The reason you never "paid attention" to this killer and his crimes is that for 30 years the national media ignored the story because it was occuring on a non east or left coast "backwater" like Wichita. If it doesn't happen on the coasts it doesn't happan as far as the media is concerned.
If this killer had operated in NYC or LA the national media would have covered it into the ground until the killer was found. Rader is responsible for his crimes but if the national media had focused more on it, like they have done with other small scale crimes, something about the MO or BTK's messages might have rang a bell with someone and been caught before he killed others.
If you ever wonder why the media focuses on some local crimes and ignores others, it usually has to do with the color of skin of the perpertrator or the geographic region where the crime took place. I'm still waiting for Van Sustern or anyone else to do a story about the african american murderer of 12 (or more) women in KC, the most prolific serial killer in Missouri's history, oh, but kill a mother and her unborn child in Modesto and you will have 24/7 coverage on all media for 2+ years.
This is shown in the amount of money and support given to the 911 victims (and many are of them are demanding even more) and to those given to the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing or to the family of our soldiers killed in Iraq.
In a mine disaster on September 23, 2001 in Alabama many miners were killed. Lee Greenwood was perhaps the only celebrity who helped with a fundraiser for the families.
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Good Post...ever wonder why berdella wasn't mentioned nationally? He was just like dahmer (Spelling?).