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Daughter of Mindhunter’s BTK murderer reveals the horrifying moment she discovered her dad had killed 10 – and why she FORGAVE him
MINDHUNTER is the gripping Netflix crime drama that follows two FBI agents attempting to understand and catch some of America's most sickening serial killers.
The new series features the violent life of Dennis Rader, 74 - who coined himself BTK, short for 'bind, torture, kill' - who terrorised Kansas for 17 years between 1974 and 1991.
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Rader murdered 10 people - including entire families - before dressing up as his victims and then teasing the media and police with titbits of information.
Like many kids, Kerri Rawson, now 40, from Michigan, was petrified of the BTK killer and turned to her beloved dad for comfort.
So, she was horrified when a knock on the door from the FBI revealed the sick killer was her DAD.
Here Kerri, speaking as the second series of the show airs, shares her shocking story with Fabulous Digital:
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My mum Paula rushed into my room as I woke up with a scream.
I was just six and had been plagued with night terrors since our neighbour, Marine, a lovely 53-year-old widow and grandma, was found murdered.
"There’s a bad man in the house," I told my mum, petrified. "You’re dreaming, you’re safe," she murmured.
So I drifted back to sleep, because mum was right there and my dad, Dennis, was just across the hall. He’d never let anything hurt us.
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Growing up, dad did everything in his power to protect me and my big brother Brian, who was three years older.
After a stint installing security systems, dad had drummed stranger danger into us.
That’s why at 26, I hesitated when I heard a rap on my front door. I was home alone and visitors usually had to buzz to be let in.
"Can I help you?"; I called. "I’m with the FBI. I need to speak with you," a man said.
"Have you heard of BTK?" he asked, after I let him in.
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It was the nickname of a serial killer who’d evaded the authorities since the 1970s.
"It’s your dad – he’s been arrested," the agent said. The room spun.
My sweet dad – who’d cried when we put down our dog Patches, who’d choked back tears as he walked me down the aisle when I’d married my husband, Darian, who’d reminded me to change the oil in my car just yesterday – was a serial killer?
Growing up, dad did everything in his power to protect me and my big brother Brian
Kerri Rawson
Dad wore many hats – boy scout volunteer, church leader, husband, father... but murderer?
When I spoke to mum later that day, she was distraught. "I keep telling the police they’ve made a terrible mistake," she said. "Me too, mama," I echoed.
Sure my father was innocent, I typed BTK into Google. Quickly, I tumbled into an abyss of terror. Dad was wanted for eight murders – including two kids. I wanted to vomit.
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Scrolling through countless links, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A year before my brother was born, BTK had slaughtered Joseph and Julie Otero and their two children, Josie, 11, and Joey, nine.
A few months later, he’d killed Kathryn Bright, 21.
Seeking notoriety, he’d contacted the media, taunting the police with letters and phone calls. Most recently, he’d used cereal boxes to leave the authorities messages.
Brian wasn’t quite two when BTK killed mum-of-three Shirley Vian Relford.
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Later that year, when mum was three months pregnant with me, he’d taken the life of Nancy Fox, 25.
Nearly a decade on, he strangled young mum Vicki Wegerle, 28, with her tights.
Then, I came across a recording of a call BTK made to emergency services after killing Nancy Fox in 1977.
"You will find a homicide at 843," the male caller said. It was dad.
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The next day, police announced they’d arrested my father, Dennis Rader.
Soon after, dad was also charged with the murders of retiree Dolores Davis, 62, and Marine Hedge – our neighbour, whose death had haunted me as a child.
"Don’t worry, we’re safe..." dad had reassured me all those years ago. I’d feared a ‘bad man’ – a stranger – but he’d been under our roof all along. Dad had confessed to the FBI.
"It’s like your dad has died," mum said a few weeks later.
BTK's timeline of horror
January 1974
Rader murdered Julie Otero, 33, her husband Joseph, 38, and their kids, Josie, 11, and Joey, nine. He’d stalked them since December. Their bodies were found by the couple’s eldest child, Charlie.
April 1974
Breaking into the home of Kathryn Bright, 21, Rader hid in her bedroom. Her brother, Kevin, 19, survived two gun shots to the head, but Kathryn died of multiple stab wounds.
March 1977
Posing as a detective, Rader asked a little boy, ‘Have you seen the boy in this picture?’ Then following the boy home, Rader knocked on the door, spoke to his mum, Shirley Vian Relford, and forced his way in. Locking her three screaming kids in the bathroom, he murdered her.
