WICHITA, Kan.

Dennis Rader, suspected by police of being the “BTK”

killer, was working as an alarm technician when most of the

serial murders took place. Rader worked at the Wichita,

Kan., branch of ADT Security between 1974 and 1988

according to media sources. Rader was arrested Feb. 25 and

faces 10 charges of first-degree murder in the BTK murders

that took place from 1974 to 1991. BTK stands for

the “bind, torture and kill” method used by the killer.

Former co-workers at ADT told the Los Angeles Times

that Rader was nicknamed “Blue Book Man” for the way he had

memorized every regulation in ADT’s policy manual. “He

followed them to the T,” Denise Mattock, a sales secretary

who says she was a “good buddy” of Rader’s told the

Times. “That’s the kind of guy he was: Rules were

meant for everyone and rules were not meant to be

broken.”

After four years in the Air Force that ended in 1972, the

Times says Rader used the technical skills he picked

up in the service to join ADT in November 1974. Earlier in

the year, the first five BTK murders took place and a

letter sent by the killer contained so much detail that

authorities profiled the killer as taking meticulous notes

and sketches after the murders describing the crime

scenes.

In his 14 years at ADT, co-workers say Rader, who rose up

to become installation supervisor, was known for the

intricate sketches of clients’ places of business and

homes. “There was a lot of detail in his work – almost to

the point where it seemed he was a little anal about it,”

former ADT co-worker Mike Tavares told the Times.

The murders continued with two taking place in 1977. During

this time, Mattocks says she asked Rader if she should get

an alarm system for her home. Rader then told her not to

bother because “BTK usually cuts the phone lines before

entering a house, disabling the alarm system.”

It is of note that during this time period, residential

systems were rare and ADT had a much more substantial

commercial client list than residential. Media reports also

say that there is no evidence that the murder victims were

ADT clients. However, all of the murders that took place

while Rader was at ADT took place during the day and

Rader’s hours in the field were usually between 8 a.m. and

4:30 p.m.

Rader left ADT in July 1988 and later became code officer

for Park City, Kan.