Dennis Rader Case Study

Ten people in the Wichita, Kansas area between the years 1974 and 1991 were brutally murdered by Dennis Lynn Rader a.k.a the BTK Strangler. After years of fear and horror the BTK Strangler was identified and captured by police. This would not have been possible if the police investigating murders in the area were unable to connect the killings, create a profile of the killer, and then use that information to build evidence against Dennis Rader. The first and arguably the most important step in the catching of a serial murder is connecting crimes through the process of crime linkage. This paper will take a look at how police have used crime linkage to build criminal profiles that have helped catch famous serial killers that include BTK, the …show more content…
The first and arguably the most important step in the catching of a serial murder is connecting crimes through the process of crime linkage. This paper will take a look at how the police have used crime linkage to build criminal profiles that have helped catch famous serial killers that include BTK, the Rail Road Killer, and the Baker Butcher. On January 15, 1974, four members of the Otero family were found dead in their house. Each member was strangled to death. This would be the start of the BTK serial killings. Wichita police did not have much trouble linking the crimes committed by Dennis Rader because they would follow the BTK formula of Binding, Torturing, and then Killing the victim. After the first killings, Dennis Rader sent a letter to the Wichita police that actually referred to himself as BTK. In this letter he explained his killing methods, and said that the next victim had already been picked out. This letter made it so any murder involving binding in the Wichita area would immediately be associated to BTK. As Dennis Rader continued to murder, he revealed much about his personality to police through his killing methods and signatures. A killer’s signature is a