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Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please
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contact your local crisis center. For suggested phone numbers, for confidential support, and for a more
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detailed list of content warnings, [music] please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
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website. Today's episode involves crimes [music] against children and won't be suitable
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for all listeners. [music] Hello, Charlie called out. Is anybody [music] home? It was around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
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January [music] 15, 1974, and 15-year-old Charlie had just returned [music] home from school.
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The Otto family of seven lived on the corner of East Murdoch Avenue and North Edgemore Street in the quiet [music]
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eastern suburbs of Witcher, Kansas. Their modest whitewood frame bungalow should have been full of [music] life
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that afternoon. 38-year-old patriarch Joe was taking time off work as an airplane mechanic
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and flight instructor to recover from a car accident that had left him with several cracked ribs.
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His 33-year-old wife, Julie, had been temporarily laid off as an assembler at a camping equipment factory until
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business [music] picked up again. The couple's four youngest children, [music] 9-year-old Joey, 11-year-old
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Josie, 13-year-old Carmen, and 14-year-old Danny, should have been home from school [music] by the time Charlie
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arrived. Instead, he was [music] met with an inexplicable silence. A few other things had [music] struck
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him as odd. His mother's beige 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon was missing from the driveway, but the
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garage door was wide open, [music] allowing the blustery winter wind to sweep snow inside.
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Charlie figured she must have rushed out and forgotten to close it, though it was
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unlike his meticulous mother to [music] be so careless. He also noticed Lucky, the Otero's
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large, short-haired brown boxer dog, had been left outside alone in the backyard.
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Lucky disliked the cold and was usually only let out when guests visited [music]
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since he was protective and barked at strangers. The inside of the Oro home appeared
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mostly neat and orderly, though several items were noticeably out of place. A gallon of milk had been left out on
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the kitchen [music] sink's drainboard with the receiver of the wall-mounted telephone next to it. Open cans of fruit
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and meat spread were set out on the nearby table next to a knife and an unsealed half loaf of bread.
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Several slices had been smeared with the meat spread, a staple Julie often packed
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for her children's school lunches, though Jos's lunchbox was in the kitchen empty.
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It appeared the family had abruptly vanished mid [music] breakfast, leaving behind several important belongings.
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Josie and Joey's winter coats were draped over a chair, and Joe's shoes were tucked under the kitchen table.
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Stranger still, Joe's wallet had been stripped of its contents and tossed on the stove top while Julie's brown
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leather purse lay up turned on the living room floor, its belongings scattered across the carpet.
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Julio Tero was a tidy woman. She would never have left her house in such disarray.
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When Charlie called out asking if anyone was home, a sound emerged from deeper inside the house.
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It was the urgent and confused voice of one of his younger siblings. "Charlie," they yelled. "Mom and dad are
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playing a bad trick on us." Charlie bolted down the hallway and into his parents' bedroom.
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There he found the eldest of his siblings, Danny and Carmon, who had arrived home together only moments
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earlier. What they had stumbled upon hit Charlie with such crushing force that [music] it
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felt as though his heart was being ripped from his chest. [music] >> [music] >> Further along North Edgemore Street,
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local resident Dell Johnson was shoveling snow outside his home when Danny Otero came running up to him in a
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panic. The Oteros were relatively new to the neighborhood, having purchased [music]
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their home just 10 weeks earlier. Though they hadn't yet fully settled in and were mostly homebound due to the
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frosty winter weather, theos had already established themselves as a kind and happy family.
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They fit seamlessly into Witchita's carefree community of about 260,000 residents [music] where doors were kept
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unlocked and keys left in cars overnight. To the honest pious people of Witchah, a
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stranger was just a friend they hadn't met yet. [music] Against this safe and idilic backdrop,
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Dell Johnson was stunned when Danny Otero gasped, "Come quick. My father's dead, I think.
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Dell rushed to the Oro house and went inside. He approached the main bedroom belonging to Joe and Julie, only to stop
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short of the doorway. Upon seeing what lay within, he carefully backed away and went to use
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the family's telephone to call the police, but the line was dead. He then ran home and contacted
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authorities from there. Two officers arrived on the scene minutes later. As their cruiser pulled
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up, Charlie Otero barreled toward them, frantically [music] explaining that his parents were in the
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house and had been tied up. Charlie was instructed to stay outside with his two siblings. As the officers
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entered the home, they proceeded down the hallway to the main bedroom and [music] pushed the Ajar door wide open.
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Joe lay face up on the floor at the foot of the bed, his face bruised and stre [music] with the dried blood from his
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nose and mouth. His ankles were bound tightly with white cotton braided cord. Although his hands were loose, his
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wrists featured deep patent impressions showing they had also been restrained at
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one point, and he had struggled fiercely to break free. Similar [music] marks encircled his
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neck. Julio Tero lay on her back on the nearby bed. She was fully clothed with her wrists
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bound behind her back and her ankles tied together. She had also been beaten. Beside her head was a bloodstained white
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cloth gag and lengths of white cord. Both the Joe and Julie were cold and without a pulse.
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The officers radio dispatched to report the grizzly discovery before returning outside to the three eldest children.
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Within minutes, it seemed as if the entire Witcher police force had descended on the quiet suburban street,
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joined shortly after by members of the press and curious onlookers. The police were unusually tight-lipped,
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prompting reporters to [music] conclude that whatever they had found inside the Otto house must have been truly
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horrific. As the crime scene was being cordoned off, Charlie, Danny, and Carmon were
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escorted to a police station to give their accounts of the day's events. From the moment the trio were woken up
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by their mother that morning, everything seemed routine and normal. At 7:50 a.m.,
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Joe drove Charlie, Danny, and Carmen to school in his wife's station wagon as his car still needed repairs following
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his recent accident. >> [music] >> When Charlie went to close the garage door, his father told him to leave it
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open, explaining that he would return straight home to take Joey and Josie to elementary school.
