In the second set of letters Dennis Rader sent to the media in 1978, there was a great deal to be gleaned about the man’s psyche. It was obvious the killer had an admiration for other serial murderers. Interestingly, he listed Harvey Glatman among the much more famous names like Son of Sam, Jack the Ripper, and the Boston Strangler. The mention of Harvey Glatman in conversation could have given someone away as being suspect, for Glatman was virtually an unknown.
The desperation he felt for attention was obvious in the beginning of the letter where the killer asks how many people will have to die before the media gives him some well-earned publicity. However, the fragility of this man’s ego and his voracious appetite for attention are underlying threads throughout. He talks about coming home from his murders and becoming just another guy like everyone else. It is obvious that his murders are the only thing in his life that sets him apart as extraordinary, something he desperately wants everyone else to know he is...even if they can’t know it’s him, specifically. He emphasizes how involved the process of murder is; that it takes time and planning and is not easy to get away with. This only bolsters his ego, making people understand that you have to have a special something extra to pull this off. Just before the end of the first page, BTK puts out a “teaser” of things to come and promises more sensational communications in the future. At that point, he was shamelessly courting the press, as many killers like him have done. He even tried to give the media some sensational names to choose from for future stories about him. He would have been likely to comment to friends or co-workers had the media chosen a name he did not feel was suitable or sensational enough.
In his descriptions of his victims, it becomes obvious that he has something of a God-complex. He further degrades Shirley Vian by pointing out what a mess her house was and asserts that the children took toys to the bathroom with them, as though they were content to just let her die while they played. In contrast, he specifically mentions what a great housekeeper Nancy Fox was in the very next paragraph.
Interestingly, in BTK’s conversation with Nancy Fox, he admitted to her that he had sexual problems and that he was a sick man. In the letters, however, he blames his urges on “Factor X,” as though all killers are under the influence of this unknown force and helpless to fight it or make a different choice. This is not as much a contradiction as it seems, rather it is a definite indication of a psychopathic, antisocial personality. They will admit their faults to people with whom they feel intimate, and then put on an amazingly charming game of “it wasn’t me” with everyone else. This is seen in compulsive domestic abusers as well. The man will tell his wife he knows he is sick and needs to get help, but then tell society and other relatives that he is deeply and sincerely concerned for his wife’s mental and emotional condition. People with this type of personality are able to easily be literally all things to all people at all times. Why? They have no emotional investment in anyone but them.
Though the content was not well-organized in its presentation, the substance was a step-by-step account, not only of the basic events, but also of the location and placement of all articles he encountered in the house.
Regardless of how untidy the letters appear, the specificity and chronological order of the facts and events indicates the writer has a very calculating mind with an appreciation for the precision of more superficial details. He would be the type of person used to working with checklists and following a specific order of procedures at his place of employment. This would include a position like that of an auto mechanic or even middle- management at a factory or shipping business.
With the exception of the Otero family, all the victims of BTK were Caucasian. This indicates the killer would also be a Caucasian, as serial murders invariably select victims within their own ethnic background.
Additionally, the fact that all of the victims’ homes were within a three mile radius would tend to indicate the residences were located in an area that was part of his normal routine: either near home, work, or en route to or from either one. Despite the police attachment to the theory of an “outsider” being the killer, the locations, as well as the ease of the killer’s entry and escape without detection, strongly suggest a local man who is intimately familiar with the area.
Within all of the communications received from BTK, it becomes obvious that he enjoys creating his own alphabet soup. The name he chose for himself, of course, along with SBT (Sparky Big Time) which was used in his notations on the murders to indicate an erection. This may help him feel more in-league with members of organizations that communicate in such ways: military, police, federal law enforcement organizations.
Some of the things he said: “for the sake of the tax payer,” “you have in custody,” “since sex criminals do not change their M.O.,” “There is no help, no cure, except death or being caught,” “Chose at random with some pre- planning,” these are manners of speech most used in law enforcement circles.
