"BTK Is Arrested": Wichita's KCTU-TV Reports the Press Conference Naming Dennis Rader, February 26, 2005

Name: "BTK Is Arrested": Wichita's KCTU-TV Reports the Press Conference Naming Dennis Rader, February 26, 2005
Uploaded: 2020-09-26T00:00:00Z
Duration: 20 min 3 s
Description: A Wichita station's breaking coverage of the February 26, 2005, City Hall press conference: the police announcement naming Dennis Rader as the BTK suspect, and a reporter's account of the room, the officials and the questions left unanswered.

A Wichita station's breaking coverage of the February 26, 2005, City Hall press conference: the police announcement naming Dennis Rader as the BTK suspect, and a reporter's account of the room, the officials and the questions left unanswered.

Subject: Dennis Lynn Rader
Recorded: about February 26, 2005
Runtime: 20:03

Content warning: Concerns the ten BTK murders (1974 to 1991), whose victims included two children; victims are named in the official announcement. No graphic detail.

The Interview

This is a "News Alert" broadcast by KCTU-TV, a small Wichita station on channel 5, on the morning of Saturday, February 26, 2005, minutes after the press conference at Wichita City Hall at which police announced that the BTK killer had been caught. It opens with a recording of the announcement itself, read by Lieutenant Ken Landwehr, who led the BTK task force: the arrest of Dennis Rader, 59, of Park City, for eight of the BTK murders. The rest of the broadcast is a conversation in the studio between anchor and news director R.J. Dickens and reporter Ryan Terry, who attended the press conference. Rader himself does not appear or speak. KCTU posted the broadcast on its YouTube channel in 2020.

Historical Context

Between 1974 and 1991 a killer who called himself "BTK" murdered ten people in and around Wichita, Kansas, and taunted police and the press with letters. After a long silence he began writing again in 2004. In February 2005 he sent a computer floppy disk to a Wichita television station; data left on it led investigators to Christ Lutheran Church and to Dennis Rader, the president of its church council and a compliance officer for the city of Park City. A familial DNA match through his daughter's sample supported the identification.

Circumstances

Rader was arrested at about noon on Friday, February 25, 2005, in a traffic stop near his home in Park City. The next morning, about 300 people, including relatives of the victims, filled the City Council chambers. Police Chief Norman Williams announced, "The bottom line: BTK is arrested." Mayor Carlos Mayans, Attorney General Phill Kline, District Attorney Nola Foulston and federal and state investigators also spoke. Officials said the deaths of two Park City women in 1985 and 1991 were now confirmed as BTK cases. Rader was charged with ten counts of first-degree murder on February 28, pleaded guilty on June 27, and was sentenced on August 18, 2005, to ten consecutive life terms.

What the Recording Covers

After Landwehr's announcement and the applause that followed, Ryan Terry describes arriving at City Hall, tight security, the families' private briefing with officials, and the mood in the room ("smiles on everyone's faces"). The two journalists go through what officials said and what they would not say: that the case still had to go to trial, that there would be no death penalty because the murders predated Kansas's 1994 reinstatement of it, that federal agencies had given the police whatever they asked for, and that the original detectives had preserved evidence that DNA testing could later use. They describe the standing ovations for Landwehr and the relief on the families' faces, and repeat what was then known or rumored about Rader: his job, the traffic stop, his church, his Wichita State degree in administration of justice, and reports about how he had been traced. They close by listing the officials present and the prosecutors expected to handle the case.

What Makes the Recording Significant

It captures the arrest announcement as a Wichita audience first heard it, and a local reporter's eyewitness account of the press conference on the day: who was in the room, how the families reacted, and how little officials were prepared to say. It also preserves the uncertainty of that morning, before the confession, the charges and the guilty plea were known.

Archival Importance

The broadcast comes from the station's own archive. KCTU ended its regular newscasts on March 3, 2005, days after this report, so the broadcast comes from the final days of the station's local news operation.

Important Caveats

Rader does not speak in this video. Apart from the announcement, it is a live, unscripted conversation, and several statements made that morning turned out to be wrong or were speculation: Rader had in fact confessed under questioning, although officials did not say so that day; he was represented by public defenders, not by the private attorney the broadcast names as rumored to be retained; and he was traced through a floppy disk, not a CD-ROM. The broadcast's reference to "the head of the Kansas City office" of the FBI and its description of the two Park City cases are as spoken. Which journalist speaks in some studio passages is not certain. The last 37 seconds are a station sign-off and an unrelated program promo.

