A&E Network will air a new documentary that examines the horrific crimes and psyche of notorious serial killer Dennis Rader in “BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer.” From Wolf Entertainment and Good Caper Content, this gripping documentary provides unprecedented access into the mind of Rader who is currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences in El Dorado Correctional Facility. Dr. Katherine Ramsland, whose correspondence with Rader has spanned a decade and is still on-going, shares the intimate details of Rader’s past and his gruesome murders while providing insight to arm criminologists and law enforcement on how to better identify and potentially deter extreme violent offenders in the future.
You can check out the first look trailer for BTK: Confessions of a Serial Killer below.
On January 15, 1974, shortly before 4:00 PM, three young children arrived home from school in Wichita, Kansas to find their father, Joseph Otero, mother, Julie Otero, and their two siblings Josephine (age 11) and Joseph II (age 9) strangled to death in their home. Joseph was found lying face down on the floor with his hands and feet bound with a cord that had been ripped from a Venetian blind from one of the rooms. Julie was found in the bedroom, lying on the bed, bound in a similar manner. Both appeared to have been strangled by a strip of cord cut from the Venetian blind. The police were summoned to the 803 North Edgemoor residence and the investigation commenced into what would soon turn out to be one of the Nation’s most bizarre and long-lasting serial killer sprees.
The two-night event sheds new light on Rader’s double life as both an upstanding citizen and a heartless killer. Dr. Ramsland, the renowned professor of forensic psychology and author, leads the examination of his transformation from an American boy to an American monster who wreaked havoc in Wichita, Kansas and went uncaptured for thirty years. With exclusive phone conversations with Rader himself, eye-opening new archival, comprehensive interviews, and access to Rader’s drawings and coded diaries all paired with Dr. Ramsland’s expertise, viewers get to know the man behind the moniker, the truth behind the headlines and a glimpse at the secrets Rader is still holding onto.
Dr. Ramsland has worked with Dennis Rader for over a decade forging a rapport in an effort to meticulously detail Rader’s progression from quintessential family man to The BTK Killer.
The definitive documentary “BTK: Confession of a Serial Killer” premieres Saturday, January 8 and Sunday, January 9 at 9pm ET/PT on A&E.