BTK Strangler serial killer resurfaces after 25 years

Wichita Eagle ^ | Mar. 25, 2004 | Hurst Laviana

[rogueleader]

A serial killer who terrorized Wichita during the 1970s by committing a series of seven murders has claimed responsibility for an eighth slaying and is probably now living in Wichita, police said Wednesday.

A letter The Wichita Eagle received Friday suggests that the BTK strangler was responsible for the Sept. 16, 1986, strangulation death of Vicki Wegerle, who was found dead in her home at 2404 W. 13th St. The crime was never solved.

The letter contained a single sheet of paper with a photocopy of Wegerle's driver's license and three pictures that apparently were taken of her body. Each picture shows the victim in a slightly different pose and with her clothing arranged in a slightly different manner.

The letter was postmarked from Wichita on March 17.

The victim's relatives said Wednesday that the driver's license was the only thing they know of that was missing from the home.

Police said there were no crime scene photographs of Wegerle's body because it was removed by EMS workers before police arrived. At that time, police said, EMS policy was to transport injured people to the hospital as quickly as possible even if there was no pulse.

"The photographs appear to be authentic," said Lt. Ken Landwehr, who has been working on the BTK case for 20 years. "I'm 100 percent sure it's BTK. There's no doubt that that's Vicki Wegerle's picture."

Landwehr said the letter contained no suggestion that the killer planned to strike again, and he asked residents to take normal safety precautions.

Landwehr said the letter is being processed for fingerprints and DNA evidence at the Sedgwick County Forensic Science Center.

He said evidence from the Wegerle homicide also has been sent to the forensic center and is being processed using technology that was not available in 1986. He said detectives planned to run any evidence they find through national fingerprint and DNA databases.

Landwehr said detectives also would be studying other unsolved homicides to see whether there may be more BTK victims.

Detectives also are looking through lists of prison inmates who have recently been released to make sure that BTK's silence wasn't caused by his incarceration.

"We're going to work it as a strong cold case," he said. "This is going to be homicide's top-priority case."

The return address on the letter said it was from Bill Thomas Killman -- initials BTK -- with the address in the 1600 block of Oldmanor.

"There has never been a Bill Thomas Killman," Landwehr said.

There is no Oldmanor street in Wichita, although there is an Old Manor. An apartment at that address on Old Manor, which is in a group of brick four-plexes, is vacant, Landwehr said. He said he did not know whether the address had any significance.

Although BTK cut the phone lines of most of his victims, the lines at Wegerle's home were not damaged, Landwehr said.

Landwehr said detectives are setting up hotlines that will allow the public to relay information anonymously by telephone, through the mail or by e-mail.

"This is most challenging case I've ever worked on, and the individual would be very interesting to talk to," Landwehr said.

Norma Wegerle, who was Vicki Wegerle's sister-in-law, said her family was hopeful after hearing of the development in the case. She said relatives had often wondered whether BTK could have been involved.

But Norma Wegerle said she also was saddened by the reopening of old wounds.

"We just want it to be solved so we can get closure," she said. "There's hopefulness that somebody might actually be found. We want it to be solved."

Wichita lawyer Robert Beattie, who is working on a book about the BTK killings, said most people he has talked with thought the killings stopped because BTK was dead or in prison.

"The vast majority of police officers thought he was dead," he said. "I thought he was probably dead.

"But now you have to allow for the possibility that he's been walking around Wichita, getting his hair cut and acting like a normal person."

Beattie and Landwehr said they had no idea why the killer would contact the paper after remaining silent for nearly 25 years.

"Maybe he wants more publicity than the guy who's writing the book," Beattie said.

[rogueleader]

Hmm. American, midwestern accent.

But he pronounced "homicide"

HOME ih side

That's not the common midwestern pronunciation.

Is that a motorcycle in the background or is it just noise? Maybe he called from a pay phone.

[185JHP]

"There's 50 things that can go wrong when you commit a crime. You're a genius if you think of 25 of them. And you ain't no genius." (the arsonist in "Body Heat")

[Palladin]

It was reported that he called from a phone booth. So that was traffic noise.

