poem called Curly Locks, and it can be connected that this was in reference to victim Shirley. Next, in February, the threats by BTK are made public because he sends another letter, and this letter, he's mocking the death of Nancy through a play on the poem Oh Death that he changes the title to say Oh Death to Nancy.

[00:37:33] Now, he uses the words, quote, what is that I can see? Cold icy hands taking hold of me for death has come you all can see hell has opened its gates to trick me Oh Death, oh Death, can't you spare me over another year? I'll stuff your jaws till you can't talk, I'll blind your legs till you can't walk, I'll tie your hands till you can't make a stand, and finally, I'll close your eyes so you can't

[00:38:06] quote, how many people do I have to kill before I get my name in the paper or some national attention end quote, woo! Wow, this prompts Wichita Police Chief Richard Lemonyan to call a news conference to tell the public about a new serial killer on the loose called the BTK Strangler. He says quote, we have no reason but to believe the individual has the capability to kill again end quote.

[00:38:35] Now, we do need to talk about the brush of death that a 63-year-old woman named Anna Williams has in April of 1979. BTK had reportedly marked her as his next victim yet when he would bring it to her home, she would not be there. He would go on to take many of her personal items but after a few failed attempts to cross paths with her in her home, he moved on. But this was not before he sent her personal items back to her

[00:39:04] in the mail along with a letter which said quote, Oh Anna, why didn't you appear? End quote. Well, you guys, here is why Anna didn't appear. The evening, BTK waited for her inside her own home in the dark. Anna had gone to a dance, a type of community square dance that evening, and instead of going straight home, she stopped at her daughter's home to visit with her. BTK was waiting in her home for multiple hours before he became so enraged that he left. and he

[00:39:34] left items such as rope, wire, belts, and also was said to have taken some of Miss Williams jewelry. When Anna does return home that evening, she sees a pile of items and quickly picks up her phone to realize that there is no dial tone. Her line has been cut. She has a forethought to flee her apartment immediately. Now, police can go off of BTK's usual MO and believe it was a Miss murder attempt by BTK, but it wouldn't be until

[00:40:04] she receives her belongings back in the mail along with that letter that it's then confirmed. She cheated death. Now, here's a poem that she received in the mail from BTK along with that letter. Now, the poem is called Louisa and it's crossed out and it's replaced with Anna. Just as Anna received a package with his letter, so does news station K-A-K-E TV and they receive a written plan of

[00:40:33] what BTK was intending to do at Miss Williams' home. Now, later that year, the authorities released BTK's voice calls to the police. They now need the public's help as they believe it must be a Wichita resident. They ask everyone to listen to the audio and to please call in with any tips or leads. The police received hundreds of tips yet none of them led down any incredible roads. And it won't be for another

[00:41:02] seven years until BTK strikes again. Or so we think. Join us again next week as we conclude our two-part series of the BTK serial killer. This is True Crime and Headlines. Thank you for being here. I'm Jules. Jen will be back on Friday for Weekly Dispatch. You're wanted, you're loved, and you deserve to be here. Take care, guys.

[00:41:32] Fire Eyes Media. Hi, everybody, and welcome back to True Crime and Headlines with Jules and Jen. Hi, I'm your host today. I'm Jules, and I want to welcome you to part two of the two-part series about the BTK Strangler. Hi, shall we just dive right onto it? Let's go.

[00:42:02] We left you in 1979 with Anna Williams escaping the possibility of a brutal death. All because she made an unplanned stop at her daughter's house on the drive home. We're going to fast forward five years to 1984 because things with BTK have been quiet. In fact, there haven't been any suspected BTK committed crimes or even any communication from BTK himself in five years. And here we are in 1984 where an officer named

[00:42:32] Ken Landwehr heads up a task force created solely to track down BTK. This task force will be named Ghostbusters after the popular movie which was also released in 1984. One of their goals is while they are trying to locate BTK, they're also organizing all the evidence. So the notes, voice recordings, articles of clothing he left behind. Recall, there are items with his bodily fluid which we will later know to be seminal fluid.