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Because the family were down to the one car, Charlie, Danny, and Carmen had to walk the two miles home from school in
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the afternoon. Danny, and Carmon walked home together and arrived first. The Oteros used the rear door as their
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main family entrance, reserving the front for guests and visitors. As the siblings approached the wooden
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gate leading into the backyard, they found Lucky outside in the cold. The house itself was eerily silent and
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still. Danny and Carmen noticed their mother's purse and father's wallet ransacked and
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tossed aside, then made their way to their parents' bedroom. Joe was face down on the floor with his
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hands bound behind his back and his feet tied to a bed post. A plastic bag was constricted over his head.
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Danny tore it open before retrieving a kitchen knife to cut through the cords that bound his father.
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He then rolled Joe over. A brown belt was taught around his neck along with more cord.
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Dany struggled to loosen it all. Nearby, Carmon removed the gag from her mother's mouth [music] and cut the cord
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tightly wound around her neck using a pair of toenail clippers. She and Dany attempted to perform CPR on
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their parents, but they didn't respond. Danny tried calling the police from the kitchen telephone, but there was no dial
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tone. He rushed downstairs to a second phone in the dark, unfinished basement, only to find that it wasn't working
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either. Charlie arrived soon after and [music] managed to remove the belt from his
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father's neck, noticing Joe's tongue was half bit off and he had vomited. Believing the asalent might still be in
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the house, Charlie grabbed a knife and shouted, "Whoever's in this house, you're dead."
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No one responded. He tried the kitchen telephone himself, but it still wasn't working.
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Danny ran outside to seek help and encountered his neighbor, Dell Johnson, who ultimately summoned the police.
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For Charlie, [music] his biggest concern was his youngest siblings, Joey and Josie.
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They hadn't arrived home from school yet, and would have no idea of the horror that awaited them when they did.
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As their protective older brother, he begged the police over and over to prevent the young pair from coming home
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to spare them the trauma of seeing what had happened to their parents. Eventually, a detective pulled Charlie
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aside and said gravely. Charlie, we got to tell you. [music] Joey and Josie were in the house.
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The youngest child, 9-year-old Joey, was found in his bedroom. He lay prone on the floor [music] beside
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a bed. His wrists and ankles bound with the same white cord that was used to restrain his parents.
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A t-shirt, plastic bag, and another t-shirt had been secured over his head, and a length of cord was tort.
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While already a horrific scene, what homicide detectives discovered next left them with a chilling image that [music]
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would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Imprinted on the carpet near Joey's body were four
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small circular indentations arranged in the shape of a square. The marks had been made by the legs of a
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chair [music] pressed deeply into the fibers by the weight of someone sitting on it.
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The implication was clear and disturbing. [music] After restraining Joey and covering his
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head, it seemed the killer had pulled the chair up close to the boy to sit and watch.
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The last child, 11-year-old [music] Josie, was discovered in the dark basement hidden around a corner. She was
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suspended by a rough hemp noose attached to a sewer pipe with her toes just a fraction of an inch above the ground.
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Her hands were restrained behind her back. A white cloth was tied around her mouth, and her ankles and knees were
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bound with cord that extended up to her waist. Josie was wearing a blue short-sleeved
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knit sweater and socks, but was otherwise exposed. Her underwear was loose around her
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ankles, and her bra had been cut open. While she hadn't been raped, dried seinal fluid was found on her thigh and
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on the concrete floor below. Ligature marks on the victim's necks told a [music] grim story of a drawn out
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torture. The killer had strangled each of them repeatedly, loosening his grip to let
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them [music] gasp for air before using the cord to finish the act. In Joe and Joey's case, the killer had
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[music] secured plastic bags over their heads to prolong their suffering. Both were found to have died from
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asphixxiation and strangulation, while Julie and Josie were killed by strangulation alone.
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In the words of the district coroner, "All murders are unpleasant, but this is one of the worst I've seen."
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[music] The quadruple homicide sent shock waves through Witchah, which had never seen
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anything like it. Though the Oteros were newcomers and few locals knew them personally, those who
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did were left reeling. "I didn't believe it," one said in the direct aftermath of the crime. "It
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didn't make any sense to me, [music] and it still doesn't." The case dominated local newspapers and
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televised news reports as police held twice daily press conferences releasing what information they could. At one
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point, they were compelled to show crime scene [music] photos to reporters to dispel the many false rumors circulating
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about the case, including claims that the victims had been mutilated and sexually assaulted.
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Meanwhile, Witchita's residents were gripped by a fear unlike anything they had ever known.
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Doors were now being locked. Sales of firearms and security alarm system surged, and children were no longer
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allowed to walk home alone from school. Some people slept near their front doors, while others entered their homes
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armed with baseball [music] bats or metal bars. A simple knock now prompted cautious
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calls of who's there, a practice previously unheard of in the close-knit [music] community.
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A local television station even cancelled scheduled programming to avoid airing the Boston Strangler, a film
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about the man who confessed to murdering [music] 13 women in the 1960s. An article explaining the cancellation
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cited the city's distress over the Otero murders, noting, "A nervous city needs nothing more to
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add to its smoldering embers of unrest." An editorial in the Witchita Beacon newspaper urged, [music]
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"Crimes like this cannot go unsolved. They tear at the fabric of our society. Every one of us is involved until this
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ugly act is resolved. Over 70 detectives were immediately assigned to the OTO case to expedite the
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hunt for the killer. They worked round the clock fielding calls, examining evidence, and debating possible motives
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and suspects. They concluded that the killer had entered the Otto house after Joe had
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dropped off his three eldest children at school at around 8:00 a.m. but before he
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took the two youngest who didn't leave until 9. It was possible the killer had confronted Julie while she was alone
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with the Josie and Joey, subduing them before striking Joe by surprise upon his return.
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With no signs of forced entry or struggle, investigators considered the possibility that the killer had been let
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in. Whoever had been at the kitchen table preparing sandwiches would have had a clear view of both the front and rear
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doors. If anyone had suddenly burst in or appeared threatening, the sandwich knife
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likely would have been used in self-defense rather than left neatly on the table.
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Perhaps the family's guard was down because the intruder didn't appear dangerous at first.
