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BTK Suspect Charged With 10 Murders
WICHITA, Kansas (CNN) -- Dennis Rader, the man suspected of being the infamous BTK killer, appeared via a video link Tuesday as a judge read 10 first-degree murder charges against him.
District Judge Greg Waller read the charges and asked Rader if he understood.
"Yes sir," Rader replied.
The suspect was dressed in an orange jumpsuit on the video signal from the Sedgwick County Jail, a common practice in initial court hearings for murder suspects.
Waller also formally set Rader's bail at $10 million and appointed a public defender to represent him at the next hearing, scheduled for March 15.
"Thank you, sir," Rader said at the conclusion of the five-minute hearing.
Rader is charged in a series of slayings attributed to the self-named BTK killer that terrorized the region for three decades. BTK's signature was a preference to bind, torture and kill his victims. The earliest was in 1974; the last linked to BTK was in 1991.
Prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty because it was reinstated in Kansas in 1994, three years after the last known BTK killing.
The 59-year-old city employee, who is president of his Lutheran church council, has not made a public statement.
Until his arrest Friday in what authorities said was a routine traffic stop, Rader worked as a compliance supervisor for Park City, Kansas, in charge of animal control, nuisances, inoperable vehicles and general code compliance. He is married with two grown children.
Rader has a degree from Wichita State University in administration of justice and worked for a home security company from the mid 1970s to the late 1980s -- a job that involved going into people's homes. It was not known whether any homes Rader entered for work became the sites of BTK killings.
Some who know Rader described him as affable and pleasant. But several of his neighbors said he was arrogant and petty. (Full story)
Police chief: Rader 'cooperating'
Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams told CNN Rader "has been cooperating" with investigators.
Local television station KAKE, which received some communications from BTK in the past, reported that Rader is talking and has confessed to some of the crimes, according to KAKE reporter Larry Hatteberg.
The police chief said authorities had received nearly 5,000 tips in the past year on the case, "and over the last few weeks we were able to get some information that helped steer us in the right direction."
He said the killer -- who taunted authorities and the media by sending letters and packages amid a string of killings early on -- "had gone 27 years" without communication until resurfacing last year. Since then, "we received close to about 11 different communications from him," Williams said. "The more he communicated, it was an advantage for law enforcement."
The sheriff's department in nearby Reno County is looking at unsolved killings there to determine if there's any link to the BTK suspect, Sheriff Randy Henderson told CNN.
Charles Wiles, former police field commander and president of the Wichita Retired Police Officers' Association, told CNN his current sources on the force point to a computer disk in a package sent to local station KSAS. "They electronically peeled it back and found information that had not been erased," he said.
Hatteberg said in an interview on CNN's "American Morning" the floppy disk was scrutinized and found to have information on it linked to Rader's church.
Authorities seized a computer at the Park City Public Library, shortly after Rader's arrest.
Arrest brings shock, relief
Some people who know Rader say they can't imagine that he is the BTK killer.
"When we found out, all we could say was that it's impossible, it couldn't be," said Freyja Carlsted who attends church with Rader and has known him for 30 years. She said Rader's wife, Paula, is "wonderful."
Rader became president of Christ Lutheran Church in Park City in January, and under the church's rules he will remain president, Clark said.
Clark said Rader has always seemed like a "family man." Clark said he has seen nothing "that would even tend to lead to these accusations."
He said he is in touch with the family, which is in seclusion.
Rader's son, Brian, is attending the Navy Submarine School in New London, Connecticut, according to a school spokesman.
The spokesman said that the younger Rader "has expressed his desire to remain private and remain personal" and did not wish to speak to the media.
Relatives of victims expressed relief. "Now, my mom can rest in peace," said Steve Relford, the son of 1977 victim Shirley Vian. Relford was 5 when his mother was killed. He and his two siblings were locked in a bathroom at the time, but he said he witnessed her death by peeking through a hole. (Full story)
"Every day of my life brings back to that day," Relford said. "I would just like to thank everybody that helped catch him. I've waited 28 years for this day."
Wichita Mayor Carlos Mayans said Monday the community is relieved.
"People are able to sleep much better at night," he said.
For more information, visit http://www.cnn.com.
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