Dennis Rader is an American serial killer also known as the BTK "Bind, Torture, Kill" Killer or the BTK Strangler. He started his murdering spree in the mid-1970s, terrorizing the citizens of Kansas for more than 30 years before he was finally arrested. Convicted of murdering ten victims, he was planning to attack another victim at the time of his arrest. Having developed a morbid fascination with extreme violence as a young boy, he often fantasized in his head about torturing and killing others. Known as a shy and studious boy, he had a darker side to his persona even as a teenager—he used to kill dogs and cats in secret. With time he grew bolder and began targeting human beings, killing his first known victims—the Otero family—in early 1974. He cleverly evaded being identified as a suspect and proceeded to kill several others, taking the final toll of his victims to ten. A narcissist who took pride in the murders he committed, he sent a series of anonymous letters to the police along with a few pieces of evidence claiming himself to be responsible for the murders. These letters subsequently led to his arrest in 2005. Currently, he is serving ten consecutive life sentences at El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.