[00:43:01] And remember, anything BTK does from the trolling to the stalking to the killing is all to fuel his sexual fantasies. His sexual fantasy is the BTK, the bind, torture, and kill. Sick, I know. Actual penetration of his victims, however, does not appear to occur in most cases. Well, that's just from what we know of thus far. Shortly after the Ghostbusters Task Force is created,

[00:43:31] another victim is strangled to death on April 27, 1985. But first, let me introduce you to family man Dennis Rader. Dennis Rader, a 40-year-old Boy Scout leader, devout church member, involved father of two, son Brian and daughter Carrie, and a loving husband, was in a Boy Scout meeting with his son. It's then that he tells the group he has a headache and he has to return home.

[00:44:01] However, instead of going home, he pulls into a gas station, buys a beer, and ensures he is seen by onlookers as he lets the beer spill out of his mouth all over his clothes. He then proceeds to stumble around and eventually calls a cab to bring him home. As far as anyone knew, Dennis was drunk. Many people witnessed it. The cab driver could smell it. He has the driver drop him off at Park City. A Wichita suburb in front of a woman's home named

[00:44:31] Maureen Hedge. Maureen Hedge, 53, was Dennis Rader's neighbor for 30 years. She was said by those who knew her to be kind and loving and wonderful to know. She lived alone as she was a widow, so when Dennis Rader arrives at her home and sees her car is there but it doesn't look like she is home, he doesn't walk to the door to knock, you know, like a neighbor would typically do, nor does he really sense any fear for his neighbor for any type of killer on the

[00:45:01] loose. No, Dennis Rader does not fear the local serial killer, BTK, because this 40-year-old Boy Scout leader, church leader, father, and loving husband is BTK. He cuts the phone lines and quietly enters her home, realizes she isn't actually there, so he hides in the closet and awaits her return. Maureen does return later, but she unexpectedly has a man with her. This man had driven them

[00:45:31] home and was bringing Maureen home. Dennis Rader, aka BTK, stays quiet in her bedroom closet until the man leaves, and Maureen readies for bed around 1 a.m. It's then that Dennis Rader exits the closet to bind, torture, and kill innocent Maureen Hedge. After he has murdered her, he takes her body to her car and puts her in the trunk. He then proceeds to drive to his church, and then drags her

[00:46:00] body into the basement of his church. To prevent anyone from looking in, he places black tarp in the windows. What he does next is actually not surprising, given the magnitude of demented this individual monster is. He takes photos of Miss Hedge and many different compromising positions. Then he again drags her body up the church basement steps and puts her back in the trunk of her own car and proceeds to drive back near the suburb of

[00:46:30] Wichita in Park City and continues to show his monster instincts by dumping Maureen Hedge's body into a ditch near their homes. Maureen's body is discovered eight days later and her cause of death was reported to be strangulation. But the police do not connect her murder to BTK. And I am curious, is this because this is the first instance where BTK has removed the body from the home, from the scene of the crime? Has his MO changed?

[00:47:00] Was he becoming more sloppy, desperate, or chaotic since it's been five years since his last killing? Allegedly. He's older now as well. Now he's 40. Here I'll read Dennis Rader's own words that were transcribed from his confession in court in conversation with the judge. Just to remind everybody, first person narrative can never be trusted. So, listen and believe what you will or what you will not. Here we are.

[00:47:29] Quote, well actually, kind of like the other, she was chosen. I went through the different phases, you know, the stalking phase, and since she lived down the street from me, I could watch her coming and going quite easily. On that particular day, I had another commitment. Came back from that commitment, parked my car over at Woodlawn in 21st Street, you know, it was a bowling alley at the time. Before that, I dressed into, I had some of the clothes on. I changed clothes. I went to the bowling alley. I went in there under the precepts of bowling, called a taxi, had a

