Serial Killer Confesses in a Library Book (Part 1/4) | Forensic Files

Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please
contact your local crisis center. For suggested phone numbers, for confidential support, and for a more
detailed list of content warnings, [music] please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our
website. Today's episode involves crimes [music] against children and won't be suitable
for all listeners. [music] Hello, Charlie called out. Is anybody [music] home? It was around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday,
January [music] 15, 1974, and 15-year-old Charlie had just returned [music] home from school.
The Otto family of seven lived on the corner of East Murdoch Avenue and North Edgemore Street in the quiet [music]
eastern suburbs of Witcher, Kansas. Their modest whitewood frame bungalow should have been full of [music] life
that afternoon. 38-year-old patriarch Joe was taking time off work as an airplane mechanic
and flight instructor to recover from a car accident that had left him with several cracked ribs.
His 33-year-old wife, Julie, had been temporarily laid off as an assembler at a camping equipment factory until
business [music] picked up again. The couple's four youngest children, [music] 9-year-old Joey, 11-year-old
Josie, 13-year-old Carmen, and 14-year-old Danny, should have been home from school [music] by the time Charlie
arrived. Instead, he was [music] met with an inexplicable silence. A few other things had [music] struck
him as odd. His mother's beige 1966 Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser station wagon was missing from the driveway, but the
garage door was wide open, [music] allowing the blustery winter wind to sweep snow inside.
Charlie figured she must have rushed out and forgotten to close it, though it was
unlike his meticulous mother to [music] be so careless. He also noticed Lucky, the Otero's
large, short-haired brown boxer dog, had been left outside alone in the backyard.
Lucky disliked the cold and was usually only let out when guests visited [music]
since he was protective and barked at strangers. The inside of the Oro home appeared
mostly neat and orderly, though several items were noticeably out of place. A gallon of milk had been left out on
the kitchen [music] sink's drainboard with the receiver of the wall-mounted telephone next to it. Open cans of fruit
and meat spread were set out on the nearby table next to a knife and an unsealed half loaf of bread.
Several slices had been smeared with the meat spread, a staple Julie often packed
for her children's school lunches, though Jos's lunchbox was in the kitchen empty.
It appeared the family had abruptly vanished mid [music] breakfast, leaving behind several important belongings.
Josie and Joey's winter coats were draped over a chair, and Joe's shoes were tucked under the kitchen table.
Stranger still, Joe's wallet had been stripped of its contents and tossed on the stove top while Julie's brown
leather purse lay up turned on the living room floor, its belongings scattered across the carpet.
Julio Tero was a tidy woman. She would never have left her house in such disarray.
When Charlie called out asking if anyone was home, a sound emerged from deeper inside the house.
It was the urgent and confused voice of one of his younger siblings. "Charlie," they yelled. "Mom and dad are
playing a bad trick on us." Charlie bolted down the hallway and into his parents' bedroom.
There he found the eldest of his siblings, Danny and Carmon, who had arrived home together only moments
earlier. What they had stumbled upon hit Charlie with such crushing force that [music] it
felt as though his heart was being ripped from his chest. [music] >> [music] >> Further along North Edgemore Street,
local resident Dell Johnson was shoveling snow outside his home when Danny Otero came running up to him in a
panic. The Oteros were relatively new to the neighborhood, having purchased [music]
their home just 10 weeks earlier. Though they hadn't yet fully settled in and were mostly homebound due to the
frosty winter weather, theos had already established themselves as a kind and happy family.
They fit seamlessly into Witchita's carefree community of about 260,000 residents [music] where doors were kept
unlocked and keys left in cars overnight. To the honest pious people of Witchah, a
stranger was just a friend they hadn't met yet. [music] Against this safe and idilic backdrop,
Dell Johnson was stunned when Danny Otero gasped, "Come quick. My father's dead, I think.
Dell rushed to the Oro house and went inside. He approached the main bedroom belonging to Joe and Julie, only to stop
short of the doorway. Upon seeing what lay within, he carefully backed away and went to use
the family's telephone to call the police, but the line was dead. He then ran home and contacted
authorities from there. Two officers arrived on the scene minutes later. As their cruiser pulled
up, Charlie Otero barreled toward them, frantically [music] explaining that his parents were in the
house and had been tied up. Charlie was instructed to stay outside with his two siblings. As the officers
entered the home, they proceeded down the hallway to the main bedroom and [music] pushed the Ajar door wide open.
Joe lay face up on the floor at the foot of the bed, his face bruised and stre [music] with the dried blood from his
nose and mouth. His ankles were bound tightly with white cotton braided cord. Although his hands were loose, his
wrists featured deep patent impressions showing they had also been restrained at
one point, and he had struggled fiercely to break free. Similar [music] marks encircled his
neck. Julio Tero lay on her back on the nearby bed. She was fully clothed with her wrists
bound behind her back and her ankles tied together. She had also been beaten. Beside her head was a bloodstained white
cloth gag and lengths of white cord. Both the Joe and Julie were cold and without a pulse.
The officers radio dispatched to report the grizzly discovery before returning outside to the three eldest children.
Within minutes, it seemed as if the entire Witcher police force had descended on the quiet suburban street,
joined shortly after by members of the press and curious onlookers. The police were unusually tight-lipped,
prompting reporters to [music] conclude that whatever they had found inside the Otto house must have been truly
horrific. As the crime scene was being cordoned off, Charlie, Danny, and Carmon were
escorted to a police station to give their accounts of the day's events. From the moment the trio were woken up
by their mother that morning, everything seemed routine and normal. At 7:50 a.m.,
Joe drove Charlie, Danny, and Carmen to school in his wife's station wagon as his car still needed repairs following
his recent accident. >> [music] >> When Charlie went to close the garage door, his father told him to leave it
open, explaining that he would return straight home to take Joey and Josie to elementary school.
