Out of the Shadows | Full Episode | Forensic Files

yes [Music] I met Vicki in high school it was like we were just meant to be we had so much
in common that was my favorite song and to this day I'll Crank It Up in the car if I
hear it it just says something about I guess kind of like the way I thought of her maybe there was never
never a doubt in my mind how much my mom and my dad loved us [Music] my name is Bill wagerly I was coming
home for lunch I'm working on that side of town I figured why hurry and get home
for lunch I found Brandon by himself I thought that was unusual for her not to be there
with him I kind of looked around I think for her and didn't find her normal life you
don't expect something bad to be happening she died by strangulation there were a
number of ligature marks around her neck why why her you know what did what did she do what did we do
I was there for 50 police officers that thought that they'll regularly killed his wife could
that person be involved you know who else would have killed the wife did they ask you to take a polygraph yeah I took
a polygraph for them and I also took one privately and did that make them less suspicious
not made them more suspicious why I failed both of them so bill waggerly for 18 years had to
live under the cloud of suspicion that he killed his wife I don't think they put two and two together that this had
anything to do with a serial killer this is BTK this is him he killed my mom Out of the Shadows
[Applause] [Music] thank you [Applause] [Music] for three decades Wichita Kansas has
lived with a murder mystery ten victims strangle without mercy and a faceless killer who called himself BTK
and dealt with very very cold-blooded killers but none who have such a tremendous
memory over this many years I've never dealt with anybody like this hello everybody district attorney Nola falston
is Prosecuting Dennis Rader The Man Behind the initials which stand for bind torture and kill we have torture devices
he commented to me at one point I'm sorry I know this is a human being but I'm a monster
you'll learn how Raider became that killer and the untold story of one family's horrific encounter with BTK
bill wegerly was victimized and tortured in this whole episode from the day that
his wife died the day that she was killed it not only killed him it put him under suspicion
for a long period of time bill wegerly and his children have been silent about what happened to them for
19 years they speak for the first time [Music] I remember seeing her across the hallway
in school and just thinking you know wow that is why thickie when they were 16. she was just tall and slender and
attractive well-kept I mean she's quiet and you got married when we were 17. young yeah
sometimes it seemed like they were just you know two kids in love when they were
just 18 Bill and Vicki had a daughter Stephanie what do you remember of your mom to me it seemed like she was always
happy and bubbly and you know easy going and life was life was good eight years later a son Brandon was born my life
revolved around her and and her life revolved around the kids and me and her family too those are the important
things to us then came a day so so surreal that even 19 years later bill wegarley still seems
in shock when was the last time you saw Vicky when I left for work that morning probably about
eight o'clock the date September 16 1986. and I just remember Kessner goodbye which normally I didn't take the time to
do that but that morning I did while bill was at work and Stephanie at school Vicki was home at one point that
morning she was heard playing the piano she was also taking care of Brandon who was then too
I was coming home for lunch and just to see her and Brandon I passed my car on my way home did you
know it was your car yeah I was sure it was my car and could you see who was driving it I saw a person driving it yes
but not your wife no what happened when you got home uh I found Brandon sitting on the floor
by himself were you worried at that moment I was concerned yeah I didn't know exactly what was going on why why
Brandon would be there by himself that that's very unusual what did you do at that point
I've eventually went into the bedroom and discovered her on the floor he had been tied up and strangled then
you start to put things together that the person that was in my car probably I'm sure did this and and I immediately
called 9-1-1 but when police arrived and started putting things together themselves they
came to a different conclusion did they believe you I I don't think they did that's because
Bill failed those two lie detector tests the individual that I hired to take the
polygraph he said he believed what I was saying was true he said it's just the stress that I was under did you think it
was possible you might be charged it got to a point yeah I was fearful of that police never had enough evidence to
actually charge bill or anyone else but the rumors persisted for years I remember going back to school and my my
friends would tell me on the playground that you know my mom and dad said that your
dad did it it was tough wouldn't it what would you say to them I didn't say anything
we knew what the truth was so and just made me more aware of who I was friends with
