Monster: BTK - Shirley Locks [4]

Episode Date: January 13, 2025

A botched murder plan leads the killer to an unsuspecting door. Inside, the killer does something he can never undo. Later, he brags about his deeds in taunting letters to the police and media.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If you're fascinated by the darker sides of humanity, join us every week on our podcast Serial Killers, where we go deep into notorious true crime cases. With significant research and careful analysis, we examine the psyche of a killer, their motives and targets, and law enforcement's pursuit to stop their spree. Follow Serial Killers wherever you get your podcasts and get new episodes every Monday. Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremorchi. And I'm Holly Fry. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime. Each season, we explore a new theme from poisoners to art thieves.

We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures, from legal injustices to body snatching. And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails and mocktails inspired by each story. Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was big news. I mean, white girl gets murdered, found in a cemetery, big, big news. A long investigation stalls until someone changes their story. I like saw what happened.

An arrest, trial, and conviction soon follow. He did not kill her. There's no way. Is the real killer rightly behind bars or still walking free? Did you kill her? Listen to The Real Killer, Season 3, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, listeners. I'm Lauren Bright-Pacheco, host of the Murder on Songbird Road podcast, and I'm excited to share this riveting story with you. I'm also excited to tell you that you can now get access to all episodes of Murder on Songbird Road, 100% ad-free, and one week early through the iHeart True Crime Plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple podcasts. Plus you'll get access to other chart-topping true crime shows you love, like Betrayal,

The Girlfriends, Paper Ghosts, Murder Homes, Unrestorable, The Godmother, and more. So don't wait, head to Apple podcasts, search for iHeartTrueCrimePlus, and subscribe today. New episodes of Monster BTK are released every Monday and brought to you absolutely free. But if you want to hear the whole season right now, it's available ad free on iHeart True Crime Plus. For more information, check out the show notes.

Enjoy the episode. You're listening to Monster BTK, a production of iHeart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV. Listener discretion is advised. What happened first? You were home from school. About what time in the morning was it? About 10 o'clock, I guess. Mama's sick.

This is Steve Ralford, who says one day, when he was just a little boy, his mom sent him to the store because she was sick. She was me doing five straight. Get her a can of soup, you know. On my way back, got on the sidewalk something, shows me a photograph. Dennis Rader showed you a photograph? Yes ma'am.

Asked me if I didn't know who it was. I said no. Said I was sure it looked good. Took it, looked at it again, and I came back to him. You know, about 15 minutes later, he came knocking on our door. Me and my brother raced the door. I opened it.

When Steve answered the door, Dennis Rader was standing there. Are your parents home? My mom, she's sick in bed. She proceeded to come on in. He forced his way through. He put the gun, tell those kids to sit on the couch. He put some toys in blankets. Made my mom put some toys in blankets and bath them. He tied one door shut, put this in there, shut the bed against the other door. Steve and his siblings were trapped in the bathroom, helpless.

Well, there was a crack in the bathroom, helpless. patched a bag over her head, broke ties around her neck, hauled a type of tape. My brother, he broke fucking windows out in the bathroom holler for help. I think that scared him off. Broke through the fucking bathroom door, ran over where my mom was, tied down a tie rope. I couldn't. Steve ran outside and tried to find help.

He went to the door. Callin' my mom on the cop police. My mom said, I tried to keep me calmed down. I ain't got time to calm down. The neighbor called the police and went next door. He went down and checked, seen what I was talkin' about. Mom said... He went out and checked, to see what I was talking about. I'm dead. Their mom surely

was dead. Someone killed four members of a family. Hedge vanished from her home suddenly last weekend. Her phone lines had been cut, her door left open. You see the victims laying there with plastic bags over their heads strangled.

You could tell it was a planned scenario. While police have said no more about the contents of the letter, it does contain some sort of threat and implies the killer may strike again. He's gonna play with these victims. He'd get them to the point of death and then bring them back.

And then brings them back to the point of death and then bring him back. And then brings him back to the point of death. From My Heart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV, I'm Susan Peters. And this is Monster BTK. The murder of Shirley Vianne Relford was one of the most unusual and tragic murders committed by BTK. And that's because she wasn't even the intended target. Vianne was never supposed to interact with BTK that terrible day in 1977. It was just another unfortunate consequence of Dennis Rader's lunacy and poor planning. Vianne was a young mother, just 24 years old, who was spending her days raising her three children,

Bud, Stephanie, and Steve. I'm in trouble. My ass is in the corner. This is Steve Relford, son of Shirley Byan. You heard him tell the harrowing story of witnessing his mother's murder at the top of the episode. He said his mom was strict, but that all of her children adored her. I'm a gospel singer, church, need anything.

