Morbid's BTK Part 1: How a Wichita Family Man Became Kansas's Most Feared Killer

January 1974. Wichita, Kansas. Four members of the Otero family are killed inside their home, two of them children. More victims followed, and so did letters. The killer gave himself a name, BTK, and spent years taunting police and the press while an entire city locked its doors. Then, after 1991, he went silent.

In Episode 85, released in August 2019, Morbid hosts Alaina Urquhart and Ash Kelley start at the very beginning. They cover Dennis Rader's childhood, his marriage, and his first crimes as BTK, peeling back layer after layer of a case they admit is strange and maddening. Their mix of dark humor and unflinching detail makes the episode go fast, and they flag the section about the murdered children with a warning so listeners can skip ahead.

The question that hangs over Part 1 is how a married father, Scout leader, and church council member hid in plain sight for decades. The story isn't fully closed, either. In 2023, an Oklahoma sheriff named Rader the prime suspect in the 1976 disappearance of 16-year-old Cynthia Kinney after investigators dug at his former Park City property. The local district attorney said the evidence wasn't enough to file charges, and Rader has denied any involvement.

Start here, then go straight to Part 2. Listen on Apple Podcasts tonight, and maybe lock the doors first.