what about you Brandon yeah I had a teacher I think in middle school that had laid to her younger son who had told
me that me and my dad were bad people and I stay away from us why is my dad killed my mother
as you too got older did you wonder what had happened to your mom yeah what would you think
well I can remember from probably age seven or eight my grandma told me that she thought it was BTK but at that age
you know that meant nothing to me so BTK those initials and this symbol haunted Wichita
representing a phantom killer who had never been caught although it had been nine years since his last known murder
Vicki's brutal death seemed to carry his trademark she had been bound and strangled like all the others before her
February 1974 four members of the Otero family are tied up and strangled including two children nine-year-old
Joseph an 11 year old Josephine who was hanged from a basement pipe April 1974 21 year old Catherine bright
tied up strangled and stabbed to death October 1974 in a note left at the Wichita Public Library the killer took
credit for the Otero murders and gave himself a name BTK for buying them torture them kill
them March 1977 another strangling and this time a witness six-year-old Steve ralphord what do you
remember that day remember everything Steve was walking home from the store with soup for his sick mother when he
was confronted by a stranger he stopped me approaches me shows me a picture asked me did I know who it was
I said no sir I don't know who this is Steve ran home but moments later there was a knock on the door me and my
brother rushed to the door I beat my brother I left the BTK in my house BTK gave Steve and his two siblings a
blanket at some toys then he locked them in the bathroom the terrified children watched through a crack at the top of
the door as their mother Shirley Vian was tied to her bed and strangled what do you remember of him was he tall
blue I remember how tall I don't remember how short but I remember what his face looked like
it sounds like you feel guilt that you ever let him in your house that'll be for the rest of my life how
could you feel guilty about it Steve you didn't have anything to do with us yeah
dude pass the door December 1977 BTK bound and strangled 25 year old Nancy Fox and added a Twist he
reported the murder to police himself [Music] then the killer sent a chilling letter
to a local TV station that read in part how many do I have to kill before I get a name in the paper or some national
attention he apparently was pretty irritated by the lack of news coverage former Wichita police detective Arlen
Smith says the city was in a panic we worked it with a sense of urgency because nobody knew how long it was
going to be before he killed somebody else but then in 1979 BTK seemed to disappear
so when Vicki wegely was killed seven years later police focused on the most logical suspect her husband
I knew there was an individual out there that did this but to me it just seemed like they weren't looking for anybody
else thank you [Music] all the the pain and the heartache and it's miss her what do you miss about her
everything I mean even even at 10 years old you know she was my best friend I don't think people understand that the
difficulties that I had the fears of just raising two kids it was like Stephanie was my second
mother she she stepped in and kind of took over the Weatherly children not only lost
their mother Vicky they also had to endure The Whispers and rumors about their father for 18 years
was there ever a Time Stephanie that you thought your dad might have been responsible for your mom's death oh no
absolutely not never this is kind of a cloud that rests over your head and oh there's Bill weberly his wife was killed
and nobody's ever found the killer hmm [Music] March day and 2 and 2-4 everything changed it started with a
letter to reporter her slaviana this is a copy of the envelope inside the envelope a copy of Vicki
wegerly's driver's license and what appeared to be crime scene pictures of her body I looked at the crime scene
photographs and realized they weren't routine crime scene photographs [Music] they weren't routine because police
didn't take them the only person who could have was the killer we do not have photographs for the scene because she
was transported because it came in as a medical call so EMS gets their transports are out before police have
arrived for lieutenant Ken Landwehr who ran the BTK task force the letter was a huge breakthrough after 18 years it
cleared Bill wegarley an exposed BTK as the real killer this monster come into my home and took my wife from me
you know took my life our whole lives away from us as we knew it and and changed us as people
for the rest of our lives for the weggers and all the families that lost loved ones the BTK the horror
came rushing back we had gone on you know with our lives all these years and then
to have all of it come up again and to have to live through it all again was pretty hard
the return of BTK also shocked wichita's district attorney Nola falston like everyone else in town her life and
career have been haunted by The Faceless killer I was the same as anybody else with locking my doors checking my phone
