BTK killer considered ‘prime suspect’ in unsolved cases in Oklahoma, Missouri

Dennis Rader, the notorious BTK Killer who terrorized Wichita for more than a generation, is considered the prime suspect in two other unsolved cases, authorities announced this week. Rader has been in prison since 2005.

By

State News

August 24, 2023 - 3:04 PM

Dennis Rader consults with his lawyer, Sarah McKinnon, while entering his guilty pleas before Judge Gregory on June 27, 2005, admitting his guilt in 10 murders in the Wichita area. Photo by Bo Rader/Wichita Eagle/TNS

The BTK serial killer has been named the “prime suspect” in two unsolved killings — one in Oklahoma and another in Missouri — leading authorities to dig this week near his former Kansas property in Park City, authorities announced Wednesday.

Osage County, Oklahoma, Undersheriff Gary Upton told The Associated Press that the investigation into whether Dennis Rader was responsible for additional crimes started with the re-examination last year of the 1976 disappearance of Cynthia Kinney, a 16-year-old cheerleader in Pawhuska. The case, which was investigated on and off over the years, was reopened in December.

Sheriff Eddie Virden told KAKE-TV that a bank was having new alarms installed across the street from the laundromat where Kinney was last seen. Rader was a regional installer for ADT at the time, although the sheriff wasn’t able to confirm that Rader installed the systems. He also was involved in Boy Scouts in the area.

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