Because the family were down to the one car, Charlie, Danny, and Carmen had to walk the two miles home from school in
the afternoon. Danny, and Carmon walked home together and arrived first. The Oteros used the rear door as their
main family entrance, reserving the front for guests and visitors. As the siblings approached the wooden
gate leading into the backyard, they found Lucky outside in the cold. The house itself was eerily silent and
still. Danny and Carmen noticed their mother's purse and father's wallet ransacked and
tossed aside, then made their way to their parents' bedroom. Joe was face down on the floor with his
hands bound behind his back and his feet tied to a bed post. A plastic bag was constricted over his head.
Danny tore it open before retrieving a kitchen knife to cut through the cords that bound his father.
He then rolled Joe over. A brown belt was taught around his neck along with more cord.
Dany struggled to loosen it all. Nearby, Carmon removed the gag from her mother's mouth [music] and cut the cord
tightly wound around her neck using a pair of toenail clippers. She and Dany attempted to perform CPR on
their parents, but they didn't respond. Danny tried calling the police from the kitchen telephone, but there was no dial
tone. He rushed downstairs to a second phone in the dark, unfinished basement, only to find that it wasn't working
either. Charlie arrived soon after and [music] managed to remove the belt from his
father's neck, noticing Joe's tongue was half bit off and he had vomited. Believing the asalent might still be in
the house, Charlie grabbed a knife and shouted, "Whoever's in this house, you're dead."
No one responded. He tried the kitchen telephone himself, but it still wasn't working.
Danny ran outside to seek help and encountered his neighbor, Dell Johnson, who ultimately summoned the police.
For Charlie, [music] his biggest concern was his youngest siblings, Joey and Josie.
They hadn't arrived home from school yet, and would have no idea of the horror that awaited them when they did.
As their protective older brother, he begged the police over and over to prevent the young pair from coming home
to spare them the trauma of seeing what had happened to their parents. Eventually, a detective pulled Charlie
aside and said gravely. Charlie, we got to tell you. [music] Joey and Josie were in the house.
The youngest child, 9-year-old Joey, was found in his bedroom. He lay prone on the floor [music] beside
a bed. His wrists and ankles bound with the same white cord that was used to restrain his parents.
A t-shirt, plastic bag, and another t-shirt had been secured over his head, and a length of cord was tort.
While already a horrific scene, what homicide detectives discovered next left them with a chilling image that [music]
would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Imprinted on the carpet near Joey's body were four
small circular indentations arranged in the shape of a square. The marks had been made by the legs of a
chair [music] pressed deeply into the fibers by the weight of someone sitting on it.
The implication was clear and disturbing. [music] After restraining Joey and covering his
head, it seemed the killer had pulled the chair up close to the boy to sit and watch.
The last child, 11-year-old [music] Josie, was discovered in the dark basement hidden around a corner. She was
suspended by a rough hemp noose attached to a sewer pipe with her toes just a fraction of an inch above the ground.
Her hands were restrained behind her back. A white cloth was tied around her mouth, and her ankles and knees were
bound with cord that extended up to her waist. Josie was wearing a blue short-sleeved
knit sweater and socks, but was otherwise exposed. Her underwear was loose around her
ankles, and her bra had been cut open. While she hadn't been raped, dried seinal fluid was found on her thigh and
on the concrete floor below. Ligature marks on the victim's necks told a [music] grim story of a drawn out
torture. The killer had strangled each of them repeatedly, loosening his grip to let
them [music] gasp for air before using the cord to finish the act. In Joe and Joey's case, the killer had
[music] secured plastic bags over their heads to prolong their suffering. Both were found to have died from
asphixxiation and strangulation, while Julie and Josie were killed by strangulation alone.
In the words of the district coroner, "All murders are unpleasant, but this is one of the worst I've seen."
[music] The quadruple homicide sent shock waves through Witchah, which had never seen
anything like it. Though the Oteros were newcomers and few locals knew them personally, those who
did were left reeling. "I didn't believe it," one said in the direct aftermath of the crime. "It
didn't make any sense to me, [music] and it still doesn't." The case dominated local newspapers and
televised news reports as police held twice daily press conferences releasing what information they could. At one
point, they were compelled to show crime scene [music] photos to reporters to dispel the many false rumors circulating
about the case, including claims that the victims had been mutilated and sexually assaulted.
Meanwhile, Witchita's residents were gripped by a fear unlike anything they had ever known.
Doors were now being locked. Sales of firearms and security alarm system surged, and children were no longer
allowed to walk home alone from school. Some people slept near their front doors, while others entered their homes
armed with baseball [music] bats or metal bars. A simple knock now prompted cautious
calls of who's there, a practice previously unheard of in the close-knit [music] community.
A local television station even cancelled scheduled programming to avoid airing the Boston Strangler, a film
about the man who confessed to murdering [music] 13 women in the 1960s. An article explaining the cancellation
cited the city's distress over the Otero murders, noting, "A nervous city needs nothing more to
add to its smoldering embers of unrest." An editorial in the Witchita Beacon newspaper urged, [music]
"Crimes like this cannot go unsolved. They tear at the fabric of our society. Every one of us is involved until this
ugly act is resolved. Over 70 detectives were immediately assigned to the OTO case to expedite the
hunt for the killer. They worked round the clock fielding calls, examining evidence, and debating possible motives
and suspects. They concluded that the killer had entered the Otto house after Joe had
dropped off his three eldest children at school at around 8:00 a.m. but before he
took the two youngest who didn't leave until 9. It was possible the killer had confronted Julie while she was alone
with the Josie and Joey, subduing them before striking Joe by surprise upon his return.
