The Evil Within - A Top Murder Squad Detective Reveals The Chilling True Stories of The World's Most Notorious Killers (30 page)

On 27 April 1985, Marine Hedge, 53, was abducted from her home. Her body was found eight days later on a rural dirt road near the edge of Park City. She had been strangled with a pair of tights.

On 16 September 1986, the killer struck again; mother-of-two Vicki Wegerle was found strangled in her own home. There was no sign of a forced entry.

There was then a five-year gap until the next murder on 19 January 1991. The next victim was Dolores Davis, 62. Her killer had cut the phone line at her home and then thrown a brick through a glass door to gain access. She was then abducted. Her
body was found 13 days later under a bridge. Her hands and feet had been bound with her tights, which had been used to strangle her. After disposing of her body, the killer drove her car to another location and abandoned it.

From March 2004, a local newspaper received in total a series of 11 letters, in which the writer claimed that he had murdered Vicki Wegerle on 16 September 1986, and enclosed photographs of the body and a photocopy of her driving licence, which had been stolen at the time of the murder. In May 2004, a word puzzle was received, and in June a package was found taped to a stop sign in Wichita containing graphic descriptions of the Otero murders. In July, a package was left at a public library. This contained more bizarre material, including the claim that the writer was responsible for the death of 19-year-old Jake Allen in Kansas earlier that same month. This claim was found to be false, as the death had been by suicide. In October 2004, a Manila envelope was dropped into a post box. It contained a series of cards with images of terror and child bondage pasted onto them.

In December 2004, the Wichita police received another package from the killer. This time, the package was found in Wichita’s Murdock Park. It contained the driving licence of Nancy Fox, which had been noted as stolen at the scene of the crime, as well as a doll that was symbolically bound at the hands and feet with a plastic bag tied over its head. In early February, there were postcards and another cereal box left at a rural location containing another bound doll that symbolised the murder of 11-year-old Josephine Otero. The killer asked in the letter whether, if he put his writings onto a floppy disk, the disk could be traced or not. He received his answer in a newspaper, saying it would be okay. On 16 February 2005, a floppy disk was sent to the Fox TV station in Wichita. Forensic analysis quickly determined that the disk had been used by the Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita and also included the name Dennis as a user. An Internet search determined that Rader was president of the
church council. As a result, Dennis Rader was arrested on 25 February 2005.

Following Rader’s arrest, the police went to his daughter who provided a DNA sample that enabled police to link Rader’s DNA to eight murders.

On 1 March 2005, Rader was officially indicted on 10 murder charges. On 5 May 2005, Rader finally came to trial. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and the case was adjourned. He came back to court on 27 June, when he changed his plea to guilty and withdrew his insanity plea. He described his murders in graphic detail, starting with the Otero family back in 1974. He stated he had gone to the house between 7 and 7.30am. He claimed that he did not know them, but that he had selected Julie Otero and her daughter Josephine to be participants in his sexual fantasy. He had planned the timing, expecting that only Julie Otero and the two youngest children would be in the house. He never expected Joseph Otero to be there and it caused him to panic and lose control. That morning, he cut the phone lines and waited at the back door. He claimed he was having second thoughts about the whole plan when Joseph Otero Junior opened the back door to let the dog out, but then Rader went in through the back door and threatened the family with a pistol. The dog didn’t take kindly to him and so he insisted that the dog be put outside. He then realised that he didn’t have a mask on and that he could be identified at a later date, so he made a decision to go ahead and ‘put ’em down’, or strangle them. The words ‘put ’em down’ referenced euthanising animals; that’s all they were to him.

