BTK Strangler

The Confession

June 27th 2005 ...

Dennis Rader pleads guilty to the BTK murders. There was no plea bargain made. The evidence against him was too overwhelming including a confession, DNA evidence and many "trophies" that he had taken from the crime scenes found in his garage. In the courtroom, he admitted to killing 10 victims in a very matter of fact confession before the judge.

Here is a portion of the transcript:

Otero family

Waller: In regards to count one, please tell me in your own words what you did on the 15th day of January 1974, in Sedgwick County, Kansas, that makes you believe you are guilty of murder in the first degree.

Rader: Well, on January 15th, 1974, I maliciously...

Waller: All right, Mr. Rader, I need to find out more information, on that particular day, on the 15th day of January 1974, can you tell me where you went to kill Joseph Otero?

Rader: Um... I think it was 1834 Edgemoor.

Waller: All right, can you tell me approximately what time of day you went there?

Rader: Somewhere between 7 and 7:30.

Waller: At this particular location, did you know these people?

Rader: No, that was part of what... I guess what you call my fantasy. These people were selected.

Waller: So you were engaged in some kind of fantasy during this period of time?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Waller: Now, when you use the term fantasy, is this something you were doing for your personal pleasure?

Rader: Sexual fantasy, sir.

Waller: I see. So you went to this residence and what occurred then?

Rader: I had did some thinking on what I was going to do to either Mrs. Otero or Josephine and basically broke into the house, or didn't break into the house... but when they came out of the house I came in and confronted the family and then we went from there.

Waller: Had you planned this beforehand?

Rader: To some degree, yes. After I got in the house I lost control. It was, you know, in the back of my mind, I had some ideas of what I was going to do. I basically panicked that first day, so...

Waller: Beforehand, did you know who was there in the house?

Rader: I thought Mrs. Otero and the two kids, the two younger kids, were in the house . I didn't realize Mr. Otero was going to be there.

Waller: How did you get into the house?

Rader: I came through the back door. I cut the phone lines. I waited at the back door... I had reservations about even going or just walking away, but pretty soon the door opened and I was in.

Waller: So the door opened for you, or...

Rader: I think one of the kids, I think Jr., the younger Joseph, opened the door cause he let the dog out, cause the dog was in the house at that time.

Waller: Now when you went into the house. What happened then?

Rader: Well, I confronted the family... pulled a pistol, confronted Mr. Otero and asked him to, you know, that I was there, that basically I was wanted... to get the car... hungry, food... I was wanted, asked them to lie down in the living room... and at that time I realized that was not a good idea. So I finally, the dog was a real problem, so I asked Mr. Otero if he could get the dog out. He had one of the kids put it out. I took them back to the bedroom.

Waller: You took who back to the bedroom?

Rader: The family... the four members. At that time I tied them up.

Waller: While still holding them at gunpoint?

Rader: In between tying, I guess.

Waller: After you tied them up, what happened?

Rader: Well, they started complaining about being tied up, and I reloosened the bonds, tried to make Mr. Otero as comfortable as I could. Apparently he had a cracked rib from a car accident. So I had him put a pillow down for his head. I think he had a parka or a coat underneath him. He talked to me about giving me a car ... I guess he didn't have very much money. There I realized that, you know, I didn't have a mask on or anything, that they could ID me, so I made a decision to go ahead and put 'em down, I guess, or strangle them.

Waller: All right, what did you do to Joseph Otero?

Rader: Joseph Otero?

Waller: J. Joseph Otero Sr., Mr. Otero, the father.

Rader: I put a plastic bag over his head and then some cords and tightened it.

Waller: This was in the bedroom?

Rader: Yes sir.

Waller: Did he in fact, suffocate and die as a result of this?

Rader: Not right away, no sir, he didn't.

Waller: What happened?

Rader: After that I did Mrs. Otero... I had never strangled anyone before, so I really didn't know how much pressure you have to put on a person or how long it would take...

Waller: Was she also tied up there in the bedroom?

Rader: Yes, both their hands and feet were tied up She was on the bed.

Waller: Where were the children?

Rader: Josephine was on the bed and Jr. was on the floor at this time.

