Inside the Mind of BTK

210 INSIDE THE MIND OF BTK
hired as a field supervisor for the U.S. Census Bureau. Once again, he
had found a job that gave him a priceless feeling of power over the
countless underlings whose duty it was to collect census forms from
local residents. His first territory was limited to the Wichita area, but
by 1990 he did so well that he was promoted to the role of state supervisor.
Getting to boss people around felt wonderful, but not as nice as
it felt to be a freewheeler who was able to spend plenty of time by himself
out on the road, living out of a suitcase as he traveled from one
town to the next.
Just as he did while working for ADT, Rader quickly discovered a
way to combine his two loves—being a boss and being a stalker. Just
looking at a map of Kansas could bring a smile to his face. He had so
many projects in so many towns—Topeka, Concordia, Hayes, Salina,
Beaumont.
He wrote in his journal that on one occasion he tracked a woman
in the town of Hayes, whom he eventually decided to kill. He nicknamed
her Project Prairie. One afternoon, he dug a grave for her outside
of town and, just as he envisioned doing in Belleville but never
got the chance, broke into her home, then sat in a chair waiting for
her to return.
But she never did.
So he grabbed her purse, which she’d left behind, and fled into the
night. As he drove down the road, he placed the bag in his lap and
plucked out a few choice trinkets—her license and her Social Security
card—and pitched everything else out the window of his car.