Take a shirt off, I'll buy it and give it to you. When I talked to you years ago, you told me about a song your mama used to sing to you before you went to bed? Sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad and sad Go ahead so we can hear the words. Will you want to just tell us some of the words? Yes, sure. What did she sing to you? She sang this song, sang this song, big long good luck,

I'm still not happy because I don't remember all the words. It was a country song. I don't remember all the words. It's a country song. Yeah. What'd she cook for dinner? What'd you guys like, Alfred? Do you remember any of that? I'll tell you my favorite, spaghetti. My mom cooks the best spaghetti.

She'd always put barbecue sauce in it. That's how I eat it. While Shirley was raising her children, Dennis Rader was planning his next murder. It was 1977, and he hadn't killed since Catherine Bright in 1974. According to the book, Confession of a Serial Killer, he picked March of that year for his next murder because It relates to threes. It was the third month. It was also spring break at WSU and work vacation.

On March 17th, 1977, St. Patrick's Day, coincidentally. Raider left his house. Here's an excerpt from the book, Bind, Torture, Kill, The Inside Story of BTK. His primary target this day lived at 1207 South Greenswood. If that target didn't work out, he had a backup just a block to the east at 1243 South Hydraulic. There was an alley behind that address, a place to hide.

And if those targets didn't work out, he had another backup, and yet another. He stalked multiple women, switching surveillance from one to another for weeks, taking notes, pondering escape routes. His, not theirs. Raider's main target at this address was a woman named Cheryl Gilmore. He called her Project Blackout because he had spied on her for weeks prior, drinking heavily at nearby bars. Raider also discovered that Cheryl lived with two other women. If Cheryl wasn't home, surely one of them would be there instead.

Here are Raider's own words, quoted in the book, Confession of a Serial Killer. On that particular day, I drove to Dillon's and parked in the parking lot and watched this particular residence. And then I got out of the car and walked over to the door. I knocked, but nobody answered. No one was home. Raider got frustrated. I was all keyed up over not getting into that house on PJ Green.

So I drove and then parked and started going through the neighborhood. I had on my James Bond jacket, a tweed jacket and nice shoes. I had enough projects I'd been watching that if one didn't work out, I could just go to another. But while I was walking away from the intended house and down hydraulic, I saw a young boy coming back from Dillon's. I figured he had a mother in the house. That young boy was Steve Ralford. His mother surely was sick with the flu. She had sent him on an errand to pick up some soup from the store,

Dylan's. Raider approached Steve on his way back home. I had a picture in my wallet of my wife and baby, so I used it to pretend I was looking for them. I asked if he had seen them. I knew he wouldn't know them. He told me he didn't, but I watched where he went. Next, Raider waited about fifteen minutes before approaching the door. Finally, he knocked. This boy opened the door with his brother. I told them I was a private detective and showed them the picture. I carried a blue briefcase large enough for my hit kit. Cord, tape, plastic bags, a gun, but not too large to be

noticed when I carried it on the street. Like I was a salesman or businessman. Steve was just a little boy, six years old. He didn't know better, and even if he was older and more prepared, he couldn't have predicted that this man was a murderer. After Steve opened the door, he didn't really respond to Rader's speech about being a detective, so Rader forced his way through the doorway and brandished a gun. Shirley heard the commotion from the other room and came out to see what was going on. I told her I had a problem with sexual fantasies and I was going to tie her up. I pulled down the blinds and turned off the TV. I said I would tie up the kids first. I decided to put the kids in the bathroom and shut the door. We put

toys and blankets in there for them. She told the kids to do whatever I said. I tied the door shut but the kids were still yelling. She helped me to shove a bed against the door. Then I proceeded to tie her up. First, Raider used electrical tape to bind her hands and feet. Then he used cords and nylon stockings to tie up her ankles and wrists even tighter, and he placed her face down on the mattress. All the while, Steve and his siblings were banging on the door and screaming. Rader threatened to shoot them, so they quieted down. And then

Shirley Vian got sick and vomited on the floor. I think my being there had made her worse. She was partially tied when I got her a glass of water and comforted her a bit. After Raider finished tying up Shirley Vian, he pulled a plastic bag around her head and began to strangle her until she died. I used white plastic bags, garbage size, that you could buy in a roll. I like the ones in a box. Using plastic gloves, I folded them neatly and placed them in another bag. That bag would go with me, in case it had fingerprints or material on it. The room became more chaotic when suddenly the phone rang.

It startled Raider and the kids started to scream and bang on the door once again. Raider decided it was time to go. He packed up his hit kit and left the house. He didn't realize the kids had escaped through the bathroom window and were running around the neighborhood yelling out for help. The kids were able to get out. They broke out the window and were able to escape. We worked with the children as best we could.

