October 26, 2018 ▸ People, True Crime

Episode 342: Dennis Rader: The BTK Killer

On this episode of the Sofa King Podcast, we dive into some more files from our True Crime department and look at the career of the American serial killer, Dennis Rader, also known as BTK. The BTK Killer murdered a total of ten people in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. However, he wasn’t caught and tried until 2005. His Modus Operandi is different than many serial killers, and Brad and Dave both think he’s a punk and a poser. More on that later…

Dennis Rader was born to a typical family, and he didn’t seem to tick all the boxes of serial killers, like crazy mothers and over-religious family life. He is said to have tortured and killed animals, but this was of his own admission, which can be untruthful at times. After dropping out of college, joining the Air Force, and settling down back in Kansas, he started multiple jobs and eventually gave into his desire to kill. But, he wasn’t very good at it.

He needed several attempts to successfully strangle people, and he didn’t even have a kill kit or anything as sophisticated as that when he started. While most serial killers do so out of some strange suppressed rage or sexual fetish, it seems Dennis Rader killed because he idolized serial killers. He read books about them and taunted the media and police because he basically thought it was cool and wanted the attention. In other words, he was a try-hard and a poser.

Eventually, in the 1990s, he was said to have mastered his desire to kill and would dress up as victims and pleasure himself to keep from killing. He had a family and kids and became a Boy Scout Leader and church mentor. But he couldn’t take it, the normal life. He had to be BTK.

Eventually, in 2004, he started to send messages, riddles, dolls, crime scene photos, and other things to taunt the local media and cops. He gave himself his own nickname (in spite of what Brent always says about nicknames) using the media, and he wanted other successes as well.

Why did he taunt the cops for no reason after all these years? How did this taunting get him arrested? What clues did he leave behind, and why was it his own dumbass fault? What was “Factor X,” and how did link everyone from Son of Sam to Jack the Ripper? What made Rader think he had a demon living inside him? What was the profile of his victims, and why was he allowed to write a book and sell it from inside of prison? What did BTK stand for, and why are Brad and Dave not impressed? Listen, laugh, and learn.

Full Confession Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvWOje46Xp8