Discover the chilling maneuvers of the BTK killer and the relentless pursuit by Lieutenant Landwehr in a saga that's as gripping as it is grim. My latest podcast episode traverses the shadowy line between predator and protector, showcasing a clash of wits that spanned decades. From the dual existence of Dennis Rader, a feared serial killer and unsuspecting compliance officer, to the innovative and controversial techniques of familial DNA profiling, we're exposing the intricate dance of deception and detection that has captivated and horrified the nation.
As the narrative unfolds, we'll take you into the tension-filled rooms where detectives pieced together a puzzle that many thought impossible. Listen to the ethical quandaries that plagued those who spearheaded the investigation, the calculated risks they took, and the tightrope walk of engaging a killer in a public dialogue, all while keeping their cards close to their chest. T
Join us as we dissect the final chapters of this dark chronicle, and stay with us for more riveting accounts of The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast.
Discover the chilling maneuvers of the BTK killer and the relentless pursuit by Lieutenant Landwehr in a saga that's as gripping as it is grim. My latest podcast episode traverses the shadowy line between predator and protector, showcasing a clash of wits that spanned decades. From the dual existence of Dennis Rader, a feared serial killer and unsuspecting compliance officer, to the innovative and controversial techniques of familial DNA profiling, we're exposing the intricate dance of deception and detection that has captivated and horrified the nation.
As the narrative unfolds, we'll take you into the tension-filled rooms where detectives pieced together a puzzle that many thought impossible. Listen to the ethical quandaries that plagued those who spearheaded the investigation, the calculated risks they took, and the tightrope walk of engaging a killer in a public dialogue, all while keeping their cards close to their chest. T
Join us as we dissect the final chapters of this dark chronicle, and stay with us for more riveting accounts of The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast.
Welcome to the Murderbook. I'm your host, kera, and this is part 12 of the Hand for BTK. Let's begin. On February 3rd 2005, kake received a postcard in which BTK thanked the station for quote your quick response on number 7 and 8 and thanked the news team for their efforts. He said to the police that he received the newspaper paper tip for a go and he promised test run soon.
Speaker 1:Languard planned to call the bomb squad and X-ray the next package before opening it, but that raised an additional problem. If BTK's next package contained a floppy disk, would the X-ray scramble the information on it? The cops bought computer disks and checked them out, and tests showed the information would survive an X-ray. Knowing that did little to relieve the burden Languard carried At home. He and Cindy had finally bought some peace of mind to their son, james, who had endured night terrors and slept in his parents bed with the light on after BTK had resurfaced. His parents had convinced him that BTK was too old and too careful to stalk the child of a police lieutenant who had patrol cars cruising past the house every hour. Languard was trying to stay connected to the boy. Despite his long hours on the job, languard was still losing weight and also the chief thought and his men thought Languard's hair had gotten a lot grarer. So now this new hunt for BTK has lasted 10 months and Languard was tired and Raiderd was getting tired too.
Speaker 1:His method of scaring people required work, write the message, being careful not to give away clues. Always wear gloves. Drive to a copy machine, copy the message, then drive to several more locations to recopy it. Often reducing the type, recopying and trimming the edges of the paper make it harder for the cops to find which machines he used. He was tired of the driving around. He had a job and was still stalking women. It added up to time and effort. He was thinking of streamlining his tasks, which was why he had thought of the computer disk. He used a computer at work but he was terribly computer savvy To be careful. He had made discrete inquiries and had asked Languard. He thought the cops could not trace a disk. He enjoyed the game with Languard. He knew Languard was talking to him and he appreciated it. In the great grand game that they played together they matched wits and the bad guy always won. He wanted it to go on forever and he suspected Languard did too.
Speaker 1:For a long time, since Mother Kimberly Comer had lived in fear of Park City compliance office. Dennis Raider and she had moved to Park City a year and a half ago and soon noticed a little red truck with tinted windows. The guy inside took polaroids of her and her kids. She thought he might be stalking her and her roommate Michelle McMicken called the police. But when officers came they acted as if they knew who it was and as if they didn't care. Comer could not figure this out. Shortly after that she actually met the guy. He was driving a white city truck and said he was the Park City compliance officer. He lectured her about belongings she had left in her carport. Over the next several months Raider handed Comer citations and warnings. Sometimes he put his head into her open kitchen window and looked around. He interviewed her children about her. After she complained to Park City officials he came more often. He claimed a 1995 firebird she had parked in her yard was inoperable. She got more rattle every time he talked to her. He creeped her out even after he did something nice for her kids.