I did notice the odd pronunciation of homicide. Maybe English is his second language, as some detectives thought, from the letters.

[lmr]

Wow. I lived on Crestway street in the same hundred block which is only 2 blocks over from where Nancy Fox was killed. Never realized it then. I lived in an apartment house (duplex) with the same floor plan as the one you (and victim Nancy Fox) lived in. Small World.

[lmr]

He did call from a payphone. Police found the receiver still hanging when they got there.

[lmr]

BTK is an abbreviation for "Bind-Torture-Kill", he gave this name to himself in his letters and communiques with Police. as he said "Bind Them, Torture Them, Kill Them"

[Brytani]

Let's hope the investigators working on this case have a stroke of genius before this guy kills again.

[rogueleader]

I did a search on the Kansas sex offender registry for everyone whose last name begins with "K".

There are no sex offenders currently registered with the State of Kansas who have the initials B.T.K.

Of course, sex offenders include only a small slice of the total incarcerated population.

I would search the entire Kansas offenders database for all offenders with the initials B.T.K. Then I would strike from the list anyone not old enough to have carried out the murders.

Then, I would match up who out of that remaining list served time during periods where BTK murders were not committed.

If anyone fits all of these descriptions, I would be very interested in pursuing that person as a suspect.

[VOA]

I did a search on the Kansas sex offender registry for everyone whose last name begins with "K".

Given the world of computers, it might pay for investigators to hit the
sex-offender registries of adjacent states, especially Oklahoma as Wichita is only
about 50 miles from the Oklahoma-Kansas line. The low population density and
nice Interstate highways in fly-over country could let a nasty person like the BTK
easily do a "drive-by" killing in Wichita while living at a fair distance (like 100+ miles).

PS: The investigators shouldn't bother with the California sex-offenders registry...
the law-enforcement officials are allowed to be less-than-helpful when granting access...
and they've lost track of about 30% of the folks on the registry!

[Brytani]

I doubt this guy was in prison for an extended period of time. As another freeper brought up on this thread, what did he do with his souvenirs while incarcerated? It's obvious he's had them for at least twenty years considering he sent pictures and a drivers license of a victim.

Maybe that theory will be proven wrong, I just doubt someone would hold papers of someone for that long for someone in prison, then given them back to the guy, hear about this development and say nothing to the police.

I might be proven wrong though...it's been known to happen!!!

[VOA]

As another freeper brought up on this thread, what did he do with his souvenirs while incarcerated?

I'm not challenging that proposition...and I don't know that much about current
bank vault management...
but, in the past, folks have let items languish for decades in bank vault "lock-boxes".

I don't know if the banks ever (or are allowed legally/contractually) to
look through the lock-boxes...
but it might be that BTK left those momentos in a bank box and just made sure that
the fees were paid on time. Even if BTK was in jail for an extended vacation.

Besides, in the wide, mostly-empty expanses of fly-over country, material like
that could be hidden in an out-of-the-way place for a LONG time.

[Brytani]

Possible if he had the resources and ability to put the items into a bank vault, pay the fee's upfront.

Most prisons look at inmates outgoing mail, aside to that sent to their legal council. You'd think a monthly payment (quartely etc) would raise suspicion on a convict and someone at a prison would have forwarded this information to the police.

Who knows, maybe when this guy is caught these questions, and the many others we all have will be answered.

[irina65]

America's Most Wanted is indeed profiling the BTK killer. The show was just taped last week (on April 29) and the actors involved were told that it would air on May 8 or May 15. Don't miss it! They will show re-creations of some of the worst and most vicious aspects of these crimes in a serious effort to get this monster behind bars.

[Palladin]

Thank you for the heads-up, Irina. I will be sure to watch this show. Hopefully, someone's memory will be jogged by it, and BTK will be turned in.

I saw on FOX today that the Kansas TV station has received a "suspicious" letter that they turned over to the police, who are analyzing it to see if it is really from BTK.

[psychstudent]

Now that the FBI has checked release date from prisons how about checking mental institutions?