This is former Wichita police chief Richard Lemunyan. He says the Wichita police department was called by a neighbor who found Steve and his siblings running around outside. When police arrived, they questioned the children, but it was tough to get much out of them. One of the children, I think, was six or eight, but he was intellectually challenged. And so we did work with him to try to get some ideas. We did get the fact that it was a white male, which we knew. Also, he had a bag, which stands to reason because he brings the tape, he brings the ropes, he brings the guns, he brings everything he needs, the bags.

So we were able to establish that. We had specialists work with the children, but again, that was to no avail. Lemunyan says the kids were too stunned to formulate coherent recollections, which is understandable given their age and the situation. Still, it took investigators a while to figure out what happened.

As Lemonyan says, they discovered Vian's body along with all of the rope, tape, and one of the bags that BTK left behind. They also found semen at the crime scene where the killer supposedly masturbated. Police immediately noticed the similarities to previous BTK murders. Responding officer Raymond Fletcher was quoted as saying, it looks like the same thing as the Otero case. A few more officers reportedly also expressed their suspicions at the crime scene.

But according to the book, Bind, Torture, Kill, police were hesitant to officially connect the crimes. It meant he was a serial killer. And the brass didn't want to leap to that conclusion or set off a panic. Lamonian says he had a hunch it was the same person who killed the Oteros. But ultimately, he decided not to release an official statement connecting the murders. He didn't want to give BTK any incentive to kill again. And he didn't want to create a frenzy. He says his main objective following the Vian murder was to protect the people of Wichita from further tragedy.

The big thing that weighs on you is the fact that this is going to happen again. You know it's going to happen again, and that's what frustrates you to the point that what else can I do to protect the community? It's not so much that I'm worried about my children because I can protect them, but it's the other single moms. It's the other people that can't protect themselves. While investigators were busy making sense of the Vian murder, Steve Relford's when my fucking trouble really started. Started smoking, shooting dope at 89, drinking, age of six, I think. I don't know, became rebellious.

Didn't give a shit about nothing or nobody. When you went to your grandparents' house after the foster home, was there any kind of therapy or, I mean, any? They tried to give me therapy. I become rebellious, like I said. I don't care. My brother and sister, they both had a draw at SSI all their life. Me, they said I was too fucking smart.

What? I might be a smart ass, but I'm not smart. My heart breaks for Steve Ralford. Over the years, I've gotten to know this man well and watch him try over and over again to overcome the tragedy of his mother's death. Yes, it spiraled him out and sent him down a path of self-destruction. But I've also watched him heal and come to terms with the events of his life. Steve has spent the last many years slowly pulling himself up and I'm

just happy that I've gotten to know him and to be alongside him in his journey to recovery. Nowadays I got family. I have two kids. What about? I can't do the shit I just do. It's hard. her to do it. The unfortunate reality is that Steve was just one of many people whose lives would be destroyed by BTK. Because Shirley Vian was far from the last BTK victim. Only months later this time, I can't understand you. What is the address? The date is 843-2003.

Is correct. into the Yellowstone universe. Our family legacy is this ranch. And I'll protect it with my life. Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions worldwide. Action! Explore untold behind the scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews,

and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone. You know, the first stunt is to settle this valley fight and it was all they knew. Whether you're a long-time fan or new to the ranch... Welcome to the Yellowstone. ...Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon.

I look forward to it. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go to work. If you're fascinated by the darker sides of humanity, join us every week on our podcast, Serial Killers, where we go deep into notorious true crime cases. With significant research and careful analysis, we examine the psyche of a killer, their motives

and targets, and law enforcement's pursuit to stop their spree. Follow Serial Killers wherever you get your podcasts and get new episodes every Monday. Do you want to understand an invisible force that's shaping your life? I'm Osvaldo Lashin, one of the new hosts of the long running podcast Tech Stuff. I'm slightly skeptical, but obsessively intrigued. And I'm Kara Price, the other new host, and I'm ready to adopt early and often. On Tech Stuff, we travel all the way from the mines of Congo to the surface of Mars to the dark corners of TikTok to ask and attempt to answer burning questions about technology.

One of the kind of tricks for surviving Mars is to live there long enough so that people evolve into Martians. Like data is a very rough proxy for a complex reality. How is it possible that the world's new energy revolution can be based in this place where there's no electricity at night? Oz and I will cut through the noise to bring you the best conversations and deep dives that will help you understand how tech is changing our world and what you need to know to survive the singularity. So join us.

Listen to tech stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. There was big news. I mean, white girl gets murdered, found in a cemetery. Big, big news. When a young woman is murdered, a desperate search for answers takes investigators to some unexpected places. He believed it could be part of a satanic cult. I think there were many individuals present. I don't know who pulled the trigger. A long investigation stalls until someone changes their story. I like saw what could happen. An arrest, trial and conviction soon follow.