Speaker 1:In early 2005, comer's children, 11-year-old Kelsey and 9-year-old Jordan, were playing at a park. A big black dog began to bark and chase them. Kimberly was at home. 2 blocks away, raider, driving by, saw the dog chasing the children, ran into the park, scooped up the kids, put them in his truck. He took them to their home and gave them sticker badges and his business card and according to the kids he was very nice. But then he started harassing Comer about her inoperable car, again At the first Park City court hearing regarding her car.
Speaker 1:A few weeks later, comer drove to the city building. She told Raider her inoperable vehicle was parked outside. Raider declined to go look. Instead he put his hand on her shoulder and told her she needed to take her complaint to the next court hearing. She walked away angry. He walked away unperturbed. He had a lot on his mind and he had been doing a lot of writing lightly. Within days of sending that message to the cops, threatening to blow them up in his lair, raider had accepted a position with Christ Lutheran Church in northeast Wichita as president of the congregation. The church member who asked him to take that position was Ego assistant photo editor Monty Davis. He admired her because he was hardworking and dependable.
Speaker 1:On February 16, a receptionist at Fox affiliate KSAS TV found a padded envelope in the mail Gailie, decorated with 737 cent American flag stamps and the return address says PJ Fox. Within a short time the television staff was calling the cops. A crew from the KWCH TV, which produced the Fox stations newscast, took video of the contents A gold chain, an impendent and three index cards, one of which told the cops how they should get back in touch with BTK through yet another newspaper ad. There was also a purple computer disk. Gauton Otis walked into the station minutes later, saw the stuff spread out on the table and became impatient to take the items and leave. Otis began to interview the receptionist while Gautch talked to station managers, politely but bluntly, telling them please do not broadcast any of the film you took here, and Carl Luton and Ken Landward, before you do anything more, do not broadcast or say anything about the disk. And they agree. So Gautch did not want these people tipping off yours that the cops were trading messages with BTK through newspaper ads and he didn't want it out there with a computer disk from BTK now in police possession. If KWCH and KSAS broadcast down, the investigation would be compromised. Reporters would medially interview computer experts. Btk would learn that disks are easily traced.
Speaker 1:The two detectives gathered up the items and left Gautch drove. Otis pulled out his cell phone and he asked to get Randy Stone ready because they got a computer disk in the package. Who was Randy Stone? He was the Task Force computer wits. So they drove back to the epic center where the Task Force was now based, took only minutes but seemed longer. Otis, talking with Gautch, was still skeptical and he said well, you know, he's probably deliberately done a disk where he used it at a public computer, so we will show up, shake the place down while he stands back and watches us. So Gautch drove to the epic center as fast as the law would allow and when he and Otis got there they walked into the third floor office where the Task Force gathered, gave the disk to Stone.
Speaker 1:Gautch thought the computer disk might yield a tiny clue which would have to be matched to the name of someone driving a dark colored Jeep Cherokee. He thought, and this would take a lot of time and work. Stone loaded the disk into his computer with Langworth, ralph Gautch, otis Nider, trevor James, the FBI agent John Sullivan they were all standing behind him. Kim Parker and Kari O'Connor were there too from the District Attorney's office. They all have learned to hold their excitement and to prove arrived, and Gautch thought it might take days to sort it out. But Stone quickly called up and said Test A dot RTF. The message PTK had created for them read this is a test. See three by five card for details on communication with me in the newspaper.
