BTK still wants ‘power and control’: Former investigator

(NewsNation) — After searching the former property of the BTK serial killer, investigators believe he’s possibly connected to other cases.

Dennis Rader has recently been named as a suspect in an Oklahoma missing person case from the 1970s and a suspect in an unsolved killing in Missouri.

Former investigator Mike King says the new attention on BTK gives him “what he’s always wanted: power and control.”

Rader, who killed from 1974 to 1991, dubbed himself BTK for “bind, torture and kill.” The Osage County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma has named Rader the main suspect in the disappearance of 16-year-old Cynthia Kinney in June 1976 out of Pawhuska, Oklahoma. He is also considered a prime suspect in the death of 22-year-old Shawna Beth Garber in December 1990 out of McDonald County, Missouri.

Earlier this week, Oklahoma authorities recovered “items of interest” while searching Rader’s former property in Kansas. They say “more personal-type items” and possible “pantyhose ligature” were found.

“I think it’s going to be a real challenge to see what forensically can be collected on this evidence, if anything at all, frankly, after this much time,” King said.

Rader was convicted in 2005 of killing 10 people from 1974 to 1991. King says it’s difficult to tell whether the “items of interest” are linked to the 10 or to other possible victims.

“There’s so little evidence coming out right now, it’s really hard to say whether it’s part of the 10 or if it’s a new victim,” King said.

With what’s known about the behaviors of serial killers, King thinks Rader’s track record is unusual when it comes to timing.

“It’s really important to recognize the fact that the serial predator goes through this buildup process, they act out and then they go through a cooling off period, and they start fantasizing and get ready to go again. They don’t just turn off the switch,” King said. “And we see Rader in this particular series of 10, turning off the switch and going decades without being captured.”

He continued: “(It’s) just unlikely that he would just turn it off without having some kind of substitute or something happening along the way.”

King says BTK recently being considered a suspect in the Oklahoma and Missouri cases is likely feeding his ego.  

“I don’t think his ego will let him stand by with people like (Rex) Heuermann and others being out in the front of the news,” King said. “This is a great way for him to get back out in front. Frankly, it gives him what he’s always wanted: power and control.”

Rader’s daughter, Kerri Rawson, flew to Oklahoma last month to try to get information from him to help investigators. She said, “He’s lost like seven inches, and he’s in a wheelchair. He’s pretty much rotting, like, to his core.”

Rader, now 78, has reportedly been uncooperative and “wants to live his life out at the prison he’s at.” He is serving a sentence of 10 consecutive life prison terms.