He just saw his body just kind of collapsing. Two decades later, a new team of lawyers says their client is innocent. He did not kill her. There's no way. Is the real killer rightly behind bars or still walking free? Are you capable of murder? I definitely am not. Did you kill her?

Listen to The Real Killer, Season 3, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Shirley was killed in March of 77. And in December of 77, Nancy Fox, Nancy was killed. Raider had discovered Nancy Fox on another of his prowls through the streets of Wichita. He would drive around and scope out women that might make good targets. He was still reeling from the high of the Shirley Vian murder. And one day he discovered Nancy walking into her apartment at 843 South Pershing. She was coming home from her job at the nearby mall. Rader spent weeks following her to and from work.

He determined that she lived alone and would be the perfect project. On the evening of December 8th, 1977, Rader left home, telling his family that he'd be studying at the WSU library. Around 9 p.m., Rader left the library and parked two blocks down from Nancy's apartment building. He grabbed his hit kit and walked up to her door.

Here are Rader's words from the book, Confession of a Serial Killer. I knocked first to see if anybody was home. I had studied her work routines and knew she arrived at a particular time. I just wanted to be sure. Nobody answered the door so I looked around, went around to the back of the house and cut the phone lines. I cut the window, broke in, and waited in the kitchen. Raider recalls seeing Christmas decorations throughout the apartment. She was very clean

and tidy, something he liked about her. He waited and waited until finally... She came in. She was startled. She asked what I was doing there. After we confronted each other, I told her I traveled a lot. I meant no real harm. I had a sexual problem. I wanted sex.

I would tie her up and take a picture. She took her park off. I believe it was white or cream colored. As she laid her park down, I began to smoke. I sat on the couch, and she sat on a chair on the west side of the living room. She was upset. According to Raider, Nancy said something to the effect of, let's get this over with so I can call the police. That was a mistake. She sealed her doom for sure when she told me she would contact the police. I wore no mask or anything to hide my face.

I had to kill her. At this point, Raider says Nancy asked to go to the bathroom. He said yes, but instructed her to remove her clothes. After she returned, he handcuffed her, bound her feet at the ankles, and gagged her. I got on top of her and then I reached over, took a belt, and then strangled her with it. That's all I needed with a victim in bondage.

The act of strangling brought gratification quickly, along with the victims struggling. This guy wanted to be in a position that was like God. He's going to determine whether or not you're going to live or you're going to die. He's going to play with these victims and torture these victims psychologically and physically. This is former FBI profiler John Douglas. He says that the murder of Nancy Fox was a prime example of Raider's peculiar MO, because Raider didn't just strangle Nancy until she died. This guy wasn't killing him right away.

He'd get him to the point of death and then bring him back, and then brings him back to the point of death. Fox passed out. I had her come back and I whispered in her ear a little bit. I told her I was BTK. I was a bad guy. This was the torture thing. You can visualize being tied up and knowing that something's going to happen to you and you can do nothing. That's my torture. What he was doing, it was very similar to some other cases we've seen.

Like this kind of torture where they'll strangle and you can see marks on the throat where there's kind of like skid marks. And what it is, it's they're using ligature strangulation and then the ligature will be released at the point where they're unconscious. They wait for them to regain consciousness, and then they put it on their neck again. And so you see there'll be several marks on the victim's throat. It's just for the sake of, again, playing God as part of the torture.

The murder of Nancy Fox was also another example of Raider killing a woman in a sexual way, without actually having sex with them. He once again chose to masturbate rather than engage in penetrative sex. And for someone like John Douglas, this was telling. He was getting a sexual euphoria from the acts that he was doing, and killing was part of that. Sexual penetration on the victims was absent. He would stand over them and ejaculate onto the victims.

Well, I would find out later on. Sexually penetrating or having sex with them, that would be like cheating on his wife. This was the thinking of these people. And I'd be cheating on my wife if I do that, but if I masturbated to scene, I mean, that's okay. The murder of Nancy Fox was also yet another example of Raider trying to deceive the victim.

Remember, he told Nancy Fox some story that he was just passing through. He had told Steve Relford he was a private detective. For Douglas, this was also a good indicator of the type of killer that Raider was. Him and other cases, they'll come up with a story to control them, to make them settle down, don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. The story was he would go in there like he's an escapee, he's committed a crime, I need your car, I need your food, and I'm not going to hurt you and want some money. Then they will allow him, when he hear that, the emotion goes down and he starts binding him up and then decides to do the things he really wants to do with him, and that is to

bind him up and kill them. Kill them slowly. Clearly, the goal in each of these cases was twofold. One, to calm the victim down and keep the situation under control. Two, to feel a twisted sense of power by lulling the victim into a false sense of security. According to John Douglas, Raider's pattern should have been clear to the local investigators by this point. And in fact, Wichita PD could no longer ignore the fact that this was BTK.