[00:47:59] taxi take me to Park City, had my kit with me. It was a bowling bag. End quote. The judge then asked Dennis Rader how he knew Marine Hedge and he proceeds to tell him that he would wave when passing by and do the neighborly chats, that this here was nothing personal. They were just neighbors. On September 16th, 1986, Bill Weggirl's life will be forever changed for the worst. His high school sweetheart and wife, Vicki Weggirl, then just

[00:48:28] 28 and mother to Stephanie, 10, and two-year-old son Brandon, was murdered. Bill was driving home to have lunch with Vicki's son Brandon when he sees his wife's car on the road, but it's not his wife driving. Instead, it's someone he doesn't recognize. He continues on to his home and upon entering, he observes toddler Brandon playing alone on the floor in the middle of the home. Bill begins to search the home before his wife and finally finds her. She's in their bedroom, on the

[00:48:57] floor, behind their bed, and she's still alive, you guys. She's rushed to the hospital, but she is ultimately pronounced dead. And for the next 18 years, Bill will remain the main suspect in his wife's murder. His kids would continue to hear whispers at school about how your dad is a murderer, your dad is a killer. And Bill would continue to proclaim his innocence, all while grieving his wife's murder, dealing

[00:49:26] with the trauma of discovering her, raising his kids as a widower, and continuing on with his life as best as this man could. The man driving his wife's car in the road was Dennis Rader. And when Bill passed him, it was Dennis, a.k.a. BTK, who was disposing any evidence from that murder. So how did Vicky become BTK's next proclaimed PJ, you know, the project? Well, according to BTK, he just happened

[00:49:56] to walk by her home often and would hear her playing the piano from inside her home. It's then that he meticulously thought about how he would kill her. Around 10 a.m., after her husband had left for work and her daughter was at school, the killer cut her phone line, sticking, you know, with his usual M.O. He then dressed as a telephone repair man and knocked on her door. She believes him when he tells her that, you know, he's here to fix her phone and she lets him into her home.

[00:50:26] He rushes her by gunpoint into her bedroom and tries to first bind her, but she fights back, and she fights back so tough that she leaves marks on his body. He cannot control her enough to tie her up, so he quickly strangles her to get her to stop fighting back. It's then that he again takes photos of her, posing her in different positions before he takes her car and takes off. And thus it's then that Vicky's innocent husband drives past her car and soon

[00:50:56] arrives just moments after his wife's killer has fled. And it won't be until five more years later, on January 19th, 1991, when Dennis Rader, a.k.a. BTK, kills for his final time, allegedly. And again, he chooses an ulnar victim as he has come to realize they appear to be more vulnerable and easily overpowered. And again, he doesn't branch out very far from his family home neighborhood.

[00:51:25] His last victim is a woman named Dolores Davis. Now, Dolores Davis was living on her own just a mile and a half away from Dennis Rader. He had first noticed her when he saw her outside. And then he marked her for his next PJ project. Dennis Rader was again on a Boy Scout event trip with his son. This time it's a camping trip and it's July 19th, 1991. And Dennis has to come up with an excuse

[00:51:54] to plan to leave to execute his final killing. Once he leaves the troop, he then drives to his own parents' house and it's there that he changes out of his Boy Scout uniform and puts on what he calls his hit clothes. And what we will see during the final killing is the duplicity of BTK as a, quote, family man, end quote, and then as a killer. He was in the middle of being an involved father to doing what he calls as cubing, a.k.a.

[00:52:24] flipping into his BTK persona. Now, this is coming from his own description. He then drives to the local church and parks his car there, which wouldn't be out of the ordinary to be seen. Boop! He then drives his car to the local church and he parks it there, which wouldn't be out of the ordinary to be seen at a church as he was a church leader as well. That's right. He was a leader for the church in that community.

[00:52:53] He continues his plan on foot by walking to Dolores' home. He waits patiently outside her home, hiding stocking for Dolores to show signs that she's gone to bed. And once he believes she has done so, the killer uses a brick to break into her home. Now, this does cause a lot of noise and Dolores quickly comes out of her bedroom to investigate. It's then that Dennis Reiter resorts to his original intruder, M.O. He was a convict. He needed money. He needed car, etc.

