Dennis Rader

Full name Dennis Lynn Rader was born March 9.1945. He was the first of four brothers, the son of William E. Rader and Dorothea M. Rader. He attended graduated at Wichita heights high school. After high school he attended Kansas Wesleyan University in 1965-1966. From 1966 to 1970 he was in the air force based at places like Texas, Alabama, Okinawa, South Korea, Greece, and Turkey.

When he returned to the United States, he moved to Park City, a suburb located seven miles north of Wichita. He worked for a time in the meat department of Leekers IGA supermarket in Park City where his mother was also a bookkeeper. He married Paula Dietz on May 22, 1971. He attended Butler County Community College in El Dorado, earning an Associate's Degree in Electronics in 1973. He enrolled at Wichita State University that same fall. There he graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in Administration of Justice.

From 1972 to 1973, Rader worked as an assembler for the Coleman Company, a camping gear firm, as had two of BTK's early victims. From November 1974 until being fired in July 1988, Rader worked at a Wichita-based office of ADT Security Services, a company which sold and installed alarm system for commercial businesses during Rader's years there. He held several positions, including installation manager.

Rader was a census field operations supervisor for the Wichita area in 1989 for three months, prior to the 1990 federal census.

Rader had worked since 1991 as a supervisor of the Compliance Department at Park City, a two-employee, multi-functional department in charge of "animal control, housing problems, zoning, general permit enforcement and a variety of nuisance cases." In this position, neighbors recalled him as sometimes overzealous and extremely strict; one neighbor complained that he euthanized her dog for no reason. On March 2, 2005, the Park City council terminated Rader's employment for failure to report to work or to call in.

Rader served on both the Sedgwick County's Board of Zoning Appeals and the Animal Control Advisory Board (appointed in 1996 and resigned in 1998). He was also a member of Christ Lutheran Church, a Lutheran congregation of about 200 people. He had been a member for about 30 years and had been elected president of the Congregation Council. He was also a Cub Scout leader.

Rader and his wife are the parents of two adult children, Brian and Kerri. Both were born after the BTK murders started.

On July 27, 2005, Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Yost waived the usual 60-day waiting period and granted an immediate divorce for Paula Rader, agreeing that her mental health was in danger. Rader didn't contest the divorce, and the 34-year marriage was ended. Paula Rader said in her divorce petition that her mental and physical condition has been adversely affected by the marriage. She also contended that the couple was incompatible and that he had failed to perform material marital duties and obligations—possibly due to his incarceration.

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