living in the same fear that everyone else was living with good evening a new letter and new Clues possibly Vicki
wegerly's driver's license was only the beginning throughout 2004 there was a frenzy of
chilling BTK communiques as the killer scattered Clues from past crimes all over the city teasing puzzling and
frightening kfdi the FBI is now checking out a package that was found in a Wichita park
there were dog grams little dolls one with a noose around its neck the killer posed the doll to represent the murder
of 11 year old josefino tarot who was hanged he's perverted he's a sexual offender he
is a pedophile there were cereal boxes btk's sick play on the words serial killer
he's got to be really twisted to have to manufacture these pictures he is sexually benefiting as he's drawn this
stuff why would he reappear after years of Silence okay are you ready police believe it was because of a writer named
Bob Beatty hi excellent book and the publicity surrounding his new book about the murders this guy always wrote
Because he wanted attention he writes to a television station it says how many do
I have to kill before I get some attention submitted his own book to police and then he made a mistake inside
another cereal box he sent a note asking if he could send police a computer disk
and still stay anonymous so he wrote and he said be honest with me his words be honest with me
if I send you a disc will it be traceable you know put in the newspaper it'll be okay Rex and send it under this
code number place an ad in the paper just as BT TK instructed he in turn sent in a disc and
was trapped when it reached its destination immediately it was forensically examined
in no time computer experts traced the discs to a local church and a user named Dennis
a Google search did the rest turning up a Dennis Raider president of the Christ Lutheran Church and I've looked at this
picture and I had I went you have got to be kidding me the ghost to a terrified Wichita for 30
years finally had a face and what a face it was BTK was of all things a dog catcher a
Suburban family man with two grown kids and a tidy little house it all seems so normal
and then it was kind of like oh yeah he fits he just fits he fits the profile he's every man everyone's gut
said Dennis Raider but police wanted the case airtight they wanted DNA they secretly obtained a
sample from Raider's daughter it was taken while she was in college in blood no pap smear
the daughter's DNA was compared to semen left at some of btk's crime scenes and it was a close match
on February 25th three decades after the BTK murders began it all ended one of the most notorious murders in
American history was arrested in the most routine way as he headed home for lunch
it was so emotional I I can't tell you how emotional it was it was so great it was like this son of a
is gone he is out of here [Music] this is big TK and her job is to get a confession from him
he needs to say what he did Wichita Police Lieutenant Ken lamwire spent his entire career preparing for
this one moment confronting the man he believed to be the serial killer BTK I wouldn't declare all the homicides I
just didn't want to clear two or three I wanted all of them as Lynn we're sat down to interrogate
Dennis Rader district attorney Nola folston watched from the next room what was your first reaction
I thought he was a geek I know that sounds terrible but he was just he was so full of himself
for the first few hours Raider admitted nothing then landwair took him by surprise and told Raider there was DNA
evidence connecting him to six of the murders including Vicki wegerley's Raider's skin was found under her
fingernails then it was like the dam had broken you could not shut this guy up what was
the most surprising part of the confession to the one that that I will never forget is the fact of when he
asked me the question Ken why did you lie to me and what's he talking about when he asks
you why he's looking at the floppy disk he didn't think we could trace a floppy disk because he asked me that why'd you
lie to me if you wouldn't have lied to me I wouldn't have sent it to you because I was trying to catch
and when I told him I was trying to catch you he says but we had such a good thing
going you and I had that Rapport he really thought that they would be honest with him can you believe that
it could have sold them to Brooklyn Bridge from that point on Raider eagerly spent
the next 30 hours reviewing the last 30 years of his life as he proudly confessed to murder after murder Raider
revealed a darker nature than anyone could have imagined nauseating he'd start going on on and on
about each and every one of his conquests while Raider was confessing investigators began turning up physical
evidence against him in his City Hall office they discovered in plain sight a cabinet full of souvenirs from the
killings all neatly filed away Raider called the stash his mother lode he had all the original Communications
he had all the evidence all the trinkets driver's licenses all those things were
all very neatly stored all in Finders inside Raiders tiny 900 square foot house investigators found another stash
a container in his closet full of what Raider called slick ads sexual fantasy cards he made using magazine photos of