[00:53:23] He proceeds to bind her, torture her, then kill her, just like his last victim. He puts Dolores in the trunk of her own car. He then proceeds to bind her, torture her, and then kill her. And just like a victim prior, he puts Dolores in the trunk of her own car. He then drives her to a nearby lake, still within the same park city suburb of Wichita, and leaves her body under some trees, slightly covered. He then drives her car back to her house, cleans the surfaces to

[00:53:52] erase any evidence, and walks back to the church. He changes back into his scout uniform and rejoins his son and the troop for the remainder of the camping trip. The next evening, however, the killer returns to where he left Dolores, and it's then that he takes photos of her. Now, he does use a Polaroid, and he did keep all the photos, so it's assumed that the photos are still in state's custody, and were used as evidence in the case against Dennis Rader.

[00:54:21] And here we find ourselves from 1991 to 2004 without hearing a word from BTK. No calls to police, no letters, no sick poems, and no killings which would resemble BTK style. That is, you guys, until January in 2004 when Dennis Rader sees a 30-year anniversary article special on the killings of the Otero family in his local paper, the Wichita Eagle. The article contains

[00:54:51] information on BTK and recounts all that transpired. This seemingly reignites Dennis Rader to enter his BTK role, or as he called it, to cube. And just two months later, in March of 2004, BTK announces that the BTK serial killer has returned. Dennis Rader was born in Kansas and raised in Wichita with his mother and father and three younger brothers. As far as appearances go, he seemingly had a

[00:55:20] fairly normal upbringing and family, and both of his parents worked long hours, and so the kids were often alone for long periods of time. He does report as a young child he would secretly hang and strangle stray animals. Knowing Boy Scouts, which, you know, recall he was very later heavily involved with as an adult with his son's troop. But the whole leaving the Boy Scouts trip to commit murder thing is just something that it's hard for us to wrap our minds around, obviously.

[00:55:49] But Dennis was also not a stellar academic student in school. It was reported by the website Psychology Today that Dennis was average to below average, and that, quote, exhibited an introverted and withdrawn personality, end quote. Young Dennis was also very involved with his family's local church, a Lutheran denomination. This is also a theme which carries out into adulthood. You know, you guys, it appears that he leans into places of familiarity to hide in plain sight. We've got Boy Scouts, his

[00:56:18] family, a church, the suburbs. In fact, the only type of social interactions that Dennis participated in as a child was through church or Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts would also likely offer Rader a place of familiarity and confidence. He gained skills in trying multiple different types of knots, which was a skill he continued to carry later on into his crimes. Once Dennis Rader was arrested, a forensic psychologist named Tony Rurik conducted Dennis Rader's initial assessment.

[00:56:46] Psychology Today shares what Mr. Tony Rurik concluded about Dennis' childhood. Quote, If Rader was completely honest, which he is not, I am sure that he would find some sort of childhood event that Rader immediately associated with feelings of sexuality. Somehow, very early on, Rader encountered an event where he immediately leaked sexual pleasure with watching a living creature suffer and die. And after that first encounter, Rader probably began to work very hard to nurture those feelings. End quote.

[00:57:16] I know we've previously talked about how Dennis Rader is very open and honest about his killings, but that wasn't until he was in court having pled guilty and he was confessing his crimes to the judge. And that's only the crimes that he did confess to. We still believe he is responsible for more killings, which we will dive into in our next episode. However, by multiple accounts, Dennis Rader would be considered a pathological liar. How could he not be in order to live this

[00:57:46] duplicitous life? Is it possible he doesn't remember a type of trauma which occurred? Or could he have just been born this way? By Dennis' own admission, he says that he actually began to have sexual fantasies of dominance, bondage, and torture from a young age. As young as elementary school, he goes on to explain that by puberty, he's fully envisioning acting out those fantasies in his mind. When he graduates high school in 1964, he goes on to attend college where he actually doesn't do too

[00:58:16] well, not surprisingly, but continuing with the theme of achieving mediocre grades. He does end up dropping out a few years later, and when he's 21, he joins the United States Air Force. It's there that he spies on women getting dressed, and he also does a string of break-ins to steal women's undergarments. He goes on to stay in the United States Air Force from 1966 through 1970, and just one year after he is back home, he meets a woman named Paula Dietz and marries her in 1971.

