Dennis Rader
(BTK Killer)
Background
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Born in Pittsburg, Kansas
Parents are Dorothea and William Rader
Oldest of four sons
Graduated from Wichita State University
Married to Paula Dietz
Had two children
Worked for ADT Security
Crimes
Crime
Date
Victim(s)
Punishment
Murder
January 1974
Otero Family
4 Life Sentences
Murder
April 1974
Kathryn Bright
Life Sentence
Murder
March 1977
Shirley Vian
Life Sentence
Murder
December 1977
Nancy Fox
Life Sentence
Murder
April 1985
Marine Hedge
Life Sentence
Murder
September 1986
Vicki Wegerle
Life Sentence
Murder
January 1991
Dolores E. Davis
Life Sentence
Most Recent Crime (1991)
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Threw a brick through house window
Broke into house
Handcuffed Woman and strangled to death
Took body and placed it underneath a bridge
Sentence
• Sentenced to life in prison without parole
• Serving time at El Dorado Correctional Facility
Cultural References
• Book: Inside the Mind of BTK- The True Story Behind the
Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer
Theory
Ritualism sociology theory because Dennis Rader had a normal
life and a job that kept him going. He always had the thrill of
torturing things in the back of his mind. He always blended into
the background in high school. He would hang and kill animals
as a kid so he always had a passion for it. That’s why he is
Ritualism because that was his ritual. Rader crimes probably
came from his childhood with his liking of torturing. Also his
father wasn’t really around for his childhood because he was
always working.