The Btk Murders: Inside the "Bind Torture Kill" Case That Terrified America's Heartland

I, like many other people had never heard of the "BTK" serial killer who terrorized Wichita in the 1970's and 80's until news clips started talking about him resurfacing. One of the first things I found amazing in Carlton Smith's book is the fact that an entire generation of people in the town it happened in had not heard of him either. It was part of this unknowing that helped fuel one of the people the book centers on, which is lawyer Robert Beattie. Beattie's psychological outlook into the case from the clues that had already been collected helped him concoct a plan to bring the BTK killer back out of hiding. Like many serial killers, the BTK had been known for wanting attention, and when Beattie announced he was writing a book about the BTK, the killer quickly resurfaced, taunting police with mailed evidence and letters till the error made with a computer floppy disk led to his capture. From then on, the world knew the BTK as Dennis Rader; a pillar in the community and the last person many thought would be capable of such a thing. Carlton's novel can be broken down into three sections. One is the start of Beattie's involvement with the case. As the book rolls on, we later go through each grisly murder as Dennis Rader performed it. We are not shown so much the mind of the killer, but we really don't need to be. His actions of murder coupled with his strange fantasy world of bondage through collections of homemade playing cards and his over the top ego all come together to paint a picture of an extremely disturbed individual. We cry for the victims, and we gasp in disbelief at how many times he was almost caught. This leads to the third part of the book, which is the area that dances around the initial shock of the murders that started with the Otero family. It is during this part that shows how many in the law enforcement community were trying so hard to bring justice to the table, but also showed how mishandled evidence and an almost state of denial by some helped hinder the investigations. I was amazed to find that so many mistakes were made, but the biggest perhaps was the continual reluctance to release anything to the public. At the time, they did not want to create a "panic" in Wichita, while at the same time some of the details of the consecutive patterns that were being seen could have helped some residents identify the suspect sooner as well as be more careful about who they opened their door to. Sad, Frustrating and scary, the trip Carlton takes us on serves up the right justice in the end. The book really takes off when BTK communicates with law enforcement when he resurfaces and although stirring up scary memories in the town of Wichita, renews an aggressive interest by dusting off the case and taking it on to finally capture the BTK killer once and for all. My thoughts and prayers go out to the families and friends of all of the BTK victims at this time. The dark side of human nature is always around us, and I

I lived in the area these murders took place and still have a home in Wichita. It is very interesting to me to learn more about the murders and the investigation. I also had friends on the police department that were very involved, but could not know this at the time.

I thought this book was very detailed, but I don't know how accurate the provided details were. It was interesting how the author wrote his book in hopes of getting BTK mad - if BTK thought the author was getting all the glory by publishing a book about BTK, maybe BTK would try and communicate again. The author's ploy worked, and it helped lead to the capture of BTK. For people who know nothing about the BTK case, this book would be very good. It may be kind of boring to those who know much about the case, however. It's an interesting true crime story, a quick read, and even if it wasn't the most factual BTK book, I enjoyed it.

I figured out years ago that the people and situations we most need to fear are the ones we least expect, and this is proof positive of that philosophy. How someone could do all the things he did, and nobody suspect ANYTHING, boggles the mind. This wasn't mentioned in the book, but at his sentencing, Nola Foulston made reference to other crimes he had committed whose prosecution wasn't being pursued because he was going to be locked up forever anyway. And yes, one of them was embezzling from his church. Much of the book is devoted to the Robert Beattie story (read my review of his book as well), which was instrumental in his getting caught. I wonder if it was Dennis Rader himself who vandalized the Beattie house on that spring day? I give the author kudos as well for not using the names of the Rader relatives. They have suffered the ultimate betrayal and deserve their privacy. One wonders how many other BTKs are out there and just haven't been caught yet.