[00:58:47] Born to an engineer and a librarian, Paula was also raised in Kansas in a religious household, and she went on to graduate with an accounting degree in 1970, and it's shortly after that when she meets Dennis Rader. They were not together very long, you guys. It's actually less than a year from when they met to when they actually got married in 1971. And just two years later, 1973, Dennis graduates from a community college with an associate's degree in electronics, which does help him in his job as an ADT,

[00:59:15] security install man, installing security systems in homes. Now, he would have that job from 1974 through 1988. And it's not lost on us that Dennis Rader was installing many of the home security systems for Wichita residents who were scared about the BTK killer entering their homes. Also in 1973, Dennis and Paula Rader would welcome their child together, a son named Brian.

[00:59:45] And that is bringing us back to the beginning of Dennis Rader's time as the bind, torture, and kill serial killer. As just a few months after the birth of his first child, you guys, Dennis Rader would commit his first murders, the Otero family murders, Julie, Josephine, Joseph, and Joey Jr. in January of 1974. While his wife cared for their

[01:00:13] three-month newborn, Dennis Rader would carry out his sex-sickening fantasies in real life. From 1974 through 1977, Dennis Rader was continuing his work as the ADT security installer. Now, during this time, Dennis Rader as BTK killed the four Otero family members, and then he killed Catherine Bright in 1974. And it's not until 77 he kills again, taking the lives of Shirley Vann and Nancy Fox.

[01:00:42] Now, he goes dormant as BTK until 1985. So, what was he doing during that dormant time? We have 1978 through 1985 where we don't hear a thing from BTK. Well, Dennis and Paula would go on to welcome a second child in 1978, a daughter named Carrie. You guys, he was busy with two young children, and he decides to go back to college.

[01:01:11] In 1979, he graduates with a bachelor's degree in administration of justice. In 1985, he takes the life of Maureen Hedge. And in 1989, Dennis changes jobs, and he is now working as a census field operations supervisor. And just a few short years later, just two years later, he takes on another job of authority. As a Park City compliance officer.

[01:01:40] Remember, Park City is a suburb of Wichita where he lives with his family. And he also becomes a dog catcher. And it's also in 1991 that Dennis Rader kills his final victim, Dolores Davis, allegedly. Now, when reading about this case, the time in between Rader's killings are often referred to as dormant times. However, an Oxygen.com article quotes a professor of psychology named Catherine Ramsland. She wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer, The Untold Story of Dennis Rader,

[01:02:09] the BTK Killer, by saying, quote, They were detailed lists with names of projects, dates, locations, circumstances that would have happened to people had he had the full amount of time that he needed and they were home, she said. It's not like he was inactive during those periods of time. It's that he didn't have all the right circumstances to go forward with doing something. End quote. Dennis also would bind himself. He would dress in women's garments

[01:02:38] and strangle himself with rope, oftentimes tying himself up and taking photos of himself. It was reported that he was trying to emulate his victims, and this brought on sexual pleasure for him in between killings. These photos, along with his kill kit items, souvenirs, and victim photos, would all go on to be discovered in different locations. As he later told authorities, of multiple hiding spots to find each item. He does, however, admit that he had so many hiding spots

[01:03:07] that he couldn't even recall where everything was. Now, you guys recall, this is a span of three decades. Rolling Stone magazine reports that, quote, he kept them in hiding places throughout the county, some in his home and church, others buried or taped to bridges. He called them hidey holes. And while investigators uncovered many of the souvenirs he took from his victims, even Rader doesn't remember exactly where all of them are anymore. End quote. You know, guys, what I find most disturbing

[01:03:37] is that he kept so many items in his own home, under the floor of his home, and in his own family garage. Professor psychology Catherine Ramsland explains that Rader was so involved in the trolling, stalking, and meticulous planning that he required a big chunk of time to carry out his crimes against his list of PJ's projects. Dennis Rader at one time reportedly had a list of over 55 individuals whom he was looking to stalk, but just did not have enough time.

