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It was around 3:30pm on Tuesday, January 15, 1974 and 15 year old Charlie had just returned home from school. The Otero family of seven lived on the corner of East Murdoch Avenue and North Edgemoor street in the quiet eastern suburbs of Wichita, Kansas. Their modest white wood frame bungalow should have been full of life. That afternoon. 38 year old patriarch Joe Otero was taking time off work as an airplane mechanic and flight instructor to recover from a car accident that had left him with several cracked ribs. His 33 year old wife Julie had been temporarily laid off as an assembler at a camping equipment factory until business picked up again the couple's four youngest children, 9 year old Joey, 11 year old Josie, 13 year old Carmen, and 14 year old Danny, should have been home from school by the time Charlie arrived. Instead, he was met with an inexplicable silence. A few other things had struck him as odd. His mother's beige 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon was missing from the driveway, but the garage door was wide open, allowing the blustery winter wind to sweep snow inside. Charlie figured she must have rushed out and forgotten to close it, though it was unlike his meticulous mother to be so careless. He also noticed Lucky, the Otero's large, short haired brown boxer dog, had been left outside alone in the backyard. Lucky disliked the cold and was usually only let out when guests visited since he was protective and barked at strangers. The inside of the Otero home appeared mostly neat and orderly, though several items were noticeably out of place. A gallon of milk had been left out on the kitchen sink's drainboard with the receiver of the wall mounted telephone next to it. Open cans of fruit and meat spread were set out on the nearby table next to a knife and an unsealed half loaf of bread. Several slices had been smeared with the meat spread, a staple Julie often packed for her children's school lunches. Though Josie's lunchbox was in the kitchen empty, it appeared the family had abruptly vanished mid breakfast, leaving behind several important belongings. Josie and Joey's winter coats were draped over a chair and Jo's shoes were tucked under the kitchen table. Stranger still, Joe's wallet had been stripped of its contents and tossed on the stovetop, while Julie's brown leather purse lay upturned on the living room floor, its belongings scattered across the carpet. Julio Taro was a tidy woman. She would never have left her house in such disarray. When Charlie called out asking if anyone was home, a sound emerged from deeper inside the house. It was the urgent and confused voice of one of his younger siblings. Charlie. They yelled. Mum and dad are playing a bad trick on us. Charlie bolted down the hallway and into his parents bedroom. There he found the eldest of his siblings, Danny and Carmen, who had arrived home together only moments earlier. What they had stumbled upon hit Charlie with such crushing force that it felt as though his heart was being ripped from his chest. Further along North Edgemoor street, local resident Del Johnson was shovelling snow outside his home when Danny Otero came running up to him in a panic. The Oteros were relatively new to the neighbourhood, having purchased their home just 10 weeks earlier, though they hadn't yet fully settled in and were mostly homebound due to the frosty winter weather. The Oteros had already established themselves as a kind and happy family. They fit seamlessly into Wichita's carefree community of about 260,000 residents, where doors were kept unlocked and keys left in cars overnight. To the honest, pious people of Wichita, a stranger was just a friend they hadn't met yet. Against this safe and idyllic backdrop, Del Johnson was stunned when Danny Otero gasped, come quick. My father's dead. I think. Del rushed to the Otero house and went inside. He approached the main bedroom belonging to Joe and Julie, only to stop short of the doorway. Upon seeing what lay within, he carefully backed away and went to use the family's telephone to call the police. But the lion was dead. He then ran home and contacted authorities from there. Two officers arrived on the scene minutes later. As their cruiser pulled up, Charlie Otero barrelled toward them, frantically explaining that his parents were in the house and had been tied up. Charlie was instructed to stay outside with his two siblings. As the officers entered the home, they proceeded down the hallway to the main bedroom and pushed the ajar door wide open. Joe Otero lay face up on the floor at the foot of the bed, his face bruised and streaked with the dried blood from his nose and mouth. His ankles were bound tightly with white cotton braided cord. Although his hands were loose, his wrists featured deep patterned impressions showing they had also been restrained at one point and he had struggled fiercely to break. Similar marks encircled his neck. Julio Taro lay on her back on the nearby bed. She was fully clothed with her wrists bound behind her back and her ankles tied together. She had also been beaten. Beside her head was a bloodstained white cloth gag and lengths of white cord. Both Joe and Julie were cold and without a pulse. The officers radioed dispatch to report the grisly discovery before returning outside