With no signs of forced entry or struggle, investigators considered the possibility that the killer had been let
in. Whoever had been at the kitchen table preparing sandwiches would have had a clear view of both the front and rear
doors. If anyone had suddenly burst in or appeared threatening, the sandwich knife
likely would have been used in self-defense rather than left neatly on the table.
Perhaps the family's guard was down because the intruder didn't appear dangerous at first.
Lucky the dog had been put outside, suggesting the visitor might have been familiar to the family or at least
welcomed by them. If he had been an aggressive stranger, Lucky would almost certainly have made a commotion. Yet,
neighbors heard nothing unusual. There was also the question as to how the killer managed to subdue the four
victims. Joe Oro was a streetwise physically fit ex- champion boxer. He had also served 20 years in the US
Air Force as a technical sergeant, including deployments to Korea and Vietnam. In fact, the entire Rotero family had
been trained in judo with certificates of their achievements displayed throughout their home.
Perhaps more than one perpetrator was involved or a firearm was used to ensure the victim's compliance.
One family member might have been forced to bind the other three at gunpoint. Although the rummaged purse and wallet
suggested robbery as a motive, nothing of significant value was missing from the Otto house.
The only items unaccounted for were Joe's aviation style wristwatch and the keys to Julie's station wagon.
The Oteros were far from wealthy and made no pretense of being so. Their home was modest, comfortably
within their means, and offered no indication of affluence. Nothing about the family suggested they
would be a worthwhile target to an opportunistic robber. The sheer brutality of the murders left
investigators certain they were dealing with a premeditated execution. The discovery that the property's phone
line had been cut supported this theory as it had prevented the family from calling for help. Yet experts consulted
by police unanimously agreed that the murders were not the work of professional killers.
Such individuals, they explained, preferred quicker, more efficient methods than strangulation.
Torture was typically inflicted by offenders who had a deeply personal connection to their victims, as it was
an intentional act that required [music] time and effort and served no purpose other than to provide the perpetrator
with emotional gratification. Moreover, the presence of abnormal sexual acts reflected a level of
perversion far beyond anything seen in routine home invasions or contract killings.
Four independent witnesses had cited a man around the home on the morning of the murders. The problem was their
descriptions varied widely. [music] His age was placed between 28 and 34. He was
[music] both tall and short, slender and bulky, and his complexion was varying shades of dark.
Some said he had bushy black hair, while others asserted he was wearing a crumpled, floppy hat.
Reporters were told he might have been Middle Eastern. When a sketch artist drew a composite image of the man, he
[music] looked to be Hispanic. Some people noted that the sketch bore a resemblance to Joe with a thin mustache.
The times of death of the victims were estimated between 8:15 and 8:45 a.m. and the man was seen loitering around the
residence between [music] 8:45 to 10:30. This created around a 2-hour window between the murders and when the suspect
finally left the house. At 10:30, [music] he was witnessed backing out of the Otero's driveway in
Julie's station wagon, seemingly alone. Julie's car was later found half a mile away in a grocery store parking lot and
was believed to have been there from 11:00 a.m. onwards. The fuel tank was almost empty. The keys
were missing and the driver's seat was positioned in a way that indicated [music] whoever had driven the vehicle
was short statured. Foreign fingerprints [music] were found on the vehicle, providing one of the few
major clues in the case. Another fingerprint was lifted from the chair it was believed the killer sat in
to watch Joey Otero die. It didn't match any member of the family or anyone who had entered the house
after the murders, including responding officers. The restraints used by the killer
provided another clue. He first used a roll of adhesive first aid tape [music] to subdue the victims, which he then
reinforced with a white cord cut from a well-worn Venetian blind. The cord used to strangle [music] the
victims came from a clothes line, while the gags were fashioned from an old pillowcase.
Given that none of these items originated from the Otero residence, the perpetrator must have prepared them in
advance and brought them to the scene. [music] Both types of cord were common and could
be purchased from numerous suppliers across the country. The plastic bags used to suffocate the
victims couldn't be traced to any meaningful source either. The cords were expertly tied using a
variety of knots including slip, [music] square, overhand, and blood knots as well as clove and half hitches.
There were so many intricate knots that [music] a detective had to consult an encyclopedia published by the Naval
Institute Press to correctly identify them, sparking the theory that the killer might have had naval or sailing
experience. The killer's seinal fluid was the only significant evidence investigators
possessed, and they took meticulous care to preserve it. [music] Some samples were carefully dried,
others were stored in fluid and a portion was frozen. [music] Tests revealed the killer had the most
common typeo blood type. But this discovery didn't lead to any breakthroughs either. Nor did the
desperate decision to let a psychic spend the night at the Oro house. She claimed to have once helped solve a
crime by leading police to a body in the trunk of a car. Two officers watched in silence as she
scribbled [music] down notes, but nothing came of it. Investigators delved into the personal
lives, searching for anyone who might have had a reason to target them. To others, Joe was an outgoing, jovial kind
of guy who loved making people laugh with his self-deprecating humor. Julie was equally well-liked.
She was described as a very caring, loving Catholic woman who placed motherhood above all else.
Teachers at Josie and Joey school lorded them as model students who never caused
any trouble. Prior to his death, Joe worked at Cook Airfield a few miles outside of Witcher,
where he had access to private aircraft. Speculation about his possible involvement in elicit drug transport
[music] didn't hold up under scrutiny. He was an honest man, one acquaintance [music] said of Joe. I can't visualize
him mixed up in any kind of conspiracy. According to one investigator, theos were like any other religious and
god-fearing family in Witcher. No one in the family was found to have associated with so-called undesirable
types or engaged in criminal activity of any kind. Everyone known to the family was heavily
scrutinized. And although Joe's history revealed a few interpersonal conflicts, none were linked to the murders.