He then put a bag over Joseph Otero’s head and tightened it with cords, which he had brought along with him for this purpose, but Otero did not die right away. Then he was going to strangle Julie Otero. He stated that he had never strangled anyone before, so he really didn’t know how much pressure to apply or how long it would take. Joseph Otero began to put up a fight and tore a hole in the plastic bag, so he put another couple
of bags and some clothing over his head and tightened the cords. After that, he strangled Julie Otero. He said she passed out and he thought she was dead. He then strangled Josephine and she passed out. He thought she was dead, and then he went over and put a bag on Joseph Junior’s head, and then Julie Otero came round. He went back and strangled her again, finally killing her. Before she died, she pleaded with him to save her son. Rader stated that he had actually taken the bag off. He was really upset at that point in time. He then went and put another bag over Otero Junior’s head and took him into the other bedroom, putting another bag over his head as well as a cloth, so he couldn’t tear a hole in it. Young Joseph subsequently died. Rader went back upstairs to find that Josephine had woken up. He then took her to the basement and hanged her. He had sexual fantasies and masturbated on her body. He then said he went through the house, cleaning up the scene, before leaving and taking the car.

Rader then went on to describe the murder of Kathryn Bright on 4 April 1974. He said that he used to cruise the area selecting targets; Kathryn Bright was one. He was driving by one day and saw her go into the house with somebody. He later broke into her house and waited for her to come home, not expecting her to have her brother with her. He pulled a handgun on them. He made Kathryn’s brother tie her up and then he tied Kevin’s feet to the bedpost. He then moved Kathryn to another bedroom and went back to strangle Kevin but Kevin had loosened some of his bonds and started to struggle with him. He shot him and assumed he was dead. He then went back to strangle Kathryn, but she had not been tied up well and she struggled with him. Just as he thought he had Kathryn subdued, he heard Kevin in the other bedroom. When he tried to re-strangle Kevin, the struggle started again. Kevin tried to get one of the two handguns he had with him and almost succeeded, but Rader took the other handgun and shot Kevin again. Believing that Kevin was finally dead, he went back to finish off Kathryn. She continued to struggle, so he stabbed her several times underneath the ribs. At
the same time, he heard Kevin escaping through the front door of the house. Rader watched him running off down the road. He quickly cleaned up as much as he could and left, but still he ran into trouble. He had what he thought were Kathryn’s car keys and jumped in the car only to find he had the wrong keys. He then panicked and ran off down the road.

Rader said that the killing of Shirley Vian Relford on 17 March 1977 had not been planned. On the pretext of looking for someone, he knocked on her door and one of her children answered. He claimed to be a private detective, then produced a pistol and forced his way through the door. Inside, he found Shirley with her other children. He told Relford that he had a problem with sexual fantasies and was going to tie her and her kids up. They started crying and became upset so he moved them to the bathroom and tied the door shut so they couldn’t open it. He then tied Relford up but she threw up. He got her a glass of water, comforted her and then put a bag over her head and strangled her. The children had mentioned that a neighbour was going to look in on them, so he quickly put his killing tools, tape, cords and other items back in his briefcase and left.

Describing the murder of Nancy Fox on 8 December 1977, Rader said that he had been watching her for some time and knew all about her before committing the crime. For example, he knew what time she normally came home from work, so on the day in question, after he had ascertained that no one was in her apartment, he cut the phone lines and broke in and waited for her in the kitchen. When she came home, he confronted her, telling her he had a sexual problem and that he would have to tie her up and have sex with her. She became upset and told him to hurry up and get it over with. She asked to go to the bathroom. He told her she could but that she must come out undressed. She went to the bathroom and when she came out he made her lie on the bed, where he handcuffed her and tied her feet. He partially undressed and got on top of her. He then took his belt and proceeded to strangle her. He took the belt from around her
throat and replaced it with her tights, which he tied tight. He then masturbated before removing some personal items, cleaned up the scene and left.

Rader said his next victim was Marine Hedge, who lived down the street from him, so once he had selected her as a potential victim, it was easy for him to keep watch on her. They knew each other in a very casual way – she was a keen gardener and he would acknowledge her when he passed by her working in the grounds around her house. On the appointed day, Rader broke into Hedge’s house and waited for her to return. When Hedge came home, she had a man with her who stayed about an hour. When the guest left, Rader silently went into her bedroom, and she screamed. He jumped on the bed and strangled her manually. He then stripped her, put her in a blanket, took her body to the boot of her car and drove the car to a local church where he took some pictures of her body to show different forms of bondage. He then put her body back into her car and drove around, disposing of it a short time later in a ditch and covering it with brush.