to the three eldest Otero children. Within minutes, it seemed as if the entire Wichita police force had descended on the quiet suburban street, joined shortly after by members of the press and curious onlookers. The police were unusually tight lipped, prompting reporters to conclude that whatever they had found inside the Otero house must have been truly horrific. As the crime scene was being cordoned off, Charlie, Danny and Carmen were escorted to a police station to give their accounts of the day's events. From the moment the trio were woken up by their mother that morning, everything seemed routine and normal. At 7:50am Joe drove Charlie, Danny and Carmen to school in his wife's station wagon as his car still needed repairs following his recent accident. When Charlie went to close the garage door, his father told him to leave it open, explaining that he would return straight home to take Joey and Josie to elementary school. Because the family were down to the one car, Charlie, Danny and Carmen had to walk the two miles home from school in the afternoon. Danny and Carmen walked home together and arrived first. The Oteros used the rear door as their main family entrance, reserving the front for guests and visitors. As the siblings approached the wooden gate leading into the backyard, they found Lucky. Outside in the cold, the house itself was eerily silent and still. Danny and Carmen noticed their mother's purse and father's wallet ransacked and tossed aside, then made their way to their parents bedroom. Joe was face down on the floor with his hands bound behind his back and his feet tied to a bedpost. A plastic bag was constricted over his head. Danny tore it open before retrieving a kitchen knife to cut through the cords that bound his father. He then rolled Joe over. A brown belt was taut around his neck along with more cord. Danny struggled to loosen it all. Nearby, Carmen removed the gag from her mother's mouth and cut the cord tightly wound around her neck using a pair of toenail clippers. She and Danny attempted to perform CPR on their parents but they didn't respond. Danny tried calling the police from the kitchen telephone but there was no dial tone. He rushed downstairs to a second phone in the dark unfinished basement only to find that it wasn't working either. Charlie arrived soon after and managed to remove the belt from his father's neck. Noticing Joe's tongue was half bit off and he had vomited. Believing the assailant might still be in the house, Charlie grabbed a knife and shouted, whoever's in this house, you're dad. No one responded. He tried the kitchen telephone himself but it still wasn't working. Danny ran outside to seek help and encountered his neighbour Del Johnson, who ultimately summoned the police. For Charlie, his biggest concern was his youngest siblings, Joey and Josie. They hadn't arrived home from school yet and would have no idea of the horror that awaited them when they did. As their protective older brother, he begged the police over and over to prevent the young pair from coming home, to spare them the trauma of seeing what had happened to their parents. Eventually the a detective pulled Charlie aside and said gravely, charlie, we got to tell you. Joey and Josie were in the house. The youngest hetero child, 9 year old Joey, was found in his bedroom. He lay prone on the floor beside A bed, his wrists and ankles bound with the same white cord that was used to restrain his parents. A T shirt, plastic bag and another T shirt had been secured over his head and a length of cord was taut around his neck. While already a horrific scene, what homicide detectives discovered next left them with a chilling image that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Imprinted on the carpet near Joey's body were four small circular indentations arranged in the shape of a square. The marks had been made by the legs of a chair pressed deeply into the fibres by the weight of someone sitting on it. The implication was clear and disturbing. After restraining Joey and covering his head, it seemed the killer had pulled the chair up close to the boy to sit and watch. The Last Otero child, 11 year old Josie, was discovered in the dark basement hidden around a corner. She was suspended by a rough hemp noose attached to a sewer pipe with her toes just a fraction of an inch above the ground. Her hands were restrained behind her back. A white cloth was tied around her mouth and her ankles and knees were bound with cord that extended up to her waist. Josie was wearing a blue short sleeved knit sweater and socks, but was otherwise exposed. Her underwear was loose around her ankles and her bra had been cut open. While she hadn't been raped, dried seminal fluid was found on her thigh and on the concrete floor below. Ligature marks on the victims necks told a grim story of drawn out torture. The killer had strangled each of them repeatedly, loosening his grip to let them gasp for air before using the cord to finish the act. In Joe and Joey's case, the killer had secured plastic bags over their heads to prolong their suffering. Both were found to have died from asphyxiation and strangulation, while Julie and Josie were killed by strangulation alone. In the words of the district coroner, all murders are unpleasant, but this is one of the worst I've seen. The quadruple homicide sent