The fifth drop didn't occur until October 22, 2004 when a UPS worker found a strange manila envelope while picking up the contents of the UPS box at the Omni Center by Second and Kansas. This consisted of a very disturbing assortment of cards that had images pasted on them, including one of a bound woman with a look of sheer terror on her face. One card contained a poem called "Death to Landwehr," a reference to Lt. Ken Landwehr who was head of the BTK investigation.
There was a collage of pictures of children with bindings drawn across their bodies and faces. This envelope also contained what BTK claimed to be his autobiography, listing a number of details about his life such as being born in 1939, his father dying in the war, mother dated a railroad detective and so on. Almost all of it was actually false, an attempt to mislead police into researching false clues. The police did release the autobiography to the public a few weeks later, which undoubtedly would have greatly pleased if not excited BTK.
What the Wichita Police Dept. was actually doing was following the FBI's advice: keep the killer communicating. Don't offend him publicly. Don't over-excite him into killing some more. Just keep communicating until he makes a mistake.
The sixth drop was discovered on December 14, 2004. A man walking through Murdock Park that night noticed a package wrapped in white plastic leaning against a tree. Out of curiosity he took it home with him and opened it. It contained a "PJ" doll. The doll's head had a plastic bag tied over it. Its hands were tied behind its back and its feet were bound together. Tied to the feet was a real driver's license belonging to BTK murder victim Nancy Fox whom he had killed in December 1977. The man immediately notified KAKE-TV, who arrived and photographed the contents and notified police. KAKE agreed not to broadcast what was found in the package, for fear of arousing the killer.
The seventh drop was not revealed to the public until after the arrest. BTK had left a Special K cereal box marked "BTK" and "bomb" in the bed of a pickup truck parked at the Home Depot on North Woodlawn on January 8. The truck belonged to an employee of Home Depot. He thought it was trash at first and put it in a trash can at home. Luckily his wife had thrown a discarded pillow on top of the box, unwittingly preserving it. Days later when the man realized the significance of the box they retrieved it and notified police. By checking surveillance tape of the parking lot, the first glimpse of BTK was seen but the image was too far away and blurry for identification. But by measuring the wheelbase of the black vehicle he was driving it was determined the vehicle was a Jeep Cherokee. The box itself contained information about some of his "PJs" or projects, intended victims that he had watched or stalked. It also contained more misleading information of how he lived in a 3 story home in Wichita with an elevator that had a bomb in the basement rigged to explode if the house were invaded.
Article comments
1 - Phillip Winn
What a captivating and enthralling story. Thanks!
2 - uao
This is a really fascinating piece; very well done.
BTK is one of the most remarkably arrogant serial killers in recent memory. Ironic how it was this arrogance that ultimately put him away.
3 - Deej
Thanks for this fascinating article. I follow this case on TV and on the internet but had never heard about some of the details in his communications until just now when I read your article.
Thanks
4 - Stacy L Harp
I watched Dateline last night as they aired confessions of BTK and I was amazed at his arrogance. Great story, and I'll be checking out your site too.
5 - Kim
Great story , how about some info on his earlier communications. One of my big wonders is about the baby picture that he sent. Has anyone ever found out who the baby is in that photo?
Thanks
6 - Frank Waldron
The baby photo sent to KSN-TV in April 2004 was never validated as a BTK drop by the FBI or even by BTK himself. No one seems to know who the baby is, but conspiracy theories abound.
7 - Debbie Goodine
I would like to know if a serial killer can't help themself then how did btk go 20 years without continuing to kill.
8 - Frank Waldron
We don't know for sure that he did stop killing, as there are unsolved homicides in the Wichita area right up until 2004. BTK has made statements that as he got older he became less sure of himself such as if he got into a physical fight with a victim. It also presumably means he became less sexually driven as well. But the 10 murders he is charged with are the ones where sufficient evidence exists for a conviction. There could be a number of others.
9 - JoJo
Wow- what a loser. Hopefully he'll get BTKed in the prison yard.
10 - Frank Waldron
The links for The BTK Site and BTK Victims, Survivors and Evidence Gallery in this article don't work correctly. The correct URL for The BTK Site is here. The correct URL for BTK Victims is here. Sorry for the errors.
11 - Annonymous
Frank, I'm wondering if they ever released a copy of the "Death to Landwehr" poem BTK sent in his 5th communicaton? I haven't ran across it anywhere, so doubt they released it?
12 - Frank Waldron
Good question. I've never seen anything in the media about the exact words written, just general statements.
We can't edit these blogs once they are published, but it should be corrected to say that Rader was arrested on his way home to lunch, not after his lunch.
13 - sam
i hate btk he is the worst man in the world i hope he gos to hell for doin that to all them poor peoples i fell so sorry fir them.i will be prayin for those peoples familys
14 - Sophiered
Frank your site is amazing. You couldn't find anything on the web that is more complete when it comes to information on BTK.
I had no idea we could comment, I always find so many links here to use that I didn't know if we scroll down we could comment.
Well done.
Anne.
15 - chiloe mcdonald
wow man your site is awesome