Inside the Mind of BTK

332 INSIDE THE MIND OF BTK
even women—perhaps it was something as simple as tracing a picture
out of a magazine. Perhaps a family member had stumbled on a couple
of Rader’s drawings of women in bondage, strapped to some torture
device, or depictions of his crime scenes. Maybe that’s what his
son saw. Yet because members of the community were unaware of all
the specifics of Rader’s crimes, they couldn’t be expected to connect
the dots even if they did find some of his drawings.
That’s one of the most important things I learned regarding proactive
police techniques. Once the leads begin to dry up, law enforcement
departments need to begin releasing more information. It’s crucial to
get the community involved, to give people enough background into
the case that they can better understand what drives the UNSUB,
allowing them to become extra eyes and ears for law enforcement.
Police also had examples of BTK’s handwriting and did, at one
point, release a sample of the writing to the media. That Paula, who
once noted the similarities between BTK’s poor spelling and that of
her husband, reportedly never saw this sample tells me that this release
should have been handled in a different manner.
Several years ago, one of my former profilers working a triple
homicide in the Tampa area came up with the idea of plastering a portion
of a note written by the UNSUB on billboards in select parts of
the city. Within twenty-four hours, someone recognized the handwriting,
and the perp was arrested not long afterwards.
I strongly believe that Rader’s wife and children, his colleagues at
work, his friends at Christ Lutheran Church, and other fathers in his
Boy Scout troop could have recognized the behavioral characteristics
of Dennis Rader had we released this information sooner, in a systematic,
controlled way. The problem was that in the 1970s and 1980s,
we were still learning. That sort of thing just wasn’t done. Today I
believe we’ve accumulated the smarts and experience to nip a serial
killer like Dennis Rader in the bud.
Releasing this sort of information would have had a profound
effect on Rader—or any UNSUB that law enforcement would be
attempting to identify in an ongoing investigation. Turning up the
heat in this way would have created a tremendous amount of stress,
causing Rader to become even more nervous and preoccupied with
the case. Once that happened, he’d begin exhibiting behavior that
those around him would probably have never witnessed before.
This could include buying every available newspaper he could get
his hands on, channel surfing the TV, and constantly switching between
radio stations while listening for updates in the case. He might have