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Lucky the dog had been put outside, suggesting the visitor might have been familiar to the family or at least
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welcomed by them. If he had been an aggressive stranger, Lucky would almost certainly have made a commotion. Yet,
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neighbors heard nothing unusual. There was also the question as to how the killer managed to subdue the four
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victims. Joe Oro was a streetwise physically fit ex- champion boxer. He had also served 20 years in the US
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Air Force as a technical sergeant, including deployments to Korea and Vietnam. In fact, the entire Rotero family had
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been trained in judo with certificates of their achievements displayed throughout their home.
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Perhaps more than one perpetrator was involved or a firearm was used to ensure the victim's compliance.
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One family member might have been forced to bind the other three at gunpoint. Although the rummaged purse and wallet
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suggested robbery as a motive, nothing of significant value was missing from the Otto house.
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The only items unaccounted for were Joe's aviation style wristwatch and the keys to Julie's station wagon.
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The Oteros were far from wealthy and made no pretense of being so. Their home was modest, comfortably
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within their means, and offered no indication of affluence. Nothing about the family suggested they
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would be a worthwhile target to an opportunistic robber. The sheer brutality of the murders left
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investigators certain they were dealing with a premeditated execution. The discovery that the property's phone
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line had been cut supported this theory as it had prevented the family from calling for help. Yet experts consulted
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by police unanimously agreed that the murders were not the work of professional killers.
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Such individuals, they explained, preferred quicker, more efficient methods than strangulation.
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Torture was typically inflicted by offenders who had a deeply personal connection to their victims, as it was
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an intentional act that required [music] time and effort and served no purpose other than to provide the perpetrator
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with emotional gratification. Moreover, the presence of abnormal sexual acts reflected a level of
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perversion far beyond anything seen in routine home invasions or contract killings.
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Four independent witnesses had cited a man around the home on the morning of the murders. The problem was their
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descriptions varied widely. [music] His age was placed between 28 and 34. He was
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[music] both tall and short, slender and bulky, and his complexion was varying shades of dark.
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Some said he had bushy black hair, while others asserted he was wearing a crumpled, floppy hat.
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Reporters were told he might have been Middle Eastern. When a sketch artist drew a composite image of the man, he
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[music] looked to be Hispanic. Some people noted that the sketch bore a resemblance to Joe with a thin mustache.
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The times of death of the victims were estimated between 8:15 and 8:45 a.m. and the man was seen loitering around the
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residence between [music] 8:45 to 10:30. This created around a 2-hour window between the murders and when the suspect
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finally left the house. At 10:30, [music] he was witnessed backing out of the Otero's driveway in
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Julie's station wagon, seemingly alone. Julie's car was later found half a mile away in a grocery store parking lot and
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was believed to have been there from 11:00 a.m. onwards. The fuel tank was almost empty. The keys
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were missing and the driver's seat was positioned in a way that indicated [music] whoever had driven the vehicle
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was short statured. Foreign fingerprints [music] were found on the vehicle, providing one of the few
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major clues in the case. Another fingerprint was lifted from the chair it was believed the killer sat in
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to watch Joey Otero die. It didn't match any member of the family or anyone who had entered the house
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after the murders, including responding officers. The restraints used by the killer
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provided another clue. He first used a roll of adhesive first aid tape [music] to subdue the victims, which he then
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reinforced with a white cord cut from a well-worn Venetian blind. The cord used to strangle [music] the
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victims came from a clothes line, while the gags were fashioned from an old pillowcase.
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Given that none of these items originated from the Otero residence, the perpetrator must have prepared them in
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advance and brought them to the scene. [music] Both types of cord were common and could
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be purchased from numerous suppliers across the country. The plastic bags used to suffocate the
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victims couldn't be traced to any meaningful source either. The cords were expertly tied using a
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variety of knots including slip, [music] square, overhand, and blood knots as well as clove and half hitches.
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There were so many intricate knots that [music] a detective had to consult an encyclopedia published by the Naval
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Institute Press to correctly identify them, sparking the theory that the killer might have had naval or sailing
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experience. The killer's seinal fluid was the only significant evidence investigators
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possessed, and they took meticulous care to preserve it. [music] Some samples were carefully dried,
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others were stored in fluid and a portion was frozen. [music] Tests revealed the killer had the most
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common typeo blood type. But this discovery didn't lead to any breakthroughs either. Nor did the
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desperate decision to let a psychic spend the night at the Oro house. She claimed to have once helped solve a
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crime by leading police to a body in the trunk of a car. Two officers watched in silence as she
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scribbled [music] down notes, but nothing came of it. Investigators delved into the personal
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lives, searching for anyone who might have had a reason to target them. To others, Joe was an outgoing, jovial kind
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of guy who loved making people laugh with his self-deprecating humor. Julie was equally well-liked.
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She was described as a very caring, loving Catholic woman who placed motherhood above all else.
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Teachers at Josie and Joey school lorded them as model students who never caused
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any trouble. Prior to his death, Joe worked at Cook Airfield a few miles outside of Witcher,
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where he had access to private aircraft. Speculation about his possible involvement in elicit drug transport
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[music] didn't hold up under scrutiny. He was an honest man, one acquaintance [music] said of Joe. I can't visualize
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him mixed up in any kind of conspiracy. According to one investigator, theos were like any other religious and
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god-fearing family in Witcher. No one in the family was found to have associated with so-called undesirable
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types or engaged in criminal activity of any kind. Everyone known to the family was heavily
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scrutinized. And although Joe's history revealed a few interpersonal conflicts, none were linked to the murders.
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Investigators sifted through the family's belongings and pursued leads as far a field as Panama, Mexico, and
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Theo's native Puerto Rico. They explored a range of theories, including mistaken identity, jealousy,
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revenge, [music] and even connections to other local crimes, but all were eventually ruled out.
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No one could think of a reason why anyone would want to harm any of theos, [music]
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let alone brutally kill four members of the family. The bodies of Joe, Julie, Josie, and
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Joey [music] were flown to Puerto Rico for burial aboard an Air Force plane in honor of Joe's military service.
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While the Air Force typically didn't handle the transportation of retired personnel's [music] remains, officials
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noted that the tragic and isolated incident called for the assistance of the country Joe had served so well.
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The gesture was described by the White House deputy press secretary as entirely proper.
