Wegerle had to live underneath this dark cloud for the next 18 years. Not only had he lost the lovely wife and mother of his two children, he had lost a degree of respect and trustability by those who knew him. It's like that when people don't know for sure what happened.
Finally in March 2004 a letter arrived at the Wichita Eagle newspaper from none other than BTK himself. He took full credit for the murder of Vicki Wegerle, even enclosing three photos of her posed body and a copy of her missing driver's license. Vicki became his eighth known victim. Two other cold cases would be solved in 2005 when police found evidence of two more murders.
On July 8, 2005 a lawsuit was filed against Dennis Rader by Bill Wegerle and his two grown children, Stephanie Clyne and Brandon Wegerle.
"We want to keep him from ever profiting from his crimes," said Jim Thompson, the lawyer representing the Wegerles.
Of course it unlikely the Wegerles or any of the other families will ever receive anything at all from Rader, just the satisfaction of seeing him locked in jail and deprived of any possible profit from his evil. There can be no compensation, however, for all the lost years of anguish and sorrow.
For more reading on the BTK Strangler and to view the confession video, go to my website, The BTK Site.
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