© 2026 New Hampshire Public Radio

Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Own a business? Expand your reach and grow your business by becoming an underwriter on NHPR.

BTK Killer Sentenced to 10 Life Terms

Dennis Rader, the confessed BTK serial killer, receives 10 life sentences for murders committed in Kansas. In June, Rader pleaded guilty to 10 murders that took place between 1974 and 1991.

The sentence, the stiffest available to the judge in the case, would require that Rader serve at least 175 years before the possibility of parole. In sentencing hearings Wednesday, prosecutors gave step-by-step details of how Rader selected and killed his victims.

Rader, now 60, worked as a civil servant and was active in his church in a Wichita suburb. He gave himself the name BTK in messages left for the police, standing for "bind, torture, kill."

At Thursday's sentencing, Rader gave a 30-minute address in which he spoke of his acts, comparing himself to "a predator."

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Related Content

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.