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Meanwhile, the three surviving Oro children [music] went to live with extended family.
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The case became one of the most intensive criminal investigations in the history of the Witchita Police
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Department. Early on, it became evident that the department was illequipped to handle its
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scale, notoriety, and complexity. Critical missteps occurred, [music] including the loss of numerous crime
00:28:08
scene and autopsy images. The lack of modern forensic and investigative [music] tools added to the challenge.
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computers, DNA analysis, and national databases such as [music] those used for fingerprint matching didn't exist in
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1974. Recognizing the enormity of the task, [music] the Witchita Police accepted
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assistance from a wide array of agencies, including the County Sheriff's Office, [music] the District Attorney's
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Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Department
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of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI. Psychiatrists and pathologists from
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across the country even volunteered their expertise. More than 1,500 people were questioned
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in the US and overseas, including those convicted of similar crimes. Hundreds of suspects and multiple false
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confessions [music] were all ruled out based on the physical evidence. Despite an onslaught of tips provided by
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the public, police admitted they reached a dead end on concrete leads within weeks.
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In time, the number of detectives assigned to the case was reduced from 70 to 30 to 10.
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Eventually, only one detective remained on the case full time, with another five
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on standby to pursue any promising leads. By that point, the Otero file had grown
00:29:43
to 2 ft thick, as nothing uncovered during the investigation was discarded. Yet, after months of systematically
00:29:53
working through the material, investigators felt they were no closer to solving the murders than on the day
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they were discovered. They admitted that their theories regarding who and why amounted to
00:30:05
nothing more than guesswork, as they hadn't found anything to conclusively answer any of the questions they had.
00:30:13
We don't have a complete picture of what happened out there, which our chief of police Floyd Hannon had admitted.
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Every time we have a theory, something pulls it apart. It is a perplexing case with holes in it [music] that we just
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can't plug. The investigation nevertheless stayed at the forefront of Witchita police work.
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One investigator told the Witchita Beacon, "Hardly a day goes by that we don't discuss the Oro case, and I know
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for myself that sooner [music] or later we will find the killer." To help generate leads, local newspapers
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launched a joint program with authorities called Secret Witness. The initiative allowed readers to submit
00:31:04
tips about the Oro murders via mail or telephone which were forwarded directly to the police.
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The newspapers emphasized that the program was not a covert scheme to gather material for news stories. Tips
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could be submitted anonymously and all information remained confidential to be released only if an arrest was made or a
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warrant issued. By October 1974, 9 months had passed since the Otero murders. That month, the Witchar Eagle reported
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an update on the case. Three local men aged 19, 26, and 30 had been questioned in connection with child
00:31:47
sex offenses. They were asked about the ORO case, which had become a standard line of
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inquiry in relevant investigations. The 19-year-old provided suspiciously accurate information about the crime and
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implicated one of the other men who happened to be his brother. The brother then gave police the name of
00:32:10
a close acquaintance who became the third suspect. Although police considered the trio
00:32:17
strong leads, police chief Floyd Hannannah clarified that none of the men knew theos could be placed at the crime
00:32:24
scene or matched the description of the man seen leaving the family's home. Efforts to verify the men's claims were
00:32:32
complicated by the extensive media coverage which had made many details of the crime publicly available.
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None of them were particularly reliable and all were placed in psychiatric care,
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adding further doubts about their credibility. On Tuesday, October 22, 4 days after the
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article about the three men was published, Don Granger, a columnist for the Witchita Eagle, received a phone
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call. Don managed the secret witness program, and the tip line had been routed to a
00:33:06
telephone on his work desk. On the other line was a man with a Midwestern accent.
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He spoke aggressively as if issuing a command. "Listen and listen good," he told Dawn.
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"I'm only going to say this once. There is a letter about the Otero case in a book in the public library."
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The caller explained to Don Granger that the letter would prove that the three men currently suspected of the Otero
00:33:44
murders were innocent. He said the letter could be found in a book titled Applied Engineering
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Mechanics, then abruptly hung up. Dawn was perplexed. Despite a $75,000 reward for pertinent
00:34:00
information on the case having long since expired, the caller made no mention of it, leaving his motives
00:34:07
unclear. Furthermore, hoaxes and pranksters had made it difficult to determine if the
00:34:13
tips Don received were even genuine. He faced a tough choice. He could locate the letter himself and if it existed,
00:34:22
copy it for the newspaper for a major scoop. But committed to the integrity of the
00:34:29
secret witness program and convinced that aiding the police was more important than personal gain, he relayed
00:34:36
the information from the call to law enforcement instead. A detective went to the Witchita Public
00:34:43
Library downtown and located a two-page single spaced typed letter tucked inside
00:34:49
the affforementioned book. It was addressed to the secret witness program and riddled with misspellings and poor
00:34:56
grammar. It began, "I write this letter to you for the sake of the taxpayer as well as
00:35:04
your time. Those three dudes you have in custody are just talking to get publicity. They
00:35:10
know nothing at all. I did it by myself and with no one's help." The letter went on to provide an
00:35:20
accurate account of the Otero murders, including what the victims were wearing, how their bodies were positioned, the
00:35:26
cords and knots used to bind them, and even the item the killer took as a souvenir.
00:35:33
I needed one, the author wrote about Joe's wristwatch, so I took it. Runs good. The letter correctly stated that
00:35:43
11-year-old Jos's eyeglasses were in the southwest bedroom and her green pants were left at the bottom of the basement
00:35:50
stairs. This information was significant as it was only known to the police and the
00:35:56
perpetrator. The author confirmed that the murders were premeditated but said that he
00:36:03
didn't know the family personally. He had stalked them prior to the attack, referring [music] to the process of
00:36:10
targeting, following, waiting, and checking up on them [music] as a big, complicated game.