Waller: We are talking first of all about Joseph Otero... so you put the bag over his head and tied it and he did not die right away. Can you tell me what happened in regards to Joseph Otero?

Rader: He moved over real quick like and I think tore a hole in the bag. I could tell that he was having some problems there, but at that time the whole family just went panicked on me, so I worked pretty quick.

Waller: You worked pretty quick. What did you do?

Rader: Well, I mean I strangled Mrs. Otero... she went out, passed out and I thought she was dead. I strangled Josephine and she passed out... I thought she was dead and then I went over and put a bag on Jr.' s head and then if I remember right, Mrs. Otero came back... she came back, and...

Waller: Sir, let me ask you about Joseph Otero Sr. He tore a hole in the bag. What did you do with him then?

Rader: I put another bag either that... I recollect, I think I put either a cloth or a T-shirt or something over his head and then another bag, and then tightened it up.

Waller: Did he subsequently die?

Rader: Well, yes, I mean I was... didn't stay there and watch him. I was moving around the room.

Waller: So you indicated that you strangled Mrs. Otero after you had done this, is that correct?

Rader: I went back and strangled her again, it finally killed her at that time.

Waller: So this is in regards to count 2. You first of all put the bag over Joseph Otero's head and he tore a hole in the bag, then you went ahead... did you strangle Mrs. Otero then?

Rader: First of all, Mr. Otero was strangled ... a bag put over his head and strangled him. Then, I thought he was going down. Then I went over and strangled Mrs. Otero, and I thought she was down. Then I strangled Josephine and she was down and then I went over to Jr. and put the bag on his head. After that, Mrs. Otero woke back up and you know, she was pretty upset with what's going on and at that point in time, I strangled her... the death strangle at that time.

Waller: With your hands?

Rader: No, with a cord, with a rope. Then I think at that point in time, I redid Mr. Otero and put the bag over his head, and then Jr.... oh, before that she asked me to save her son, so I actually had taken the bag off. I was really upset at that point in time. So basically, Mr. Otero was down, Mrs. Otero was down, then I went ahead and took Junior, I put another bag over his head and took him into the other bedroom.

Waller: What did you do then?

Rader: Put a bag over his head, put a cloth over his head, a T-shirt and bag so he couldn't tear a hole in it. He subsequently died from that. I went back up, Josephine had woke back up.

Waller: What did you do then?

Rader: I took her to the basement and hung her.

Waller: You hung her in the basement?

Rader: Yes, sir

Waller: Did you do anything else at that time?

Rader: Yes, I had some sexual fantasies, but that was after she was hung.

Waller: All right, what did you do then?

Rader: I went through the house, kinda cleaned it up: It's called the right-hand rule, you go from room to room clean things up. I think I took Mr. Otero's watch. I guess I took a radio. I had forgot about that but apparently took a radio.

Waller: Why did you take these things?

Rader: I don't know... I have no idea.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: I got the keys to the car... in fact I had the keys, I think earlier before that, a way of getting out of the house, and cleaned the house a little bit, make sure everything was packed up and left through the front door. Then went over to their car and drove over to Dillons and left the car there. I eventually walked back to my car.

Waller: All right, sir, from what you have just said I take it that the facts you told me apply to all of counts l, 2, 3 and 4, is that correct?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Kathryn Bright

Waller: All right, Mr. Rader, we will now turn to count 5: April 4, 1974. Can you tell me what occurred on that day?

Rader: Well, off hand, I don't know exactly how to say it. I had many, what I call them, "projects," different people I followed, watched. Kathryn Bright was one of the next targets I guess I would indicate.

Waller: How did you select her?

Rader: Well, I was just driving by one day and saw her go into the house with somebody else and I thought that was a possibility -- there was many places in the area, College Hill, they are all over Wichita -- but anyway, it was just basically a selection process, work toward it, if it didn't work, I just move on to something else. But in my kind of person -- stalking and trolling -- you go through the trolling stage and then stalking stage. She was in the stalking stage when this happened.

Waller: All right, sir, so you identified Kathryn Bright as a potential victim?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Waller: What did you do then here in Sedgwick County?