December 1977
Rader spotted Nancy Fox working at a jewellery store. Stalking her, he strangled her with his belt. Then, he stole some of her jewellery. ‘I thought about giving it to my daughter,’ Rader said years after his arrest.
April 1985
Rader was on a cub scout camp with his nine-year-old son when he snuck off. Breaking into the home of his neighbour, Marine Hedge, he waited for her in a closet, then strangled her. Wrapping her body in a blanket, he dumped her in the country.
September 1986
On a lunch break, Rader disguised himself as a telephone repairman and forced himself into Vicki Wegerle’s home. Then, he murdered her while her two-year-old son cried and her older daughter was at school.
January 1991
Throwing a block through Dolores Davis’ glass door, Rader strangled the 62-year-old with her pantyhose. Using the car he taught his daughter to drive in, he dumped her body. She was his last victim.
Over the coming days, we remembered chilling details.
"I asked your dad once why BTK would use a cereal box to communicate with the police, like it was reported in the news. He said, “Cereal – like a serial killer”.’
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
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A fortnight later, and just days on from his 60th birthday, I wrote to dad.
I wanted to convince him to plead guilty, sparing his victims’ families, and ours, a lengthy trial.
"We love the husband, father and man we know with all our hearts, we don’t know who that other man is," I wrote.
Dad replied: "They finally honed in on me like a missile. I do have some serious problems and I do need help on them."
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In another note, he wrote, "I’m so proud of you and how you turned out. You and Brian. A dad could never ask for anything else."
It gutted me to write to my father, but I did it monthly, decorating my typed letters with clip art to cheer him up.
My night terrors came back with a vengeance, too. But now the thing trying to kill me in the dead of night looked like my father.
"Dad?" I’d scream, tugging at Darian. "It’s not," he’d soothe. "Go back to sleep."
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In June 2005, four months after his arrest, my father, Dennis Rader pleaded guilty to 10 counts of first-degree murder.
After years of silence, a newspaper article in early 2004, on the 30th anniversary of the Otero family murder, had spurred dad to reach out.
Soon after, he sent the paper a letter, enclosing Vicki Wegerle’s driver’s licence and photos taken from the crime scene.
On a roll, dad showered the police and local media with cryptic word puzzles.
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Notorious BTK serial killer Dennis Rader confesses to murders during 2005 trial
"Can I communicate with floppy disk and not be traced to a computer? Be honest," he’d asked the police in one note. If so, he asked the cops to place an ad in the paper with the message, Rex, it will be OK.
Seizing the chance, the authorities did just that and two weeks later dad sent them a disk. But my father didn’t realise it contained encrypted data that led police straight to him.
"How come you lied to me?" dad asked the detective later. "Because I was trying to catch you," he replied.
I couldn’t bear to be in court. Reading the court transcript online, dad had shared horrifying details of his crimes with the judge.
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Referring to his victims as ‘projects’, my father said he’d stalk them before pouncing.
The two-day sentencing in August was almost the death of me. The detectives who’d worked on the cases went into gut-wrenching details of his reign of terror.
It was horrific, but he was still my father, and I loved him – no matter what.
Dad murdered 10 people and devastated countless lives – I can never forget that. But to get through I’ve had to forgive
Kerri Rawson
After the families read their victim impact statements, dad was given a chance to make a final statement – a chance to show remorse.
Instead, dad rambled on selfishly for 20 minutes. He called himself a sexual predator, self-centred and added, "I seem to crave the attention of the media."
He called me, Brian and mum ‘social contacts’ – we were just pawns in his sick, twisted game. I’d adored him. How dare he?
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That was the last time I’d ever hear my father’s voice. I cut off all communication with him.
He should never have got married or had children, he should have turned himself in. I wouldn’t be alive, but I was okay with that. I’d trade my life for theirs, I thought.
My father was given 10 consecutive life sentences – 175 years in jail.
Later, I found out that DNA taken from semen left on 11-year-old Josie Otero’s leg in January 1974 was matched to DNA taken from one of my smear tests.
Already a suspect, this gave police the ammunition they needed to arrest dad the next day.
MOST READ IN REAL LIFE
Dad kept sending letters, but I didn’t reply. Now, 14 years on, we’re writing again.
Now, I'm a mum-of-two, I've battled depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dad murdered 10 people and devastated countless lives – I can never forget that. But, to get through, I’ve had to forgive. I love my dad – the one I knew.
A Serial Killer’s Daughter, published by Harper Collins, is on sale now.
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