00:36:17
He went on to claim that he had a monster in his head that compelled him to commit the crime before warning
00:36:23
ominously. Where this monster enter my brain, I will never know. But it here to stay. I
00:36:32
can't stop it. So, the monster goes on and hurt me as well as society. Maybe you can stop him. I can't. He has
00:36:42
already chosen his next victim or victims. I don't know who they are yet. The next day, after I read the paper, I
00:36:52
will know, but it too late. Good luck hunting. The unsigned letter ended. yours truly
00:37:01
guilty. The letter had invalidated every theory the investigators had spent months
00:37:09
developing [music] and it left them stunned. In the words of the writer, [music] the
00:37:14
crime had been driven by a psychotic sexual perversion. Given how Joso had been treated, she
00:37:22
appeared to have been the killer's primary sexual fixation. a complete stranger to the family. He
00:37:28
had been observing them for some time before deciding to strike on January 15. Police conducted a reenactment and
00:37:37
concluded that while improbable, it was still possible for a single person to have executed the attack.
00:37:45
Although the letter offered no clues to his true identity, the author provided authorities with a name by which to
00:37:52
refer to him. at the bottom of the letter he had written. P.S. since sex criminals do not change
00:38:00
their MMO or by nature cannot do so, I will not change mine. The code words for me will be bind them,
00:38:09
[music] torture them, kill them, BTK. While the multiple writing errors suggested the killer was mildly
00:38:21
illiterate or had a learning disability, investigators were more inclined to believe it was a deliberate attempt to
00:38:28
disguise his identity. After all, he had no trouble correctly spelling and using words such as
00:38:35
psychotic, complicated, and perversion. A personality profile of the killer compiled with input from 30 Kansas based
00:38:44
doctors [music] suggested he was small in stature and likely had limited formal education in
00:38:50
fields such as engineering, bookkeeping, or accounting. The correction marks throughout the
00:38:56
letter resembled those taught in Witchita vocational schools, indicating he was a longestablished member of the
00:39:03
community. [music] Investigators believed he might have lived or worked near the Otero home as
00:39:10
it seemed unlikely he would attempt a meticulously planned and high-risk quadruple homicide in unfamiliar
00:39:16
territory. Psychiatrists [music] noted the killer was probably insecure and definitely mentally ill, observing
00:39:25
that his reference to the monster inside him aligned with common assertions made
00:39:30
by psychopaths. His compulsion to bind the victims likely stemmed from a sexual fetish and
00:39:36
he might also have necrophilic tendencies, [music] experiencing sexual arousal from
00:39:41
corpses. The question remained, why did he choose to confess 9 months later, long after
00:39:49
the case had faded from the headlines? It seemed that news of three other men claiming responsibility for his crimes
00:39:57
had irritated the killer. Rather than quietly fading into obscurity, grateful to have gotten away
00:40:04
with it, [music] he sought recognition. After all, he had directed a member of the press to the letter instead of the
00:40:12
police. Investigators suspected he might have been inspired by heavily publicized
00:40:19
events earlier that year. In January, San Francisco authorities received another cryptic letter from the
00:40:26
elusive Zodiac Killer. As covered in episode 200 of Case File, despite having relied heavily on the
00:40:35
press to generate leads, police chief Floyd Hannon chose to keep the existence of BTK from the public. He feared the
00:40:44
news might inspire hoaxes or copycats and plunge the city into hysteria. [music]
00:40:49
The publicity could also provoke BTK to strike again. Still, the police needed to signal to
00:40:57
the killer that they were taking him seriously [music] and were willing to cooperate in order to prevent any
00:41:02
further deaths. BTK's initial contact, columnist [music] Don Granger, was asked to run a discrete
00:41:10
classified ad at the top of the personals column in the Witcher Eagle over the following week. It would be
00:41:17
vague enough to go unnoticed by most readers, yet [music] specific enough to catch the killer's attention.
00:41:24
The brief message read, "BTK, help is available." The ad included a phone number manned by
00:41:33
the police, [music] but BTK never called it. Investigators enlisted Don Granger's
00:41:39
help again, this time requesting [music] that he address BTK directly in a personal plea through his widely read
00:41:46
commentary column, Talk of the Town. It began, "For the past week, Witchita police have tried to get in touch with a
00:41:55
man who has important information on the Ato murder case, a man who needs help badly."
00:42:03
Don didn't mention that he had received a call from the killer or that the police had a confession authored by him.
00:42:11
While he referred to BTK by his desired moniker, [music] he didn't divulge what it stood for. Don wrote that the phone
00:42:19
number provided in the personal column was being monitored by police who were willing to help BTK, but if BTK
00:42:27
preferred, [music] Don said he was willing to speak to him personally. He provided both his [music] office and
00:42:34
home phone numbers, writing, "This may expose me to a certain amount of crank [music] prank calls, but the
00:42:41
nuisance is worth the trouble if we can only provide help for a troubled man." Don's personalized plea went ignored by
00:42:52
BTK as well. Meanwhile, police continued to keep his presence under wraps as they
00:42:59
contemplated their next [music] move. Before they could reach a decision, one was made for them.
00:43:07
2 months after BTK's letter was received, an upand cominging rival newspaper to the Witchita Eagle called
00:43:14
The Witchita Sun went to print with a shocking headline. The paper was only 2 months old when
00:43:21
staff writer Kathy Henle broke the full story of the BTK in its 10th issue. Claiming to have obtained a copy of the
00:43:30
library letter from a trusted anonymous source. Kathy published portions of it and revealed that BTK stood for bind,
00:43:38
torture, kill. [music] She revealed that the killer intended to strike again and had already begun
00:43:45
hunting his next victim. [music] information that the police had deliberately kept from the public.
00:43:52
When asked why she published the letter, Kathy, who had grown up at just a mile from the Otto family home, explained
00:43:59
that she believed the people of Witchita had a right to know they were being stalked by a killer.
00:44:06
She said she had consulted with private sector psychologists who disagreed with the police's strategy.
00:44:13
While authorities feared that publicity might provoke BTK to strike again, the psychologists argued the opposite.
00:44:22
They believed that keeping him secret when he craved attention might actually increase the likelihood of another
00:44:28
attack. The day after the story ran, police chief Floyd Hannon fronted a press conference describing the publication of
00:44:37
the letter as one hell of a risk. [music] He warned that it might prompt the author to reaffend just to prove he had
00:44:45
committed the Otero murders. Calling BTK a sick man who needs help, Hannon urged the killer to turn himself
00:44:54
in. "If he doesn't," Hannon [music] admitted. "I could not guess what might happen."