[01:04:07] Ramsland continues to analyze Rader by explaining how she believes that it was Rader's jobs was some type of authority which contributed to his ability to take long periods of breaks in between killings. His own photos of himself helped scratch that itch, all while he admits he never stopped trolling. And all during this time, he's carrying out the facade of a good husband, a good employer, the rule follower and enforcer, and the deacon of the church. But was he?

[01:04:37] His own daughter Carrie considers her father a psychopathic narcissist. Although she recounts how she had a great childhood and he taught her ethics, morals, and kindness, she goes on to explain that the way we can best learn about killers like her father is by studying them, which is a big reason why she wrote her own book titled A Serial Killer's Daughter, My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming. And here we go, you guys. This is how BTK was caught. Now, he was caught before he was able to execute

[01:05:06] the rest of his list of over 55 names on his project, his PJ list. So here we go. The Wichita Eagle publishes a 30-year anniversary article on the 1974 mass killing of the four Otero family murders, which includes extensive writings about BTK. And it's on March 17, 2004, that the Wichita Eagle receives a letter with the return address of the name Bill Thomas Kilmore with the initials BTK.

[01:05:36] Inside the letter were items seemingly included to prove that the correspondence was indeed coming from BTK himself. There were three photocopies of Polaroid photos of the ones he took of Vicki Wigirl along with Vicki's driver's license. And to sign the envelope, he did his symbol signature, which he has done in past correspondence. Of course, the letter gets sent off to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where they in turn release information to the public via the media and the internet about the BTK case

[01:06:04] gearing up once again. It's also noted that at the time of the Wichita 30-anniversary coverage of the Otero family and the BTK hysteria, that a book reporting on BTK was also released. Now, it was titled Nightmare in Wichita, The Hunt for the BTK Strangler by lawyer Robert Beattie. And it was said to have angered BTK as he felt that people were telling his story for him. And it was time for him to come back out to continue his story on his own.

[01:06:34] Now, is that the narcissism showing? About seven weeks later, on May 5th, 2004, the BTK killer cannot stop himself from feeding into the fame resurfaced and proceeds to then send local news station KAKETV a puzzle. The puzzle included words that describe Dennis Rader's process, such as prowl, and also a list of what seemed to be disguises such as servicemen. What's even more odd is it even included

[01:07:04] four individual numbers, which they would realize after Rader is arrested are the actual numbers of his home address. CNN reported that assistant managing editor Timothy Rogers said, quote, it could be the killer's way of saying, hey, it was all there in front of your face and you just didn't see it, end quote. Now, fast forward seven more months to December of 2004 when BTK starts amping up his public messages and packages. He leaves a Barbie doll which he has strangled

[01:07:33] and attached to a part of a PVC pipe, details which nod to the Otero murder of young Josephine who was hanged from the pipes in the basement of her own home. He seems to be adding more and more clues. For what? To enjoy this cat-mouse game with authorities, perhaps? Does he possibly believe that they also enjoy it? BTK leaves a plastic bag wrapped in rubber bands in a local park. A man out walking finds it, takes it home, and opens it out of curiosity.

[01:08:02] Inside is the driver's license of Nancy Fox. He delivers the package to KAKETV News Station who in turn rightfully turn it over immediately to the police. This is the confirmation that Nancy was BTK's victim and this was BTK actually corresponding with them. Just a few weeks later in January of 2005, BTK sends a postcard containing more clues. This time, it was a postcard

[01:08:31] sent again to the news station with instructions on where to find the other packages. The police were able to locate the items and inside the first package they found descriptions of the Otero murder that only the killer and the police would know. He also asked if they had found his other message he previously left at Home Depot. While not knowing about this one, the police head over to Home Depot immediately and after questioning employees, it came about that one worker found a cereal box in the bed of his truck. Assuming it was trash,