Announcer: [Music.] We interrupt this program for a KCTU 5 News Alert.

R.J. Dickens: Good morning. I'm R.J. Dickens; with me, Ryan Terry. Moments ago, the press conference in the City Council chambers at City Hall concluded. After 55 minutes of speech making, we finally came down to an announcement of what a lot of Wichitans have been waiting for, for well over 30 years. And it went something like this.

Lt. Ken Landwehr: Yesterday afternoon, agents from the KBI, agents from the FBI, members of the Wichita Police Department arrested Dennis Rader, 59, white male, in Park City, Kansas, for the murders of Joseph Otero, Julie Otero, Josephine Otero, Joseph Otero Jr., Kathryn Bright, Shirley Vian Relford, Nancy Fox and Vicki Wegerle. He was arrested for first-degree murder of all those victims. He's being held at this time in an undisclosed location. We will be approaching the District Attorney's Office next week, reference charges, to see if charges will be filed against this individual. Thank you very much for your support, and I'll turn it back over to Chief Williams.

R.J. Dickens: As I said, over 55 minutes of speeches before we got to that moment.

Ryan Terry: Yeah, it was, uh, it's a very, very happy day, a very optimistic day at, uh, at City Hall this morning. I got there about 9:15 this morning. The conference was scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Security was fairly tight. They were certainly only going to let in who should be there. The family members, as said before, were there. They had a meeting at 9:00 a.m. with the mayor, the chief, district attorney and others who were there. I guess that they were just getting briefed on everything. I'm sure they probably know a little bit more than we do, but that's their place. I just showed my press credentials and they escorted me right down there. Everybody was in very good spirits this morning. You could tell, as everybody walked in, including State Attorney General Phill Kline, Nola Foulston, the Sedgwick County District Attorney, and of course Mayor Mayans, Police Chief Norman Williams, Sedgwick County Sheriff Gary Steed. Everybody just very, very happy and optimistic, smiles on everyone's faces.

Ryan Terry: Chief Williams came up to the podium and said, "Today is a very historic day." And I think that, on top of Mayor Mayans' opening statement, that "It's your day", and he was talking specifically to the victims' families, you could definitely tell where this press conference was going to go. And certainly, we were not surprised within a few short minutes that they had announced that BTK, the suspect that they had, had been captured.

Ryan Terry: Of course, I think what struck me was when the victims' families came in. One of them, who I've been casually acquainted with for practically all the years that I've lived in Wichita, I never knew that he was a family member of one of the victims. I mean, it was just something that never had been mentioned in all the years that I've been acquainted. He just looked and gave me a quick smile. Very... I think you could see the relief on the faces of the families today. I think that was the one thing that probably struck me more than anything else, was just the look of relief, the look that maybe once and for all this is finally over.

Ryan Terry: Uh, the alleged, uh, perpetrator, one Dennis Rader of Park City, worked as a, worked supposedly as a code inspector for the city of Park City. He was stopped at a routine traffic stop for a little violation, a little violation on his car, which we don't, we really don't know. They didn't really give us any specifics on why he was stopped, other than it was a routine stop. I don't think it was by a marked car, from what they said. Now, it's very tough to speculate on something like this, and we shouldn't. But from what I heard, it was just, uh, he had, it was just a routine traffic stop. But it was, it was apparently, they'd had, uh, some information for some time. They're not, the police have been very, very tight-lipped.

R.J. Dickens: You stayed for the end of the press conference, and they really didn't answer very many questions.

Ryan Terry: I did, and you're absolutely right, they didn't. Uh, Nola Foulston, the Sedgwick County District Attorney, uh, hinted and, uh, said that, you know, this has still got to go to trial. There was no confession, which was something that I was kind of balancing back and forth, whether or not they were going to have a confession, since they are making a very big deal about this, and a big deal it certainly is. Um, one other remark with Ms. Foulston was that all the murders occurred before Kansas reinstated the death penalty. So there will not be a death penalty trial. Whatever the verdict is, if it's guilty, they cannot go for the death penalty, because it was not in place in Kansas during the time of the murders.

