“I just put it in one of the first letters. I’m always surprised I put it up there first. I think it was just — Bind, Torture, Kill. Now I had a label on me. It was like the ‘Green River Killer’ and “Son of Sam” and a whole slew of other stuff—’The Boston Strangler.’ “
(Dennis Rader)
Dennis Lynn Rader, aka B.T.K committed at least ten murders in and around the city of Wichita, Kansas between 1974 and 1991. Although his crimes are not well known outside his home country, Rader’s is one of the most striking cases in which a serial killer uses the media as a means of communication.
Despite a hiatus in the 1990‘s and early 2000‘s, Rader’s need for communication was so strong that he resumed his correspondence in 2004, which ultimately led to his 2005 arrest and conviction. Now serving 10 life sentences at El Dorado Correctional Facility, he is not eligible for parole until 2180.
Many local media outlets recieved his letters, poems and computer discs, although Rader preferred to use the Wichita Eagle, a local newspaper with a very high readership.
During the later years of his correspondence, Sherry Chisenhall was the Eagle’s Editor, and has first-hand experience of the practical and ethical issues of receiving, and publishing this material.
Ms Chisenhall kindly agreed to be interviewed by email. An abridged version of the interview which consisted of five questions, all answered in depth, follows.
1) Upon receiving a communication from Dennis Rader, what was the official procedure at the Wichita Eagle? (From receiving the communication, to its eventual public release)
When we received the initial letter, it had been 25 years since anyone had heard from BTK. We believed the chances were very high that this was a hoax. The letter came into our mailroom, which is where all mail at The Eagle is opened, then is routed to various departments throughout the building. This letter was not addressed to any specific person, so the mailroom routed it to the news editors. It wasn’t immediately clear what the letter was (it didn’t forthrightly claim to be from BTK), so no one in the mailroom brought it immediately to the attention of news editors. It was mixed in with the day’s mail. Many people find this difficult to believe, but keep in mind that newsrooms get a high volume of very odd mail on a weekly, if not daily, basis. Our assistant managing editor on duty that morning gave the letter to a reporter and asked him to verify with police whether they thought there was any possibility that it was authentic. Most people had long assumed that BTK was dead, left town or was in jail. It took police officials a couple of days to get the letter to the right detective who could verify it was from BTK, and that’s when we broke the story. After that, there was no special procedure in place for handling letters – we did ask the mailroom employees to be alert for these types of letters, try to minimize handling of the letters (police wanted to check for fingerprints, though none were ever found), and notify an editor. It is the newspaper’s policy to cooperate with authorities. So we turned over letters to police, but always photocopied them first. We always verified whether authorities believed letters were authentic before publishing a news story. With so much publicity, all news media were concerned about someone sending false letters.
2)How important was it for the Wichita Eagle to maintain contact with other media outlets during this time? for example, KAKE and the Wichita Sun were also used by Dennis Rader as a means of communication, did you all “compare notes” or did each have their own procedure?
I can only speak to the era after BTK “resurfaced” – I wasn’t employed at The Eagle when he committed his initial crimes. We didn’t communicate a great deal with other media. Most communication would have been to verify the authenticity of a letter sent to an outlet. I believe we shared a photo once or twice, and once a TV station inadvertently tipped us to a small development in the investigation. Generally, though, we all remained very competitive on the story and followed our own practices and procedures.
3) The police used ads in the Wichita Eagle as a means of communication with Dennis Rader, did you, or any of your colleagues experience any doubts in regards to any ethical issues involved in publically communicating with a serial killer?
We were not aware of this until after the fact. Our news and advertising departments are run independently, and we were not notified of the ad placement. In fact, the officers who placed the ad were under cover and the ad staff did not know they were police.
4) As a journalist, were there any times during these events where you were tempted to release information as a matter of public interest, even though the authorities had advised against it?
Yes, and at times we did. The primary one I remember was the initial letter sent from BTK in his “announcement” that he was still in Wichita – the first letter sent in March 2004. The police wanted several pieces of information withheld from the letter. My recollection is that the only piece we agreed to withhold was a small symbol that BTK always drew on his letters. Keeping it secret would mean that police could always separate real from copy-cat letters – it was an unusual drawing and had never been revealed in the media. We did not publish that sketch, but did publish other details from the letter. The public interest in being able to verify authenticity of letters was convincing.
5) Do you think that after his 20 year hiatus, Dennis Rader was eventually captured due to an egotistical need for recognition? If so, do you believe that the media can be extremely valuable in cases of this type?
Yes, I do think his need for attention eventually led to his capture. In January 2004, The Wichita Eagle published a small story inside the paper noting the 30th anniversary of the first BTK killings. Police later told us that they believed that story spurred Dennis Rader to send the March 2004 letter to The Eagle signalling that BTK was alive and well and still living in Wichita. Police knew that his resurfacing was the best chance they ever had to catch him. They believed that in his quest for attention, he would trip himself up. He did. Had he not started writing to the media again, it’s not impossible to think that BTK could have died without the world ever knowing who he was. His capture and imprisonment closed the case for families after decades lacking resolution.
The following documentary is a fascinating insight into the mind of Dennis Rader.
Red Ink Letters 