Wichita
Matter-of-factly referring to his victims as “projects,” a churchgoing former Boy Scout leader pleaded guilty this week to the “BTK” serial killings, which terrorized Wichita from 1974 to ’91. Dennis Rader, 60, said he “trolled” neighborhoods to find his 10 victims, whom he picked randomly. He described giving toys to one woman’s three children before strangling her. He got another victim a glass of water, then killed her. When pressed by the judge to explain his motivation for the slayings, Rader replied they were “part of what you might call my fantasy—sexual fantasy.” Rader, who named himself BTK for “bind, torture, kill,” had taunted police with cryptic messages before disappearing for a decade. He was arrested in February after new evidence surfaced.
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