Wichita news station KWCH reports that sources close to the investigation of the BTK serial killer confirm that a crucial mistake led to the arrest of Dennis Rader.
Though the killer did not rape his victims, semen was allegedly found at crime scenes and preserved. Various news outlets are reporting that, contrary to earlier assertions that Rader’s daughter turned him in, it now appears that a she was merely the source for a DNA match between evidence and Rader. It’s not yet clear whether police sought her out for DNA testing, whether she went to police, or whether her DNA was already on file.
The Associated Press and other outlets are reporting that Rader has confessed to six of the murders, police and prosecutors think Dennis Rader may be responsible for up to 13 murders, including one that occurred after after Kansas reinstated the death penalty.
They got him on 10 now. However, the local police are denying that there are any more confessions.
I am curious about the dna testing. I guess they can narrow down the search just by having a relative’s dna? Would it have to be an offspring? Brother or sister? How far down, or up the line, can you go? I know for mitrochondrial (sp?) dna it should be matched with a parent. And there is this new Y-STR dna testing, which separates the men from the women and the men from the men, so to speak. 🙂
I wonder what the mistake was.
Press reports noted that his last package included a computer disk. Could he have been careless enough to do something like sending an Office Document complete with all of its stored composition data?
Maybe the disk he used was not blank but the previous info merely deleted. I’m not sure if formating a disk completely removes all information either. What can I say — tough luck! 🙂
I actually hope we don’t learn what his mistake was. No need to tip off the next asshole.
If he didn’t commit rape but left his semen at the crime scene, sexual anxiety may have been a motivating factor.
Was there a commonality among B.T.K. victims?
Did they use the DNAPrint Genomics Inc (DNAP)version of DNAPrint or DNAWITNESS like the cops used in Louisiana to get serial killer Derrick Todd Lee? I read that the test only needs partial DNA to match.
– Actually they were able to ID the disk as belonging to a local Lutheran Church and that narrowed it down to just 5 or 6 people with access and viola…. there he be…. the DNA was just to nail the coffin on the lid…. Sales of “Windows for serial killer idiots” will go through the roof now…..
Steve: I think his motivating factor is that he received sexual pleasure from binding, torturing, and murdering people.
Johann: As you probably have already heard, the disk was linked to his church. I heard he maintained their computers. I don’t know if his daughter had anything to do with providing dna, hers or his.