women and young girls what is wrong with this guy his mind was totally fantasy driven police theorize these
fantasies allowed radar to go years without killing and were keyed to his elaborate double life a life in which
the normal activities of Dennis Rader fed the ghoulish appetites of BTK for instance he told police he used a former
job installing burglar alarms to enter homes and troll for victims you always felt like he was very busy
and you know whatever you got just whatever you need let him know because he's got things to do very busy man
Denise Matic shared an office with Raider at the home security company ADT in the 1980s
Vicki wegely was killed in the middle of the day when he was working at ADT and when you were working with him
which means he had to leave in the middle of the day and then come back after killing a woman and brutally
killing a woman when Raider admitted to the 1985 strangling of marine hedge a woman who
lived on his own block he told police he took the body to his church where he posed and photographed it
it was the same church where he appeared to be so devout he was elected president
of the congregation we just couldn't believe that they were talking about the Dennis Raider that we
knew Carl said years the dentist that came to church every Sunday the dentist that was was
there to help in whatever way we wanted him to help it just didn't it just didn't make any sense
though that He Slipped Away From a Boy Scout trip in 1991 to strangle 62 year old
Dolores Davis it was Raider's last murder his fantasies to take her to a barn string her up and then do some sexual
bondage things with this dead body and photograph her but Raider got caught in a snowstorm and dumped the body under a
bridge instead and it isn't until a couple of weeks later that her body is actually located underneath this bridge
out in the county and they find with it a mask a plastic mask that's been painted decorated with some eyelashes
and lipstick and painted face on it what made him think he had the right to take somebody that
meant the world to me for Dolores Davis's son Jeff learning the identity of his mother's killer is a
fresh outrage what sick perverted pleasure can you possibly get enjoying looking into somebody's
terrified eyes as you strangle the life out of them the BTK suspect will be back in court in
about a half an hour a court proceeding is scheduled at nine o'clock finally Raider was forced to appear in public
for the first time since his arrest sir I have been advised as your desire to enter a plea of guilty in this case is
that correct yes sir on June 27th in a Wichita courtroom he pleaded guilty to all 10 murders I used
a roost as a telephone repairman to get in their house Raiders casual Cooperative tone in the courtroom seems
strangely at odds with the brutal murders he described I was still kind of in a fog I think you know it just didn't
seem real that this person could do these things and then for me it really hit home when he said he walked on up to
the door and heard the piano as I approached it I could hear a piano sound I thought I knew that you know yeah that
was my mom that he heard playing is that the first time you realize this really was the Killer
Naval made him do it I remember one of the detectives saying the Devil comes in an angel's disguise
still doesn't seem it still doesn't seem 100 real to me why not that this normal look you know
normal average guy that's married has two kids does all the normal stuff that that he could do
such horrible things to so many innocent people well we know Dennis Raider did do these
horrible things the only question is why I was able to speak with him by phone and I met with him twice in jail cameras
however were banned this is what Raider told me he says he grew up like any other child
in a loving family and insists he was never abused in fact Raiders court appointed attorney Steve Osborne admits
he tried to find something anything from Dennis Raiders past that could somehow explain BTK we talked to the family some
and you know we didn't see anything that jumped out at us as abnormal no trauma no big event that would scar
him or or cause you know something like this to happen yet it's under eight years of age Raider
told me and investigators he became fascinated with inflicting pain on living things he started with animals as
a young boy but he first became aroused when he was at his grandparents Farm and they would
kill chickens for um for feeding the family and he became very fixated on the death of those
animals foreign and it gets stranger while other boys of his generation looked up to
baseball players Raiders says his hero was Harvey glattman a serial killer who targeted young single women in Hollywood
he was executed in 1959 when Raider was just 14 but glatman became an inspiration for the boy who would grow
up to terrorize Wichita remember Annette Funicello Rader told detectives quote she was my
favorite fantasy hit Target when she was on The Mouseketeers Raider imagined how
he would kidnap the star Mouseketeer and quote do sexual things to her in California
[Music] reader told me that as he got older he collected detective Pope magazines
depicting women in bondage that the act of tying up a human body became an obsession an obsession that he managed
