SERIAL KILLERS > UNSOLVED CASES

The BTK Story

Courtroom footage is available for this story for license and/or purchase from the IN SESSION archives – click here.

By Marilyn Bardsley, Rachael Bell and David Lohr

"Will There (Be) More?"

On May 5, 2004, another letter suspected to be from BTK was sent to Kansas television station KAKE-TV. The letter was three pages. On the first page was typed “The BTK Story,” under which was a list of chapters taken from Court TV's Crime Library story on the killer, Ron Sylvester reported in The Wichita Eagle. Intriguingly, some of the chapter titles were changed from those listed in Crime Library original story. For example, Chapter 7 originally titled “BTK- The Next Step” was changed to “PJ’s,” Chapter 4 titled “BTK- Different Worlds Collide” was altered to read “Fantasy World” and the chapter titled “BTK Cold Case Squad” was changed to “Will There (Be) More?” 

The second page of the letter was titled “Chapter 8” and contained word puzzles with letters in vertical rows, Jeanene Kiesling reported in a May KAKE-TV article. On the last page were photocopies of business ID’s belonging to two men, one a former Southwestern Bell worker and the other a former employee of the Wichita public school district, the Associated Press reported in June. According to the article, the phone company employee was later contacted but he could not understand why a photocopy of his ID was in the letter. Upon further investigation, the school district employee listed on the card did not exist and the logo of the school used on the card had been discontinued. Interestingly, the three-page letter was different from the March letter sent to The Wichita Eagle in that the return address on the envelope bore the name Thomas B. King (TBK) instead of Bill Thomas Killman (BTK), Sylvester reported.

It didn’t take long for the FBI to authenticate the letter as a genuine BTK communication, believed to have been his third in a three-month period. The first known communication in 2004 was the March 19^th letter sent to The Wichita Eagle. The second known communication allegedly by BTK was an anonymous letter sent to Wichita’s KSN-TV in April 2004, which purportedly contained a photo of an unidentified baby.

There was no doubt that the killer was back to his old habit of taunting police. However, it is likely that he was also providing them with vital clues to his identity and details regarding his past murders. It was suggested that the killer may have used the IDs represented in the letter to gain access to the victims’ homes. Moreover, police alleged that the chapter titled “PJ’s” could be a clue linking the killer to a faculty member at Wichita State University. 

Many wondered why the killer chose this point in time to resurface. Some believed that the killer reemerged because he missed the media attention, which he seemed to crave. There is also a chance that his most recent communications were a warning that he might strike again in the near future. BTK’s new letters have re-ignited the investigation into the killer, as well as the community’s fears of more brutal murders. Many wonder whether the BTK killer can be captured before he gets a chance to kill again.

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1. Birth of a Serial Killer
2. Dawn
3. Fetish
4. Different Worlds Collide
5. Vanishing Act
6. Ghost Busters
7. The Next Step
8. Cold Case Squad
9. Profile
10. Aftermath
11. BTK Returns
12. Will There Be More?
13. More Clues
14. Name Games
15. Police Power
16. Too Many Clues
17. BTK Suspect Arrested
18. Who is Dennis Rader?
19. New Revelations
20. Exercising Power and Control
21. Rader Court Hearing
22. New Clues
23. BTK Messages Revealed
24. Kerri Rader's DNA
25. Digital Footprints
26. BTK's Signature
27. Those Who Remain
28. Piecing Together the Puzzle
29. Nightmare in Wichita - Book Review
30. Not Guilty
31. Rader Uncovered
32. Creating an Insanity Plea
33. Surprise Confession: Otero Murders
34. Confession: Kathryn Bright
35. Confession: Shirley Vian Relford
36. Confession: Nancy Fox
37. Confession: Marine Hedge
38. Confession: Vicki Wegerle
39. Confession: Dolores Davis
40. The Psychopathic Mind
41. Dennis Rader Speaks
42. Legal Matters: Dennis Rader Update
43. The BTK Tapes
44. In Rader's Own Words
45. Otero Murders' Evidence
46. Mounting Evidence
47. Shirley Vian Relford Case Evidence
48. Nancy Fox and Marine Hedge Case Evidence
49. Vicki Wegerle and Dolores Davis Case Evidence
50. Evil Personified
51. Sentencing
52. Photo Gallery
53. Bibliography