Rader: Oh, on this particular day, I broke into the house and waited for her to come home.

Waller: How did you break into the house?

Rader: Through the back door on the east side.

Waller: And you waited for her to come home. Where did you wait?

Rader: In the house, there. Probably close to the bedroom. I walked through the house, kind of figured out where I'd be if they came through.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: She and Kevin Bright came in; I wasn't expecting him to be there. Come to find out, I guess, they were related. At that time I approached them and told them I was wanted in California, needed a car, basically the same thing I told the Oteros. Kind of ease them... make them feel better, and proceeded to... I think I had him tie her up first and then I tied him up or vice versa, I don't remember right now.

Waller: Let me ask: You indicated you had some items to tie these people with? Did you bring these items to both the Oteros and this location?

Rader: The Oteros I did, I am not really sure on the Brights. When I was working with the police, there was some controversy on that. Probably, more than likely I did... if I had brought my stuff and used my stuff, Kevin would probably be dead today. I am not bragging on that, it is just a matter of fact, but the bonds I tied him up with he broke them, and same with Kathryn, they got out of hand.

Waller: Now you indicated you believe you had Kevin tie Kathryn up. Tell me what happened then.

Rader: Well, after, basically, I moved her to another bedroom; he was already secure there by the bed, I tied his feet to the bedpost so he couldn't run. Kind of tied her in the other bedroom and came back to strangle him and at that time we had a fight.

Waller: Were you armed with a handgun at that time also?

Rader: Yes, I had a handgun. Actually I had two handguns. Well, I started to strangle him, either the garrote broke or he broke his bonds and he jumped up real quick like. I pulled my gun and quickly shot him. I hit him in the head. He fell over. I could see the blood. And as far as I was concerned, I thought he was down and was out. I started to strangle Kathryn, then we started fighting. Her bonds weren't very good, back and forth we fought.

Waller: You and Kathryn?

Rader: Yeah, we fought. And I got the best of her and I thought she was going down and I could hear some movement in the other room so I went back and... no, I thought she was going down and I went back to the other bedroom where Kevin was at and I tried to restrangle him at that time and he jumped up and we fought and he, at that time, about shot me. My pistol that was in my shoulder here, I had my Magnum in my shoulder.

Waller: Did you have it in a shoulder holster?

Rader: Yes, uh huh. I had the Magnum in my shoulder holster. The other one was a .22. We fought... at that point in time, I thought it was going to go off. I jammed the gun, I stuck my finger in there, jammed it. I think he thought that was the only gun I had. Once I either bit his finger or hit him, or something, got away. I used the .22 and shot him one more time. And I thought he was down for good that time.

Waller: So you shot him a second time?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: I went back to... finish the job on Kathryn. She was fighting, at that point in time it was, and then I heard some, I don't know whether I was basically losing control and the strangulation wasn't working and I used a knife on her.

Waller: You say you used a knife on her? What did you do with the knife?

Rader: I stabbed her two or three -- either here or here -- (pointed to lower back and abdomen) under the ribs.

Waller: Lower abdomen?

Rader: Underneath the ribs.

Waller: So after you stabbed her, what happened?

Rader: Well, actually I think at that point in time it was a total mess, I didn't have control on it. She went down. I think I just went back to check on Kevin, or at that basically same time I heard him escape, it could be one of the two or... all of a sudden the front door of the house was open and he was gone, and oh, I tell you what I thought: I thought the police were coming at that time, that was it. I stepped out there; I could see him running down the street, so I quickly cleaned up everything that I could and left.

Waller: Mr. Rader, you indicated that at the Oteros' you did not have a mask on. Did you have a mask on at the Brights'?

Rader: No, I didn't, huh uh.

Waller: All right, so what happened then?

Rader: I already had the keys to the cars. I thought I had the right keys to the right car. I ran out to their car. I think it was a pickup out there, I tried it... it didn't work. At that point in time he was gone, running down the street and I thought, 'Well, I am in trouble,' so I tried it, it didn't work, so I just took off, ran, went east, and worked back towards the WSU campus where my car was parked.

