Dennis Rader
Sign in to saveAlso known as BTK Killer, BTK Strangler
Dennis Lynn Rader, better known by his pseudonym BTK, is an American serial killer and mass murderer who killed at least ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991. Although he occasionally killed or attempted to kill men and children, Rader typically targeted women. His victims were often attacked in their homes and then bound, sometimes with objects from their homes, and either suffocated with a plastic bag or manually strangled with a ligature.
OverviewAI-generated
Dennis Lynn Rader is a United States citizen born in Kansas in 1945. He is a serial killer who worked as an employee for Coleman Company and ADT Inc. Rader was educated at Wichita State University and served in the United States Air Force. He is also known by the nicknames BTK Killer, BTK Strangler, BTK, and The Wichita Strangler.
Rader committed murders between 1974 and 1991. He was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, which he serves at El Dorado Correctional Facility. He is a Lutheran who speaks English and has two children. During his criminal activities, he used the pseudonyms Ethan Truman and Bill Thomas Killman.
Synthesized by Vinony from 24 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, TMDb. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Film & TV
Kansas, USA
Dennis Lynn Rader (born March 9, 1945), better known as the BTK killer, is an American serial killer who murdered at least ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991. Although he occasionally killed or attempted to kill men and children, Rader typically targeted women. His victims were often attacked in their homes, then bound, sometimes with objects from their homes, and…
Known for
- My Father, the BTK Killer — Self - Serial Killer (archive footage)2025
- One Night in Idaho: The College Murders — Self - BTK Serial Killer (archive footage)2025
- BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer — Self (voice)2022
- BTK: A Killer Among Us — Self (archive footage)2019
- Serial Killers Defined — Self (archive footage)2013
- Dennis Rader: The Bind and Torture Killer — Self (archive)2013
- Serious Serial Killers2012
- E! True Hollywood Story — Self (archive footage)1996
- 20/20 — Self - Serial Killer (archive footage)1978
via TMDB
Wikipedia views (30d)
200,926 totalvia Wikimedia Pageviews API
Key facts
- Born
- Dennis Lynn Rader , ( 1945-03-09 ) March 9, 1945 (age 81) , Pittsburg , Kansas , U.S.
- Other names
- BTK, BTK Killer, BTK Strangler
- Education
- Butler County Community College ( AE ), Wichita State University ( BS )
- Criminal status
- Incarcerated
- Children
- 2, including Kerri
- Motive
- Sexual sadism
- Conviction
- First degree murder – 10 counts
- Criminal penalty
- 10 consecutive life sentences
- Victims
- 10+
- Span of crimes
- January 15, 1974 – January 19, 1991
- Country
- United States
- State
- Kansas
- Date apprehended
- February 25, 2005
- Imprisoned at
- El Dorado Correctional Facility
- Allegiance
- United States
- Branch
- U.S. Air Force
- Service years
- 1966–1970 (active), 1970–1972 (reserve)
- Rank
- Staff sergeant
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- Dennis
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- United States
- Place of birth
- United States
- Occupation
- serial killer
- Educated at
- Wichita State University
- Employer
- ADT Inc.
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Religion
- Lutheranism
- Field of work
- serial murder
- Military branch
- United States Air Force
- Number of children
- 2
- Convicted of
- murder
Show 11 more facts
- date of birth
- 1945-01-01
- penalty
- life imprisonment
- birth name
- Dennis Lynn Rader
- nickname
- The Bondage Strangler
- place of detention
- El Dorado Correctional Facility
- end of work period
- 1991-00-00
- start of work period
- 1974-00-00
- different from
- Zodiac Killer
- pseudonym
- Bill Thomas Killman
- Commons category
- Dennis Rader
- name in native language
- Dennis Rader
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Dennis Lynn Rader (born March 9, 1945), better known by his pseudonym BTK (for "bind, torture, kill"), is an American serial killer and mass murderer who killed at least ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991. Although he occasionally killed or attempted to kill men and children, Rader typically targeted women. His victims were often attacked in their homes and then bound, sometimes with objects from their homes, and either suffocated with a plastic bag or manually strangled with a ligature.
In a series of crimes that terrorized Wichita in the mid-to-late 1970s, Rader also initiated a series of taunting letters sent to police and media outlets, describing his crimes in detail and referring to himself as "BTK". In addition, he stole keepsakes from his female victims, including underwear, driver's licenses and personal items. In 1979, BTK suddenly went quiet, and despite an exhaustive investigation, the case grew into one of the most infamous cold cases in American history. Rader would later confess to killing three further victims between 1985 and 1991 that were not initially linked to BTK but were confirmed to be his doing through DNA and items found in his possession.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dennis Rader” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.