BTK suspect charged with 10 murders (1 Viewer)

[Micheal]

The BTK suspect Dennis Rader has been charged with 10 murders.

Not too bright. After all this time I wonder what made him come back.

I feel sorry for this guy who as a child witnessed his mothers brutal murder at the hands of Dennis Radar.
Sad

It seems like there are more and more serial killers who end up having a normal family life going on while maintaining life as a serial killer. Both of his kids are adults so some of this must have been going on while he was a "family" man.

 

[andrew markworthy]

Often serial killers get a feeling that they are invincible and will taunt the police because they feel they can get away with it. One theory is that Shipman forged the will because he thought he could get away with anything. Eventually of course such killers slip up (in Shipman's case, the murdered woman with the will had a daughter who was a lawyer and who smelt a rat) and that's when they are caught.

 

[Jeffrey Noel]

I was in Wichita this past weekend and boy was it quite busy with BTKs capture. I feel much better as my fiance lives in Wichita while finishing up occupational therapy school.



This is on everybody's mind. People say it's guilt, some say it's that he missed the attention. We'll probably never know.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I heard speculation last night that there was a murder of 3 people that he explicitly denied (through BTK letters) having anything to do with. Some parts of these murders fit his profile. The person speaking felt that he slipped up somewhere with this killing, so he denied it and and then kept clean for a long time. Not the typical serial killer pattern, but I'm sure more is going to come out in the next few months/years.

 

[Keith_R]

The pic of Radar and the description of his controlling, strict behavior from his neighbors and acquaintences definently is a red flag in my mind. I think it's great that they caught him.

However, I can't help but feel that there is something wrong with this case. How could a guy with a family and a member of the church go for 30 years killing people and never once be suspected by his family or fellow church-goers? it seems to me that in 30 years of murders he would have slipped up or done something odd to make the people around him suspicious. Radar definently doesn't fit the typical serial killer profile to me, except for his controlling behavior.

 

[D. Scott MacDonald]

Many serial killers tend to blend in quite well, which is why they are so successful. Most people that know most serial killers are very shocked to learn the news.

We were just watching a show the other day that was documenting a very similar individual. The man murdered his entire family because he felt they were morally corrupt, and then assumed a new identity in Colorado for 15 years or so before he was finally caught due to a composite bust shown on America's Most Wanted. He was also very active and respected in his church, and everybody that knew him (including his new wife) thought that this poor man was an innocent victim until they learned that he wasn't.

 

[Grant B]

I read about him in the Guardian, almost 0 coverage here in the US about him.
Amazing

BTK - I always think 'Bacon Tomato & Ketchup'

 

[RobertR]

What's especially horrifying and creepy to me is to read about the sexual gratification that Rader would get from the brutal, inhuman, merciless, prolonged torture of his victims.

I wish he could be fried.

 

[Micheal]

Reading the report of the boy (now a man) who witnessed his mothers brutal attack and murder was awful.
I can't even imagine... :frowning:

 

[Mike Brogan]

The Crime Library
has a ton of in-depth coverage on the BTK Strangler, creepy stuff.

 

[andrew markworthy]

I find it incredible that you guys haven't heard more about him. 260 victims and to make it really creepy, a doctor who was killing his patients.

 

[Robert_Gaither]

I think what's ridiculous is the amount of attention we put into a punk like this person, I bet right now he's sitting in his cell revelling in all the media attention. The problem with our society is that we give evil punks like him his 15 minutes of fame way more than the people who volunteer at soup kitchens, parenting foster homes for children in need, and those who volunteer their time to take care of the elderly in nursing homes. Then people wonder why punks like serial killers may have a few copy cats that kill in their name (luckily to my knowledge Rader didn't "inspire" any others to do this).

 

[Jeff Gatie]

By the way, can we please stop blaming poor Gary Burghoff for this guy's crimes? Corp. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly was nowhere near the scene. This guy's name was spelled R-A-D-E-R, big difference.

 

[Micheal]

He wrote a letter to a victim who had lost her two daughters and her husband (if I recall) in the same style as the BTK victims. He denied the killings in the letter but mentioned that he was a fan of the killer. Sick but true.

They arrested someone for that crime but he was acquitted. The police still believe that they arrested the right man. I'm sure BTK would have took credit for it so maybe it was a copy cat.

Who knows.

 

[Joe Szott]

I agree and disagree. I agree that the media should try to prevent this from becoming a circus show and they go way, way overboard. But I would argue that this isn't a society flaw, but a human flaw. People want to read about this stuff, they want to see the worst of life (as long as it is happening to someone else.) The papers just give them what sells the most papers.

You need only see all the rubbernecking occurring at accidents to get an idea of what people want to see. Heck, the Roman Empire held itself together for hundreds of years by letting people watch gladiators kill each other or animals mauling Rome's social outcasts. We don't have gladiator events anymore, but we do have cameras and papers to soak up all the blood and misery for daily digest.

I don't know, people might copy-cat a murder but they have a heavy leaning to do it anyway IMO. It's one thing to want the publicity for a crime, it's another to keep killing after you have personally witnessed the pain, suffering, and ugliness of the actual act. Anyone that could do that again isn't a copy cat, they were a stone cold killer already just looking for an excuse.

But you are right, the media can make you sick with what they cover. That's why I pick and choose my news online, only watch the TV stuff for the weather or special events (parades, whatnot.) They make you feel like everything is death and suffering, really unbalanced view of our daily culture (but that's my opinion.)

 

[Micheal]

Andrew, I find it sad that a doctor with a death count as high as 36 patients a year can go on unchecked. Very sad indeed.

Hopefully they will work on a better policy that will pay attention to such a huge red flag.



Shooting up elderly patients with Morphine is sick but sadly there is varying levels of "creepy".

 

[andrew markworthy]

Agreed.

Isn't it a really sick world we live in where we have so many serial killers that we could actually create a 'league table' according to how unpleasant the deaths they inflicted were?

 

[Micheal]

Agreed.

I've read up on many serial killers lately and I still can't get over the fact that they allowed Ted Bundy to escape not once, but twice. Especially since he went on a killing rampage during his second round as a fugitive. :frowning: