History Hyenas: "BTK Killer: Chasing the Tingle" (Oct 16, 2025)

Hosts: Chris Distefano & Yannis Pappas
Theme: A hilarious and disturbing deep dive into Dennis Rader, the BTK ("Bind, Torture, Kill") killer—his psyche, upbringing, crimes, and cultural legacy, blending dark historical facts with the hosts’ trademark irreverent comedy.

Episode Overview

Chris and Yannis explore the chilling story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer. With humor and insight, they dissect his psychological makeup, debate the nature vs. nurture argument, dive into the details of his crimes, and riff on what makes a serial killer “tick.” They also question society's fascination with true crime, discuss the evolution of serial killers in the age of technology, and sprinkle in some off-the-wall personal stories, banter about masculinity and fear, and reflections on faith.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Dennis Rader (BTK Killer): Psychological Profile

• Not a Typical Serial Killer Childhood:

  • Yannis notes, "We don't... There's no evidence that we found that he had, you know, your typical serial killer childhood. He was never abused..." [03:02]
  • Chris clarifies, “He did, he did toy around with...torturing animals, I think.” [03:29]
  • Conclusion: Unlike many serial killers, Rader lacked obvious childhood trauma, leading Chris to categorize him as "just born bad, 100% psychopath." [03:37]

• Nature vs. Nurture Debate:

  • Chris links environment to criminality: “Your environment has a lot to do with who you are... your environment is kind of a parent of yours.” [18:00]
  • They riff on boring environments sparking dysfunction: “He just lived in Wichita, Kansas. So you get bored, you want to kill people.” [17:38]

• Boredom and Escalation:

  • Chris posits, “I really think boredom... combination of nature, nurture. He was just in Kansas. This kid had a lot of time on his hands...” [41:33]
  • “He just kept chasing the tingle.” [42:21] — The episode's titular theme.

2. BTK’s Modus Operandi

• Criminal Methods:

  • “He would break into their house, tie them up, bind, torture, then kill them...” [22:09]
  • “He was a meticulously compulsive control freak... He would lace the place with audio equipment...he wanted to hear the suffering...” [23:41]
  • Would avoid homes with big dogs: “He would pick no dogs.” [24:30]

• Getting Caught:

  • BTK’s cockiness led to his downfall: “He says to the FBI agent... is there any way to trace a floppy disk back to me? Be honest. So the FBI’s like... no, absolutely no way... But of course there was.” [48:27]
  • His own daughter's DNA, collected from a pap smear at Kansas State University, provided the match that led to his arrest. [48:38-49:16]

3. Social Mask & Family Life

• “He had a wife, two kids, was as normal as normal could be, that people were genuinely shocked when they found out that this was the guy.” [35:33]
• Yannis references the Netflix doc, noting the plausible deniability of Rader’s family: “I do actually believe that the children didn’t know their dad was BTK... they saw signs, but their brains just chose to not accept...” [14:23]

4. Serial Killers & Culture

• True Crime Fascination:

  • Chris wonders, “Is it that [Netflix, podcasts] are doing that [glorifying criminals], or are they fulfilling a very big demand in the marketplace? True crime is massive.” [51:29]
  • Yannis: “I think it’s probably like anything else in life... lies a little bit in the nuance.” [51:58]

• Serial Killers and Technology:

  • “Have you noticed that there are no more serial killers? ...Because of DNA and surveillance and things like that.” [57:58]

5. Humor, Personal Stories & Notable Moments

• Paranoid Childhoods & Fear:

  • Yannis recounts his inability to sleep alone: “If Jazz and the kids went away on a trip, I would not sleep in my house alone. I would get a hotel.” [05:24]
  • Chris: “You also look like a guy that no killer would ever target.” [28:39]

• Masculinity and Appearance:

  • “If a girl was at my door, I would just open the door and not care. But if I saw that it was a guy, a relatively handsome UPS guy, I would...freshen up...” [07:05]

• Philosophy and Faith:

  • Yannis, in a mock-motivational burst: “You have to live immediately, okay? ...There are no solutions in life...there are only trade offs...you have to do one thing and one thing only, and that is return to Jesus Christ and find faith.” [08:21]

• Comedic Roasting of Other Serial Killers:

  • On Richard Ramirez (The Night Stalker): “He looks like Satan...his breath was so bad...” [34:48, 35:00]

• Creative Naming and Banter:

  • Riffing on BTK’s process of choosing his moniker: “He probably sat there...I’m the pantyhose man. No...that won’t slap.” [50:39]
  • “Serial killers...are kind of like the late night set. It’s just...had its time.” [57:05]

Notable Quotes & Moments

• "Let's just say this kid's roof fully blown off. I mean, let's just say this kid lived in an open air prison." – Chris Distefano [02:43]
• “I’m gonna start calling this kid Helen Hunt because he had a twister, Rol. I mean, this kid had a twister that blew his roof off.” – Yannis Pappas [03:01]
• "He wanted to hear the suffering so he could relive it...constantly go there and just jerk off to it." – Chris Distefano [24:07]
• “The more you were scared, the more, the worse it got for you. Right. Harder he got...then he would jerk off and come on the bodies.” – Yannis Pappas [23:15]
• "He was so meticulous and data driven that he wanted to rehearse what he was going to do." – Chris Distefano [43:00]
• "He was a bad kid. He got off actually on the pain. That's what turned him on was their fear and their pain." – Chris Distefano [44:07]
• “All the stories come from human flaws, from emotions, from the gods laughing at our mortality.” – Chris Distefano [53:59]
• “If you want to see that, the new serial killers you can just go to Kill Tony.” – Yannis Pappas [58:32]

Important Timestamps

• Intro, show update/banter: ~00:45-02:00
• Discussing BTK's background & psychological makeup: 02:16–04:50
• Nature vs. Nurture and serial killers: 17:38, 18:00, 41:33
• BTK and his family, trophy collecting, and his secret life: 14:23–16:00
• On pets as deterrents, dog stories: 24:22
• BTK’s capture, forensic details, DNA/evidence collection: 48:27–49:18
• Taunting police, the infamous floppy disk: 48:27–51:02
• True Crime and culture, tech impact on killers: 51:29, 57:58
• Climactic reflection on faith and society: 56:29
• Comic riff on serial killers as stand-up comedians: 58:17–58:32

Overall Tone

Irreverent, fast-paced, outrageously funny, and profoundly dark. Chris and Yannis toggle between absurdist asides, hard-hitting true crime analysis, wild personal confessions, and occasional genuine philosophical reflection. They chew on the horror and weirdness of serial killers but always bring it back to a very human—and uniquely Hyenas—take on fear, masculinity, and the chaos of life.

Takeaways

• Dennis Rader, despite outward normalcy, was a meticulous, narcissistic serial killer who exemplifies “born psychopathy.” His case raises questions about nature vs. nurture, the mask of normalcy, and society’s unending appetite for stories of horror.
• The BTK story provides a lens through which to examine fear, masculinity, and the modern world’s mitigation of serial killers through technology.
• The hosts’ blend of humor and history provides both comic relief and meaningful insight, punctuated by big laughs and dark truths.

If you’re curious about the darkest corners of human psychology—and aren’t afraid to laugh at the madness—this episode is essential (and hilarious) listening.