00:45:03
The publicity triggered another wave of tips as residents accused husbands, [music]
00:45:08
boyfriends, neighbors, and co-workers. Despite growing fears [music] that BTK would strike again, the one-year
00:45:16
anniversary of the Otero murders passed in January 1975 without [music] incident.
00:45:23
By then, the telephone tip line had gone quiet, and all the leads following the publication of his confession letter had
00:45:30
dried [music] up. No further murders appeared to bear BTK's signature and no new letters
00:45:37
surfaced. [music] Thursday, March 17, 1977, marked a little over 3 years after the Otero
00:45:48
murders. At around noon on South Hydraulic Avenue in Southeast Witchah, 6-year-old Steven
00:45:55
Ralford walked up the block to a grocery store to buy canned soup for lunch. On his way back home, he noticed a man
00:46:04
at the front door of a nearby house. Tall, heavily [music] built, and well-dressed in slacks, a tweed sports
00:46:11
jacket, and dress shoes. The man carried a large blue briefcase. He looked [music] to be aged in his 30s
00:46:19
or 40s with dark hair and a punchy stomach. He knocked on the door, but no one answered.
00:46:28
The man then turned and noticed Steven. He approached holding a photograph of a woman with a baby [music] boy and asked,
00:46:37
"Have you seen these people?" Steven looked at the picture and said, "No." "Are you sure?" The man pressed. Steven
00:46:48
said yes and turned away. From the doorway of his home, Steven glanced back to see the man watching
00:46:56
before heading inside. His older brother, 8-year-old Bud, was playing with their 4-year-old sister,
00:47:03
Stephanie. Steven went into the main bedroom where their mother, 26-year-old Shirley Vanne,
00:47:10
was resting in bed with the flu. He crawled under the blankets and nestled beside her.
00:47:17
Moments later, there was a knock at the front door. Steven sprang out of bed and raced
00:47:24
toward the front door with Bud hot on his heels, turning it into one of their impromptu brotherly competitions.
00:47:32
Steven [music] reached the door first and opened it just enough to peek outside.
00:47:38
The well-dressed man with the briefcase towered over him. A weary and unwell Shirley Venne emerged from the bedroom
00:47:46
in a robe. When the man saw Shirley, he pushed his way into the house, claiming to be a
00:47:53
private detective and flashing an ID card that bore his photo. He closed the door behind him before reaching into a
00:48:01
shoulder holster and pulling out a pistol. "Don't hurt us," Shirley pleaded. "I'm
00:48:08
not going to hurt you," the man replied calmly. He said that he had a problem with
00:48:14
sexual fantasies and he intended to tie Shirley up, have sex with her, and take photographs.
00:48:21
He admitted it would not be pleasant for her, but insisted everyone would be all
00:48:26
right if she cooperated. He then paced around the living room, [music] turning off the television and
00:48:32
closing the blinds. In an attempt to dissuade him, Shirley [music] explained that the family was
00:48:39
sick with the flu. The man replied harshly that it was going to happen [music] and that he had
00:48:45
done this before. Suddenly, the telephone rang. Shirley said it was likely someone
00:48:55
checking in as she had kept her children home from school that day. Steven asked whether to pick up the
00:49:02
phone, [music] but the man told him, "No, leave it alone." The call rang out unanswered.
00:49:10
But it seemed to have spooked the man as he began moving with increased urgency and nervousness.
00:49:17
He explained that he would tie up the children first. Shirley begged him not to, but he
00:49:24
insisted it had to be done. He unzipped his briefcase, took out a length of white cotton braided cord,
00:49:31
[music] and began tying Bud's hands together. Bud screamed, cried, and struggled.
00:49:39
This is not going to work," the man said, frustrated. He then ordered Shirley to lock her
00:49:45
children in the bathroom. Shirley instructed Bud, Steven, and Stephanie to follow the man's orders as
00:49:52
she gathered blankets, pillows, and toys for them. Meanwhile, the man said about
00:49:59
making sure the children couldn't escape. The bathroom had two doors. He tied rope
00:50:06
from the doorork knob of one door to a pipe under the sink, jarring it. The other door led into the main bedroom.
00:50:14
Shirley was made to block it by pushing her bed against it. Inside the bathroom, Bud, Steven, and
00:50:21
Stephanie screamed and pounded on the door. When Steven threatened to untie the rope from under the sink, the man
00:50:29
barked a threat that he would blow Steven's head off. Bud then picked up something heavy and
00:50:35
used it to smash the bottom pane of the bathroom window. He crawled out, followed by Steven.
00:50:43
[music] The boys dropped to the ground, ran to the front door, and into the house. By the time they reached the main
00:50:51
bedroom, the man was gone. At around 100 p.m., Witchita police officer Raymond Fletcher received a
00:51:02
cryptic message over his radio. Call me back on a telephone. He understood immediately.
00:51:11
Dispatches only made such requests when they needed to share information too sensitive to be broadcast over public
00:51:18
scanners. Fletcher was given a residential address on South Hydraulic Avenue where there
00:51:24
had been reports of a homicide. He arrived at the house to find four-year-old Stephanie Ralford sitting
00:51:31
on a couch in the living room crying. Her older brothers, Bard and Steven, had run to a neighbor for help who had
00:51:39
called the police. Fletcher made his way to the main bedroom. The blinds were drawn, casting the room
00:51:48
in near darkness. A bed had been pushed up against the bathroom door and a top it lay Shirley
00:51:55
Venne. She was [music] naked and face down with her head at the foot of the bed. Her
00:52:02
arms and ankles were restrained with black electrical tape while a white cord and a pair of nylon panty hose bound her
00:52:08
hands behind her back. A pink nighty was pulled over her head which was encased in a white plastic
00:52:15
bag. It was tightly secured by another length of white cord that was wrapped multiple
00:52:22
times around her neck. The cord extended [music] down to bind her wrists and ankles and reached the head of the bed
00:52:29
where it was tied tautly to a bed post. Officer Fletcher hastily removed the nighty plastic bag and cord from
00:52:38
Shirley's head. Her face was smeared with vomit, which was also splattered across the bedroom floor.
