B.T.K.

What can you say about these three simple letters: B.T.K. – Begin. Try. Know? Believe. Think. Keep? No! It means Bind. Torture. Kill.

B.T.K is the gruesome story of Dennis L. Rader, a murderer who systematically tortured and killed his victims for over two decades while evading the police for over 30 years. Living a seemingly normal life as a husband, father, security officer and church president, Rader`s unquenchable thirst for blood ultimately led him to commit the most horrific crimes imaginable. Shocking and full of suspense, B.T.K is a grisly alias of the man, whose way of committing crime was to bind, to torture and to kill.

T he Mystery Begins.

O n January 15, 1974 shortly before 4:00 PM, three young children arrived home from school in Wichita, Kansas to find their father, Joseph Otero, mother, Julie Otero, and their two siblings Josephine (age 11) and Joseph II (age 9) strangled to death in their home. Joseph was found lying face down on the floor with his hands and feet bound with a cord that had been ripped from a Venetian blind from one of the rooms. Julie was found in the bedroom, lying on the bed, bound in a similar manner. Both appeared to have been strangled by a strip of cord cut from the Venetian blind. The investigation commenced into what would soon turn out to be one of the Nation's most bizarre and long-lasting serial killing sprees.

Police discovered 9 year old Joseph Jr. in his bedroom lying near the foot of his bed. He was also tied with cord but appeared to have been suffocated with a plastic bag placed over his head rather than choked with the cord itself. They found 11 year old Josephine in the basement hanging by a rope tied to a water pipe - she was wearing only a sweatshirt and socks. Police found that the phone lines leading into the home had been cut, disabling all communications to the dwelling. The family car, a 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon, was also missing. Further investigation revealed semen in various locations around the house - concentrated mostly around the victims’ bodies.

L ater that day, sometime around 7:00 PM, the police found the Otero vehicle at a nearby Dillons parking lot. The parking lot was less than one mile from the Otero's home. The vehicle was parked in the center of the lot near a light pole, easily visible from the street. The killer had apparently driven the vehicle into the lot entrance and parked the car in the first empty spot available. Police presumed the killer drove the vehicle directly from the scene of the murders to the parking lot and then fled the parking lot on foot.

The First Letters Arrive.

Soon after, a Wichita Eagle newspaper reporter received an anonymous phone call. The enigmatic caller told the reporter that he could find valuable clues in a Mechanical Engineering book in the Wichita Public library. The reporter tracked down the book and found a letter tucked inside. The author of the letter claimed responsibility for the Otera killings and provided additional details that nobody but the killer could have possibly known. During the next few weeks, more letters arrived at the Wichita Eagle newspaper taunting the police investigators. They were signed BTK, or "bind, torture, kill":

“I write this letter to you for the sake of the tax payer as well as your time. Those three dudes you have in custody are just talking to get publicity for the Otero murders, they know nothing at all. I did it by myself and no one’s help. There has been no talk either. Let’s put it straight.

Joe: Position: Southwest bedroom, feet tie to the bed. Head pointed in a southerly direction. Bondage: Window blind cord. Garrote: Blind cord, brown belt. Death: The old bag trick and strangulation with clothes line rope. Clothed: White sweat shirt, green pants. Comments: He threw up at one time. Had rib injury from wreck few week before. Laying on coat.

Julie: Position:Laying on her back crosswise on the bed pointed in southwestern direction. Face cover with a pillow. Bondage: Blind cord. Garrote: Clothes line cord tie in a clove-hitch. Death : Strangulation twice. Clothes: Blue house coat, black slack, white sock. Comments: Blood on face from too much pressure on the neck, bed unmade.

Josephine: Position: Hanging by the neck in the northwest part of the basement. Dryer or freezer north of her body. Bondage: Hand tie with blind cord. Feet and lower knees, upper knees and waist with clothes line cord. All one length. Garrote: Rough hemp rope 1/4 dia., noose with four or five turns. Clothes: Dark bra cut in the middle, sock. Death: Strangulation once, hung. Comments: Most of her clothes at the bottom of the stairs, green pants, and panties. Her glasses in the southwest bedroom.

Joseph: Position: In the east bedroom laying on his back pointed in eastern direction. Bondage: Blind cord. Garrote: Three hoods; white T-shirt, white plastic bag, another T-shirt Clothes line cord with clove-hitch. Death: Suffocation once, strangulation-suffocation with the old bag trick. Clothes: Brown pants, yellow-brown stripe T-shirt Comments: His radio is blaring .

All victims had their hands tied behind their backs. Gags of pillow case material. Slip knots on Joe and Joseph neck to hold leg down or was at one time. Purse contents south of the table. Spilled drink in that area also, kids making lunches. Door shade in red chair in the living room. Otero's watch missing. I needed one so I took it. Runs good. Thermostat turn down. Car was dirty inside, out of gas.