Co-narrator/Interviewer (28:03)
That evening, Chief Lamunion held a press conference in which he announced the purpose of this news conference is to advise the public of an extremely serious matter involving a series of murders which have occurred in our city. This person has consistently identified himself with the initials BTK and wishes to be known as the BTK Strangler. The decision for the police to officially go public with the news of BTK had its detractors. Even Lamunion had doubts. If BTK struck again, the chief worried he would be blamed for provoking him through the publicity. Yet he faced seven unsolved murders and the public remained oblivious to the danger. Before the conference, Lamunion consulted several psychologists to determine whether publicly announcing the case might prompt BTK to communicate again and provide valuable intelligence. Their guidance persuaded him to move forward calmly and with resolve. Lamunion informed the people of Wichita that a serial killer was among them. He also addressed the difficult question of why news of BTK had been withheld for so long. We felt the lack of news coverage would forestall any more killings. That was what was hoped at the time, he admitted, before adding that investigators were never fully certain all the murders were connected until recently. There were, of course, very definite similarities, but at the same time there were very significant differences. Lamunion explained that the police had every reason to believe BTK had the capability to kill again, but they didn't know if, when or where he might strike next. Worse still, they had no worthwhile leads or suspects. He urged residents to remain vigilant after murdering Nancy Fox, BTK wrote that he simply went home and carried on with his life, quote like anyone else. He went on to warn and I will be like that until the urge hits me again. Based on this information, Lamunion emphasised that BTK wouldn't appear to be an obvious monster within their community, nor would he seem insane. He would be hiding in plain sight, living a seemingly normal life outside of his crimes and appearing like any ordinary man in every respect. A psychologist agreed, explaining, I don't think One could get very close to the guy, but he might not appear particularly different. Superficially, FBI criminal profilers suspected BTK was a lone wolf in his mid-30s who performed well at work but rarely stayed in one job as he disliked being told what to do. He likely had military training and an interest in law enforcement, reading detective magazines that gave insight into police procedures and ways to avoid detection. He would criticise the BTK investigation in casual conversations and would be known to drive around frequently. Profilers believed he likely lived within a few miles of the crime scenes and might have known one or more of the oteros personally. In his private life, BTK likely consumed pornography and engaged in sadomasochistic acts involving both the infliction and reception of pain. While he clearly derived sexual gratification from torture, it was notable that he hadn't committed rape. As a killer, he was controlling and sadistic. Megalomania was the term used to describe him. Someone gripped by delusions of grandeur and power. He dared people to catch him, almost as if he wanted to get caught, yet was exhilarated by the chase. One psychologist emphasised, the unfortunate part of this is that he is stimulated by publicity. Much to his embarrassment, Police Chief Richard Lamunion admitted that authorities didn't know how to stop btk. Research from the FBI indicated that serial killers were extraordinarily difficult to catch. Most of the time it was a game of waiting and hoping, waiting for the killer to strike again and hoping they made a mistake. I'll say this about btk, lamuyan said. He's very good. He doesn't leave much behind for us to work with. To anticipate BTK's next possible target, investigators attempted to create a victim profile. All the murders had occurred within a three and a half mile radius in Wichita's east, suggesting the killer was intimately familiar with the area and likely considered it his home turf. His victims were analysed for similar characteristics, including details as specific as eye colour, but they varied widely. However, several of his victims wore eyeglasses. BTK had even mentioned 11 year old Josie Otero's glasses in his first letter and included Nancy Fox's glasses in the sketch depicting her murder, thinking they might hold particular significance. This gave police an idea. Given that BTK had sent a letter to KAKE tv, it was likely he watched their broadcasts. Chief Lamunion arranged to discuss the case on their newscast, during which an image flashed on the screen for a fraction of a second. It showed Nancy Fox's eyeglasses exactly as BTK had sketched them, accompanied by the words now call the Chief. The subliminal message was intended to entice BTK to respond. While many viewers saw it and contacted police, BTK did not. It marked the first and last time Wichita police used subliminal messaging to reach a killer. Although BTK wasn't speaking to police, there were countless reports of him contacting others. Various households and women received calls from people announcing, this is btk. You're next. Although they were deemed cranked, the calls did little to ease the panic and distrust gripping Wichita under BTK's looming presence. Knowing he had the capacity to indiscriminately strike anyone anywhere through carefully