00:52:45
A small amount of blood trickled out from one of her ears. Feeling for a pulse, Fletcher detected a
00:52:53
faint twitch and immediately began CPR. As additional emergency personnel arrived, they carried Shirley into the
00:53:01
living room to continue life-saving efforts, but it was too late. Officer Fletcher surveyed the scene. He
00:53:12
observed the cord and other restraints, the intricate knots, and [music] the plastic bag secured over Shirley's head.
00:53:19
He picked up his radio and reported, "It looks like the same thing as the Otero [music] case."
00:53:32
The parallels between the murders of Shirley Venne and Theoteros were not lost on Richard Lmanion.
00:53:40
Lmanionan was Witchita's newly appointed chief of police, taking over from his retired predecessor, Floyd Hannon.
00:53:48
He had previously served as captain of the Vice unit, overseeing investigations into public safety offenses such as
00:53:55
illegal gambling, drug and firearms violations, human trafficking, and sex work.
00:54:02
At 36 years old, Richard Lemonion was nicknamed the boy chief for being the youngest chief of police in Witchita's
00:54:09
history. His rapid rise up the ranks puzzled many of the city's more seasoned officers,
00:54:15
who wondered why someone with such little seniority or experience had been chosen to lead the department.
00:54:22
But Lemanion viewed his youth as an asset. He believed it gave him a fresh perspective that others hardened by
00:54:29
years in the force had lost. Former police chief Floyd Hannon left the position burdened with regret over
00:54:37
never having brought the killer to justice. It was an outcome Leman was determined
00:54:44
to avoid for himself and the BTK investigation became his top priority. He studied the Otero files in exhaustive
00:54:53
detail. the haunting image of 11-year-old Jos's body forever etched in his mind. [music]
00:55:00
Blind them, torture them, kill them were the code words the family's killer had provided in his written confession to
00:55:07
link authorities to his crimes. Now, 3 years later, Shirley Venne had been bound, tortured, and killed.
00:55:16
Two small round bruises at the base of her throat were consistent with finger pressure. And like Joe and Joey Otero,
00:55:23
she had died from strangulation and esphyxiation. Despite the crimes depraved sexual
00:55:31
undertones, Shirley had not been raped, mirroring the treatment of Josie Otero years earlier.
00:55:39
If Shirley's killer was BTK, posing as a detective to gain access to her home provided a possible explanation as to
00:55:46
how he could have entered the Otero residence without incident. He also had access to a firearm, a
00:55:53
weapon long suspected to have been used against [music] the Oteros to ensure their compliance.
00:56:00
Although Chief Lemonion wasn't a detective by trade, he felt all signs pointed to Shirley's killer being BTK.
00:56:12
Older, more senior detectives were not convinced. They noted several key differences to
00:56:19
the Otero murders, including the lack of seaman at the Vian scene and the fact that her phone line hadn't been cut.
00:56:28
Shirley's children had also been spared and left alive as witnesses. They described their mother's killer as
00:56:35
a tall, nicely dressed white man in his 30s or 40s with dark hair and a flabby belly.
00:56:42
Descriptions of the Otero killer varied, but he was generally reported as younger, shorter, and leaner with a
00:56:49
darker complexion and a more disheveled appearance. BTK had warned in his Otto confession
00:56:56
letter. BTK, you see, he added again, they will be on the next victim. Surely Vianne's killer left no evidence
00:57:08
behind, making any connection to BTK purely circumstantial. Even the leadup to the two crimes was
00:57:16
marketkedly different. Before Shirley's murder, her killer had been roaming the neighborhood, armed
00:57:23
with the tools of his craft, searching for a suitable target. The house Steven Ralford saw him visit
00:57:30
beforehand was occupied by three young women, but none happened to be home at the time that he knocked. It therefore
00:57:38
appeared that his decision to walk two doors down to Shirley Vianne's residence was impulsive, triggered by his
00:57:44
encounter with 6-year-old Steven. This stood in stark contrast to how BTK described selecting the Oro family,
00:57:54
which he claimed was a premeditated attack preceded by a lengthy period of planning, stalking, [music]
00:58:00
watching, and waiting. It was also noted that BTK's methods had appeared in many other unrelated crimes,
00:58:09
and finding a victim restrained didn't automatically prove his involvement. The FBI shared this skepticism.
00:58:19
At the time, the bureau had only just begun exploring the psychology of serial killers through behavioral science,
00:58:27
combining insights from fields such as psychology, criminology, neuroscience, and sociology. Behavioral science
00:58:34
examines how and why humans behave the way they do. Early research suggested that serial
00:58:41
killers couldn't simply stop once they started. let alone take a three-year hiatus between murders.
00:58:49
The investigation into Shirley Van's murder zeroed in on other possible suspects, including her ex-husband.
00:58:57
Robbery gone wrong emerged as the leading motive as two checks were missing from her home.
00:59:03
The case received minimal press coverage, buried among reports of other violent murders that week, including the
00:59:10
stabbing of a co-ed and the shooting of a man kidnapped from a liquor store. [music] Days, weeks, and months passed
00:59:18
without any breakthroughs. As Shirley's case grew cold, police chief Richard Lemonan found himself at a
00:59:26
similar crossroads to [music] his predecessor. If his gut instinct was correct, and
00:59:32
surely was a victim of BTK, [music] the public needed to be warned about the emerging serial killer among them.
00:59:40
The publicity might provoke another attack, but the increased awareness might also deter him. If Lemonion was
00:59:48
wrong, his authority and legitimacy would be questioned, and public trust in the police might be irreparably damaged.
00:59:56
With these stakes in mind, he ured on the side of caution [music] and made no public announcements.
01:00:06
A little under 9 months later, at 8:18 a.m. on Friday, December 9, 1977, a call was placed to Witchita Emergency
01:00:15
Services. The unidentified male caller spoke bluntly, his diction slow and stacado.
01:00:24
You will find a homicide at 843 South Persing. Nancy Fox. [music] The dispatcher couldn't quite make out
01:00:34
the man's muffled voice. I'm sorry, sir, they replied. I can't understand you. What was the address?
