Read Inside the Mind of BTK: The True Story Behind the Thirty-Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer for Free Online Page B

result of a fantasy acted out. A fantasy where for the first time in his life, he is in a position of importance and dominance. He is an inadequate type, a nobody, who, through his crimes, has placed himself into a position of importance. The BTK Strangler is now a somebody who is receiving the recognition he feels is long overdue him. To show his inadequacies, he is not even very original in his crimes. He must pattern himself after other notorious killers such as the .44 caliber killer, better known as the “Son of Sam” in New York City. Much of the verbiage that your subject is using (in his letters) probably comes out of recent publications in detective magazines.
     
    Your subject is alienated, lonely and withdrawn. He would not be expected to have any lasting relationships with others and would lead a solitary existence dominated as mentioned above—by fantasy and magical thinking. His killing is an attempt on his part to find affection and acceptance. He fears everyone, including himself. He would not be expected to have ever enjoyed any normal relations with women and probably has never had a normal heterosexual relationship with one. When he is not killing, he experiences intense fear that he is not “normal” and therefore kills to cope with his disorder in an attempt to escape from his own fantasies. Thus, he can be expected to kill again and to do so in a compulsive repetition of the pattern he has already established. His victims can be anyone either male or female, who are both loved and outgoing. His victims will be in a position of vulnerability, one where he can totally render them helpless. His victims represent his own feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. His own life has been disruptive. He probably comes from a background where his family was broken. He was raised by an overbearing mother who was inconsistent with her discipline. His father probably left home, either by marital separation or death, when he was a youth. Your subject may have been raised by foster parents.
     
    Your subject was an average student in the classroom. However, he was more adept at disrupting the class by using profanity and pranks. His language and statements make us believe that he has some military experience and/or is a police buff. He probably has had run-ins with police in the past, such as assault, and/or breaking and entering (B&E). His involvement with B&Es will show that the items taken were of insignificance. Items taken were more for reason of a fetish or a strong urge to obtain an article of clothing that he is fond of—or the thrill of committing a crime that will leave little evidence to investigating officers. The BTK Strangler may have a history of voyeuristic activities and he may have an arrest record for same. He hunts his victims by selecting neighborhoods where he can peruse different homes without being detected. Furthermore, his victims will live in an area where, if need be, he can have an easy escape route, such as a neighborhood park, where he can secrete himself to elude the police.
     
    His killings are impulsively motivated and without elaborate planning. He seeks out targets of opportunity. Such individuals of this type are frequently mechanically adept. They suffer from insomnia and thus would find difficult to hold steady employment. Control of himself and of his environment is essential for such a person. Although he is gaining in confidence, he is still shy, withdrawn, asocial and isolated. Such persons have typically been raised in overly strict and religious fashions.
     
    As a counter strategy technique, your department must not make any statements concerning the killer’s mental condition. That is to say, don’t allow the media to label him as some psychotic killer. If they have already done so, your best strategy would be to align yourself with the killer and not the psychiatric experts. Any press releases should clearly state that he is a killer who must be apprehended and