Inside the Mind of BTK

The Capture and Arrest of BTK 151
into the woods. It was enough to just be out there with his shotgun,
going through the rituals of a hunter.
They usually had to wait only about twenty minutes before the
rats would come scurrying out into the open. To become a proficient
rodent killer, you had to trust your gut and work with your partner as
a team. You had to sense exactly when to hit the headlights, which
would cause the pupils of any rodent within their reach to glow red
as the tip of a cigarette.
Then, for a few brief, glorious moments, time would slow down,
and the animal, surprised by the blinding burst of light, would freeze.
And it was at that moment the two friends would pull the triggers on
their rifles, then scramble out of the car and go poking through the
piles of rubbish, plucking out the bloodied carcasses. Afterwards,
they’d climb back inside, kill the headlights, and wait for the rats to
return.
Rader was good at the waiting part, his friend told me. That type
of patience came naturally to him. What his friend didn’t know at the
time was that this trait would serve Rader well when he began hunting
other things besides rats.