[01:09:01] he tosses it. But the police are able to recover it from the man's trash and it's this message which will lead to BTK's capture. Well, what is this message? BTK asked the police if he would be able to communicate with them using a floppy disk without the police being able to trace it back to him and for the police to reply to him by putting an ad in the paper if it's okay with the words Rex, it will be okay. And this is why I'm left to wonder

[01:09:30] if Dennis Rader really did believe the police enjoyed the game of cat and mouse. You know, that same month police take out an ad in the newspaper just as instructed and on January 28th an undercover detective has a Wichita Eagle newspaper print the following ad Rex, it will be okay contact me PO Box first four reference numbers at 67202. And as suspected Dennis Rader replies to the ad within six days by again sending

[01:10:00] a letter to KAKETV confirming he did indeed see the message. And now they wait. Could BTK truly send a floppy disk to them? Would this really happen? You know, they're waiting for this floppy disk which will hopefully be arriving from the serial killer BTK which can absolutely be traced. It was just about three weeks after confirmation from BTK that on February 16th 2005

[01:10:29] a floppy disk arrives to police. They immediately hand it to their cyber cop specialist who gets to work to access the floppy disk's metadata. Each disk has something called metadata which is basically an identifier or users with the disk. The metadata on the disk was obtained and it said the last user was by a quote Dennis at Christ Lutheran Church at Park City Library. End quote.

[01:10:58] The police were quick to discover that the church's president was a man named Dennis Rader. Within the next nine days, authorities worked behind the scenes to gather as much information on Dennis Rader as they can. Now, you'll recall in the past parts of this episode we covered that the BTK killer left behind physical DNA evidence which was collected and stored securely throughout the years. The task force titled The Ghostbusters was ready to bring Dennis in after they confirmed matching DNA. So how did they

[01:11:28] do this without tipping Dennis off that they knew who he truly was? How did they get his DNA? Okay, this part gets a bit controversial and I'm curious to know your thoughts on this, but I'm just going to state the facts. The police obtained a warrant to get medical records from BTK Dennis Rader's daughter's university where five years prior she had a pap smear. And it's on February 25th, 2005, the BTK killer is finally stopped. And that's not all they stopped. The subsequent

[01:11:58] capture of BTK Dennis Rader meant that they stopped any planned future projects. Those were stopped. Those people were saved. But did he do more murders? We don't know yet, but we're going to talk next week to somebody who thinks that she's cracked the 2004 word search that Dennis Rader sent to the KAKETV news station. And what she has to say is going to blow your mind, so make sure you come back next week. You guys, that's crazy. On June

[01:12:27] 27, 2005, Dennis Rader pleads guilty, and on August 18, 2005, Dennis is sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms in prison where he remains today. One common question which I often saw in my research for this case was how did the family just not know? Well, BTK's daughter, Carrie, she recalls a time in her book looking back that there were some signs, but overall she says he was 95% an amazing dad and father. She does recount one time that when she came home to visit from college,

[01:12:57] they were all at the dinner table, and her father lunged across at her brother during an argument and had been the local BTK serial killer, they would have immediately told authorities. Carrie goes on to explain how hard it was to believe that BTK was the same man as her father. The trauma and PTSD that his daughter has shared about going through is immense, and she is living her life the best way she can amid the reality of the monster who

[01:13:27] she now knows was her father. She hopes that people will be able to learn from her story and experience as a serial killer's daughter for one purpose. You guys, it's this, to stop people like her father in the future and to end the murders of innocent people. Thank you for being here, guys. Thank you for caring, for always being open to learning and for diving deeper into these cases, learning about the why, not just the how. This has been True Kremit Headlines. I'm your host, Jewel Thorpe. Jen Rivera will be back with us

[01:13:57] next week, and this concludes our coverage of Dennis Rader, the BTK strangler, serial killer. I'll see you guys next week, and don't forget, you're wanted, you're loved, and your voice matters, so go ahead and use it, baby. FireEyes Media.