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48 Hours

Trapping the BTK Killer

48 Hours

CBS News

True Crime, News Commentary, News, Tv & Film, Cbs

3.97K Ratings

🗓️ 9 October 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Vicki Wegerle, the mother of two young children, was strangled in Wichita, Kansas, in 1986, her husband Bill was considered by many to be the prime suspect. For the next 18 years, police lacked evidence to charge Bill, or anyone else with Vicki’s murder. Subsequently, a desire for recognition led Dennis Rader, aka the BTK (bind, torture, kill) killer, to fall into a police trap and supply them with incriminating evidence. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 10/1/2005. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I met Vicki in the high school.

0:11.0

It was like we were just meant to be.

0:13.0

We had so much in common.

0:19.0

That was my favorite song, and to this day I'll crank it up in the car if I hear it.

0:25.6

It just says something about, I guess, kind of like the way I thought of her maybe.

0:30.6

There was never, never a doubt in my mind how much my mom and my dad loved us.

0:44.3

My name is Bill Wiggily. I was coming home for lunch. I was working on that side of town. I figured why I'd hurry and get home for lunch.

0:50.3

I found Brandon by himself, I thought. That was unusual for her not to be there with him.

0:58.0

I kind of looked around, I think, for her and didn't find her.

1:02.0

Normal life, you don't expect something bad to be happening.

1:07.0

She died by strangulation.

1:10.0

There were a number of alligature marks around her neck.

1:13.6

Why? Why her?

1:16.6

You know, what did she do?

1:18.6

What did we do?

1:20.6

He's there for 50 minutes, probably before he discovers the body.

1:25.6

There were definitely police officers that thought that Bill Wagerly killed his wife.

1:30.3

Could that person be involved?

1:32.3

You know, who else would have killed the wife?

1:34.3

Did they ask you to take a polygraph?

1:36.3

Yeah, I took a polygraph for them, and I also took one privately.

1:42.3

And did that make them less suspicious?

...

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