He left Seaman in a negligee beside her. She was laying face down on the bed. And he obviously took some pictures while he was in there. Took her driver's license. This is retired Wichita Police Chief Richard Lemunyan again. He said he was shocked to find another BTK murder so soon. And this time, his attitude changed about addressing the BTK murder so soon. And this time, his attitude changed about addressing the BTK problem publicly.

It was after Nancy that I made the decision we needed to officially give him credit, stop him, keep him from doing anything else. And police would get plenty of opportunities to do just that. Because BTK decided he wanted to communicate once again. First, not long after the murder, 911 dispatch received a strange phone call. Homicide at 843 South Pershing, Nancy Fox.

We're sorry sir, I can't understand you, what is the address? 843 South Pershing. That's correct. The dispatchers received a call indicating, he said you will find a homicide and gave the address and her name. That's the communications that we got from him through the dispatch,

which was obviously taped. So we tried to follow up on that. Lamanian says the call came in just after 8 a.m. on the morning of December 9th. They immediately sent someone to investigate the source of the payphone call. The phone that he used was outside of a grocery store. It was on Central Street. And there was a firefighter who was off duty, and then he had just walked out of there. The investigation went back about the time the call came, and the firefighter came up and said, yeah, I saw a guy, and he was able again to tell us about a white male.

That's when it became so clear that this was a game that he was playing, but he was using innocent people and he was killing them and he was gonna kill again. We had to gear up. What else can we do? And that's the frustrating part. What else can we do? Using a public payphone and his own voice was a monumental risk. But BTK loved the thrill.

He loved it so much, in fact, that he followed it up with another letter in January of 1978, once again addressed to the Wichita Eagle. Actually, it was a poem. He sent us a poem on Shirley, Shirley Vian. I'm sure you've seen the poem. Shirley locks, Shirley locks, will thou be mine? Thou shalt not scream, nor yet feel the line, but lay on cushion and think of me and death

and how it's going to be. For whatever reason, this poem flew under the radar. Perhaps the mailroom team at the Eagle thought it was just some bizarre prank. And so it wasn't reported to police or connected to BTK. At least not yet. And then in February, a letter from BTK was sent to Cake TV, claiming responsibility for Shirley and for Nancy. Good afternoon. This morning, Cake TV was contacted by the person who police say they believe

murdered four members of the Joseph Otero family in January of 1974. Executive producer Ron Lowen received the letter. He's with us today to give us the information. Ron? Jack, the communication came in the form of a two-page typewritten letter addressed to KAKE Channel 10. It was signed with the initials BTK. BTK claims to have strangled a total of seven women, seven people rather, mostly women.

He provided a list of his victims, beginning with the number five, where he wrote, you guessed the victim and the motive. Then he listed Shirley Vian as his sixth victim and provided a paragraph of details concerning the murder, with many details known only to the police. Cake received the letter on February 9, 1978, along with the poem we told you about in episode one

called, Oh Death to Nancy. It also included crude hand drawings of the Nancy Fox crime scene. The letter started, I find the newspaper not writing about the poem on Vianne unamusing. A little paragraph would have been enough. I know it's not the news media's fault.

The police chief, he keeps things quiet and doesn't let the public know there's a psycho running around loose strangling mostly women. There's seven in the ground. Who will be next? Later in the letter, he mentioned Nancy Fox by name. There is no help, no cure, except death or being caught and put away. It's a terrible nightmare. But you see, I don't lose any sleep over it. After a thing like Fox, I come home and I go about life like anyone else." Then he brought up the matter of his own moniker. "'Before a murder or murders, you will receive a copy of the initials BTK.

You keep that copy. The original will show up someday on Guess Who. You may not be the unlucky one. P.S. How about a name for me? It's time. Seven down and many more to go. I like the following.

How about you? The BTK Strangler. Wichita Strangler. Poetic Strangler. Bond Age Strangler. Wichita Strangler. Poetic Strangler. Bond Age Strangler. The Wichita Hangman. The Wichita Executioner. The Garrotte Phantom.

The Exfixiator. It was a Saturday morning and the postcard had come into our mailroom and so the station manager and I took the postcard down to the Wichita Police Department and we gave it to the police chief and we asked to talk to him about this because obviously something was up. This is Cake TV anchor Larry Hattaberg. And so he went into a room with his chief of detectives, shut the door, after about a half hour came out and he told us that he wanted to go on our air that night at about six o'clock in the evening and tell the people of Wichita that the serial killer was loose.

We were shocked. Wow, this is incredible. I went to Cake TV with the idea that what we wanted him to do was communicate with us. And I have to tell you at that time we had great rapport with the reporters at Cake TV, their higher ups, and with the newspaper. I mean, that higher-ups, and with the newspaper. I mean, that's the time in history when really we were partners.