planned attacks or spontaneous violence, everyone feared the killer equally. Men, women, children and entire families were at risk. Wichita's deputy police chief explained, what makes this person so terrifying to people is that they fear they could be the next person chosen. It's this fear of the unknown that makes the terror so personal and so powerful. On the night of Saturday, April 28, 1979, 63 year old widow Hannah Williams arrived at her small two bedroom home on South Pinecrest street in Wichita's East. She had been expected home hours earlier, but had deviated from her normal routine, deciding to go square dancing and then visit her 24 year old granddaughter, Rebecca. Rebecca had planned to accompany Anna to spend the night at her place, but her boss had called her in for overtime on the evening shift. By the time Anna arrived home alone, it was around 11pm in contrast to how she left it, she noticed the door to her spare bedroom was ajar. Inside, the drawers of a dresser had been opened and clothes were scattered across the floor. Someone had stolen jewellery, clothing and a sock in which anna had hidden $35. Even more disturbing, belts, bindings and ropes had been laid out on the bed. Anna rushed to call the police only to find her phone line was dead. Terrified, she ran to a neighbour's house who called for help. When officers arrived, they found no sign of the intruder, but they noticed Anna's phone line had been cut and her basement window had been broken into. The following month, Anna received a package in the mail. It was addressed to her deceased husband, his name spelled out in big block letters. Inside were various items, including a scarf and a piece of jewellery stolen from Anna's home during the April burglary. There was also a drawing of a bound and gagged woman on a bed, naked except for a pair of pantyhose. Her hands and feet were tied to a pole in a manner reminiscent of how safari hunters Trust Big Game and designed so that any struggle to free herself would only tighten her restraints. There was also a poem originally addressed to someone named Lois, but the name had been crossed out and replaced with Anna. Riddled with typos, the poem was titled O Anna, why didn't you appear? And referred to her within the text by the letter A. Twas the perfect plan of deviant pleasure so bold on that spring night My inner feeling hot with propension of the new awakening season, Warm, wet with inner fear and rapture My pleasure of entanglement like new vines so tight. Oh a, why didn't you appear? Drop of fear, fresh spring rain would roll down from your nakedness to scent the lofty fever that burns within. In that small world of longing, fear, rapture and desperation the games we play fall on devil's ears fantasy spring forth mounts to storm fury then winter calm at the end. Oh ay, why didn't you appear? Now in another time span I lay with sweet enraptured garments across most private thought Bed of spring moist grass clean before the sun enslaved with control, Warm wind scenting the air, sunlight sparkle tears in eyes so deep and clear, Alone again I trod in past memory of mirrors and ponder why you, number 8 was not OA why didn't you appear? The poem was signed with a peculiar signature. The letter B had been scrawled sideways to resemble a pair of eyeglasses with a T next to it joined to the following K, forming a smile dangling beneath the glasses. Btk. It was the first time he had marked his correspondence in such a stylised way. Curiously, a similar package had been sent to K tv. It contained copies of the Oanna poem and the drawing of the restrained woman, as well as a few other items stolen from Anna's house. It was now abundantly clear that it was BTK who had broken into Anna Williams home intending to kill. He must have had knowledge of her schedule, but because she had made spontaneous plans that night, she wasn't home when he expected. Eventually he got tired of waiting and left. Anna was a perplexing target. At 63, she was older than BTK's other victims, who were all under 40. Investigators wondered whether BTK had actually intended to target Anna's 24 year old granddaughter Rebecca, who would have been with her that night had she not worked late. Whatever the case, the close call rattled Anna and she fled Kansas. As a result, BTK had eluded police once again, but at least he hadn't claimed another life. He seemed to go dormant after his failed attack on Anna Williams, leading investigators to consider whether personal distractions in his daily life prevented him from committing crimes more regularly. 1984 marked the 10th anniversary of the Otero family killings and the ongoing cat and mouse game between BTK and the authorities. But times had changed. Advancements in technology and forensics in the new decade were proving invaluable to police work. Computers saved thousands of man hours that were previously spent searching and comparing documents, while enabling vast amounts of data to be stored efficiently. For the first time, police also had the capability to perform DNA testing. With these developments opening new investigative opportunities in cold cases, Police Chief Richard Lamunion handpicked several detectives and computer consultants to form a secret task force to re examine the BTK case. A recently released film inspired their codename the Ghostbusters. The task force was housed in a dedicated office, off limits to other police personnel, where they spent their first month painstakingly reading over the thousands of pages of