4 stories on books about the BTK killer written by family members and others
Decades after the capture of BTK killer Dennis Rader, his case continues to affect family members of his victims and his own family. In his book, the son of Rader’s final victim, Dolores Davis, tells his story of faith following his mother’s death. The memoir by Rader’s daughter, Kerri Rawson, sheds light on her personal journey of healing and the broader themes of trauma, faith, and forgiveness. And Katherine Ramsland, a research scholar who trains detectives and other criminologists, talks about her book, “Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer.”
The summary above was drafted with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists in our News division. All stories below were reported, written and edited by McClatchy journalists.
No. 1: BTK’s daughter to publish book about family horror
The daughter of the BTK serial killer plans to publish a book next year about the trauma of discovering that her father had killed and terrorized people for 31 years.Kerri Rawson grew up with her brother and her parents, Dennis and Paula Rader, in Park City. | Published February 25, 2017 | Read Full Story by Roy Wenzl
No. 2: BTK serial killer back in the spotlight with release of his daughter’s memoir
Kerri Rawson, the daughter of BTK serial killer Dennis Rader, released her memoir on Tuesday. | Published January 27, 2019 | Read Full Story by Denise Neil
No. 3: His mother was killed by BTK. Now, he’s telling his story of faith
In 1996, five years after his mother’s murder, Jeff Davis painfully wrote the first edition of his book.It didn’t get much attention.Yet the book did inspire a letter to Davis, signed only as “A Taxpayer.” The letter referenced the book and said it was unfortunate that the television show “Unsolved Mysteries” didn’t accept the story, since it “would have adapted well to the screen.” Part of the letter abruptly broke into a first-person retelling of what the murderer “might say, if you could actually talk with him.”Years later, after Dennis Rader had been arrested for the murder of Davis’s mother and nine others, police said that letter had been written by Rader. | Published March 18, 2018 | Read Full Story by Katherine Burgess
No. 4: Book shows BTK as ‘selfish, egotistical bastard’
Lust and a desire for fame and power drove the BTK serial killer to murder 10 people in Wichita from 1974 to 1991.So says professor of forensic psychology Katherine Ramsland, a research scholar who trains detectives and other criminologists, and who has written 58 nonfiction books, many about criminals and crime. | Published August 18, 2016 | Read Full Story by Roy Wenzl
This report was produced with the help of AI tools, which summarized previous stories reported and written by McClatchy journalists. It was edited by journalists in our News division.