Waller: All right, so you had parked your car at the Wichita State University campus? How far away was the Brights' residence?

Rader: Oh, I parked... what is that? 13th and... they were on, what is it 17th? I was just about one block south of 17th, where the car was. There is a park there, I parked in that park, then I walked to 13th to the Brights' residence. So I basically ran back.

Waller: So you were able to get to your car and get away?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Shirley Vian Relford

Waller: Can you tell me what you did on that day?

Rader: Actually on that one, she was completely random. There was actually someone across from Dillons that was a potential target. It was called project Green, I think... I had project numbers. That particular day I drove over to Dillons and parked in the parking lot and watched this particular residence and then got out of the car and walked over to it. It is probably in the police report, the address. I don't remember the address now. I knocked and no one answered it.

So I was all keyed up, so I just started going through the neighborhood. I had been through the neighborhood before so I kinda knew a little bit of the layout of the neighborhood. I had been through the back alleys, etc., knew where certain people lived. While I was walking down Hydraulic, I met a young boy and asked him if he'd ID some pictures. Kind of as a... ruse as you call it... feel him out... saw where he went... went to another address and knocked on the door and nobody opened the door, so just noticed where he went and went from there.

Waller: You call these projects. Are these sexual fantasies also?

Rader: Potential hits. In my world, that is what I call them. Project -- hits.

Waller: And why did you have these potential hits? Was this to gratify some sexual interest?

Rader: Yes sir. I had a lot of them, so it's just... if one didn't work out, I just moved to another one.

Waller: So as I am to understand it, on the 17th of March, l977, you saw this little boy go into a residence and you tried another residence. No one was there so you went to the residence where the little boy was.

Rader: And I watched where he went. After I tried the one residence, no one came to the door, I went to the house where he went in, knocked on the door told him I was a private detective... showed him a picture that I had just showed the boy, and asked if they could ID the picture. At that time I had the gun here and I just kind of forced myself in... just opened the door and walked in. I pulled a pistol.

Waller: What gun? What pistol?

Rader: 357 Magnum

Waller: So you only had one gun?

Rader: Yes sir.

Waller: So what happened then?

Rader: I told Ms. Vian that I had a problem with sexual fantasies... that I was going to tie her up and that I might have to tie the kids up and if she would cooperate with us... We went back. She was extremely nervous. I think she was smoking a cigarette at the time. We went back to one of the back areas of the porch. I explained that I had done this before and at that point in time, I think she was sick. She had her night robe on. If I can remember right, she had been sick and I think she came out of the bedroom when I went in the house. So we went to back to her bedroom and I proceeded to tie the kids up. They started crying and got real upset. So I knew this was not going to work. So we moved them to the bathroom -- she helped me -- and I tied the doors shut. We put some toys and blankets, odds and ends, in there for the kids, make them as comfortable as we could. We tied one of the bathroom doors shut so they couldn't open it, and she went back and helped me shove the bed against the other bathroom door. I proceed to tie her up. She got sick, threw up. I got her a glass of water, comforted her a little bit and then went ahead and tied her up and put a bag over her head and strangled her.

Waller: Was this a plastic bag also?

Rader: Yes, sir, I think it was but I could be wrong on that. It was something. I am sure it was a plastic bag, yes.

Waller: You say you had a bag over her head and strangled her. What did you strangle her with?

Rader: Actually, on that, I had tied her legs to the bedpost and worked my way up and what I had left over and I think I looped it over her neck.

Waller: So you used this rope to strangle her?

Rader: Yes, I think it is the same one I tied her body with.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: Well, the kids were really banging on the door and hollering, screaming and then the telephone rang. And they had talked about earlier that the neighbor was going to check on them, so I cleaned up real quick like and got out of there and left and went back into my car.

Waller: When you say, cleaned up, what do you mean?

Rader: Well, I mean, I had a briefcase, whatever I had laying around, tape, cords, whatever I had brought into the house.

Waller: Had you brought that to the Bright residence also?

Rader: I think it was some basic stuff, but I don't remember total stuff like I did with some of the others.

Waller: Was this a kit you had prepared?