We had to have the media. This was his communication network. So we encouraged him to communicate until we could find out who this individual was. So obviously we went back to the television station, prepared the newscast, and waited for the police chief to come. And sure enough, he shows up, goes on the air, and says, we have a serial killer in Wichita. Here's what we know about him.

But with us right now is Chief of Police Richard Lemunyan, who has been reviewing the letter since this afternoon, and I have a couple of questions, Chief. How can you be sure that the BTK letter is authentic? Well, Ron, after reviewing the contents of the letter, there's absolutely no question that the only person who would have the type of information that was included in the letter would have to be the killer himself. Do you know what the initials BTK stand for? Yes, it's our feeling that the initials that were placed there

stand for bind, torture, and kill. We have an individual who apparently has the uncontrollable desire to kill at times. He is not a rational person during that frame of mind. So I think an undue or a special awareness on the part of the citizens, be alert, call us when they have any type of information that they feel could be relevant even if it seems at the time very insignificant. It might be just exactly what we need. universe. Our family legacy is this ranch. I'll protect it with my life. Hosted by Bobby Bones, the official Yellowstone podcast takes you deeper into the franchise that's captivated millions

worldwide. Explore untold behind the scenes stories, exclusive cast interviews and in-depth discussions about the themes and legacy of Yellowstone. You know the first studs to settle this valley fighting was all they knew. Whether you're a longtime fan or new to the ranch, welcome to the Yellowstone. Bobby Bones has everything you need to stay connected to the Yellowstone phenomenon. I look forward to it. Listen to the official Yellowstone podcast now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Let's go to work.

If you're fascinated by the darker sides of humanity, join us every week on our podcast, Serial Killers, where we go deep into notorious true crime cases. With significant research and careful analysis, we examine the psyche of a killer, their motives and targets, and law enforcement's pursuit to stop their spree. Follow Serial Killers wherever you get your podcasts and get new episodes every Monday. Do you want to understand an invisible force that's shaping your life? I'm Osvaldo Oshin, one of the new hosts of the long running podcast, Tech Stuff.

I'm slightly skeptical, but obsessively intrigued. And I'm Kara Price, the other new host. And I'm ready to adopt early and often. On Tech Stuff, we travel all the way from the mines of Congo to the surface of Mars to the dark corners of TikTok to ask and attempt to answer burning questions about technology. One of the kind of tricks for surviving Mars is to live there long enough so that people

evolve into Martians. Like, data is a very rough proxy for a complex reality. How is it possible that the world's new energy revolution can be based in this place where there's no electricity at night? Oz and I will cut through the noise to bring you the best conversations and deep dives that will help you understand how tech is changing our world

and what you need to know to survive the singularity. So join us. Listen to tech stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. That was big news. I mean, white girl gets murdered, found in a cemetery, big, big news. When a young woman is murdered, a desperate search for answers takes investigators to some unexpected places. He believed it could be part of a satanic cult. I think there were many individuals present.

I don't know who pulled the trigger. A long investigation stalls until someone changes their story. I like saw what could happen. An arrest, trial and conviction soon follow. He just saw his body just kind of collapsing. Two decades later, a new team of lawyers says their client is innocent. He did not kill her. There's no way.

Is the real killer rightly behind bars or still walking free? Are you capable of murder? I definitely am not. Did you kill her? Listen to The Real Killer, Season 3, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The race to catch BTK now included the media. As purveyors of public information, they cooperated with police

to try and find the now infamous killer. Last February, Police Chief Richard Lemunyan asked Cake TV to run a split-second picture in one of our news reports. Psychologists were hoping BTK would unconsciously detect the subliminal message and follow its instructions. It's the same principle as splicing shots of popcorn into a movie to make the viewer hungry. Subliminal messages of all kinds are illegal, but Cake was given special permission by the FCC to air the report and here's what it looked like. That's the Catherine Bright murder that occurred in April of 74. When we slow the picture down electronically, you can see the subliminal message. The message,

shown here still framed, urged BTK to call the chief. He did not. As a journalist, it's a tricky balance when working with the police. On the one hand, we have to be purely objective and remain independent from any agency, authorities included. On the other hand, when police need your help to track down a killer, you feel a certain responsibility to help them. We had, for the most part, good relations with the police department. But in journalism, you're always going to rub knuckles with them at some point. And we did.

This is former Cake TV anchor Larry Hattaberg again. Anytime we got anything related to BTK, we turned it over immediately. We would get it, we would photograph it, we would call the PD, and they would have it. So we turned everything we had, everything we knew, over to the police department because we wanted to cooperate. I mean, we're not standing in the way of catching anybody. And I think it's important for a local television station to

be part of a solution. We tried to work with them and the FBI and anybody else. And at the same time, be professional journalists. There's no manual written on how, when you become part of the story, that you react to every given situation. You're really flying by the seat of your pants and trying to make the right, most honest decision at every point in time and hoping you're doing the right thing. Following that big news broadcast, a tip line was made public, and Richard Lemonyan says it blew up almost immediately.