to keep secret from everyone he knew even when he began killing at the age of 29. for all these years
he seemed just like anybody else here he might have been someone you talked to you might have been standing next to him
here in the library right right author Robert Beatty they were looking for crazy Charles Manson somebody with a
history of crime sex crimes mental disorders you get on the elevator with Charles Manson you're going to move
the other side of the elevator he said you get on the elevator with BTK you gotta smile a nod and have a
conversation you're never going to suspect this guy I trusted this man I mean I really trusted him during the
time that Denise Maddox shared an office with Raider at ADT that 14-second phone call reporting
Nancy Fox's homicide was replayed repeatedly on television Denise you worked with him for 11 years I did and
you didn't recognize his voice on that I didn't phone Mr Raider would you please stand with
Council she also never connected the Killer's Behavior with a Dennis Raider she knew he was polite and even
protective of women I was working around all these guys sharing a restroom with him I was the only woman
and he always wanted to make sure that they put the lid down and no dirty jokes he painted the bathroom for me because I
thought it was a it was really gross we know from Raider's own letters to police that he admired famous murderers
like Jack the Ripper and Son of Sam but what isn't widely known is how much he borrowed from his hero serial killer
Harvey glattman a warning what you were about to see may be very disturbing back in the 1950s glapman's victims were
beautiful young models he would lure them with a promise of a photo shoot glattman bound gagged and
then photographed them in the moments before he strangled them Raider told me that's where he got the
idea as Dennis Rader took this of his last killing he shows her laying on the bed
gagged Raider even sketched a drawing of that same victim it was with her eyes open and a very horrified look on her
face and actually reinforcing that she knew of her impending death Raider is proud to take credit for all
of this but what he didn't want the public to know was how far he took his obsession with bondage
this is Raider he took these photographs of himself this one in an open grave he
dug for a victim Dennis Raider did not want that evidence to come out he did not want people to see him in a negative
light he wanted people to see him as some gentleman serial killer we believed that that was totally inappropriate
the killing the stalking the fantasy world somehow Raider managed to hide it all even from the woman who thought she
knew him best his wife of 33 years Paula Rader a bookkeeper they appeared to be a
devoted couple regularly attending church together is it possible that his wife who lived
with him for all those years truly had no idea he was connected to this I'm convinced of it
what makes you say that I've talked to that woman that woman just to be honest is a very very nice
woman a saint She is totally devastated I've talked to his daughter a wonderful wonderful young woman
totally devastated by the actors of this man they had no idea how would his wife
not have any idea that she was living with a serial killer in a 30-year period he disappeared for 10 nights in a
30-year period probably less than a lot of men in America but he hid so much stuff in the
house and you know he was pretty neat he uh he had he kept it neat he kept it orderly a lot of this stuff was at his
his workplace he's such a control freak maybe that's the relationship he had with his wife don't be touching my
things why didn't Raider Target his wife he looked shocked when I asked him that
question he said he didn't kill anyone he knew that his victims were just objects he did say however that his wife
was terrified of BTK and that he once reassured her by telling her to keep all the windows and doors locked I wasn't
really worried he told me since I knew I was the one doing all the killing I'll take care of that Steve Osborne believes
that even if no one had discovered his well-kept secret Dennis Rader dog catcher scout leader Church president
was planning to one day take credit for becoming BTK I think this was his life's
work and he wanted basically to take a bow for it I mean this this is who he was this is what he did I don't think
that he was going to go to the Grave without taking a bow for this what do you hope happens to demonstrator
at this point I hope he's incarcerated for the rest of his life which he will be and that we
never have to hear from him again [Music] it is some person within our community
suffering from a mentality disorder leaning toward the fetish for those in Wichita who lived through
three decades of fear and grief it's like a war has ended and there's not really a victory but the war's over
today is a day they never thought they'd see Dennis Rader is about to be sentenced for his crimes
I can see it in his eyes and his face the sky is an animal he's a monster [Music]
to make sure Raider is put in prison for life the state must present evidence of
his killings after we had heard what she had went through I know for me that's when I
decided that I could be strong enough for her to sit through everything that I had to do to get to