Speaker 1:So Stone clicked onto the properties field of the file and then in plain letters they read the name Dennis. The screen also told them the disk had been in a computer registered to Christ Lutheran Church and had lassi beans used at the Park City Community Public Library. And someone said, oh my gosh, look at that, was it? Was it going to be this easy? So James and Sullivan sat down and computers nearby searched the Internet for Christ Lutheran Church. This took only seconds. They call up the website and pointed to the name of the congregation, president, dennis Rader. And again someone said oh my gosh, they had a name. So Gautch and Snyder and the rest of them looked on in amazement. James didn't use choice point to get Dennis Rader's address and they got it 62220 Independence Street, park City. There was the sound of scuffling feet. Stone turned from his computer and saw that all the detectives had bolted for the door.
Speaker 1:Snyder and Ralph raised north. Gautch and Aldis tried to catch them but they were not even close. Gautch later claimed that he and Ralph traded paint as they zoomed separate cars north on I-135 to Park City. But the truth was that by the time Gautch pulled his car into Dennis Rader's neighborhood, ralph was hundreds of yards ahead and Snyder, sitting beside him, was feeling fear. Ralph's driving was scary, even when he was on some sort of mission from God. As they rolled north, james called on a cell phone to tell them that a computer search had turned up no evidence that Rader owned a Jeep Cherokee. They drove on fearing another big disappointment and Snyder said Maybe BTK is setting up, dennis Rader.
Speaker 1:Ralph turned a corner, headed south on Independence, watching numbers fly by on the mailboxes, and he saw Rader's house just as Snyder started yelling there's a Jeep in the driveway and it was a black Cherokee. Snyder let out another wild yell and punched Ralph in the arm. Again and again Snyder yelled Okay, okay, slow down. And almost in the same breath he also said speed up. He was trying to read the Cherokee's tag number and real shot past the house, then slam on the brakes, hit the gas, spawn the car and I have donut tire squealing. He said so much for staying low profile. We cannot afford to tip off PTK.
Speaker 1:So it dawn on them that their car and Otis and Gauge's car were both for Towers, says, each carrying two men wearing suits. They might as well paint the words cup cards on the sides. And Ralph told Snyder tell those guys to stay back. And Snyder co-orders and relay the message. And Otis told Gauge Ralph is saying don't drive by the house. And Gout said okay, forgive Ralph, I'm driving by and I want to see it myself. So no, no, no, no, no, don't do that. Because you don't want to do that and doubt say no, I do. But he did stop the car.
Speaker 1:So now, parked half a block from Raiders house, snyder called Landward to tell him about the Jeep Cherokee and ask what to do If Landward gave the word. Snyder said he would happily tear Raiders door of the inches, pulled him onto the pavement. He guessed as he talked that the four of them would stick out the house and wait for the a lot of other cops to Surrounded before they went through the doors. But he thought they shouldn't wait long. What if PTK got a tip that they were on to him? Ptk might kill himself or burn his evidence. If he still had it. What if there was a leak to the media? Now, like with the Valadest thing, longwood, listen as Snyder told him about the Cherokee and Landward said I'll be back, I'll get back to it with you. And he hang up Odys and Gouch Park on one end of Raiders Street, ralph and Snyder parked at the other. They waited and watched. Time had flown.
Speaker 1:The call from KSAS have come in the morning and it was now just afternoon. Sheffield, james Corgan. She had found a Cherokee after all, registered to Brian Raider, denys's son. They wonder if Raider was at the house. They wonder if he had a surveillance camera and if the house was rigged to explode with propane tanks and gasoline In. Snyder told ref, it's absolutely him. Btk has no idea that. We saw the home depot tape. We know he's got a jet Cherokee so there's no way he could have set up someone else by planning the Cherokee on him. It's him and Ralph agree. So they knew that this will be over in no time.
Speaker 1:But when Landward called back he surprised them all. He said we are going to bring you back home. Planned it, this deal out. We're not going to do this now. And Snyder and Ralph said disbelief Because they had BTK after 31 years. He was only a hundred yards away, but Landward told them to come home.
Speaker 1:So from the south on, my cars drove off the I 135 exit ramps into Park City. The cars with two undercover cops, appease, took up positions at either end of Raiders short street. They would stay all night. Landward had told them to be careful. Park City had only seven thousand people. People in small towns notice strangers easily. The detectives drove back to Wichita and on the way, as the adrenaline began to subside, snyder Talked it through with Ralph. They decided that after three decades they should not hurry and risk blowing the arrest of the court case. Landward was making the right call. It called them to drive south, though.