Investigators sifted through the family's belongings and pursued leads as far a field as Panama, Mexico, and
Theo's native Puerto Rico. They explored a range of theories, including mistaken identity, jealousy,
revenge, [music] and even connections to other local crimes, but all were eventually ruled out.
No one could think of a reason why anyone would want to harm any of theos, [music]
let alone brutally kill four members of the family. The bodies of Joe, Julie, Josie, and
Joey [music] were flown to Puerto Rico for burial aboard an Air Force plane in honor of Joe's military service.
While the Air Force typically didn't handle the transportation of retired personnel's [music] remains, officials
noted that the tragic and isolated incident called for the assistance of the country Joe had served so well.
The gesture was described by the White House deputy press secretary as entirely proper.
Meanwhile, the three surviving Oro children [music] went to live with extended family.
The case became one of the most intensive criminal investigations in the history of the Witchita Police
Department. Early on, it became evident that the department was illequipped to handle its
scale, notoriety, and complexity. Critical missteps occurred, [music] including the loss of numerous crime
scene and autopsy images. The lack of modern forensic and investigative [music] tools added to the challenge.
computers, DNA analysis, and national databases such as [music] those used for fingerprint matching didn't exist in
1974. Recognizing the enormity of the task, [music] the Witchita Police accepted
assistance from a wide array of agencies, including the County Sheriff's Office, [music] the District Attorney's
Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the Department
of Justice's Drug Enforcement Administration, and the FBI. Psychiatrists and pathologists from
across the country even volunteered their expertise. More than 1,500 people were questioned
in the US and overseas, including those convicted of similar crimes. Hundreds of suspects and multiple false
confessions [music] were all ruled out based on the physical evidence. Despite an onslaught of tips provided by
the public, police admitted they reached a dead end on concrete leads within weeks.
In time, the number of detectives assigned to the case was reduced from 70 to 30 to 10.
Eventually, only one detective remained on the case full time, with another five
on standby to pursue any promising leads. By that point, the Otero file had grown
to 2 ft thick, as nothing uncovered during the investigation was discarded. Yet, after months of systematically
working through the material, investigators felt they were no closer to solving the murders than on the day
they were discovered. They admitted that their theories regarding who and why amounted to
nothing more than guesswork, as they hadn't found anything to conclusively answer any of the questions they had.
We don't have a complete picture of what happened out there, which our chief of police Floyd Hannon had admitted.
Every time we have a theory, something pulls it apart. It is a perplexing case with holes in it [music] that we just
can't plug. The investigation nevertheless stayed at the forefront of Witchita police work.
One investigator told the Witchita Beacon, "Hardly a day goes by that we don't discuss the Oro case, and I know
for myself that sooner [music] or later we will find the killer." To help generate leads, local newspapers
launched a joint program with authorities called Secret Witness. The initiative allowed readers to submit
tips about the Oro murders via mail or telephone which were forwarded directly to the police.
The newspapers emphasized that the program was not a covert scheme to gather material for news stories. Tips
could be submitted anonymously and all information remained confidential to be released only if an arrest was made or a
warrant issued. By October 1974, 9 months had passed since the Otero murders. That month, the Witchar Eagle reported
an update on the case. Three local men aged 19, 26, and 30 had been questioned in connection with child
sex offenses. They were asked about the ORO case, which had become a standard line of
inquiry in relevant investigations. The 19-year-old provided suspiciously accurate information about the crime and
implicated one of the other men who happened to be his brother. The brother then gave police the name of
a close acquaintance who became the third suspect. Although police considered the trio
strong leads, police chief Floyd Hannannah clarified that none of the men knew theos could be placed at the crime
scene or matched the description of the man seen leaving the family's home. Efforts to verify the men's claims were
complicated by the extensive media coverage which had made many details of the crime publicly available.
None of them were particularly reliable and all were placed in psychiatric care,
adding further doubts about their credibility. On Tuesday, October 22, 4 days after the
article about the three men was published, Don Granger, a columnist for the Witchita Eagle, received a phone
call. Don managed the secret witness program, and the tip line had been routed to a
telephone on his work desk. On the other line was a man with a Midwestern accent.
He spoke aggressively as if issuing a command. "Listen and listen good," he told Dawn.
"I'm only going to say this once. There is a letter about the Otero case in a book in the public library."
The caller explained to Don Granger that the letter would prove that the three men currently suspected of the Otero
murders were innocent. He said the letter could be found in a book titled Applied Engineering
Mechanics, then abruptly hung up. Dawn was perplexed. Despite a $75,000 reward for pertinent
information on the case having long since expired, the caller made no mention of it, leaving his motives
unclear. Furthermore, hoaxes and pranksters had made it difficult to determine if the
tips Don received were even genuine. He faced a tough choice. He could locate the letter himself and if it existed,
copy it for the newspaper for a major scoop. But committed to the integrity of the
secret witness program and convinced that aiding the police was more important than personal gain, he relayed
the information from the call to law enforcement instead. A detective went to the Witchita Public
Library downtown and located a two-page single spaced typed letter tucked inside
the affforementioned book. It was addressed to the secret witness program and riddled with misspellings and poor
grammar. It began, "I write this letter to you for the sake of the taxpayer as well as
your time. Those three dudes you have in custody are just talking to get publicity. They
know nothing at all. I did it by myself and with no one's help." The letter went on to provide an
accurate account of the Otero murders, including what the victims were wearing, how their bodies were positioned, the
cords and knots used to bind them, and even the item the killer took as a souvenir.