reports in the BTK case file. Afterward, they began reviewing the vast quantities of evidence stored securely in underground vaults 50 miles northwest of Wichita. Every detail of the crime scenes was scrutinised. While previously ruled out, suspects were re interviewed. The audio recording of BTK's 911 call reporting Nancy Fox's murder was released publicly. Investigators wondered whether the number three appearing in each victim's house number was more than a coincidence. They studied books on numerology, mythology, witchcraft and demonology to explore its possible significance. They even analysed the moon phases during each attack, searching for a connection. Advice was sought from interstate agencies that had recently faced their own serial killer investigations, including the detectives who caught Son of Sam in New York and those still pursuing the Hillside Strangler in Los Angeles. At one stage, confidential files, including crime scene photos, were shared with trusted members of the press. They weren't meant for publication. Investigators simply wanted to see if a fresh set of eyes noticed something they had overlooked. BTK's written correspondence remained one of the case's few substantial clues, though he had been careful not to lay fingerprints or DNA on any of them. All of his letters, except the very first one, were determined to be photocopies of an original document. Some were several generations removed from the original. It appeared he had made the copies to obscure the text to prevent authorities from identifying the typewriter he had used, while also preserving the original as a keepsake. Photocopiers leave tool mark fingerprints along the edges of each sheet they process, which can potentially be traced back to the specific machine used. BTK had the foresight to trim the margins of his messages. Nevertheless, the Ghostbusters became experts in the hundreds of copiers available in Wichita, learning everything about them from their parts to their ink components. They studied the types of trees used to produce different kinds of paper and learnt which companies manufactured various pulp varieties. They even analysed the trace minerals present in different paper brands, a by product of the fertilisers used on the trees from which the paper originated. This line of investigation received a boost when staff from the U.S. printing Corporation Xerox offered their expertise as pioneers of the photocopier market. They offered to examine BTK's letters in their lab and determined that the poem sent to Anna Williams in 1979 had likely been copied at the Wichita Public Library. It was in this same library that BTK had hidden his first letter confessing to the Otero murders. The poem and letter sent to Cake TV following Nancy Fox's murder were definitively traced to a copier located in the Life Sciences building at Wichita State University. The institution had come up in the case before when the killer had told Kevin Bright that he might have seen him on campus. The yellow and black stocking cap he wore during the attack on the Bright siblings also echoed the school's colours. Furthermore, the text O Death, which had inspired the Nancy Fox poem was found in a textbook used in an American folklore class there. However, Wichita State shredded their student records after three years, leaving no official enrolment information for 1978, the year the Nancy Fox letter had been copied on site, The Ghostbusters began compiling extensive lists. They started by cataloguing every local white male fitting BTK's age profile, dead or alive. They then tracked men who had lived within a quarter mile of the Oteros Katherine Bright, Shirley Vianne, and Nancy Fox at the time of their murders. Those connected to Wichita State University were included along with known animal abusers, window peepers, prison inmates, sex offenders, and men who owned the type of pistol used against Kevin Bright. If a name appeared on two or more of the lists, it was considered significant. But this barely narrowed things down as tens of thousands of men fell into this category. One individual appeared in four lists, while the smallest list contained just eight names. These were men who had checked out the textbook Applied Engineering Mechanics from the public library around the time the Otero confession letter had been hidden within its pages. Each individual was systematically ruled out until the total number of names was narrowed down to 30 men who were living in Wichita and another 185 who were living elsewhere. Two teams of detectives worked seven days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day, travelling to visit each of these men in person. They collected blood and saliva samples, searched homes for clues such as detective magazines or bondage equipment, and interviewed current and former wives and partners to determine if any of the men engaged in sadomasochism. The biological samples were compared to the semen left by BTK at the Otero and Fox crime scenes but there were no matches. The task force didn't relent. They simply compiled new lists and continued the search. At noon on Thursday, December 31, 1987, Wichita mother of two Mary Fager returned to her family's one story brick ranch home on East 14th street after visiting relatives out of town. The Fager's grey Volkswagen rabbit was missing from the driveway. Mary assumed that her eldest daughter, 16 year old Kelly had taken her 9 year old sister Sherry out for a drive. It wasn't until Mary entered the house that she realised something was horribly wrong. Her 37 year old husband Philip lay dead on the living room floor having been shot twice in the back at close range. When first responders arrived they discovered a horrific scene in the basement. Beneath the fabric cover of a bubbling above ground hot tub were the bodies of Kelly and Sherry Fager. 