When we announced the fact that we did have a serial killer, we had hundreds, literally hundreds of tips. And we put additional officers, additional detectives to run every one of those tips now. Meanwhile, Dennis Rader was getting scared. Once again, the overwhelming attention spooked him. So he decided to lay low and stop sending letters, temporarily. Besides, he had other matters to worry about. His second child and only daughter, Carrie, was born in 1978. So I grew up in Wichita, Kansas.

We lived in Park City. It's a small northern suburb of Wichita, so about 5,000 people. I lived nine houses down from my mom's parents, Eileen and Palmer Dietz. Carrie recently visited the Tenderfoot Studio to talk with Payne Lindsay. She says she has fond memories of growing up in Wichita. Obviously, she was unaware of the chaos of the time.

She only knew her father, Dennis, as a regular dad. By the time I was toddling, he would like take me out gardening. I was three or four, he was teaching me about all the plants, the vegetables, growing season, soil. Anything dad was doing, I wanted to do. He loved the outdoors, so he was cool and let me get muddy. He had this big, huge like green gardening book. And in the winter, we would, like, do Burpee's Kellogg's. So we would, like, pick out seeds and plan. He was obsessed with gardening when I was little. But Carrie also remembers peculiar things about Dennis from her

childhood. For example, he would have these unpredictable bursts of rage and anger, and he could never sit still. My mom would always tell him when we were growing up, can't you just sit down for five minutes? You know, you always had to be busy, always active. He always had, like, the Wichita Eagle out, like he was marking it with these markings or cutting things out of it. Or he was always messing with something.

Later on, he would have his stamps out. Saturday nights, we're sitting down to watch a movie. We're popping popcorn and having pop. Everyone else is just choosing a comfortable chair to watch a movie in. Now he's setting up the card table to do something. Like he had to do something. He couldn't just like relax.

Because he could be controlling and angry and verbally abusive at times, I learned early how to like get him to relax. Because he could be controlling and angry and verbally abusive at times, I learned early how to like get him to relax. Which was how? Well like with my mom, she knew how to say, Dennis just go outside to your garden. Why don't you take the dog for a walk or why don't you go fishing this weekend? How did your mom know when to say that? Because he was he was tight and he was tense. His eyes would narrow and like he Because he was tight and he was tense. His eyes would narrow and like he's about to yell or he is yelling.

He's making your life uncomfortable. Like later we said it was like walking on ink shells at times with him. Ironically, Kerry says Dennis was very protective over her and her mother. He was obsessed with safety, always worried that an intruder might break in and harm them. He had dead bolts on our front door and our back door in the kitchen. And why was that? So he worked for ADT. So I figured he was security conscious because he knew about alarm

systems. He knew about people breaking into homes. He was making homes more secure with alarm systems. But what do you, he was making homes more secure with alarm systems. But what do you think he was protecting you from? Bad guys, but literally it's like he's so messed up, it was almost like he was protecting us from him, but it's because he knew how bad people could be. When I'm little, he's teaching me these things. So you're not supposed to be telling kids

about like home invasions. He's telling me like, well the kitchen door isn't that great because the window's too big and somebody can just punch out the glass and then they can reach in. But if it's deadbolted and the key's not in, then they can't get in. They gotta like jam the door more.

I'm learning this when I'm like little and it's imprinting because it's over and over and over with this man. He's telling me when I'm little, don't open the door to strangers, question them, make them show you like they're badgered, they're telling you they're a cop, or a maintenance man check their uniform. He is obsessively trying to keep me safe.

It seems like, at least from what I'm picking up, that you sort of look at your dad as two different people. So my question is, this is kind of weird, but going back to being like a six-year-old and in hindsight looking back, do you feel like the BTK killer would have ever harmed you? I don't know, that's one of those big questions. Part of my ability to survive and do what I need to do now is to compartmentalize.

So like with my father, I have to put dad and BTK. Like day to day now, I don't think of my dad as BTK. I can separate it or I'm not really even thinking about my dad. I'm living my life as a mom and writer and whatever I'm doing, right? My dad's my dad. He could be mean and mad, but most of the time, 95% of the time, he's like my best friend. And my brother will say the same thing. He was like his best friend. While Rader was raising his daughter, he was also planning yet another murder.

By April of 1979, he was still taking classes at Wichita State, and he used this as an excuse to his family for late night absences. One night, he spotted a 24-year-old woman named Rebecca walking into a nearby house. A few nights later, Rader got to work. After classes on the night of April 28th, Rader approached the home. Here again are his words from the book, Confession of a Serial Killer.

