Police Say BTK Killer Has Been Arrested

Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams said authorities have made an arrest in the BTK serial killer case after taking into custody an employee of nearby Park City, Kansas in a routine traffic stop -- ending an era of terror for the Wichita community which lasted more than 30 years.

Lt. Ken Landwehr identified the suspect as Dennis Rader, a 59-year-old employee of the Compliance Department of Park City. Rader was shown, with his photo, as the supervisor of the compliance department on the city's web site early Saturday, but his picture and the department's entire existence was removed from the site's navigation soon after the announcement.

DENNIS RADER
Park City photo

"The bottom line: BTK is arrested," Chief Williams said at a news conference in the presence of some of the victims' family members.

Police would give no details about the arrest of Rader or what led them to their suspect. Lt. Landwehr told reporters during the news conference repeatedly that he would not comment on the on-going investigation.

Update: Sources are saying the arrest of the BTK killer came as a result of his daughter volunteering her DNA to the investigation.

Prosecutor Nola Foulston told the press conference that the statute of limitations had expired on all of BTK's crimes, except the homicides. She also said the death penalty would not apply to the BTK murders because they occurred before Kansas adopted the death penalty in 1994.

The BTK killer -- "Bind, Torture, Kill" -- was believed to be responsible for eight deaths in the Wichita area from the 1974 until 1986, but officials now say they expect Rader to be charged with 10 murders extending until 1991, possibly signaling that the suspect has made statements to investigators.

The BTK Strangler claimed credit for a series of seven murders in Wichita, Kansas in the early 1970s, then seemingly disappeared in 1977, and resurfaced again in March 2004 to claim responsibility for an eighth murder in 1986. "BTK" is the name the killer gave himself in communications with the news media and police.

Early media reports said one of the victims lived on the same street as Rader, at the time of the incident and he was once questioned by police. Rader was a leader in the boy scouts and his church, wore a badge, and drove a government vehicle. Said one TV news anchor, this was our neighbor!

See Also:
Neighbors Describe Suspect as 'Two-Sided'
KAKE-TV: Profile of Dennis Rader
The Wichita Eagle: BTK Arrest, Justice Long in Coming
Suspect in BTK Killings Lived Quiet Life as City Worker
Kan. Police Make Arrest in BTK Killings

Background:
The BTK Serial Killer