Ryan Terry: Uh, Phill Kline was also there, who is the state attorney general. He was very appreciative of the Sedgwick County District Attorney's Office, the Wichita Police Department, the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Department, the FBI, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. Secret Service was involved; the Social Security office was involved. Another thing that Chief Williams said: that he went to Washington, D.C., to meet with the head of the FBI, and said that when he came back, uh, just a few days, weeks later, the head of the FBI called him and said, "Hey, whatever you want, we'll give you to help solve this case." And I think that certainly played a big role. And so the Wichita Police Department had a lot of cooperation from federal agencies, as well as just the countless hours that the police department spent on this, especially Lieutenant Ken Landwehr, who got two or three standing ovations. Everybody very, very thankful of his work. And I think it's probably aged him a little bit, like a case like this probably should. But, uh, I think that you could definitely see a sign of relief on his face, to have someone in custody, and a suspect at that.

Ryan Terry: Uh, it's, this is just a huge day for Wichita, and it's going to be on the national map, uh, for many, many days to come. And of course, looking ahead, of course, again, prosecutors were tight-lipped, law enforcement was tight-lipped. Everyone was very, very tight-lipped about the information they had, whether they had spoken with him or not. Lieutenant Landwehr has said for months that he had always wanted to talk to BTK. This morning he wouldn't admit whether he had or not. Uh, the, Mr. Rader is being held in an undisclosed location.

R.J. Dickens: That's correct.

Ryan Terry: So one would infer from that that he is not being held in the Sedgwick County Jail. Uh, I talked with Janet Johnson directly after the news conference. Uh, I had heard rumors going around the press room that there was a photo of the suspect going around somewhere. Janet told me, when he is taken to the detention facility and booked, then that would be available. But since that has not taken place, there is no photo.

Speaker: And again, Rader is from Park City, worked in the code inspection department for the city of Park City. Again, neighbors will have told you, I lived less than half a mile from him the first five years that I lived in this area. I lived less than half a mile from him, uh, just on the, in fact almost literally on the other side of I-135. But, uh, you know, I never met him personally, but, you know, there were, you know, small towns, people talk, uh, mixed opinions. Uh, of course, he was a very, he was known to be a very active person in one of the churches up there. But there were a lot of people that said that he was the type of person that, well, one phrase that we've heard frequently: "creep you out." And so it'll be interesting to see how all of that comes out in the coming trial.

Speaker: Of course, no timetable has been set. The official meeting between the police and the district attorney will take place likely Monday, at which point then charges will be preferred and there will be a first appearance. Obviously, we'll do our best to bring that to you when it comes. The big thing is that there appears to be a significant amount of evidence that they will be able to bring forth. They've had the, one of the things that, uh, Lieutenant, uh, Landwehr and, uh, Chief Williams and others mentioned was the way that the original detectives on the case had maintained the evidence, so that at a later time, when they had the advances such as DNA and the other forensic evidence that wasn't available back in the 1970s, that the evidence was preserved well enough that they could use this modern technology to be able to finally, finally, uh, have an arrest in this case.

Speaker: And again, it still has to go to trial. Obviously, there has not been a confession. Uh, Rader has retained Dan Monnat, uh, who is probably one of the most high-powered attorneys in Wichita, if not the most high-powered attorney. He's better known for some of the civil cases that he has prosecuted, one involving toxic shock syndrome, another involving a particular brand of hairspray that was alleged to have had some unique side effects.

Second Speaker: And how did you come across Monnat being retained?

First Speaker: Of course, other stations had reported it. He had been seen walking into City Hall and reportedly the Epic Center, where Mr. Rader was being questioned most of last night, because the FBI's Wichita office is located on the fourth floor of the Epic Center. So anyway, whether we know for sure or not, there is at least high speculation that Mr. Monnat will be retained for Dennis Rader's defense.

Speaker: Dennis Rader, he's, again, a 59-year-old man from Park City, worked for the city, graduated from WSU with a degree in administration of justice. That was one other speculation that a lot of people had, that had he done some police work earlier? Nobody really knew. Or at least he knew enough about the system to be able to cover his tracks, per se, for these, uh, over 30 years since the first murders occurred. And again, the question that arises, and one of the questions that has yet to be answered: was he trying to be caught, or what was involved? There has been some speculation. One of the things that supposedly has come out, reports are saying that a CD-ROM that he sent to police, or was in one of the packages that was sent to the media or obtained by the media, by the means, they were able to trace a, the specific imprint of a particular computer, uh, and then thus trace it back to him. That is supposedly one report that's out there. We can't verify it.

