He was one of this country's most notorious serial killers, tying up, torturing, and murdering 10 people in the city of Wichita from 1974 until he was arrested in 2004.

And now it has been revealed that Dennis Rader, who dubbed himself the BTK killer for his method of 'bind, torture, kill', had planned an 11th killing but was caught before he could carry it out.

Rader says he had picked out a woman to be his 'magnum opus' and planned to mutilate her in her own home before hanging her upside down and burning the place to the ground.

Dennis Rader, who killed 10 people in Wichita during a 30-year reign of terror, has told of how he picked an 11th victim but was arrested before he could kill her

The deranged killer even claims to have made it to the woman's back door and knocked, but was scared away when a street crew turned up to do work outside.

Police have admitted that they were aware of the proposed crime at the time, but suppressed the details to spare further trauma to the proposed victim.

The dramatic claims are revealed in a new book by Katherine Ramsland, a professor at DeSales University, entitled Confession Of A Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, The BTK Killer.

All proceeds from sales of the books will go to the victims' families trust fund.

Ramsland worked with Rader on the book from behind bars, where he is serving ten life sentences because Kansas did not have a death penalty when he was convicted.

Lust and a desire for fame and power drove Rader, a seemingly ordinary married father-of-two who worked for a security company, to murder, the book claims.

Wichita police detectives who captured Rader in 2005 told the Wichita Eagle they are incensed with the pride he exhibits as he goes into detail about the tortures he planned to inflict on the 11th victim.

Joesph Otero (left) was Rader's fist victim, strangled to death in 1974 inside his home alongside his wife Julie (right) and two of their five children

Joey Otero was just nine years old when he was killed by Rader in his bedroom, while sister Josephine was hanged in the basement

'For him to reveal this information now is cruel,' said Tim Relph, a former BTK task force investigator.

Relph and fellow task force investigator Kelly Otis said the book allows Rader to carry out one more act of horror.

Rader wrote three and a half pages of the book about his plans for his last kill.

'This was supposed to be my opus, my grand finale, and to make it different, I would set the house on fire using propane canisters,' he wrote.

He said he got into the woman's backyard and knocked on her door, but aborted his plan when a city street crew showed up unexpectedly to work outside the house.

He planned to kill her the following spring, but was arrested in February 2005 after a desperate urge for public attention led police to him.

Kathryn Bright (left) was attacked by Rader in 1974 with a knife and tried to fight him off, but died later from her wounds. Shirley Vian (right), was strangled to death in 1977

Rader broke into Nancy Fox's home (left) in 1977 and waited for her to come home before strangling her. Marine Hedge (right), who lived on the same street as Rader, was strangled to death in 1985 before Rader posed for pictures with her body in a church basement

Otis said the problem with Rader's testimony is that most of it is fantasy, although police found that a street crew did show up outside her house on October 22, 2004.

Police said they suppressed most of the details of the planned murder for 11 years because they feared what the shock of a public revelation might do to the woman.

But authorities did inform the woman after finding out that defense attorneys for Rader had hired investigators who might contact her.

'She's a pretty tough lady, but this shook her up quite a bit,' Relph said.

Rader's daughter, Kerri Rawson, told the newspaper that her father cooperated on the book because he's proud of his murders.

Rader got into Vicki Wegerle's home (left) in 1987 while posing as a repairman before strangling her to death. Dolores Davis (right) was strangled to death in 1991

Rader also posed with Davis's body, placing a mask over her face (pictured). He often left calling cards at the scene of his crimes, and sometime masturbated over the bodies

She said the book feeds his ego and his narcissism, and disputed some of the accounts of his family life in the book.

'He's a psychopath,' she said. 'You can't take anything he says as truth.'