When discussing the murder of Vicki Wegerle on 16 September 1986, Rader explained that he had targeted her, having planned to go to her house posing as a repair man. He knocked on the door and she let him in. He went over to the telephone, pretending to check it. When she had her back turned, he pulled out his pistol and told her to go back to the bedroom, where he used some fabric to tie her hands, but they came loose and she tried to fight him off. He grabbed one of her stockings and strangled her with it until she stopped moving. When he thought she was dead, he rearranged her clothes and took several photos of her but he had to make a hasty retreat. She had mentioned something about her husband coming home, so he got out quickly. Vicki Wegerle was fatally injured from the strangling but was not yet dead when he left her home. Sadly, she died soon afterwards.

His next victim was Dolores Davis. Rader entered her house
by throwing a lump of concrete through a plate-glass window. She came out of the bedroom and thought a car had hit her house. He told her that he was a fugitive on the run and needed food and a car; then he handcuffed and tortured her. He placed a thin painted plastic mask on her face to make her look more feminine. The mask had been painted a flesh colour with red lips and darkened eyebrows to make it look quite lifelike in appearance. Rader was so wrapped up in his fantasy when he was torturing her that he was oblivious to her pleas when she begged him to spare her life. Finally, he strangled her. As with most of the other murders, he took some personal items from her bedroom. He wrapped her in a blanket and dragged her to the boot of her car and took her away, leaving her body under a bridge. However, he had carelessly left one of his guns in her house, so he drove back to the house, collected his gun and walked back to his own car. After killing Davis, Rader wore some of her clothes that he had stolen, along with a mask and a wig. He would often dress up as a woman, posing in various bondage positions and taking pictures of himself with a remotely operated camera. In the pictures, he appeared markedly distressed, as if he were the victim. He told the judge that all of the murders he had committed were based on sexual fantasies.

The prosecution had amassed other evidence, which included photographs of Rader wearing tights and a bra and practising bondage on himself, as well as a knife and a gag used on Julie Otero. There were dolls taken from his home, which were bound with rope and handcuffed. There were many pictures, which he used specifically to fuel his perverted fantasies, that he kept hidden in his house and office. These included binders with
cut-out
pictures of models and starlets such as Meg Ryan, index cards with child swimsuit models on them and sexual fantasies written on the reverse, jewellery and clothing from his victims and newspaper clippings. Other photographs included pictures Rader took of himself wearing a mask and lying partially covered in a grave that he’d intended for Davis. Davis was never buried
there because Rader simply didn’t have the time to do it; instead, he just dumped her body and the mask under the bridge and decided to go back the following day. When he did, he claimed that he freaked out at the sight of her body because animals had ravaged her remains. The prosecution was intent on portraying Rader as a sadistic and evil man, with no regard for human life.

During Rader’s sentencing hearing on 18 August 2005, family members of the victims courageously stood before the man who had murdered their loved ones and for the first time told him what they thought of him and his horrendous actions. Rader was repeatedly called a monster and a coward, and the family members asked the judge for the harshest sentence possible. Some were so overcome with emotion that they were unable to say what they felt. Rader’s evil was beyond comprehension or words. During the statements, Rader showed signs of emotion, wiping his eyes periodically as if he were overcome with grief for what he had done.

Finally, the long-anticipated sentencing of Rader commenced. The judge sentenced him to a total of 175 years, to be served consecutively. Specifically, he sentenced him to nine life terms and gave him 40 years in prison with no chance of parole for the Dolores Davis murder; the judge also ordered that Rader pay restitution to the families of his victims as well as court costs. It was the severest sentence that he could give Rader under Kansas state law. He has an earliest possible release date of 26 February 2180.