Rader: Yes, I call it my hit kit.

Waller: All right, sir. You left the Vian residence. Had you parked your vehicle near there?

Rader: It was still in the same parking lot there at Dillons... at Lincoln and Hydraulic.

Nancy Fox

Rader: Nancy Fox was another one of the projects. When I was trolling the area, I noticed her go into the house one night and anyway put her down as a potential.

Waller: Let me ask you, you say you are patrolling the area?

Rader: It is called stalking, or trolling.

Waller: So you were not working in any form or fashion?

Rader: If you read much about serial killers, they go through what they call different phases. That's one of the phases they go through, is a trolling stage. Basically, you are looking for a victim at that time. You could be trolling for months or years, but once you lock in on a certain person, then you become stalking. That might be several of them, but you really hone in that person, they basically become the -- that's the victim.

(Judge thought he said patrolling.)

Rader: No, I wasn't working, sir. This was off my hours.

Waller: All right. So you basically identified Nancy Fox as one of your projects? What happened then?

Rader: First, she was spotted. I did a little homework. I dropped by once to check her mailbox, to see what her name was. Found out where she worked, stopped by there once, Helzbergs. Sized her up. The more I knew about a person, the more I felt comfortable. So I did that a couple of times. Then, I just selected a night, which was this particular night, to try it and it worked out.

Waller: So tell me what you did on the night of 12/8/77.

Rader: About two or three blocks away, I parked my car and I walked to that residence. I knocked at the door first to see if anybody was in there because I knew she arrived home at a particular time from where she worked. Nobody answered the door so I went to the back of the house, cut the phone lines, there wasn't anybody in the north apartment, broke in and waited for her to come home in the kitchen.

Waller: And did she come home?

Rader: Yes, she did.

Waller: What happened?

Rader: I confronted her, told her I had a problem, sexual problem, that I would have to tie her up and have sex with her. She was a little upset and we talked awhile and she smoked a cigarette. While we smoked a cigarette, I went through her purse identifying some stuff, and she finally said, well let's get this over with so I can call the police. So I said OK. She said, can I go to the bathroom. I said yes. She went to the bathroom. And I told her when she came out, make sure she was undressed. When she came out I handcuffed her.

Waller: You handcuffed her? You had a pair of handcuffs?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Waller: Then what happened next?

Rader: Anyway, I handcuffed her, had her lay on the bed and I tied her feet. I was also undressed to a certain degree and then I got on top of her and I reached over, took either her feet were tied or not tied but I think I had a belt. Anyway, I took the belt and strangled her at that time.

Waller: All right, after you had strangled her, what happened next?

Rader: After I strangled her with the belt, I took the belt off and retied that with panty hose, real tight, removed the handcuffs and tied those with pantyhose. I can't remember the colors right now. I think I may have retied her feet. They were probably already tied, her feet were. And then at that time, I masturbated sir.

Waller: Had you had sexual relations with her?

Rader: No, I told her I was, but I did not.

Waller: So you masturbated, then what did you do?

Rader: Dressed, then went through the house, took some of her personal items, then I cleaned the house up, went through and checked everything.

Marine Hedge

Rader: Well, actually, kind of like the others, she was chosen. I went through the different phases, stalking phase, and since she lived down the street from me I could watch the comings and goings quite easily. On that particular day, I had another commitment. I came back from that commitment, and parked my car over at Woodlawn and 21st Street at the bowling alley there at that time. Before that, I had some other clothes on, changed clothes. I went to the bowling alley, went in there under the pretense of bowling. Called a taxi. Had a taxi take me out to Park City. Had my kit in the bowling bag.

Waller: Is that Park City in Sedgwick County, Kansas?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Waller: All right, you had a taxi take you to Park City. What happened then?

Rader: There I asked, I pretended that I was a little drunk. I just took some beer and washed it around in my mouth and the guy could probably smell the alcohol on me. I told him to let me out so I could get some fresh air. I had the taxi let me out over at her house.

Waller: Where did she live?

Rader: 6254 Independence.

Waller: When you walked over there what happened next?