01:00:43
Another dispatcher listening in interjected. I believe he said 843 South Persing.
01:00:51
That is correct, the caller confirmed. The dispatchers tried to gather more information, but the man didn't reply.
01:01:01
Almost a minute passed until a different voice suddenly came down the line. "Who
01:01:06
are you?" one of the dispatchers asked. The new voice identified himself as an offduty Witchita firefighter.
01:01:15
He was at a pay phone outside a grocery store on the corner of Central and St. Francis in the heart of downtown.
01:01:22
He'd gone to use the phone after noticing the booth was empty and found the receiver dangling from the hook.
01:01:30
The previous caller had dropped it mid call, leaving the line open before fleeing the area.
01:01:37
Less than 5 mi away, police officer John D. Petra arrived at the South Persing Street address, a singlestory pink
01:01:45
painted duplex southeast of the city center. The neighboring unit was vacant, meaning
01:01:51
if anything suspicious had occurred at the residence, there was no one around to notice.
01:01:57
DPra knocked on the front door of number 843. No one answered and it was locked.
01:02:06
As he walked around to the back of the property, he noticed the severed cord of the phone line swaying in the breeze.
01:02:14
He also saw that the screen on a rear window had been removed. Primark scored the lock and the glass had been broken.
01:02:22
The interior drapes were drawn, preventing DPRA from seeing inside. "Is anyone home?" he called out.
01:02:32
"When no one replied," [music] he leaned into the window and pulled the drapes aside.
01:02:38
"A small bedroom came into view. Face down on the bed lay a half- naked woman in a pink sweater with her
01:02:46
underwear pulled down exposing her lower half. A yellow nighty had been used to tie her
01:02:53
ankles together and her wrists were bound behind her back with a pair of red nylon panty hoes.
01:03:00
Another two pairs of panty hoes were wrapped around her [music] neck. Just as the anonymous caller had stated
01:03:07
to 911, the woman was 25-year-old Nancy Fox. Nancy lived alone while working as a
01:03:15
secretary for an architectural firm. She had recently taken a part-time job at a
01:03:21
local mall jewelers to earn extra money for Christmas gifts. She was last seen leaving the jewelers
01:03:27
at 9:00 p.m. the night before and was murdered shortly after arriving home. >> [music]
01:03:34
>> Although she led a vibrant social life, going to nightclubs with friends, visiting her mother every Sunday, doting
01:03:41
on her 2-year-old nephew, and dating her boyfriend, on South Persing, Nancy mostly kept to herself [music] and
01:03:48
rarely had visitors. None of her neighbors saw or heard anything suspicious on the night she was
01:03:55
killed. Therefore, no one reported the crime until the 911 call the following morning.
01:04:05
Investigators were certain that the caller was NY's killer. As per standard practice, the call had
01:04:12
been recorded and playback revealed some peculiarities. The man's muffled voice suggested he had
01:04:20
covered the receiver to disguise his tone. He also pronounced the word homicide as
01:04:26
homicide. Either he was unfamiliar with the term or he said it that way to mislead
01:04:32
investigators into thinking he had an accent or that English wasn't his first language.
01:04:38
Regardless, his voice was unrecognizable. Based on the recollections of witnesses
01:04:45
near the pay phone where the call was placed, the man was white, aged in his 20s, and about 6 ft tall. possibly with
01:04:53
blonde hair. He wore what appeared to be a gray industrial style uniform and a hat with
01:04:59
ear flaps. And he drove a late model windowless van with indistinct advertising painted on it.
01:05:07
Examination of NY's apartment revealed the moments leading up to her murder. For the most part, the space was neat
01:05:15
and tidy, just as she always kept it. Her white Parker was folded over the couch, a cigarette she had half smoked
01:05:22
lay in an ashtray by a chair, and her eyeglasses sat upside down on the dresser beside her bed.
01:05:30
These homely details stood in stark contrast to the violent mess her killer had left behind.
01:05:37
Clothing had been strewn across the floor, and the telephone receiver had been pulled off the wall and tossed
01:05:42
aside. NY's purse had been emptied onto the kitchen table, and the contents of her
01:05:48
jewelry boxes were scattered. Yet, only her driver's license was noted as missing.
01:05:54
The lingerie drawer from her dresser was on the bed beside her, laid out next to
01:05:59
a blue night gown stained with seaman. Once again, [music] police chief Richard Lmanion faced the growing dread that BTK
01:06:08
had claimed another victim. Like Shirley Venne before her, [music] Nancy Fox's murder bore the hallmarks of
01:06:16
BTK's crimes. She was partially [music] naked, restrained on her bed, strangled to
01:06:22
death, and her killer derived sexual gratification from the act without committing a sexual assault.
01:06:30
Her phone line had been cut and her belongings ransacked, [music] but the killer seemed less interested in
01:06:35
valuables and more focused on taking trivial items as souvenirs. Between both cases and the OTO murders,
01:06:45
there were no worthwhile suspects. Yet, detectives still remained hesitant to draw a direct link, despite admitting
01:06:53
to the press that they were not even close to a break in any of the cases. Chief Lemanion considered whether they
01:07:02
should attempt to communicate with BTK again, giving his willingness to divulge information. Previously,
01:07:09
he consulted the FBI for guidance. But since the study of serial killers through behavioral science was still in
01:07:16
its infancy, the bureau had insufficient data to offer a definitive strategy. Ultimately, the [music] decision on how
01:07:24
to proceed was left to Lemonion. He was torn. BTK was inconsistent [music] and unpredictable, seemingly striking at
01:07:34
random intervals, both when he received publicity and when he didn't. People could die no matter how the
01:07:42
police handled the situation. But one thing was certain, BTK craved notoriety. [music] He wasn't the type to let his
01:07:53
crimes go unnoticed or to allow others to claim responsibility. If he was indeed responsible for
01:08:01
Shirley's, NY's [music] or any other deaths, he would inevitably seek recognition for them.
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[music] Lammanion ultimately chose to sit back and wait, anticipating that BTK would
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eventually expose [music] himself in pursuit of publicity. And he didn't have to wait long.
01:08:25
to be [music] continued next week.