shockwaves through Wichita, which had never seen anything like it. Though the Oteros were newcomers and few locals knew them personally, those who did were left reeling. I didn't believe it, one said in the direct aftermath of the crime. It didn't make any sense to me and it still doesn't. The case dominated local newspapers and televised news reports as police held twice daily press conferences, releasing what information they could. At one point they were compelled to show crime scene photos to reporters to dispel the many false rumours circulating about the case, including claims that the victims had been mutilated and sexually assaulted. Meanwhile, Wichita's residents were gripped by a fear unlike anything they had ever known. Doors were now being locked, sales of firearms and security alarm systems surged and children were no longer allowed to walk home alone from school. Some people slept near their front doors while others entered their homes armed with baseball bats or metal bars. A simple knock now prompted cautious calls of who's there? A practice previously unheard of in the close knit community. A local television station even cancelled scheduled programming to avoid airing the Boston Strangler, a film about the man who confessed to murdering 13 women in the 1960s. An article explaining the cancellation cited the city's distress over the Otero murders, noting a nervous city needs nothing more to add to its smouldering embers of unrest. An editorial in the Wichita Beacon newspaper Crimes like this cannot go unsolved. They tear at the fabric of our society. Every one of us is involved until this ugly act is resolved. Over 70 detectives were immediately assigned to the Otero case to expedite the hunt for the killer. They worked round the clock, fielding calls, examining evidence and debating possible motives and suspects. They concluded that the killer had entered the Otero house after Joe had dropped off his three eldest children at school at around 8am but before he took the two youngest who didn't leave until nine. It was possible the killer had confronted Julie while she was alone with the Josie and Joey subduing them before striking Joe by surprise. Upon his return, with no signs of forced entry or struggle, investigators considered the possibility that the killer had been let in. Whoever had been at the kitchen table preparing sandwiches would have had a clear view of both the front and rear doors. If anyone had suddenly burst in or appeared threatening, the sandwich knife likely would have been used in self defence rather than left neatly on the table. Perhaps the family's guard was down because the intruder didn't appear dangerous at first. Lucky the dog had been put outside, suggesting the visitor might have been familiar to the family or at least welcomed by them. If he had been an aggressive stranger, Lucky would almost certainly have made a commotion. Yet neighbours heard nothing unusual. There was also the question as to how the killer managed to subdue the four victims. Joe Otero was a streetwise, physically fit, ex champion boxer. He had also served 20 years in the US Air Force as a technical sergeant, including deployments to Korea and Vietnam. In fact, the entire Otero family had been trained in judo, with certificates of their achievements displayed throughout their home. Perhaps more than one perpetrator was involved or a firearm was used to ensure the victim's Compliance. One family member might have been forced to bind the other three at gunpoint. Although the rummaged purse and wallet suggested robbery as a motive, nothing of significant value was missing from the Otero house. The only items unaccounted for were Joe's aviation style wristwatch and the keys to Julie's station wagon. The Oteros were far from wealthy and made no pretence of being so. Their home was modest, comfortably within their means and offered no indication of affluence. Nothing about the family suggested they would be a worthwhile target to an opportunistic robber. The sheer brutality of the murders left investigators certain they were dealing with a premeditated execution. The discovery that the property's phone line had been cut supported this theory, as it had prevented the family from calling for help. Yet experts consulted by police unanimously agreed that the murders were not the work of professional killers. Such individuals, they explained, preferred quicker, more efficient methods than strangulation. Torture was typically inflicted by offenders who had a deeply personal connection to their victims, as it was an intentional act that required time and effort and served no purpose other than to provide the perpetrator with emotional gratification. Moreover, the presence of abnormal sexual acts reflected a level of perversion far beyond anything seen in routine home invasion or contract killings. Four independent witnesses had sighted a man around the Otero home on the morning of the murders. The problem was, their descriptions varied widely. His age was placed between 28 and 34. He was both tall and short, slender and bulky, and his complexion was varying shades of dark. Some said he had bushy black hair, while others asserted he was wearing a crumpled floppy hat. Reporters were told he might have been Middle Eastern. When a sketch artist drew a composite image of the man, he looked to be