I needed one, the author wrote about Joe's wristwatch, so I took it. Runs good. The letter correctly stated that
11-year-old Jos's eyeglasses were in the southwest bedroom and her green pants were left at the bottom of the basement
stairs. This information was significant as it was only known to the police and the
perpetrator. The author confirmed that the murders were premeditated but said that he
didn't know the family personally. He had stalked them prior to the attack, referring [music] to the process of
targeting, following, waiting, and checking up on them [music] as a big, complicated game.
He went on to claim that he had a monster in his head that compelled him to commit the crime before warning
ominously. Where this monster enter my brain, I will never know. But it here to stay. I
can't stop it. So, the monster goes on and hurt me as well as society. Maybe you can stop him. I can't. He has
already chosen his next victim or victims. I don't know who they are yet. The next day, after I read the paper, I
will know, but it too late. Good luck hunting. The unsigned letter ended. yours truly
guilty. The letter had invalidated every theory the investigators had spent months
developing [music] and it left them stunned. In the words of the writer, [music] the
crime had been driven by a psychotic sexual perversion. Given how Joso had been treated, she
appeared to have been the killer's primary sexual fixation. a complete stranger to the family. He
had been observing them for some time before deciding to strike on January 15. Police conducted a reenactment and
concluded that while improbable, it was still possible for a single person to have executed the attack.
Although the letter offered no clues to his true identity, the author provided authorities with a name by which to
refer to him. at the bottom of the letter he had written. P.S. since sex criminals do not change
their MMO or by nature cannot do so, I will not change mine. The code words for me will be bind them,
[music] torture them, kill them, BTK. While the multiple writing errors suggested the killer was mildly
illiterate or had a learning disability, investigators were more inclined to believe it was a deliberate attempt to
disguise his identity. After all, he had no trouble correctly spelling and using words such as
psychotic, complicated, and perversion. A personality profile of the killer compiled with input from 30 Kansas based
doctors [music] suggested he was small in stature and likely had limited formal education in
fields such as engineering, bookkeeping, or accounting. The correction marks throughout the
letter resembled those taught in Witchita vocational schools, indicating he was a longestablished member of the
community. [music] Investigators believed he might have lived or worked near the Otero home as
it seemed unlikely he would attempt a meticulously planned and high-risk quadruple homicide in unfamiliar
territory. Psychiatrists [music] noted the killer was probably insecure and definitely mentally ill, observing
that his reference to the monster inside him aligned with common assertions made
by psychopaths. His compulsion to bind the victims likely stemmed from a sexual fetish and
he might also have necrophilic tendencies, [music] experiencing sexual arousal from
corpses. The question remained, why did he choose to confess 9 months later, long after
the case had faded from the headlines? It seemed that news of three other men claiming responsibility for his crimes
had irritated the killer. Rather than quietly fading into obscurity, grateful to have gotten away
with it, [music] he sought recognition. After all, he had directed a member of the press to the letter instead of the
police. Investigators suspected he might have been inspired by heavily publicized
events earlier that year. In January, San Francisco authorities received another cryptic letter from the
elusive Zodiac Killer. As covered in episode 200 of Case File, despite having relied heavily on the
press to generate leads, police chief Floyd Hannon chose to keep the existence of BTK from the public. He feared the
news might inspire hoaxes or copycats and plunge the city into hysteria. [music]
The publicity could also provoke BTK to strike again. Still, the police needed to signal to
the killer that they were taking him seriously [music] and were willing to cooperate in order to prevent any
further deaths. BTK's initial contact, columnist [music] Don Granger, was asked to run a discrete
classified ad at the top of the personals column in the Witcher Eagle over the following week. It would be
vague enough to go unnoticed by most readers, yet [music] specific enough to catch the killer's attention.
The brief message read, "BTK, help is available." The ad included a phone number manned by
the police, [music] but BTK never called it. Investigators enlisted Don Granger's
help again, this time requesting [music] that he address BTK directly in a personal plea through his widely read
commentary column, Talk of the Town. It began, "For the past week, Witchita police have tried to get in touch with a
man who has important information on the Ato murder case, a man who needs help badly."
Don didn't mention that he had received a call from the killer or that the police had a confession authored by him.
While he referred to BTK by his desired moniker, [music] he didn't divulge what it stood for. Don wrote that the phone
number provided in the personal column was being monitored by police who were willing to help BTK, but if BTK
preferred, [music] Don said he was willing to speak to him personally. He provided both his [music] office and
home phone numbers, writing, "This may expose me to a certain amount of crank [music] prank calls, but the
nuisance is worth the trouble if we can only provide help for a troubled man." Don's personalized plea went ignored by
BTK as well. Meanwhile, police continued to keep his presence under wraps as they
contemplated their next [music] move. Before they could reach a decision, one was made for them.
2 months after BTK's letter was received, an upand cominging rival newspaper to the Witchita Eagle called
The Witchita Sun went to print with a shocking headline. The paper was only 2 months old when
staff writer Kathy Henle broke the full story of the BTK in its 10th issue. Claiming to have obtained a copy of the
library letter from a trusted anonymous source. Kathy published portions of it and revealed that BTK stood for bind,
torture, kill. [music] She revealed that the killer intended to strike again and had already begun
hunting his next victim. [music] information that the police had deliberately kept from the public.
When asked why she published the letter, Kathy, who had grown up at just a mile from the Otto family home, explained
that she believed the people of Witchita had a right to know they were being stalked by a killer.
She said she had consulted with private sector psychologists who disagreed with the police's strategy.
While authorities feared that publicity might provoke BTK to strike again, the psychologists argued the opposite.
They believed that keeping him secret when he craved attention might actually increase the likelihood of another
attack. The day after the story ran, police chief Floyd Hannon fronted a press conference describing the publication of
the letter as one hell of a risk. [music] He warned that it might prompt the author to reaffend just to prove he had
committed the Otero murders. Calling BTK a sick man who needs help, Hannon urged the killer to turn himself
in. "If he doesn't," Hannon [music] admitted. "I could not guess what might happen."
