BTK Strangler serial killer resurfaces after 25 years

Wichita Eagle ^ | Mar. 25, 2004 | Hurst Laviana

[rogueleader]

Hmm. American, midwestern accent.

But he pronounced "homicide"

HOME ih side

That's not the common midwestern pronunciation.

Is that a motorcycle in the background or is it just noise? Maybe he called from a pay phone.

[185JHP]

"There's 50 things that can go wrong when you commit a crime. You're a genius if you think of 25 of them. And you ain't no genius." (the arsonist in "Body Heat")

[Palladin]

It was reported that he called from a phone booth. So that was traffic noise.

I did notice the odd pronunciation of homicide. Maybe English is his second language, as some detectives thought, from the letters.

[lmr]

Wow. I lived on Crestway street in the same hundred block which is only 2 blocks over from where Nancy Fox was killed. Never realized it then. I lived in an apartment house (duplex) with the same floor plan as the one you (and victim Nancy Fox) lived in. Small World.

[lmr]

He did call from a payphone. Police found the receiver still hanging when they got there.

[lmr]

BTK is an abbreviation for "Bind-Torture-Kill", he gave this name to himself in his letters and communiques with Police. as he said "Bind Them, Torture Them, Kill Them"

[Brytani]

Let's hope the investigators working on this case have a stroke of genius before this guy kills again.

[rogueleader]

I did a search on the Kansas sex offender registry for everyone whose last name begins with "K".

There are no sex offenders currently registered with the State of Kansas who have the initials B.T.K.

Of course, sex offenders include only a small slice of the total incarcerated population.

I would search the entire Kansas offenders database for all offenders with the initials B.T.K. Then I would strike from the list anyone not old enough to have carried out the murders.

Then, I would match up who out of that remaining list served time during periods where BTK murders were not committed.

If anyone fits all of these descriptions, I would be very interested in pursuing that person as a suspect.

[VOA]

I did a search on the Kansas sex offender registry for everyone whose last name begins with "K".

Given the world of computers, it might pay for investigators to hit the
sex-offender registries of adjacent states, especially Oklahoma as Wichita is only
about 50 miles from the Oklahoma-Kansas line. The low population density and
nice Interstate highways in fly-over country could let a nasty person like the BTK
easily do a "drive-by" killing in Wichita while living at a fair distance (like 100+ miles).

PS: The investigators shouldn't bother with the California sex-offenders registry...
the law-enforcement officials are allowed to be less-than-helpful when granting access...
and they've lost track of about 30% of the folks on the registry!

[Brytani]

I doubt this guy was in prison for an extended period of time. As another freeper brought up on this thread, what did he do with his souvenirs while incarcerated? It's obvious he's had them for at least twenty years considering he sent pictures and a drivers license of a victim.

Maybe that theory will be proven wrong, I just doubt someone would hold papers of someone for that long for someone in prison, then given them back to the guy, hear about this development and say nothing to the police.

I might be proven wrong though...it's been known to happen!!!

[VOA]

As another freeper brought up on this thread, what did he do with his souvenirs while incarcerated?

I'm not challenging that proposition...and I don't know that much about current
bank vault management...
but, in the past, folks have let items languish for decades in bank vault "lock-boxes".

I don't know if the banks ever (or are allowed legally/contractually) to
look through the lock-boxes...
but it might be that BTK left those momentos in a bank box and just made sure that
the fees were paid on time. Even if BTK was in jail for an extended vacation.

Besides, in the wide, mostly-empty expanses of fly-over country, material like
that could be hidden in an out-of-the-way place for a LONG time.

[Brytani]

Possible if he had the resources and ability to put the items into a bank vault, pay the fee's upfront.

Most prisons look at inmates outgoing mail, aside to that sent to their legal council. You'd think a monthly payment (quartely etc) would raise suspicion on a convict and someone at a prison would have forwarded this information to the police.

Who knows, maybe when this guy is caught these questions, and the many others we all have will be answered.

[irina65]

America's Most Wanted is indeed profiling the BTK killer. The show was just taped last week (on April 29) and the actors involved were told that it would air on May 8 or May 15. Don't miss it! They will show re-creations of some of the worst and most vicious aspects of these crimes in a serious effort to get this monster behind bars.

[Palladin]

Thank you for the heads-up, Irina. I will be sure to watch this show. Hopefully, someone's memory will be jogged by it, and BTK will be turned in.

I saw on FOX today that the Kansas TV station has received a "suspicious" letter that they turned over to the police, who are analyzing it to see if it is really from BTK.

[psychstudent]

Now that the FBI has checked release date from prisons how about checking mental institutions?