Hispanic. Some people noted that the sketch bore a resemblance to Joe Otero, with a thin moustache. The times of death of the victims were estimated between 8:15 and 8:45am and the man was seen loitering around the otero residence between 8:45-10:30. This created around a two hour window between the murders, and when the suspect finally left the house at 10:30, he was witnessed backing out of the Otero's driveway in Julie's station wagon, seemingly alone. Julie's car was later found half a mile away in a grocery store parking lot and was believed to have been there from 11am onwards. The fuel tank was almost empty, the keys were missing, and the driver's seat was positioned in a way that indicated whoever had driven the vehicle was short statured, foreign Fingerprints were found on the vehicle, providing one of the few major clues in the case. Another fingerprint was lifted from the chair. It was believed the killer sat in to watch Joey Otero die. It didn't match any member of the family or anyone who had entered the house after the murders, including responding officers. The restraints used by the killer provided another clue. He first used a roll of adhesive first aid tape to subdue the victims, which he then reinforced with a white cord cut from a well worn Venetian blind. The cord used to strangle the victims came from a clothesline, while the gags were fashioned from an old pillowcase. Given that none of these items originated from the Otero residence, the perpetrator must have prepared them in advance and brought them to the scene. Both types of cord were common and could be purchased from numerous suppliers across the country. The plastic bags used to suffocate the victims couldn't be traced to any meaningful source either. The cords were expertly tied using a variety of knots, including slip, square, overhand and blood knots, as well as clove and half hitches. There were so many intricate knots that a detective had to consult an encyclopaedia published by the Naval Institute Press to correctly identify them, sparking the theory that the killer might have had naval or sailing experience. The killer's seminal fluid was the only significant evidence investigators possessed, and they took meticulous care to preserve it. Some samples were carefully dried, others were stored in fluid and a portion was frozen. Tests revealed the killer had the most common type O blood type. But this discovery didn't lead to any breakthroughs either. Nor did the desperate decision to let a psychic spend the night at the Otero house. She claimed to have once helped solve a crime by leading police to a body in the trunk of a car. Two officers watched in silence as she scribbled down notes, but nothing came of it. Investigators delved into the Oteros personal lives, searching for anyone who might have had a reason to target them. To others, Joe Otero was an outgoing, jovial kind of guy who loved making people laugh with his self deprecating humour. Julie was equally well liked. She was described as a very caring, loving Catholic woman who placed motherhood above all else. Teachers at Josie and Joey's school lauded them as model students who never caused any trouble. Prior to his death, Joe worked at Cook Airfield, a few miles outside of Wichita, where he had access to private aircraft. Speculation about his possible involvement in illicit drug transport didn't hold up under scrutiny. He was an honest man, one acquaintance said of Joe. I can't visualise him mixed up in any kind of conspiracy. According to one investigator, the Oteros were like any other religious and God fearing family in Wichita. No one in the family was found to have associated with so called undesirable types or engaged in criminal activity activity of any kind. Everyone known to the family was heavily scrutinised. And although Joe's history revealed a few interpersonal conflicts, none were linked to the murders. Investigators sifted through the family's belongings and pursued leads as far afield as Panama, Mexico and the Otero's native Puerto Rico. They explored a range of theories including mistaken identity, jealousy, revenge and even connections to other local crimes. But all were eventually ruled out. No one could think of a reason why anyone would want to harm any of the Oteros, let alone brutally kill four members of the family. The bodies of Joe, Julie, Josie and Joey were flown to Puerto Rico for burial aboard an Air Force plane in honour of Joe's military service. While the Air Force typically didn't handle the transportation of retired personnel's remains, officials noted that the tragic and isolated incident called for the assistance of the country Joe had served so well. The gesture was described by the White House deputy press secretary as entirely proper. Meanwhile, the three surviving Otero children went to live with extended family. The case became one of the most intensive criminal investigations in the history of the Wichita Police Department. Early on, it became evident that the department was ill equipped to handle its scale, notoriety and complexity. Critical missteps occurred, including the loss of numerous crime scene and autopsy images. The lack of modern forensic and investigative tools added to the challenge. Computers, DNA analysis and national databases such as those used for fingerprint matching didn't exist in 