In October 1974, Rader left his first letter to the media inside an engineering textbook at the Wichita Public Library. Kevin was able to describe their attacker to police, who created a suspect sketch. He ended up shooting Kevin, who got away and survived, and fatally stabbed Kathryn 11 times in the torso and back. Both Bright siblings tried to fight off their attacker. When she returned with her 19-year-old brother Kevin, Rader held them at gunpoint and had them tie each other up.

On April 4, 1974, Rader broke into 21-year-old Kathryn Bright's home while she was out. Julie Otero. Rader later told investigators that he held the family at gunpoint, tied them up and strangled them one by one. The Otero family murders. On the morning of January 15, 1974, Rader forced his way inside the Otero family home and murdered 33-year-old Julie Otero, her husband Joseph, 38, and their 9-year-old son, Joseph Jr., and 11-year-old daughter, Josephine. Scroll down to see what authorities uncovered.

Several of these photos - featured in Oxygen's ' Snapped: Notorious BTK Killer' - were able to shed light on the serial killer who went unnoticed in the city he terrorized for more than 30 years. His letters and packages ultimately led to his arrest in 2005, and police were able to unearth hundreds of disturbing crime scene photos from Rader's “hidey holes” scattered throughout Wichita. It wasn't until a local newspaper ran an anniversary story about the Otero family murders - Rader's first killings - that he reopened communication with media. Warning: This article has graphic content that may be disturbing to some viewers.įrom 1974 to 1991, serial killer Dennis Rader murdered 10 people under the moniker BTK Killer, standing for 'Bind, Torture, Kill.' Around his hometown of Wichita, Kansas, Rader was known as a family man and church leader, and no one suspected he was the man sending taunting letters to police and media detailing his brutal, twisted crimes.Īfter his final murder, Rader took a 13-year hiatus, and by 2004, the BTK killings were considered a cold case.

Child hood pictures of serial killers