The publicity triggered another wave of tips as residents accused husbands, [music]
boyfriends, neighbors, and co-workers. Despite growing fears [music] that BTK would strike again, the one-year
anniversary of the Otero murders passed in January 1975 without [music] incident.
By then, the telephone tip line had gone quiet, and all the leads following the publication of his confession letter had
dried [music] up. No further murders appeared to bear BTK's signature and no new letters
surfaced. [music] Thursday, March 17, 1977, marked a little over 3 years after the Otero
murders. At around noon on South Hydraulic Avenue in Southeast Witchah, 6-year-old Steven
Ralford walked up the block to a grocery store to buy canned soup for lunch. On his way back home, he noticed a man
at the front door of a nearby house. Tall, heavily [music] built, and well-dressed in slacks, a tweed sports
jacket, and dress shoes. The man carried a large blue briefcase. He looked [music] to be aged in his 30s
or 40s with dark hair and a punchy stomach. He knocked on the door, but no one answered.
The man then turned and noticed Steven. He approached holding a photograph of a woman with a baby [music] boy and asked,
"Have you seen these people?" Steven looked at the picture and said, "No." "Are you sure?" The man pressed. Steven
said yes and turned away. From the doorway of his home, Steven glanced back to see the man watching
before heading inside. His older brother, 8-year-old Bud, was playing with their 4-year-old sister,
Stephanie. Steven went into the main bedroom where their mother, 26-year-old Shirley Vanne,
was resting in bed with the flu. He crawled under the blankets and nestled beside her.
Moments later, there was a knock at the front door. Steven sprang out of bed and raced
toward the front door with Bud hot on his heels, turning it into one of their impromptu brotherly competitions.
Steven [music] reached the door first and opened it just enough to peek outside.
The well-dressed man with the briefcase towered over him. A weary and unwell Shirley Venne emerged from the bedroom
in a robe. When the man saw Shirley, he pushed his way into the house, claiming to be a
private detective and flashing an ID card that bore his photo. He closed the door behind him before reaching into a
shoulder holster and pulling out a pistol. "Don't hurt us," Shirley pleaded. "I'm
not going to hurt you," the man replied calmly. He said that he had a problem with
sexual fantasies and he intended to tie Shirley up, have sex with her, and take photographs.
He admitted it would not be pleasant for her, but insisted everyone would be all
right if she cooperated. He then paced around the living room, [music] turning off the television and
closing the blinds. In an attempt to dissuade him, Shirley [music] explained that the family was
sick with the flu. The man replied harshly that it was going to happen [music] and that he had
done this before. Suddenly, the telephone rang. Shirley said it was likely someone
checking in as she had kept her children home from school that day. Steven asked whether to pick up the
phone, [music] but the man told him, "No, leave it alone." The call rang out unanswered.
But it seemed to have spooked the man as he began moving with increased urgency and nervousness.
He explained that he would tie up the children first. Shirley begged him not to, but he
insisted it had to be done. He unzipped his briefcase, took out a length of white cotton braided cord,
[music] and began tying Bud's hands together. Bud screamed, cried, and struggled.
This is not going to work," the man said, frustrated. He then ordered Shirley to lock her
children in the bathroom. Shirley instructed Bud, Steven, and Stephanie to follow the man's orders as
she gathered blankets, pillows, and toys for them. Meanwhile, the man said about
making sure the children couldn't escape. The bathroom had two doors. He tied rope
from the doorork knob of one door to a pipe under the sink, jarring it. The other door led into the main bedroom.
Shirley was made to block it by pushing her bed against it. Inside the bathroom, Bud, Steven, and
Stephanie screamed and pounded on the door. When Steven threatened to untie the rope from under the sink, the man
barked a threat that he would blow Steven's head off. Bud then picked up something heavy and
used it to smash the bottom pane of the bathroom window. He crawled out, followed by Steven.
[music] The boys dropped to the ground, ran to the front door, and into the house. By the time they reached the main
bedroom, the man was gone. At around 100 p.m., Witchita police officer Raymond Fletcher received a
cryptic message over his radio. Call me back on a telephone. He understood immediately.
Dispatches only made such requests when they needed to share information too sensitive to be broadcast over public
scanners. Fletcher was given a residential address on South Hydraulic Avenue where there
had been reports of a homicide. He arrived at the house to find four-year-old Stephanie Ralford sitting
on a couch in the living room crying. Her older brothers, Bard and Steven, had run to a neighbor for help who had
called the police. Fletcher made his way to the main bedroom. The blinds were drawn, casting the room
in near darkness. A bed had been pushed up against the bathroom door and a top it lay Shirley
Venne. She was [music] naked and face down with her head at the foot of the bed. Her
arms and ankles were restrained with black electrical tape while a white cord and a pair of nylon panty hose bound her
hands behind her back. A pink nighty was pulled over her head which was encased in a white plastic
bag. It was tightly secured by another length of white cord that was wrapped multiple
times around her neck. The cord extended [music] down to bind her wrists and ankles and reached the head of the bed
where it was tied tautly to a bed post. Officer Fletcher hastily removed the nighty plastic bag and cord from
Shirley's head. Her face was smeared with vomit, which was also splattered across the bedroom floor.
A small amount of blood trickled out from one of her ears. Feeling for a pulse, Fletcher detected a
faint twitch and immediately began CPR. As additional emergency personnel arrived, they carried Shirley into the
living room to continue life-saving efforts, but it was too late. Officer Fletcher surveyed the scene. He
observed the cord and other restraints, the intricate knots, and [music] the plastic bag secured over Shirley's head.