Rader: As before, I was going to have sexual fantasies so I brought my hit kit. But lo and behold her car was there. I thought gee, she's not supposed to be home so I very carefully snuck into the house, kind of like a cat burglar. After checking the house, she wasn't there. So about that time the door rattled, so I went back in one of the bedrooms and hid back there in one of the bedrooms. She came in with a male visitor. They were there for maybe an hour or so. He left, I waited until the wee hours of the morning and then proceeded to sneak into her bedroom and flip the lights on real quick like, I think the bathroom lights. I didn't want to flip her lights on. She screamed. I jumped on the bed and strangled her manually.

Waller: Now, were you wearing any kind of disguise or mask at this time:?

Rader: No.

Waller: You indicated this woman lived down the street from you. Did she know you?

Rader: Well, casually, we would walk by, wave. She liked to work in her yard as well as I. It was just a neighborly type thing. It wasn't anything personal, just a neighbor.

Waller: All right, so she was in her bed when you turned on the light in the bathroom?

Rader: Yeah, the bathroom, so I could get some light in there.

Waller: What did you do?

Rader: I manually strangled her when she started to scream.

Waller: You used your hand?

Rader: Yes.

Waller: And you strangled her. Did she die?

Rader: Yes

Waller: What did you do then?

Rader: After that, since I was still in the sexual fantasy, I went ahead and stripped her. I am not sure if I tied her up at that point in time, but she was nude. I put her on a blanket, went through her purse, and personal items in the house. I figured out how I was going to get her out of there. Eventually, I moved her to the trunk of the car--the trunk of her car--and took the car over to Christ Lutheran Church, this was the older church, and took some pictures of her.

Waller: All right, you took some photographs of her. What kind of camera did you use?

Rader: Polaroid.

Waller: Did you keep those photographs?

Rader: I think the police probably have them.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: Well, that was it. She was already dead, so I took the pictures of her in different forms of bondage and that is what probably got me in trouble is the bondage thing. But anyway then I moved her back out to her car. Then we went east on 53rd.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: Trying to find a place to hide her, hide the body.

Waller: Did you find a place?

Rader: Yes, yes I did. I couldn't tell you without looking at a map but it was on 53rd, between Greenwich maybe. What is that I think between Webb and Greenwich I found a ditch, a low place on the north side of the road and hid her there.

Waller: You say you hid her there?

Rader: Well there were some trees, some brush and I laid it over the top of her body.

Vicki Wegerle

Rader: Again, Vicki Wegerle was another potential victim. I went through those different phases, I locked in on her as I would call it, and decided I would try that day. I used a ruse as a telephone repairman to get into her house. I drove over there in my own personal car around lunchtime, or it was earlier in the morning than that. I actually went somewhere else and changed my clothes, what I call my "hit" clothes.

Waller: Hit clothes?

Rader: Basically different, things I would need to get rid of later. Not the same kind of clothes I had on. I don't know what better word to use, crime clothes, I just call them hit clothes. I walked from my car as a telephone repairman. As I walked there, I donned a telephone helmet, I had a briefcase -- I went to one other address just to kind of size up the house. I had walked by it a couple of times, but I wanted to size it up more. As I approached it, I could hear a piano sound and I went to this other door and knocked on it and told them that we were recently working on telephone repairs in the area. Went to hers, knocked on the door, asked her if I could come check her telephone lines inside.

Waller: did she allow you in?

Rader: Yes, she did. I went over and found out where the telephone was and simulated that I was checking the telephone. I had a make-believe instrument. And after she was looking away, I drew a pistol on her.

Waller: Is this the same .357 Magnum?

Rader: This was a different one.

Waller: You asked her to go back to the bedroom with you after drawing the pistol on her?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: I told her I was going to have to tie her up. She was very upset. I think I used some material. That's another thing -- I think I used some material that was in their bedroom, and after I tied her hands, she broke that. We started fighting. And we fought quite a bit back and forth.

Waller: She was physically fighting you?

Rader: Oh, yes sir.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: I finally got the hand on her and got a nylon sock and started strangling her.

Waller: So you wrapped the stocking around her neck? What happened then?

