"I've Got to Bring My Calmness Back Down": Osage County Sheriff on the Kinney Case and a BTK Task Force, KAKE, 2023

Name: "I've Got to Bring My Calmness Back Down": Osage County Sheriff on the Kinney Case and a BTK Task Force, KAKE, 2023
Uploaded: 2023-09-13T00:00:00Z
Duration: 2 min 7 s
Description: A day after the Osage County district attorney said the evidence was insufficient to charge Dennis Rader in the Cynthia Kinney case, Sheriff Eddie Virden answered at a news conference and announced a BTK task force. Rader, a suspect only, is not heard.

A day after the Osage County district attorney said the evidence was insufficient to charge Dennis Rader in the Cynthia Kinney case, Sheriff Eddie Virden answered at a news conference and announced a BTK task force. Rader, a suspect only, is not heard.

Subject: Dennis Lynn Rader
Recorded: September 12, 2023
Runtime: 2:07

Content warning: Concerns the unsolved disappearance of a 16-year-old girl; no graphic detail.

The Report

This is a 2-minute-7-second KAKE News report by Jocelyn Schifferdecker, posted by the Wichita station on its own channel on September 13, 2023. It covers a news conference held by Osage County, Oklahoma, Sheriff Eddie Virden in Pawhuska on September 12, 2023, a day after the county's district attorney questioned his investigation. Virden is heard for about half a minute. Dennis Rader is not heard; he is discussed as the sheriff's "number one suspect" in the 1976 disappearance of Cynthia Kinney. Rader is a suspect only in that case and has not been charged.

Historical Context

Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, was arrested on February 25, 2005, pleaded guilty to ten murders in Kansas on June 27, 2005, and was sentenced on August 18, 2005, to ten consecutive life terms. Cynthia Dawn Kinney, 16, disappeared in Pawhuska, Oklahoma, in 1976. The Osage County Sheriff's Office reopened the case in December 2022, and in August 2023 it named Rader a prime suspect, after a search at the site of his former home in Park City, Kansas.

Circumstances

On Monday, September 11, 2023, Osage County District Attorney Mike Fisher said the evidence was insufficient to charge Rader, voiced concerns about the sheriff's investigation and asked the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation to review it. Virden replied the next day at his own news conference, which Fisher attended.

What the Report Covers

The anchor says the sheriff is "furious" at the district attorney's comments. Virden opens with "I've got to bring my calmness back down" and says that if he could tell "the real story," people would see the things "that were jeopardized." The reporter explains that Virden considers Fisher's comments based on incomplete information and harmful to the investigation; Virden says, "What he has done yesterday has messed so much up in this investigation. He has no idea what he did." He announces a new national BTK task force to investigate cold cases with possible links to BTK, drawing on law enforcement in Kansas, Oklahoma and federal agencies: "We will follow each and every lead." The report ends by noting that both men say they want closure for the family, but are not working together.

What Makes the Recording Significant

The report documents, in the sheriff's own words, the public split between the Osage County sheriff and district attorney over the attempt to link Rader to the Kinney case, and the creation of the task force.

Important Caveats

Dennis Rader is not heard in this video. **He is a suspect only in the Cynthia Kinney case; he has not been charged, and the district attorney said the evidence was insufficient to charge him.** Rader has denied involvement. The page must not present him as responsible for Kinney's disappearance. The sheriff's opening sentence is cut off in the edit.

Kake Anchor: Well, the Osage County, Oklahoma, sheriff now says he's furious after hearing the comments made by the district attorney there about the investigation into serial killer Dennis Rader. The sheriff held his own news conference today, just 24 hours after the district attorney there blasted the sheriff about connecting Rader to a missing Oklahoma teenager. KAKE's Jocelyn Schifferdecker continues our coverage from Oklahoma.

Jocelyn Schifferdecker: Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden says Dennis Rader is still his number one suspect in his investigation, and he's working with a new national BTK task force to hopefully find answers.

Eddie Virden: Right now, I've got to bring my calmness back down, because this is, if I could tell you the real story, and the things that were jeopardized...

Jocelyn Schifferdecker: An intense news conference in Pawhuska today. Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden is furious that the Osage County District Attorney, Mike Fisher, says he has concerns with how the sheriff's office is investigating the disappearance of Cynthia Kinney. He says the DA's comments are based off of incomplete information, as he has not reached out to discuss the details of the case. Further, Virden says the DA expressing concern is hurting his investigation.

Eddie Virden: What he has done yesterday has messed so much up in this investigation. He has no idea what he did.

Jocelyn Schifferdecker: Virden says he is going to continue this investigation, and now he has a new group to assist. He created the new national BTK task force with the sole purpose to investigate cold cases like Kinney's that have possible links to BTK.

Eddie Virden: We will follow each and every lead. We will evaluate everything with some of the top professionals in their field, and we will try to get answers to questions that I think anybody has when it comes to this case.

Jocelyn Schifferdecker: Sheriff Virden tells us this task force includes some of the nation's best investigators, and it aims to combine resources from law enforcement agencies in both Kansas and Oklahoma, as well as federally. DA Mike Fisher did show up at the news conference today and says his priority is to find closure for the family. Virden says this is also his goal, but at this time the two are not working together. [02:06: speech ends; clip runs to 02:07.] ---