Long-awaited arrest
The week's news at a glance.
Wichita
Kansas police this week charged a churchgoing family man with the BTK killings, a series of grisly murders that terrorized Wichita in the 1970s. The suspect, a dogcatcher named Dennis Rader, 59, reportedly confessed to six killings. At the time of the murder spree, the killer taunted investigators with poems and boastful letters. In one, he said there was “no help, no cure” for his sadistic urges. He had been silent for years, then suddenly started sending police fresh clues as newspapers publicized the 30th anniversary of his first murder. “Bottom line: BTK is arrested,” said Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams. “Doggone it, we did it.” The BTK murderer’s nickname stemmed from his method: bind, torture, kill.
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