1974. Recognising the enormity of the task, the Wichita police accepted assistance from a wide array of agencies, including the county Sheriff's office, the District Attorney's Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Department of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration and the FBI. Psychiatrists and pathologists from across the country even volunteered their Expertise. More than 1500 people were questioned in the US and overseas, including those convicted of similar crimes. Hundreds of suspects and multiple false confessions were all ruled out based on the physical evidence. Despite an onslaught of tips provided by the public, police admitted they reached a dead end on concrete leads within weeks. In time, the number of detectives assigned to the case was reduced from 70 to 30 to 10. Eventually, only one detective remained on the case full time, with another five on standby to pursue any promising leads. By that point, the Otero file had grown to two feet thick as nothing uncovered during the investigation was discarded. Yet after months of systematically working through the material, investigators felt they were no closer to solving the murders than on the day they were discovered. They admitted that their theories regarding who and why amounted to nothing more than guesswork, as they hadn't found anything to conclusively answer any of the questions they had. We don't have a complete picture of what happened out there, wichita Chief of Police Floyd Hannan admitted. Every time we have a theory, something pulls it apart. It is a perplexing case with holes in it that we just can't plug. The investigation nevertheless stayed at the forefront of Wichita police work. One investigator told the Wichita Beacon, hardly a day goes by that we don't discuss the Otero case, and I know for myself that sooner or later we will find the killer. To help generate leads, local newspapers launched a joint program with authorities called Secret Witness. The initiative allowed readers to submit tips about the Otero murders via mail or telephone, which were forwarded directly to the police. The newspapers emphasised that the program was not a covert scheme to gather material for news stories. Tips could be submitted anonymously and all information remained confidential, to be released only if an arrest was made or a Warrant issued. By October 1974, nine months had passed since the Otero murders. That month, the Wichita Eagle reported an update on the case. Three local men, aged 19, 26 and 30 had been questioned in connection with child sex offences. They were asked about the Otero case, which had become a standard line of inquiry in relevant investigations. The 19 year old provided suspiciously accurate information about the crime and implicated one of the other men, who happened to be his brother. The brother then gave police the name of a close acquaintance who became the third suspect. Although police considered the trio strong leads, Police Chief Floyd Hannan clarified that none of the men knew the Oteros could be placed at the crime scene or matched the description of the man seen leaving the family's home. Efforts to verify the men's claims were complicated by the extensive media coverage which had made many details of the crime publicly available. None of them were particularly reliable, and all were placed in psychiatric care, adding further doubts about their credibility. On Tuesday, October 22, four days after the article about the three men was published, Don Granger, a columnist for the Wichita Eagle, received a phone call. Don managed the Secret Witness program and the tip line had been routed to a telephone on his work desk. On the other line was a man with a Midwestern accent. He spoke aggressively, as if issuing a command. Listen and listen good. He told Don. I'm only going to say this once. There is a letter about the Otero case in a book in the public library. Foreign. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. In March, we mark International Women's Day, a moment to celebrate women's strength and progress while also recognising how much they carry each day. From caring for others to managing responsibilities that often go unnoticed, Emotional well being can be easy to overlook. Whether you're navigating work, family relationships or personal change, Therapy offers a space to pause and reflect on the expectations placed on you and how they're affecting you. Therapy can help support healthier boundaries and strengthen overall well being for everyone. BetterHelp makes getting support simpler. You're matched with a licensed therapist based on what you're looking for and if it's not the right fit, you can switch anytime. 