the end of it that's the least I could do for her Fort Steven ralphord [Music] it is a memory he has tried so hard to
forget I see the same thing all my life my mom laying there on that bed me looking over that door
until now this is the only way Steve ralpher could release the anger and grief he has known since his mother was
killed by Raider in 1977. will it be over after the sentencing for you no it will never
be over ma'am never until this son of a is dead my mom was my life and he took it from me
it's pretty satisfying for you guys with the sentencing about to begin ralphord and the other families arrived
to finally confront the man who caused them all so much pain I've waited 14 years
I want him to hear my statement I want to district attorney Nola falston hopes to
expose the real man behind the killer who was invisible and once seemed Invincible this is a man who is Twisted
and the community needed to see that it is a day and a half of my numbing testimony
he strangled her by tying the Rope tightly around her neck put a plastic bag over her head
did Mrs Davis put up any resistance or fight there was nothing that she could do he
stated that it took approximately two to three minutes for her and she felt no more pain
finally my name is Charlie Otero my name is Beverly Platt the families get their
chance to speak I want him to suffer as much as he made his victims suffer although we have never met you have seen
my face before it is the same face you murdered over 30 years ago the face of my mother Julio
Otero for the last 5 326 days I have wondered what it would be like to confront the
walking cesspool that took my mother's precious life if I had your devil nature I would
Delight in the fact that your congregation has turned its back on you that your wife has divorced you that
your own children have disowned you you have now lost everything and you will forever remain nothing thank you your
honor my name's Steve Alford Shirley vienne was my mother after waiting 28 years for
this moment I'd just like for him to suffer for the rest of his life words fail Steve ralphord
you know I don't know so your owner my name is Bill wagerley overwhelmed as his daughter speaks from
her broken heart it's been almost 19 years now that my brother and I had the most important woman in our lives taken
from us it's not fair that we had so little time with her it's not fair that she doesn't
get to see me with her grandchildren my mother begged for her life yeah he showed no remorse
if the families hope to see that remorse from Dennis Raider today they didn't get
it some of them weren't even willing to sit and hear him speak and simply walked out
you can hear them okay I know the victims families won't ever be able to forgive me
I hope somewhere deep down eventually that'll happen when he finally apologizes a final apologize to
[Music] closing words ring Hollow it's pitiable for Mr Raider to stand here looking all
pale and pasty and say how sorry he is you know gosh I'm really sorry well what else do you say after you kill 10 people
thank you at the time of the murders Kansas had no death penalty you Dennis L Raider be
taken by the sheriff of Sedgwick County so the judge gave Raider the maximum sentence
175 years they're coming down the road they're now on Prison property and if the families get their way Dennis Rader
and BTK will just fade into the past I hope that people will not correspond with him have anything to do with him
that would probably be a greater suffering to him than if he was put to death or
tortured or whatever else [Music] [Music] thank you

In late August 2023 investigators recovered multiple items of interest after searching the former Park City, Kansas, home of Dennis Rader, aka the BTK killer. Authorities now consider him a prime suspect in several unsolved cases, including the death of Cynthia Dawn Kinney.

For almost 20 years, a Kansas husband and father was suspected of murdering his wife, Vicki Wegerle, but the murderer was really the BTK killer. In 2005, "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty spoke to the Wegerle family about their long and painful ordeal. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Bill Wegerly recounts the murder of his wife Vicki by BTK killer Dennis Rader and the ensuing investigation that wrongfully implicated him.

Key points

Bill's Life Turned Upside Down. Bill Wegerly lived under suspicion for 18 years after his wife's murder.
The Unsolved Mystery of BTK. For three decades, Wichita lived in fear of a faceless killer known as BTK.
The Chilling Letter from BTK. A letter sent to a reporter revealed crime scene photos and cleared Bill Wegerly.
The Arrest of Dennis Rader. Dennis Rader, the BTK killer, was arrested in a routine manner after decades of terror.
Raider's Confession. Dennis Rader confessed to multiple murders, revealing a darker nature than anyone imagined.
The Devil's Disguise. A detective reflects on the chilling words: 'The Devil comes in an angel's disguise.'

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Why, why her? What did she do?

Bill questioning the murder of his wife.

1:11WatchAug 29, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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