Speaker: But of course, all of that's going to come out in the trial, if there is one. And we assume at this point that, since there has not been a con-, since the police are not reporting, are not saying that there's been a confession, and that they are being very tight-lipped and saying that this will come out in trial, we assume that there will be a trial, uh, coming up within the next few weeks. And of course, again, the other thing that you have to worry about is pretrial publicity. I'm sure they're not going to want the, the prosecutors are going to do their level best to make sure that they can keep the trial in Wichita, to keep the costs down. They don't want to sequester the jury, to again keep costs down. Uh, if those two factors come into being, uh, then you're looking at a trial that could well cost more than the entire budget for the district attorney's office, and would be a severe strain on county property, on county taxpayers, uh, even more so than the Carr brothers trial, which, uh, which was, well, which, after you figure all this, all the, uh, fees to defense attorneys, the bill on that may well end up being over four million dollars. And they pulled absolutely no stops on the, on the Carr trial, and, uh, you can bet that they're going to go above and beyond that for a over-30-year serial murder spree, basically.

Speaker: Uh, there, Nola Foulston did say one thing: that after today's press conference, there's not going to be any more, uh, contact with the media, and when they file, all the evidence in this case is going to be under seal, for good reason. And, uh, Nola Foulston did insinuate that there would be an informational website for people to look at some of the documents that are filed in this case, the documents that are made public, probably to keep congestion out of the courthouse, you know, all this stuff. And we'll know more about this later when the website is built, but they are in the process, from what I understand, of building an informational website about this case. And they will also have a private line for the media to keep us updated, which, which will of course help us keep you updated on this. They did make a public line, public information line known. That number is [telephone number withheld]. This was given as every, all the members of the media were standing up on their way out. I think it was something that she just forgot to mention. But again, that number is [telephone number withheld]. That should give, uh, I'm imagining it's just going to give overall basic information on the case and the process of the case, where it's at. So, uh, that'll be interesting to find out, um, all those things too.

Speaker: Uh, other, I mean, it's just, just what a day. It's so much information, and I wish I was smart enough to process it so fast, and unfortunately I'm not. Todd Tiahrt, our Fourth District representative to the House of Representatives, uh, made an appearance. He was a little bit late showing up; I guess that his plane just got in a little late as he was coming from Washington. Um, he was there. Other dignitaries, like we said: Phill Kline, Mayor Mayans, the head of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the head of the Kansas City office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Chief Williams, of course, who led the press conference, and Gary Steed, along with Nola Foulston's chief deputy prosecutor and the deputy, uh, attorney, um, and whose name, uh, slips me at the moment...

Speakers: Kevin O'Connor. Kim Parker.

Speaker: Kim Parker, chief district attorney, assistant district attorney Kim Parker, and head of the criminal division Kevin O'Connor. The basically same team that prosecuted, has prosecuted all the other murder, the high-profile murder cases that we've had over the last few years here in Sedgwick County will be in place, uh, for this case.

R.J. Dickens: Again, what we can tell you at this point: 59-year-old Dennis Rader of Park City has been identified as the person that the Wichita Police Department arrested yesterday in the Park City area, and they will charge him with the eight murders that were committed by the so-called BTK killer, as well as two other murders that occurred in the Park City area that were a little more unusual, that have occurred in recent years, where they were much like the BTK killings, except that the victims were taken from the home, which the original killings were not. So we will see how that pans out. But that is all we have at this point. Of course, we will have more for you on Monday on "Your Hour" and KCTU 5 Reports. And thanks for watching. We now return you to regular programming.

Voices: Okay. Take care. Bye. Take care.

Promo Announcer: Stay tuned for New Car Clinic, adventures with Bobby, as he talks about cars with the people who love them. For a virtual drive through Car Clinic Country, visit our website at www.carclinictv.com. Until next time, think fun, think cars, think Bobby. [unclear: "like us, Carlos, like us" / "like us cartland like it"] ---