He picked up his radio and reported, "It looks like the same thing as the Otero [music] case."
The parallels between the murders of Shirley Venne and Theoteros were not lost on Richard Lmanion.
Lmanionan was Witchita's newly appointed chief of police, taking over from his retired predecessor, Floyd Hannon.
He had previously served as captain of the Vice unit, overseeing investigations into public safety offenses such as
illegal gambling, drug and firearms violations, human trafficking, and sex work.
At 36 years old, Richard Lemonion was nicknamed the boy chief for being the youngest chief of police in Witchita's
history. His rapid rise up the ranks puzzled many of the city's more seasoned officers,
who wondered why someone with such little seniority or experience had been chosen to lead the department.
But Lemanion viewed his youth as an asset. He believed it gave him a fresh perspective that others hardened by
years in the force had lost. Former police chief Floyd Hannon left the position burdened with regret over
never having brought the killer to justice. It was an outcome Leman was determined
to avoid for himself and the BTK investigation became his top priority. He studied the Otero files in exhaustive
detail. the haunting image of 11-year-old Jos's body forever etched in his mind. [music]
Blind them, torture them, kill them were the code words the family's killer had provided in his written confession to
link authorities to his crimes. Now, 3 years later, Shirley Venne had been bound, tortured, and killed.
Two small round bruises at the base of her throat were consistent with finger pressure. And like Joe and Joey Otero,
she had died from strangulation and esphyxiation. Despite the crimes depraved sexual
undertones, Shirley had not been raped, mirroring the treatment of Josie Otero years earlier.
If Shirley's killer was BTK, posing as a detective to gain access to her home provided a possible explanation as to
how he could have entered the Otero residence without incident. He also had access to a firearm, a
weapon long suspected to have been used against [music] the Oteros to ensure their compliance.
Although Chief Lemonion wasn't a detective by trade, he felt all signs pointed to Shirley's killer being BTK.
Older, more senior detectives were not convinced. They noted several key differences to
the Otero murders, including the lack of seaman at the Vian scene and the fact that her phone line hadn't been cut.
Shirley's children had also been spared and left alive as witnesses. They described their mother's killer as
a tall, nicely dressed white man in his 30s or 40s with dark hair and a flabby belly.
Descriptions of the Otero killer varied, but he was generally reported as younger, shorter, and leaner with a
darker complexion and a more disheveled appearance. BTK had warned in his Otto confession
letter. BTK, you see, he added again, they will be on the next victim. Surely Vianne's killer left no evidence
behind, making any connection to BTK purely circumstantial. Even the leadup to the two crimes was
marketkedly different. Before Shirley's murder, her killer had been roaming the neighborhood, armed
with the tools of his craft, searching for a suitable target. The house Steven Ralford saw him visit
beforehand was occupied by three young women, but none happened to be home at the time that he knocked. It therefore
appeared that his decision to walk two doors down to Shirley Vianne's residence was impulsive, triggered by his
encounter with 6-year-old Steven. This stood in stark contrast to how BTK described selecting the Oro family,
which he claimed was a premeditated attack preceded by a lengthy period of planning, stalking, [music]
watching, and waiting. It was also noted that BTK's methods had appeared in many other unrelated crimes,
and finding a victim restrained didn't automatically prove his involvement. The FBI shared this skepticism.
At the time, the bureau had only just begun exploring the psychology of serial killers through behavioral science,
combining insights from fields such as psychology, criminology, neuroscience, and sociology. Behavioral science
examines how and why humans behave the way they do. Early research suggested that serial
killers couldn't simply stop once they started. let alone take a three-year hiatus between murders.
The investigation into Shirley Van's murder zeroed in on other possible suspects, including her ex-husband.
Robbery gone wrong emerged as the leading motive as two checks were missing from her home.
The case received minimal press coverage, buried among reports of other violent murders that week, including the
stabbing of a co-ed and the shooting of a man kidnapped from a liquor store. [music] Days, weeks, and months passed
without any breakthroughs. As Shirley's case grew cold, police chief Richard Lemonan found himself at a
similar crossroads to [music] his predecessor. If his gut instinct was correct, and
surely was a victim of BTK, [music] the public needed to be warned about the emerging serial killer among them.
The publicity might provoke another attack, but the increased awareness might also deter him. If Lemonion was
wrong, his authority and legitimacy would be questioned, and public trust in the police might be irreparably damaged.
With these stakes in mind, he ured on the side of caution [music] and made no public announcements.
A little under 9 months later, at 8:18 a.m. on Friday, December 9, 1977, a call was placed to Witchita Emergency
Services. The unidentified male caller spoke bluntly, his diction slow and stacado.
You will find a homicide at 843 South Persing. Nancy Fox. [music] The dispatcher couldn't quite make out
the man's muffled voice. I'm sorry, sir, they replied. I can't understand you. What was the address?
Another dispatcher listening in interjected. I believe he said 843 South Persing.
That is correct, the caller confirmed. The dispatchers tried to gather more information, but the man didn't reply.
Almost a minute passed until a different voice suddenly came down the line. "Who
are you?" one of the dispatchers asked. The new voice identified himself as an offduty Witchita firefighter.
He was at a pay phone outside a grocery store on the corner of Central and St. Francis in the heart of downtown.
He'd gone to use the phone after noticing the booth was empty and found the receiver dangling from the hook.
The previous caller had dropped it mid call, leaving the line open before fleeing the area.
Less than 5 mi away, police officer John D. Petra arrived at the South Persing Street address, a singlestory pink
painted duplex southeast of the city center. The neighboring unit was vacant, meaning
if anything suspicious had occurred at the residence, there was no one around to notice.
DPra knocked on the front door of number 843. No one answered and it was locked.
