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

Confession: Dolores Davis

Dolores Davis

Dennis Rader chose a very noisy way to get into the house of Dolores Davis. He threw a concrete block through her plate glass window to get in:

"She came out of the bedroom and thought a car had hit her house. I told her that I was, uh, I used the ruse of that I was wanted, on the run. That I needed food, car, warmth and I asked her, I handcuffed her, I told her I would like to get some food, the keys to her car, talked with her a little bit, calmed her down a little bit, and eventually I checked... I think she was still handcuffed. I went back and checked out where the car was, simulated getting some food, odds and ends in the house like I was leaving, went back, removed her handcuffs, then tied her up, and then eventually strangled her."

Like in most of the other murders, he took some personal items from her bedroom. He put her in a blanket and dragged her to the trunk of her car and hoisted her into the trunk and moved her to one place and then took his "hit" equipment to another place. This time, Rader's own commitments rushed him and he left one of his guns in her house, so he took her car back to her house, collected his gun, and walked back to his car. He then picked up Davis' body and dumped it under a bridge.

Judge Waller

At the end of his confession, Judge Waller asked him: So, all of these incidents, these 10 counts occurred because you wanted to satisfy sexual fantasies. Is that correct?

Rader answered yes.