Knight Ridder Newspapers

WICHITA, Kan. – The BTK serial killer who has terrorized Wichita, Kan., since the 1970s has been arrested and is now tied to at least 10 killings, Wichita police said Saturday.

Dennis Rader, 59, has been booked on eight counts of first-degree murder and could soon face charges in two unsolved homicides that occurred in or around his hometown in 1985 and 1991.

He is expected to be charged this week. Because it was not in effect when the crimes occurred, he could not face the death penalty, District Attorney Nola Foulston said.

Rader works for Park City, Kan., just north of Wichita, as a “compliance supervisor” in charge of animal control and general code enforcement. He is married, a leader in his church, a former Boy Scout leader, Air Force veteran and 1979 Wichita State University graduate.

One of the victims, Marine Hedge, lived on the same block as Rader.

Many Park City residents and former co-workers described Rader as egotistical and arrogant – a by-the-book person who paid attention to detail. The descriptions in many ways matched those offered by criminal profilers who have studied the BTK cases.

Police Chief Norman Williams announced the arrest during a City Hall news conference that drew more than 200 people, including dozens of law enforcement officers and relatives of the victims.

“The bottom line? BTK is arrested,” Williams told the crowd, which erupted with one of several standing ovations.

“This has been the most intense and challenging investigation in the entire history of the Wichita Police Department.”

The largest ovation went to police Lt. Ken Landwehr, who led the investigation that intensified 11 months ago when a letter from BTK arrived at the Wichita Eagle in March – 25 years after he had sent his last communication. Over the past year, police have investigated 11 letters and packages that may have come from the killer.

BTK began sending taunting letters to police, the media and crime victims in the 1970s, when he claimed responsibility for seven murders.

At Saturday’s news conference, after thanking those who helped with the investigation, Landwehr spoke the words that many Wichitans have been waiting for three decades to hear:

“Shortly after noon yesterday, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Department, the Wichita Police Department and the KBI, arrested Dennis Rader, 59, white male, in Park City, Kansas, for the murders of Joseph Otero, Julie Otero, Josephine Otero, Joseph Otero Jr., Kathryn Bright, Shirley Vian Relford, Nancy Fox and Vicki Wegerle. He was arrested for the first-degree murder of all those victims.”

Sedgwick County Sheriff Gary Steed then stunned the group with the announcement that BTK also was responsible for the April 1985 murder of Hedge and the January 1991 murder of Delores Davis.

The crime scenes of those cases were similar to BTK cases – cut phone lines, for example – but unlike BTK’s other crimes, their bodies were dumped a few miles from their homes.

An array of top law enforcement officers attended the news conference, including KBI director Larry Welch, who said the arrest marked a high-point of his career.

“Today is one of the happiest days in all those 44 years,” he said. “We are delighted at the predicted outcome.”

Landwehr said relatives of the victims were notified about the arrest shortly after it occurred on Thursday.

“It was a very emotional time for everyone involved,” he said.

Acknowledging frustration in the community with the time it took to make an arrest, Williams told The Eagle after the news conference that “It’s easy to sit on the sideline and criticize. Unless you know the internal details, you have to be patient with an investigation of this nature.

“This is probably one of the largest, most complex and challenging investigations in the history of this organization. To make an arrest, that is historic.”

Williams declined to disclose details of the investigation, but said, “It’s like with any investigation, there’s steady progress resulting in a climax. Yesterday was the climax.”

Richard Lamunyon, Wichita’s police chief from 1976 to 1989, said it’s likely that Rader would have been on at least one list of potential suspects – because he was a Wichita State University student around the time of killings. The killer was thought to be connected to the campus.

In the end, Lamunyon said, it was “good old-fashioned police work” and technology that helped arrest a suspect.

The killer has communicated because “he wanted to get his story out,” Lamunyon said.

Still, he said, a mystery remains: “What drove him to come forward at this time?”

The former chief said he has noticed a change in the tone of BTK’s messages. They went from being angry and mean years ago to being “almost social.”

Among those who attended the news conference was Robert Beattie, the Wichita man who is writing a book about the case. He said the arrest will be a fitting last chapter.

“I’m glad this long nightmare in Wichita is being resolved,” he said.

Now, Beattie said, people can set aside suspicions they might have held about people they once considered possible suspects.

The police received more than 5,000 tips and took DNA samples from more than 4,000 people during their investigation.

—

(c) 2005, The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kan.).

Visit the Eagle on the World Wide Web at http://www.wichitaeagle.com/

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

—–

PHOTOS (from KRT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): btkarrest

AP-NY-02-26-05 1956EST