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What Makes a Killer

S4 Ep1: Dennis Rader, The BTK Killer

What Makes a Killer

Audioboom Studios

Documentary, True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.41K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2022

⏱️ 46 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From 1974-1991, the city of Wichita, Kansas was gripped with fear as a violent serial killer was on the loose. The killer, known to the public by his alias BTK, was an unassuming family-man named Dennis Rader. He would attack people in their own homes before binding, torturing and ultimately killing them, seemingly for self gratification. BTK came in and out of the shadows for 30 years, taunting investigators with miniscule clues. But in a moment of overconfidence, he was finally thrown into the light.

This episode is sponsored by:
Cerebral
Microdose Gummies - Promo code: WHAT

Original music by Ben Krejci, Lee Rosevere, Kai Engel, Sergey Cheremisinov, Kevin MacLeod, Chris Zabriskie, and Daniel Birch. Additional music provided by: Epidemic Sound

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

This Christmas and New Year, UNHS is here to help if you need to see a GP or find a pharmacist.

0:06.5

Throughout the festive period, GP appointments are available, including face to face should you need one.

0:12.4

In your local area, community pharmacies are open.

0:15.7

To find which pharmacy is open near you, visit the NHS website.

0:19.9

And if you need urgent medical help, please contact 111 online by visiting 111.nhs.uk.

0:28.4

Any time, any day.

0:30.2

What makes a killer contains graphic details of sexual assault and violence and is not intended for all audiences.

0:37.1

Listener discretion is strongly advised.

0:43.3

It's 1974 in Wichita, Kansas, and the two oldest children of the Otero family have just arrived home from school

0:51.5

to find their parents and two younger siblings brutally murdered.

0:56.4

The Otero family had recently moved to the small city and their murder case came as a shock to the community.

1:03.5

He's chosen to kill four people. That is quite a significant undertaking.

1:08.8

And I think that really is testament to his arrogance and his hubris that he thought he could do this.

1:14.3

The city was gripped by fear as it became increasingly obvious that a serial killer was at work.

1:21.6

He would attack people in their own homes before binding, torturing and ultimately killing them,

1:27.6

seemingly for self gratification.

1:30.2

So there was clearly a sexual elements to this offending.

1:34.0

And they also discovered that the faces of some of the victims were quite bloated,

1:38.2

which suggests that the killer strangled them and then stopped strangling them and then strangled them again.

1:44.2

For years, the killer evaded the police, leaving behind little to no evidence.

1:50.0

He was untraceable.

1:51.7

Someone who is killing in such a way over a period of time is going to damage the community.

...

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