Other indications of this can be seen in his frequent mention of “society” and how “society” is affected by what’s going on. He also mentions his knowledge that typewritten communications can be traced and that handwriting can be used to identify a strong suspect. This is definitely someone who is interested in law enforcement or may have been involved with law enforcement on some level. He might have had a limited military background or applied for police academy admission at some point. Perhaps he was a student of criminal justice.
It is also notable that the poems he sent display none of BTK’s characteristically foul spelling and grammar. This is likely because his poems are rip-offs of actual poetry. He most probably looked at the originals even as he copied their form or style to create his own accounts of his victims. This only reinforces that this man would be someone craving notoriety without the ability to accomplish great things on his own talents and abilities.
Also telling are the names he gave the media to choose for him. The BTK STRANGLER was by far the most accurate and appropriate of the list, WICHITA STRANGLER comes in a strong second. Though, as he had already come up with the BTK monniker in the first letter and that was what he’d been called for the three years he’d been known, it was unlikely that BTK would not at least be part of his permanent name. POETIC STRANGLER caught me as being the most amusing suggestion on the list. Let’s face it, this guy was no poet and that he wrote poetry at all was virtually unknown to everyone and had nothing to do with his crimes. Not to mention that his poetry sucked and was copied. THE BONDAGE STRANGLER would have been accurate, but again obviously created for notoriety. It sounded similar to the Boston Strangler, who was well-known, and advertised his penchant for sexually aberrant activities which would have been shocking to the public during that time period. PSYCHO was clearly chosen because it hearkened people’s thoughts back to the film which had inspired such terror in Hitchcock fans and WICHITA HANGMAN was highly provocative if not entirely indicative of any victim beyond Josie Otero. THE WICHITA EXECUTIONER would fill his need to be seen as dominating and controlling the people of Wichita, as well as giving the implication that he had God-like power over the deaths of people who were powerless to escape him. His final two choices were simply new ways of expressing his favorite method of murder, strangulation. Garroting obviously inspires fear, but THE ASPHYXIATOR, which he misspelled “asphyxiater”, is pretty typical of a man with little creativity attempting to make himself sound formidable...and it falls flat.
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Larry was adopted shortly after his birth on September 27, 1940 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His adoptive family moved around quite a bit because of his father's work in aircraft factories. They lived in Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio, and California while Lawrence was growing up. At the age of 17, Roy Norris dropped out of school and joined the Navy, where he spent most of his service time stationed in San Diego. He did serve four months in Vietnam, but saw no combat action. Norris was arrested in San Diego in November of 1969 for attempted rape. He was released on bail and three months later and arrested again for attacking a woman in her home. Police had thankfully arrived before he was able to harm the woman. Norris then received a psychological discharge from the Navy. Bittaker and Norris hatched a plan to rape and kill local girls and Bittaker bought a 1977 GMC cargo van for the job. It had no side windows in the back and a large passenger-side sliding door, perfect for abducting women. They called their van Murder Mack. Between February and June 1979, they drove along the Pacific Coast Highway, stopped at beaches, talked to girls, and took their pictures. This was practice season. When they were finally arrested, police found nearly 500 photographs among Bittaker's possessions. The plan had been to kill at least one girl of each age between 13 and 19 years. They were going to record all of their exploits on tape and film. Their first victim was Lucinda "Cindy" Schaeffer, a 16-year-old the pair picked up near Redondo Beach on June 24, 1979. She had just left a youth meeting at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. The van pulled alongside her, which she ignored, and then pulled into a driveway to cut her off. Attempting to persuade her again on the sidewalk, she brushed past Norris. He then forced her into the van, then duct taped her mouth and bound her arms and legs. They left one of her shoes behind on the sidewalk as they sped away. Bittaker took the van to a fire road on San Gabriel Mountains, out of sight of the highway. The men smoked some pot and asked her about her family. Then they got tired of small talk and ordered her to strip naked. Both men took a turn raping her. Norris first tried to strangle her, but couldn't do it and