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Now she's cut that time in half and can focus on growing her business instead. Try shipstation free for 60 days with full access to all features. No credit card needed. Go to shipstation.com and use code casefile for 60 days for free. 60 days gives you plenty of time to see exactly how much time and money you're saving on every shipment. That's shipstation.com code casefile shipstation.com code casefile thank you for listening to this episode's ads. By supporting our sponsors, you support Casefile to continue to deliver quality content. The caller explained to Don Granger that the letter would prove that the three men currently suspected of the Otero murders were innocent. He said the letter could be found in a book titled Applied Engineering Mechanics, then abruptly hung up. Don was perplexed. Despite a $7,500 reward for pertinent information on the case having long since expired, the caller made no mention of it, leaving his motives unclear. Furthermore, hoaxers and pranksters had made it difficult to determine if the tips Don received were even genuine, he faced a tough choice. He could locate the letter himself and, if it existed, copy it for the newspaper for a major scoop. But committed to the integrity of the secret witness program and convinced that aiding the police was more important than personal gain. He relayed the information from the call to law enforcement. Instead, a detective went to the Wichita Public Library downtown and located a two page single spaced typed letter tucked inside the aforementioned book. It was addressed to the secret Witness program and riddled with misspellings and poor grammar. It began. I write this letter to you for the sake of the taxpayer as well as your time. Those three dudes you have in custody are just talking to get publicity. They know nothing at all. I did it by myself and with no one's help. The letter went on to provide an accurate account of the Otero murders, including what the victims were wearing, how their bodies were positioned, the cords and knots used to bind them, and even the item the killer took as a souvenir. I needed one, the author wrote about Joe's wristwatch. So I took it. Runs good. The letter correctly stated that 11 year old Josie's eyeglasses were in the southwest bedroom and her green pants were left at the bottom of the basement stairs. This information was significant as it was only known to the police and the perpetrator. The author confirmed that the murders were premeditated, but said that he didn't know the family personally. He had stalked them prior to the attack, referring to the process of targeting, following, waiting and checking up on them as a big complicated game. He went on to claim that he had a monster in his head that compelled him to commit the crime before warning ominously. Where this monster enter my brain I will never know, but it here to stay. I can't stop it, so the monster goes on and hurt me as well as society. Maybe you can stop him. I can't. He has already chosen his next victim or victims. I don't know who they are yet. The next day after I read the paper, I will know. But it too late. Good luck hunting. The unsigned letter ended. Yours truly guiltily. The letter had invalidated every theory the investigators had spent months developing and it left them stunned. In the words of the writer, the crime had been driven by a psychotic sexual perversion. Given how Josie Otero had been treated, she appeared to have been the killer's primary sexual fixation. A complete stranger to the family, he had been observing them for some time before deciding to strike. On January 15, police conducted a reenactment and concluded that while improbable, it was still possible for a single person to have executed the attack. Although the letter offered no clues to his true identity, the author provided authorities with a name by which to refer to him. At the bottom of the letter he had P S. Since sex criminals do not change their MO or by nature cannot do so, I will not change mine. The code words for me will be bind them, torture them, kill them, BTK. While the multiple writing errors suggested the killer was mildly illiterate or had a learning disability, investigators were more inclined to believe it was a deliberate attempt to disguise his identity. After all, he had no trouble correctly spelling and using words such as psychotic, complicated and perversion. A personality profile of the killer compiled with input from 30 Kansas based doctors suggested he was small in stature and likely had limited formal education in fields such as engineering, bookkeeping or accounting. The correction marks throughout the letter resembled those taught in Wichita vocational schools, indicating he was a long established member of the community. Investigators believed he might have lived or worked near the Otero home as it seemed unlikely he would attempt a meticulously planned and high risk quadruple homicide in unfamiliar territory. Psychiatrists noted the killer was probably insecure and definitely mentally ill, observing that his reference to the monster inside him aligned with common assertions made by by psychopaths. His compulsion to bind to the victims likely stemmed from a sexual fetish, and he might also have necrophilic tendencies experiencing sexual arousal from corpses. The question remained, why did he choose to confess? Nine months later, long after the case had faded from the headlines, it seemed that news of three other men claiming responsibility for his crimes had irritated the killer. Rather than quietly fading into obscurity, grateful to have gotten away with it, he sought recognition. After all, he had directed a member of the press to the letter instead of the police. Investigators suspected he might have been inspired by heavily publicised events. Earlier that year, in January, San Francisco authorities received another cryptic letter from the elusive Zodiac Killer, as covered in episode 200 