Rader: I gained on her and put her down and I thought she was dead, but after she was down and not moving any more, I rearranged her clothes a little bit and took some quick photos, three of them, if I remember.

After that, there was a lot of commotion. She had mentioned something about her husband coming home, so I got out of there pretty quick. The dogs were raising a lot of Cain in the back, the doors and windows were all open in the house, and a lot of noise when we were fighting. So I left pretty quick after that, put everything in the briefcase, and I had already gone through her purse and got the keys to the car and used her car for my getaway car.

Waller: You indicate that you thought that she was dead. Did you discover later that she was not dead?

Rader: Yes. I guess the paramedics arrived and tried to attempt to revive her and that failed. I don't know if she died there or at the hospital. I don't recollect.

Waller: But you later found out she did die as a result of your strangulation?

Rader: Yes

Dolores Davis

Rader: That particular day I had some commitments. I left those, went to one place, changed my clothes, went to another place, parked my car, finally made arrangements on my hit kit, my clothes, and walked to that residence. After spending some time at that residence, it was very cold that night and I had some reservations about going in. I had cased the place before and she was in the house, so I finally just selected a concrete block and threw it through the plate glass window on the east and came on in.

Waller: Where is this residence located?

Rader: On Hillside, but I couldn't give you the address. It is probably 61... uh, 62 something.

Waller: North or south?

Rader: North Hillside.

Waller: All right, so you used a concrete block to break a window?

Rader: Plate glass window, patio door.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: Noise. I just went in. She came out of the bedroom and thought a car had hit her house. I told her that I was, uh, I used the ruse of that I was wanted, on the run. That I needed food, car, warmth and I asked her, I handcuffed her, I told her I would like to get some food, the keys to her car, talked with her a little bit, calmed her down a little bit, and eventually I checked... I think she was still handcuffed. I went back and checked out where the car was, simulated getting some food, odds and ends in the house like I was leaving, went back, removed her handcuffs, then tied her up, and then eventually strangled her.

Waller: You say eventually strangled her?

Rader: Well, after I tied her up I went through some things in the room.

Waller: You say you went through... were you looking for something?

Rader: Personal items.

Waller: Do you take personal items from every one of these incidents?

Rader: I did on the Hedge; don't remember anything on Vicki's place; the Oteros I got the watch and radio; Vian's, no, I don't think so; Fox, yes, I took some things from Fox. It was hit and miss. If it was a controlled situation, where I had more time, I took something, but if it was a confusion and other things, I didn't 'cause I was trying to get out of there.

Waller: All right, so in regard to the Davis matter, you went around, took some things; what did you do then?

Rader: I strangled her.

Waller: What did you strangle her with?

Rader: Panty hose. Kind of like Mrs. Hedge. I already figured out, I had a plan on leaving. I put her a blanket and drug her to the car, put her in the trunk of her car.

Waller: So you were able to strangle her to death with these panty hose?

Rader: Yes, sir.

Waller: So you put her in your car?

Rader: Her car... the trunk of her car.

Waller: What happened then?

Rader: I really had a commitment I needed to go to, so I moved her to one spot, I took her out of her car... this gets complicated, then the stuff I had -- clothes, guns, whatever -- I took that to another spot in her car, dumped that off. OK, then took her car back to her house, left that... let me think, now (makes popping noise with his mouth several times). OK, in the interim, I took her car back to her house. In the interim I realized I had lost one of my guns, dropped it somewhere. So I was trying to figure out where my gun was. So I went back in the house, realized I had dropped it. When I broke the plate glass window it dropped and fell on the floor right there. And I found it right there. So that solved that problem. Anyway, I went back out, threw the keys, checked the car real quick like, threw the keys on top of the roof. Walked from her car back to my car. Took my car, drove it back and I either dropped more stuff off or I picked her up and put them in my car. And then I drove up northeast of Sedgwick County, dropped her off underneath a bridge.

Waller: So, all of these incidents, these 10 counts occurred because you wanted to satisfy sexual fantasies. Is that correct?

Rader: Yes. Um hum

Dennis Rader was sentenced to 10 life terms in prison.

Dennis Rader is attempting to write a book of his life using an outside source.

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