I also cut the phone line, my trademark. I used tape on the window where I broke in, and perhaps a glass cutter, which I now carried in my kit. Since the house was dark when I came I thought perhaps she was asleep. Further I saw a car in the garage so I tried a cat burglar approach going through the basement window. But the house was empty. Raider waited and waited. What he didn't know at the time was that this was actually the home of 63-year-old Anna Williams. The young woman named Rebecca that he'd seen was her granddaughter.

Williams was out square dancing on this night and wouldn't be home for quite a while. Rader busied himself by rummaging through her drawers and stealing various articles of clothing. He claims he scribbled something on her bathroom mirror and lipstick, something to the effect of BTK was here, though this was never confirmed or included in the police report. He laid out all of his instruments of murder on the bed to prepare. And then he ran out of time.

He had to get home before his wife became suspicious. So he packed up and left. A failed attempt. Anna Williams returned home just after 11 p.m. to discover that someone had cut her phone line, stolen some jewelry and clothing, and broken a window. She called the police, who determined it was just a regular burglary. But weeks later, in June, she got a strange package in the mail. It included a crude drawing of a hog-tied woman, naked on a bed. The package also contained some of the stolen items from around her home. And scariest of all, it came with a handwritten letter.

"'Twas a perfect plan of deviant pleasure so bold on that spring night, my inner felling hot with propension of the new awakening season, warm, wet with inner fear and rapture. My pleasure of entanglement like new vines at night. Oh, Anna. Why didn't you appear? Alone, now in another time span, I lay with sweet and rapture. Garments across most private thought.

Bed of spring moist grass, clean before the sun, enslaved with control. Alone again I trod in past memory of mirrors and ponder, why? For number eight was not. Oh, Anna, why didn't you appear? appear. Next time on Monster BTK.

He broke into her house expecting her to be home because her car was there but she had gone with this man. She's not home so he hides in her closet. The body was discovered here at 53rd Street North, just east of Webb Road. Before she died we had a very, very close relationship. He killed a woman in his own neighborhood that violated his own rules. Don't kill close to home. If he was dead we knew that we would find the trophies sometime or if he was still alive at some point he's going to come back.

When you have an offender who starts to communicate, I want him to communicate with a person affiliated with the investigation. I call the super cop. Monster, BTK is a production of Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts. The show is written by Gnomes Griffin, Trevor Young, and Jesse Funk. Our host is Susan Peters. Executive producers on behalf of Tenderfoot TV include Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay, alongside supervising producer Tracy Kaplan.

Executive producers on behalf of iHeart Podcasts include Matt Frederick and Trevor Young, alongside producers Gnomes Griffin and Jesse Funk, and supervising producer Rima Ilkayali. Marketing support by David Wassermann and Allison Wright at iHeart Podcasts, and Caroline Orogema at Tenderfoot TV. Additional research by Claudia D'Africo. Original artwork by Kevin Mr. Sol Harp. Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Special thanks to Oren Rosenbaum and the team at UTA and the Nord Group.

For more podcasts from iHeart Radio and Tenderfoot TV, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks for listening. If you're fascinated by the darker sides of humanity, join us every week on our podcast Serial Killers, where we go deep into notorious true crime cases. With significant research and careful analysis, we examine the psyche of a killer, their motives and targets, and law enforcement's pursuit to stop their spree.

Follow Serial Killers wherever you get your podcasts and get new episodes every Monday. Welcome to the Criminalia Podcast. I'm Maria Tremorchi. And I'm Holly Frey. Together we invite you into the dark and winding corridors of historical true crime. Each season we explore a new theme from poisoners to art thieves. We uncover the secrets of history's most interesting figures from legal injustices to body snatching. And tune in at the end of each episode as we indulge in cocktails

and mocktails inspired by each story. Listen to Criminalia on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It was big news. I mean, white girl gets murdered, found in a cemetery, big, big news. A long investigation stalls until someone changes their story. I like saw. Nothing happened. An arrest, trial, and conviction soon follow. He did not kill her.

There's no way. Is the real killer rightly behind bars or still walking free? Did you kill her? Listen to The Real Killer, Season 3 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, listeners. I'm Lauren Bright-Pacheco, host of the Murder on Songbird Road podcast. And I'm excited to share this riveting story with you.

I'm also excited to tell you that you can now get access to all episodes of Murder on Songbird Road, 100% ad-free and one week early through the iHeart True Crime Plus subscription, available exclusively on Apple podcasts. Plus you'll get access to other chart-topping true crime shows you love, like Betrayal, The Girlfriends, Paper Ghosts, Murder Homes, Unrestorable, The Godmother, and more.

So don't wait. Head to Apple Podcasts, search for iHeartTrueCrime Plus, and subscribe today.