of Casefile. Despite having relied heavily on the press to generate leads, Police Chief Floyd Hannan chose to keep the existence of BTK from the public. He feared the news might inspire hoaxes or copycats and plunge the city into hysteria. The publicity could also provoke BTK to strike again. Still, the police needed to signal to the killer that they were taking him seriously and were willing to cooperate in order to prevent any further deaths. BTK's initial contact, columnist Don Granger, was asked to run a discrete classified ad at the top of the personals column in the Wichita Eagle over the following week. It would be vague enough to go unnoticed by most readers, yet specific enough to catch the killer's attention. The brief message read, btk help is available. The ad included a Phone number manned by the police, but BTK never called it. Investigators enlisted Don Grange's help again, this time requesting that he address BTK directly in a personal plea through his widely read commentary column, Talk of the Town. It began. For the past week, Wichita police have tried to get in touch with a man who has important information on the Atero murder case. A man who needs help badly. Don didn't mention that he had received a call from the killer or that the police had a confession authored by him. While he referred to BTK by his desired moniker, he didn't divulge what it stood for. Don wrote that the phone number provided in the personals column was being monitored by police who were willing to help btk. But if BTK preferred, Don said he was willing to speak to him personally. He provided both his office and home phone numbers, writing, this may expose me to a certain amount of crank prank calls, but the nuisance is worth the trouble if we can only provide help for a troubled man. Don's personalised plea went ignored by BTK as well. Meanwhile, police continued to keep his presence under wraps as they contemplated their next move. Before they could reach a decision, one was made for them. Two months after BTK's letter was received, an up and coming rival newspaper to the Wichita Eagle called the Wichita sun went to print with a shocking headline. The paper was only two months old when staff writer Kathy Henkel broke the full story of the BTK in its 10th issue. Claiming to have obtained a copy of the library letter from a trusted anonymous source, Kathy published portions of it and revealed that BTK stood for bind, torture, kill. She revealed that the killer intended to strike again and had already begun hunting his next victim, information that the police had deliberately kept from the public. When asked why she published the letter, Kathy, who had grown up at just a mile from the Otero family home, explained that she believed the people of Wichita had a right to know they were being stalked by a killer. She said she had consulted with private sector psychologists who disagreed with the police's strategy. While authorities feared that publicity might provoke BTK to strike again, the psychologists argued the opposite. They believed that keeping him secret when he craved attention might actually increase the likelihood of another attack. The day after the story ran, Police Chief Floyd Hannan fronted a press conference describing the publication of the letter as one hell of a risk. He warned that it might prompt the author to reoffend just to prove he had committed the Otero murders. Calling BTK a sick man who needs help, Hannon urged the killer to turn himself in. If he doesn't, hannon admitted, I could not guess what might happen. The publicity triggered another wave of tips as residents accused husbands, boyfriends, neighbours and co workers. Despite growing fears that BTK would strike Again, the one year anniversary of the Otero murders passed in January 1975 without incident. By then the telephone tip line had gone quiet and all the leads following the publication of his confession letter had dried up. No further murders appeared to bear BTK's signature and no new letters surfaced. Thursday, March 17, 1977 marked a little over three years after the Otero murders At around noon on South Hydraulic Avenue in South East Wichita, six year old Stephen Relford walked up the block to a grocery store to buy canned soup for lunch. On his way back home, he noticed a man at the front door of a nearby house. Tall, heavily built and well dressed in slacks, a tweed sports jacket and dress shoes. The man carried a large blue briefcase. He looked to be aged in his 30s or 40s with dark hair and a paunchy stomach. He knocked on the door but no one answered. The man then turned and noticed Stephen. He approached holding a photograph of a woman with a baby boy and asked, have you seen these people? Stephen looked at the picture and said no. Are you sure? The man pressed. Stephen said yes and turned away. From the doorway of his home, Stephen glanced back to see the man watching before heading inside. His older brother, 8 year old Bud, was playing with their 4 year old sister, Stephanie. Stephen went into the main bedroom where their mother, 26 year old Shirley Vian, was resting in bed with the flu. He crawled under the blankets and nestled beside her. Moments later there was a knock at the front door. Stephen sprang out of bed and raced toward the front door with Bud hot on his heels, turning it into one of their