Speaker 1:At the task force offices back at the epic center, deputy District Attorney Kevin O'Connor watched Landward take that call from Snyder and Landward said I'll get back to you and he closed his cell phone and said something about needing to do things right. O'connor would never forget what happened next. Landward made a little joke and he even poked fun at Snyder, he said for wanting to tear Raiders front door office inches. Then Landward sat still for a moment or two and then he said to do standing around him that he would pull the task force detectives back into the office and Take a long, slow approach to a vesting Dennis Raider, given the fear of leaks that had plagued the task force since Valadiz, o'connor was surprised. But Landward said that he didn't want to screw up the case, that he didn't want to be wrong. He wanted the court case and if there was a court case to be clean and solid.
Speaker 1:It took guts to make this decision, but Landward had a plan on how to be absolutely sure that Raider was BTK. As he listened to Landward describe it, o'connor began to smile. Btk had stuck people for 30 years, according to O'Connor. And O'Connor even said, quote and you know it's him and you can't prove it. And yet Landward held back because he wanted to make sure it was done right, in spite of the danger of media leaks, in spite of all the pressure the pressure he had mentally prepare himself for this moment long before, and you know he had thought it three years before. What if we actually find this guy? How do we arrest him? How do we prepare? It was clear that he had already thought it through.
Speaker 1:So Gaut, otis, relfs and Snyder arrived at the epic center almost high on excitement. There were high fives, there were hugs, there were beds. Shirley Rayder was their guy. But around them, while they celebrated, other detectives moved the case forward. Cheryl James and others were quickly amassing a pile of paper on tabletops outlining names, addresses, phone numbers and descriptions of relationships involving raiders relatives, friends and coworkers and other connections.
Speaker 1:Langwood now told the detectives what he had already told O'Connell and the others he wanted to get the DNA of someone related to Raider, without tipping off Raider or his family, and see whether the family DNA was a close match to BTK. There was no surprise to the detectives. Langwood had used this technique before with other crimes, other men, other families. James have established through records that Raider had a daughter named Kerry. Langwood said they could track down her doctors, obtain her medical files, get a subpoena for her for an old Patsmere sample without her knowing it. A database search showed that Kerry Raider had gone to Kansas State University in Manhattan, two and a half hours northeast of Wichita, late London and Ray London had graduated from K State and served as a law enforcement officer in Riley County where Manhattan is located. He recognized one of her addresses as a residence hall. London thought that she might have gotten checkups at the Student Health Center. So he would go that night. In spite of the excitement ahead, he needed to put a huge arrest plan together, but he also needed to go in front of the cameras one last time and talk reassurantly to BTK.
Speaker 1:So Langwood's plan to get the daughter's DNA touched off another vigorous debate in the district attorney's office. O'connor was all for letting the cops obtain the DNA in secret, but Folston's boss demanded to know how this did not violate Kerry Raider's privacy rights. The young woman had done nothing wrong, as far as it was known. Even if taking her DNA in secret were legal, folston said, it was nevertheless personal, potentially embarrassing to Kerry Raider and invasive too. So Folston asked isn't there any other way to get DNA, including from Raider himself? O'connor said no, it's just not a good way. That CSI stuff we see on TV doesn't work that way in real life. And she told him don't be as me, kevin. Can we justify this legally? Tell me all the reasons we should do this, but then tell me all the reasons we shouldn't. O'connor said look, we're trying to catch someone who has killed people and given the evidence and the circumstances, I sure wouldn't worry about anyone suing for privacy violations.