left to vomit in the weeds.Bittaker wrapped a straightened wire coat hanger around her neck and then tightened it with vice-grip pliers, strangling her to death. The pair wrapped her body in a plastic shower curtain and dumped it in a nearby canyon. On July 8, the killers picked up their second victim, Andrea Hall, 18. She was hitch-hiking on the Pacific Coast Highway when she was picked up by a driver in a white convertible. Norris complained about their bad luck, but the men followed behind the convertible and waited for the driver to let his passenger off down the road. When the driver of the other car signalled to get off at an exit ramp, Andrea got out and stuck up her thumb to catch another ride. Bittaker and Norris were ready. She was hitch-hiking when Bittaker talked her into their van. After she had gotten in, Lawrence offered her a drink from the cooler. When she went to retrieve it, Roy Norris jumped her. He bound her arms and legs and then taped her mouth. Bittaker then drove to the fire road where the pair raped her several times. Bittaker dragged her from the van and Norris left to grab some beer. when ROy returned, Andrea was gone and Bittaker was looking at Polaroid shots of her. He had stabbed her in both ears with an ice pick. She didn't die quickly enough for him, though, so he strangled her and then threw her body over a cliff. On September 3, Jackie Gilliam adn Leah Lamp, 15 and 13, were sitting on a bus stop bench near Hermosa Beach when they accepted a ride from Bittaker and Norris. When Bittaker parked the van near a suburban tennis court, and went for the back door. Norris hit her in the head with a baseball bat. With Bittaker's help, the teens were subdued and then bound. Once again, Bittaker drove to the fire road. They kept the girls alive for two days, raping and torturing them the entire time with a wire hanger and pliers. They even made an audio recording for posterity. Bittaker stabbed Jackie in both ears with an ice pick and, again, it didn't work, so the men took turns strangling her until she was dead. Bittaker then strangled Leah while Norris hit her in the head with a sledgehammer seven times. They dumped the bodies over a cliff. The ice pick was still embedded in Jacki's skull. Shirley Sanders was maced and forced into the killers' van on September 30th. Both raped her, but she escaped and couldn't identify the men or give police a license number for the silver van she described. 16-year-old Lynette Ledford was kidnapped on Halloween night. They raped and tortured her with pliers while they drove around Los Angeles. Apparently liking the addition of audio recordings, they taped the whole incident.The recording has Bittaker taunting Lynette to scream. He berates her for not screaming loud enough, then Norris strikes her elbows with a hammer over 25 times. Then the pair strangled her with a wire hanger and pliers and left her body on a random lawn in Hermosa Beach. This was out of a desire to create public reaction to their crimes. The body of Lynette Ledford was found the following day and caused quite a commotion coming only days after the arrest of Angelo Buono, one of the Hillside Stranglers. Hers was the only body recovered by authorities. Her breasts and face had been mutilated, her arms slashed, and her body covered in bruises. Detectives got their break on November 20th when Bittaker and Norris were arrested on charges related to the attack on Shirley Sanders the month before. While failing to positively identify either of the perpetrators, both were in possession of drugs and were held over for parole violations. Roy Norris broke under the strain once in custody and began telling tales of murder. He claimed that the girls had been plied with free marijuana and offered modeling jobs. He said they drowned the screams of their abducted victims with the van's radio. On February 8, 1980, Roy NOrris took police to the San Dimas Canyon and San Gabriel Mountains to retrieve the skeletal remains of Leah Lamp and Jackie Gilliam. The ice pick was still in Jackie's skull when it was recovered and further marks of cruel mistreatment were also visible on the remains. The two men were charged with five counts of murder and the LA County Sheriff Peter Pitchess anounced that they might be responsible for 30-40 other disappearances. By February 20, the photographs found in the van yielded 19 missing girls, but none were ever traced and Norris was done talking. On March 18, Norris pled guilty to all five counts of murder and turned state's evidence against Bittaker in return for a sentence of only 45-to-life, with the possibility of parole after 30 years served. Lawrence Bittaker claimed that Norris informed him of the murders while they were in jail together. The jury wasn't buying. They returned a verdict of guilty on all counts and sentenced him to die. The judge covered all the bases, however, and imposed an alternate sentece of 199 years and four months, to be served in the event that Bittaker's sentence would ever be commuted to life imprisonment. |
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