impromptu brotherly competitions. Stephen reached the door first and opened it just enough to peek outside. The well dressed man with the briefcase towered over him. A weary and unwell Shirley Vian emerged from the bedroom in a robe. When the man saw Shirley, he pushed his way into the house, claiming to be a private detective and flashing an ID card that bore his photo. He closed the door behind him before reaching into a shoulder holster and pulling out a pistol. Don't hurt us. Shirley pleaded. I'm not going to hurt you, the man replied calmly. He said that he had a problem with sexual fantasies and he intended to tie Shirley up, have sex with her and take photographs. He admitted it would not be pleasant for her, but insisted everyone would be alright if she cooperated. He then paced around the living room, turning off the television and closing the blinds in an attempt to dissuade him. Shirley explained that the family was sick with the flu. The man replied harshly that it was going to happen and that he had done this before. Suddenly, the telephone rang. Shirley said it was likely someone checking in, as she had kept her children home from school that day. Stephen asked whether to pick up the phone, but the man told him, no, leave it alone. The call rang out unanswered, but it seemed to have spooked the man as he began moving with increased urgency and nervousness. He explained that he would tie up the children first. Shirley begged him not to, but he insisted it had to be done. He unzipped his briefcase, took out a length of white cotton braided cord and began tying Bud's hands together. Bud screamed, cried and struggled. This is not going to work, the man said, frustrated. He then ordered Shirley to lock her children in the bathroom. Shirley instructed Bud, Stephen and Stephanie to follow the man's orders. But as she gathered blankets, pillows and toys for them, meanwhile, the man set about making sure the children couldn't escape. The bathroom had two doors. He tied rope from the doorknob of one door to a pipe under the sink, jarring it. The other door led into the main bedroom. Shirley was made to block it by pushing her bed against it. Inside the bathroom, Bud, Stephen and Stephanie screamed and pounded on the door. When Stephen threatened to untie the rope from under the sink, the man barked a threat that he would blow Stephen's head off. Bud then picked up something heavy and used it to smash the bottom pane of the bathroom window. He crawled out, followed by Stephen. The boys dropped to the ground, ran to the front door and into the house. By the time they reached the main bedroom, the man was gone. At around 1pm Wichita Police Officer Raymond Fletcher received a cryptic message over his call me back on a telephone. He understood immediately. Dispatchers only made such requests when they needed to share information too sensitive to be broadcast over public scanners. Fletcher was given a residential address on South Hydraulic Avenue where there had been reports of a homicide. He arrived at the house to find four year old Stephanie Relford sitting on a couch in the living room, crying. Her older brothers, Bart and Stephen, had run to a neighbour for help who had called the police. Fletcher made his way to the main bedroom. The blinds were drawn, casting the room in near darkness. A bed had been pushed up against the bathroom door and atop it lay Shirley Vian. She was naked and face down with her head at the foot of the bed. Her arms and ankles were restrained with black electrical tape while a white cord and a pair of nylon pantyhose bound her hands behind her back. A pink nightie was pulled over her head, which was encased in a white plastic bag. It was tightly secured by another length of white cord that was wrapped multiple times around her neck. The cord extended down to bind her wrists and ankles and reached the head of the bed where it was tied tautly to a bedpost. Officer Fletcher hastily removed the nighty plastic bag and cord from Shirley's head. Her face was smeared with vomit, which was also splattered across the bedroom floor. A small amount of blood trickled out from one of her ears. Feeling for a pulse, Fletcher detected a faint twitch and immediately began cpr. As additional emergency personnel arrived, they carried Shirley into the living room to continue life saving efforts. But it was too late. Officer Fletcher surveyed the scene. He observed the cord and other restraints, the intricate knots and the plastic bag secured over Shirley's head. He picked up his radio and reported, it looks like the same thing as the Otero case. Casefile will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's Sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Bill, the intelligent finance platform that helps businesses and accounting firms scale with business. Proven results in finance, every decision is checked, every dollar accounted for. But the tools managing the money often aren't. That's why many businesses use Bill. Bill helps businesses manage their financial operations securely and reliably at scale. It's built for accountants, controllers, CFOs, and finance teams who want less manual work and more control. This isn't a promise. It's proven Nearly half a million businesses and more than 9,000 accounting firms trust Bill. 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