Speaker 1:Folston later met with Langwood and the task force had agreed to let them do it, but she felt sorry for Kerry Raider and wished there was another way. So at 10 o'clock, february 17, langwood walked into the fifth floor briefing room in City Hall and conducted another news conference. As usual, he kept his tone removed and formal and his face betrayed nothing. Once again he spoke directly to BTK and said, quote the Behavior Analysis Unit of the FBI has confirmed two letters as authentic communications from BTK. The letter that was dropped in the UPS box at Second and Kansas streets in October 2004 has been authenticated. The communication contained information about BTK that was subsequently released to the public on November 30, 2004. The FBI can confirm that it's a BTK communication, but cannot confirm the accuracy of the information he wrote about himself in the letter. The other communication that the FBI has confirmed is from BTK is the package that was located in December by a Wichita resident in Moorduck Park, and this package contained the driver's license belonging to Nancy Fox, which BTK took with him from the crime scene. Recent communications from BTK have included several items of jewelry. There was jewelry included in the post-toasties box that was left on Noyes Seneca Street and in the package received yesterday by KSAS Fox 24. The contents of yesterday's KSAS Fox 24 communication have been sent to the FBI and he continues saying we are in the process of determining whether or not any of this jewelry belonged to our victims. He then looked up from his printed text and addressed the cameras in a friendlier tone, as though he was talking to someone he knew. He said I have said before that the BTK investigation is the most challenging case I have ever worked on and that BTK would be very interesting to talk with. I still contend that this is our most challenging case, but I am very pleased with the ongoing dialogue through these letters.
Speaker 1:In Park City in the meantime, undercover cops spied on the house from a distance. At the epic center offices languid on, the cops frantically laid plans. Gouch heard some fancy ideas being discussed, everything from creeping up, sticking little tracking devices onto Raider's truck to bringing in FBI surveillance planes to watch him from the heavens. They wanted Raider to lead them to his stash of evidence and they thought he might have hidden it so deep that they might never find it otherwise. But as they talked, gouch spoke up and said look, we have done a rest before we know what we are doing. So let's not get so fancy. Let's do this like we have done them before. And language was thinking the same thing. They should keep it simple no tracking devices, no eye in the sky. But they still ended up with the most complicated arrest plan any of them have ever seen.
Speaker 1:By the time the chief analyzed it, they have given 215 people specific assignments, including handcuffing Raider, taking him to a county jail, collecting samples of his DNA, taking his DNA to a lab, picking up and interviewing his relatives. Gouch wondered how they could get it all done. Taking out search warrants. With Parker by his side, he stayed up until four o'clock in the morning to get all the details right. How can we do this and keep a lid on it, they asked. Ideally, they wanted to keep the arrest out of the news until they could search the property, but when Lambert told Chief Williams that he wanted to keep Raider's arrest quiet for a couple of weeks, williams laughed and said you're not going to get a couple of weeks. He said well, can we get at least a couple of days? And Williams smiled and said well, you'll be lucky to get a couple of hours before this news gets out On February 18,. This is two days after police linked the disk to Raider London took a subpoena to K-State.
Speaker 1:Carrie Raider was living in Michigan, but medical records from her college years were still on file with the Student Health Center. A pap smear sample was at the Manhattan Medical Laboratory. London immediately got a second subpoena plus a court order allowing him to get the pap smear slide from the lab. Four days later, london obtained Carrie Raider's tissue sample, which had been smeared on glass and encased in resin. London drove 45 miles east to the KPI lab in the state's capital, which is Topeka, and before he left Manhattan, though, london pointed out to every medical person he talked with that the judge had ordered all of them to stay quiet about this. They were not to call Carrie Raider or tell anyone about the search.
Speaker 1:At 6 am Sunday, february 20, a park city woman named Deanna Harris suddenly needed an ambulance. She was suffering from diabetic complications, her husband was at work and she had no phone. She sent her 11 year old daughter out the door and she told her to call 911. The girl ran across Independence Street. Dennis Raider answered his door and quickly showed her to his telephone. Raiders were cooking breakfast and he told her that they were getting ready for church. The girl called 911, then ran back to her mother. The man called her out to her and said I hope your mommy will be okay.
Speaker 1:On Thursday morning, february 24, cindy Schuller, a KPI biology supervisor in Topeka, began to extract DNA from the pap smear. London had told her only that the task force had a good suspect in the BTK case and that the smear might help. Schuller had worked for the KPI since 1991 and had tested thousands of DNA samples. This one, which was at least a couple of years old, posed a challenge. Schuller had difficulty removing the thin glass cover from the slide. It took hours to chip away microscopic pieces of the resin and the glass cover. When she finally got the tissue, she processed the material and laid the DNA pattern out on paper A straight line broken by peaks. And then she compared the DNA profile of the pap smear to the DNA profile from one of the BTK crime scenes.