As he walked around to the back of the property, he noticed the severed cord of the phone line swaying in the breeze.
He also saw that the screen on a rear window had been removed. Primark scored the lock and the glass had been broken.
The interior drapes were drawn, preventing DPRA from seeing inside. "Is anyone home?" he called out.
"When no one replied," [music] he leaned into the window and pulled the drapes aside.
"A small bedroom came into view. Face down on the bed lay a half- naked woman in a pink sweater with her
underwear pulled down exposing her lower half. A yellow nighty had been used to tie her
ankles together and her wrists were bound behind her back with a pair of red nylon panty hoes.
Another two pairs of panty hoes were wrapped around her [music] neck. Just as the anonymous caller had stated
to 911, the woman was 25-year-old Nancy Fox. Nancy lived alone while working as a
secretary for an architectural firm. She had recently taken a part-time job at a
local mall jewelers to earn extra money for Christmas gifts. She was last seen leaving the jewelers
at 9:00 p.m. the night before and was murdered shortly after arriving home. >> [music]
>> Although she led a vibrant social life, going to nightclubs with friends, visiting her mother every Sunday, doting
on her 2-year-old nephew, and dating her boyfriend, on South Persing, Nancy mostly kept to herself [music] and
rarely had visitors. None of her neighbors saw or heard anything suspicious on the night she was
killed. Therefore, no one reported the crime until the 911 call the following morning.
Investigators were certain that the caller was NY's killer. As per standard practice, the call had
been recorded and playback revealed some peculiarities. The man's muffled voice suggested he had
covered the receiver to disguise his tone. He also pronounced the word homicide as
homicide. Either he was unfamiliar with the term or he said it that way to mislead
investigators into thinking he had an accent or that English wasn't his first language.
Regardless, his voice was unrecognizable. Based on the recollections of witnesses
near the pay phone where the call was placed, the man was white, aged in his 20s, and about 6 ft tall. possibly with
blonde hair. He wore what appeared to be a gray industrial style uniform and a hat with
ear flaps. And he drove a late model windowless van with indistinct advertising painted on it.
Examination of NY's apartment revealed the moments leading up to her murder. For the most part, the space was neat
and tidy, just as she always kept it. Her white Parker was folded over the couch, a cigarette she had half smoked
lay in an ashtray by a chair, and her eyeglasses sat upside down on the dresser beside her bed.
These homely details stood in stark contrast to the violent mess her killer had left behind.
Clothing had been strewn across the floor, and the telephone receiver had been pulled off the wall and tossed
aside. NY's purse had been emptied onto the kitchen table, and the contents of her
jewelry boxes were scattered. Yet, only her driver's license was noted as missing.
The lingerie drawer from her dresser was on the bed beside her, laid out next to
a blue night gown stained with seaman. Once again, [music] police chief Richard Lmanion faced the growing dread that BTK
had claimed another victim. Like Shirley Venne before her, [music] Nancy Fox's murder bore the hallmarks of
BTK's crimes. She was partially [music] naked, restrained on her bed, strangled to
death, and her killer derived sexual gratification from the act without committing a sexual assault.
Her phone line had been cut and her belongings ransacked, [music] but the killer seemed less interested in
valuables and more focused on taking trivial items as souvenirs. Between both cases and the OTO murders,
there were no worthwhile suspects. Yet, detectives still remained hesitant to draw a direct link, despite admitting
to the press that they were not even close to a break in any of the cases. Chief Lemanion considered whether they
should attempt to communicate with BTK again, giving his willingness to divulge information. Previously,
he consulted the FBI for guidance. But since the study of serial killers through behavioral science was still in
its infancy, the bureau had insufficient data to offer a definitive strategy. Ultimately, the [music] decision on how
to proceed was left to Lemonion. He was torn. BTK was inconsistent [music] and unpredictable, seemingly striking at
random intervals, both when he received publicity and when he didn't. People could die no matter how the
police handled the situation. But one thing was certain, BTK craved notoriety. [music] He wasn't the type to let his
crimes go unnoticed or to allow others to claim responsibility. If he was indeed responsible for
Shirley's, NY's [music] or any other deaths, he would inevitably seek recognition for them.
[music] Lammanion ultimately chose to sit back and wait, anticipating that BTK would
eventually expose [music] himself in pursuit of publicity. And he didn't have to wait long.
to be [music] continued next week.

[Part 1 of 4] The quiet suburban life of Wichita, Kansas was shattered in 1974 when four members of the Otero family, Joe, Julie and their two youngest children, Josie and Joey, were found brutally murdered in their home.

Nine months later, a letter was discovered inside a public library book that contained detailed, accurate, insider-knowledge about the crime. Worse still, the writer claimed responsibility for the murders and threatened to kill again.

CREDITS Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer

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RESOURCES

For all credits and sources, please visit https://casefilepodcast.com/case-337-test-a-rtf-part-1-4

Brief Summary

The episode covers the brutal Otero family murders and introduces the BTK killer's chilling confession.

Key points

The Otero Family Tragedy. A quiet family is shattered by a brutal quadruple homicide in Witchita, Kansas.
Community Shock and Fear. The murders instill a deep fear in the previously carefree community.
The Killer's Knots. Detectives consult a naval encyclopedia to identify intricate knots used in the murders.
The Psychic's Visit. A psychic's visit to the crime scene yields no results, despite her claims of success.
The Confession Letter. A mysterious letter reveals the killer's identity and chilling details about the murders.
The BTK Moniker. The killer names himself BTK in a letter, revealing his method and mindset.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

All murders are unpleasant, but this is one of the worst I've seen.

The district coroner's statement about the Otero murders.

14:41WatchMar 7, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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