But before this topic falls by the wayside, I wanted to mention what just one of the families has been through as a result of BTK.
Vicki Wegerle was a housewife and mother of two when BTK knocked on her door on September 16, 1986. She was home alone with her two year old son. Her husband Bill was at work but due home for lunch soon. By his own admission, BTK pretended to be a telephone repairman of some kind and dressed himself up to resemble one, complete with hardhat. He told Vicki there was a problem in the system and asked to check her phone. She let him in and he pretended to test the phone. He then attacked her, and after a violent struggle succeeded in tying her up and strangling her. He then posed her dying body in several positions which he photographed with a Polaroid camera.
BTK fled the crime scene driving the Wegerle's car, which he parked a short distance away, then walked to his own vehicle and left.
A short time later Bill Wegerle arrived home for lunch and found Vicki unconscious and bound. He immediately called 911 but she was pronounced dead a short time later at the hospital. From that time on began a total nightmare for the Wegerle family.
At the time there had been no known murders or messages from the BTK Strangler in seven years. DNA testing was still unknown. As is normally the case in the murder of a family member, the police start where many murders of wives occur, the husband. They grilled a shocked and bewildered Bill Wegerle for quite some time, and continued to treat him as a likely murderer during the investigation. He remembered thinking at the time that the police are supposed to be the good guys, not the enemies. It was a situation so bad that one former detective recently admitted that he is still ashamed of what the police did to Bill Wegerle.
Article comments
1 - Allyne
Another excellent article from Frank Waldron, one of the most knowledgeable observers of the BTK case.
2 - Jennifer
Reasons Dennis Rader is defending against wrongful death suits:
1. Prison is a boring place. Working on lawsuits gives you something to do, access to the prison library, people to talk to.
2. People are admiring his legal work. He's got to be a "closet lawyer or a closet paralegal." Without these lawsuits, he'd just be another forgotten convict. Hey, if the papers aren't publishing accounts of your crimes and people aren't terrified of you, at least they can admire how smart you are in your legal pleadings.
3. There is an argument to be made that Rader used his divorce to transfer all assets to his wife and render himself judgment proof. Failing to even defend against these suits bolsters that argument. On the other hand, Rader no longer has any assets to pay an attorney. So, he's left defending himself.
Personally, I think the best thing that could happen to this guy (short of the death penalty) is that he be forgotten forever. He shouldn't be allowed to use these lawsuits as a way to elicit media attention. All wrongful death proceedings should be sealed.
For sure, he shouldn't be able to transfer his assets to his ex-wife (so that she and maybe he can benefit from them in the future) to avoid financial liability. To the extent to which he paid for/contributed to the marital assets, they should be available for award to the families of victims. If Rader was charged with a DRUG crime, this asset transfer would never have been permitted -- the federal government would have declared the property forfeit. Why should a serial murderer and his family get better treatment than someone who sells cocaine?
3 - fuckyouass
hhow could he do that to those ppl hahahahahahaha i reallyy dont care this is the first time i hear of btk