Dennis Rader: Serial Killer Essay

“Serial killers are human black holes; they scare us because they mirror us,” spoke Shirley Lynn Scott, known author and psychologist. This stands true throughout history, as most serial killers blend in with society. Serial killing is formally defined by the FBI as “a series of three or more killings, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors.” But what exactly drives someone to kill another human being? What plays as a more drastic motivator for their actions, nature or nurture?

Rader fits the reason for a serial killer’s motivation. In a testimony in the book he states,” In court testimony many years later, he attributed the killings to sexual needs, and he apparently molested at least one of the females” (190). He also held traits connected to all serial killers.

Serial killers is a person that kill three or more people in a short amount of time. He or she murder one after another in a similar way with an inactive period between each murder. The motivation for murdering an adult or child is based on psychological gratification. The serial killer is normally an adult white male in his late twenties, who has killed four or more individuals in separate incident with an inactive period between. It is impossible to tell just by looking at a person who will become a serial killer, the traits of some criminals or serial killers appear to be similar most of the time. The types of behaviors

Then there was Shirley Vain, she was killed on March 17th, 1977, as her three children were locked in the bathroom with toys. Posing as a private detective, Rader pulled a .357 magnum hand gun and forced his way inside the home. Using as he would call it his “Hit Kit” a mix of bags, rope, tape and cords. He handcuffed Nancy Fox December of that same year tied her on her bed and strangled her with a belt, before preforming a sexual act next to the body. All the while Rader was writing letter to journalists and cops. How many people do I have to kill before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?” he wrote in

Although, he taunted the authorities the 31 years he avoided getting arrested using the alias BTK. Rader gave himself this name standing for, “Bind, Kill, Torture”. Dennis Rader did not want to get caught for the murders, but like most serial killers, he wanted the credit. In order to take credit, he sent many letters, poems, and clues to the authorities and media. On January 19, 1991, Rader killed and tortured Dolores Davis, his last victim. (foxnews.com Fast Facts: BTK Victims) He did not resurface until 2004, when the local media announced the 30th anniversary of his first murders. (nbsnews.com, Who is the BTK killer?)

When you hear the words serial killer, you instantly think about people like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ed Gein, Ted Bundy, or Charles Manson. You don 't think about a family man with a wife and two children, county board member, President of the church congregation council, or a Cub Scout leader. Dennis Rader possessed all of these shining attributes. He also possessed a dark secret. This secret had festered in him from an early age and grew as he got older. Dennis Rader had fantasies about bondage, control, and torture which eventually led to murder. Rader 's reign of terror began in 1977 and ended with his capture in 2005, almost 30 years later. He labeled his victims as "projects". He hunted his prey in stages he described as the "trolling stage and stalking stage". He even called the tools used for his trade his "hit kit". Dennis Rader was a stone cold killer who had no plans of stopping.

Rader was a fascinating individual when examining how he went about conducting his crimes. He may have not been charismatic in his way of when he addressed individuals or the police, but he did have a way with people. He was a very clever individual with how he worded his letters and how he addressed the police, to which kept him off his trail for those seventeen years. Through Rader’s skills and notoriety I truly believe he is one of the most prolific serial killers known to this

No one knew that the murders of his were connected until he sent this letter calling out the police for being so stupid for not putting together the patterns he had left behind in a usually quiet town (Singular 76). “The killer used police jargon in his letters. He might have been a cop, or impersonated one” (Gibson 124). Rader was indeed pursing a degree in criminal justice. This lead to a more thorough investigation of these crimes as a holistic profile meaning he was one step closer to being

There were ten victims killed by Dennis Rader between 1974 and 1991, the first four of these being killed on one night. Rader created a nickname for himself the BTK killer; he chose this name because of the style in which he killed his victims, which involved binding, torturing and killing his female victims. He had many other aliases, most of which were self named. These included The Wichita Strangler, The Poetic Strangler and The Asphyxiater just to name a few. Rader talked about his need for acknowledgment and tormented the police by sending notes, poems, pictures and puzzles explaining his crimes in graphical detail. Rader took breaks from killing around the times both his children were born as he didn’t have the free time he needed to

On January fifteenth, 1974, Rader hung Josephine Otero from a drainage pipe. Prior to hanging Josephine, Rader killed her mother, father, and nine year old brother. The father and brother were suffocated with a plastic bag, and the mother was left strangled. Rader stalked this family for months, watching their every move. Once Josephine was hung and dead, and because he was a sexual sadist, Dennis Rader masturbated, and ejaculated over Josephine's leg. Dennis Rader later admitted in prison, that he had a sexual fantasy that involved death ,and said “ Yes, I had some sexual fantasies, but that was after she was

The sickening serial killer, Dennis Rader, was born on March 9th, 1945 in Kansas. Dennis seemed externally normal as a child and teenager however, he was internally messed up. Eventually, Dennis was known as the BTK killer which stands for bind, torture and kill. He got his nickname as he murdered ten people between the years of 19974 and 1991. Dennis binded and tortured his victims before killing them. He would tend to get sexually aroused for his projects but, somehow continued to keep his killings a secret even from his wife. The BTK killer sent clues and notes to authorities therefore he eventually got tracked and caught. Dennis was finally arrested in 2005 when he was sentenced to serve ten life sentences.

Dennis rader is famous for BTK which is “Bind,Torture,Kill” which was his signature killing they identified him with. His first murder was committed in january 15, 1974 against the Otero family, he killed both Parents and Two children. Their oldest son who was 15 came home and found his family's bodies.

The number of serial murder cases is on the decline (Quinet). Serial killers have certain physical and psychological characteristics in common. The three main types of serial killers are organized, disorganized, and mixed. Disorganized killers are usually high school drop outs, live alone, nocturnal, have secret hiding

Dennis Rader began his behavior early on life. He began with the killing of animals and his fantasies. Rader is known as the “BTK Killer” which is because that’s what he was known for doing when he murdered people. He would bind them, torture them, and then kill them. Watching people plead or beg for mercy was all part of his fantasy.

Many people have heard of Dennis Rader, or more commonly known as B.T.K. Although that name was not used until later in life. Dennis Rader was born in 1945 here in Kansas. He grew up as your average boy, first of four children, lived life as we all do today. He was in boy scouts and also joined the youth group at their church. Growing up, his father was in the US Marine Corps and then later started a job working for an electric company, which is the reason for their move to Wichita in 1948. Rader admits to fantasies that weren’t so pleasant. The fantasies never went away, just started to progress more and more as he grew older. His fantasies of bondage and torture became real as Dennis Rader was still in High School. He admits to killing cats