9 year old Sherry was in her pyjamas and had been bound with half inch wide black electrician's tape before being strangled to death and her body then dumped in the tub. 16 year old Kelly was naked and had been asphyxiated but was still alive when placed into the 92 degree hot tub eight hours after sherry. The lid was then sealed over Kelly leaving her to drown. Rumours swirled in the aftermath of the killings. Police Chief Richard Lamunion was quick to assert doubt over any links between the Fager murders and any other unsolved cases. Instead police focused on Bill Butterworth, a contractor who had recently built the Fagers sun room. He was tracked down to Florida after stealing Defega's car, withdrawing all the money from his bank account and buying new clothes. On Tuesday, January 5, less than a week after the triple homicide, a letter arrived at the Fager residence. Mary opened it to find a poorly written anonymous poem titled oh God. He put Kelly and Sherry in the tub. It was accompanied by a drawing of a young girl lying beside a hot tub with her hands bound behind her and fear etched across her face. In the lower right corner was a familiar symbol, the letter B on its side with a T and K below, this time forming a Frown. This marked BTK's first communication in eight years. However, the letter contained no insider details of the Fager murders and the drawing was inaccurate, suggesting it was inspired by news coverage rather than first hand knowledge. BTK did not confess or claim responsibility for the crime. Instead, he expressed admiration for the family's alleged killer, Bill Butterworth. This letter marked an unusual shift for btk, who was now composing taunting verses and illustrations for crimes he hadn't committed purely to provoke fear, distress and uncertainty. His self insertion into the Fager case left his figurative DNA all over it and was believed to have contributed to Bill Butterworth's acquittal. By this point, thousands of man hours and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars had been spent chasing an overwhelming number of tips, theories, persons of interest, hoaxes, alleged confessions and false correspondence. In the BTK investigation, every lead had reached a dead end and the case remained stone cold. Police Chief Richard Lemonyon assured the public the case file wouldn't gather dust, but behind the scenes, the Ghostbusters were being reassigned. Only one detective remained actively working the case, though he was periodically pulled away for other investigations until he was transferred to the homicide unit. The three year investigation had taken a heavy toll on the Ghostbusters team who felt they had exhausted every lead, yet unanswered questions plagued them daily. Their relentless work brought fatigue, self doubt and personal strain. They endured sleepless nights and some turned to alcohol to cope. Their families suffered too, living in constant fear that BTK might harm them as payback. This threat became very real for Chief Lamunion. During BTK's reign, a parallel investigation in Wichita targeted a mysterious individual known only as the Poet. Some suspected that the Poet and BTK were one and the same, given their shared interest in writing cryptic, sexually charged poems about murder. When the Poet sent a letter threatening Lemonyn's wife, the chief personally entered the investigation to track down the elusive figure. This story is covered in episode 308 of Casefile titled Ruth Finlay. Richard Lamunion had begun his tenure as police chief, determined to catch the Otero family's killer. Over the years, he oversaw investigations into three more BTK victims. Yet when he stepped down in 1988, the cases remained unsolved. He called it the greatest disappointment of his 12 years as chief, a devastation that was shared by the Ghostbusters. During an interview, one former member broke down in tears, feeling as if he had failed young Josie Otero. Another told the Wichita Eagle, when I think of the Ghostbusters, all I can think of is what a failure it was and what I didn't do and how I could have done more if only I'd been smarter. As time passed with no word from btk, people wondered whether he had moved away, been incarcerated, confined to a mental health facility or had died. Perhaps he had found a partner willing to indulge his violent sexual fantasies, satisfying urges that might otherwise have driven him to attack others. Whenever a Wichita homicide bore a hint of BTK's MO, questions arose about his involvement. But since he never claimed responsibility, the answer was always the maybe, maybe not. Some held out hope that BTK would eventually be discovered, perhaps over something as simple as someone noticing him wearing Joe Otero's wristwatch. An investigator who worked on the case in 1978 was far less optimistic. He told the Wichita Eagle, it's sad to say the only way that we'll ever find out who this individual is will have to be a victim. Another investigator noted, if the BTK strangler died tomorrow of natural causes or some accident, society might never know who he was. But if he lived on, one question remained. Would he kill again? Or was he satisfied to fade away into obscurity?