Speaker 1:That week Polarader noticed men that she didn't know sitting in cars parked down the street. The men had long hair and sat for hours watching passerbys, and she thought they must be undercover cops. Maybe they had found a drug dealer up the street. She did not say anything to Dennis. It was nothing worth mentioning. And Dennis had been busy lately, working late. The Wichita detectives have occasionally worked 7 days a week, sometimes skipping nights of sleep. But they have homes and families to go to if they wished. Ray London and Larry Thomas, two KBI agents alone two. Langworth had worked just as hard and he had lived out of them hotels for the past 10 months away from home and family.
Speaker 1:London, back in Wichita on February 24, had just eaten some stuffed french toast at an IHOP and was taking a walk to burn off calories. On his cell phone he saw that Shuler had just called him from the KBI lab. He said he thought well, this is it. What is it going to be? And so when they finished talking, london thanked her and dialed Langworth's cell phone.
Speaker 1:Langworth was at home helping his son with his homework. He was still dressed in his suit and tie. He was ready to drive back to the epic center when the cell phone rang and he saw London's name come up on the screen. So Langworth went into his garage and shut the door. He said this is Langworth. And London wanted to be as thorough as Shuler began to repeat what she had said, step by step with all the technical jargon. Langworth paced and listened. Finally London told him two of the Allels didn't come in and Langworth's heart sank.
Speaker 1:He knew that DNA tests that Shuler conducted had 13 genetic markers Allels for men, 12 for women. They were looking for all 12 to match between BTK and Karen Rader. So Langworth said so, it's not him, and he was simply disappointed. But London paused Surprise, said no, no, it's him. It wasn't that those two Allels didn't match, it was that the old tissue sample didn't yield enough material to test in two areas. There were 10 for 10 on matching the parts they could test.
Speaker 1:And there was a brief silence. Langworth took a deep breath. He said well, son, son, son, bitch, we got him. Get your ass back here and, ray, I'm going to buy you a big steak dinner. He closed the cell phone, he walked back into the house. He told Cindy he was going back to work and Cindy watched his face. He had a big smile and out of here he put her aside and said it's over, baby. So he stayed in the house long enough to tuck his son to bed.
Speaker 1:At her home, district Attorney Nala Fauston stared at a photograph on her computer screen and began to laugh. In the photo Dennis Rader smiled and looked pleased with himself. A member of the task force had emailed it to her and Fauston told the photograph you have no idea what's in store for you. Her son, 15-year-old Andre Fauston, heard her start laughing loudly again and say what's up, mom? Are you on crack? And she said no. No, she couldn't tell him what was going on or she could do a smile. At the command center. Detectives cheered, they smacked hands in high five, they hugged each other, but Ralph suddenly wanted to be alone. Langworth had an office up to the side and it was empty. Ralph walked in, shut the door. He had become convinced over 16 years of working murders that God was always present and always kind. People had suffered so much, but BTK was finished now. So Ralph got down on his knees and tears began to stream down his face and his lower lip began to tremble and he said I give thanks, we'll be right back.
Speaker 1:The cops worked deep into the night of February 24, 2005. Gouch typed nine search warrants and had O'Connor and Parker double check them. They needed a judge to sign the warrants, but prosecutors thought news reporters might stake out said Twig County's criminal court judges watching for who might be going in and out. So Parker court judge Gregory Waller and asked him to walk up the street and to the task force headquarters and the epic center. Janet Johnson planned how to announce the arrest. So, though, to the world, she was surprised that they have been no leaks so far.
Speaker 1:Morton, the FBI profiler, was told by phone to get to Wichita from Quantico as fast as he could fly. Chief Williams had decided the best way to get BTK to confess after his arrest was to assign Langworth and Morton to be the first interrogators. Ben Hardy and other gang officers had been swabbing people for the task force since July. It was repetitive work, and Hardy was tired of it. He was startled when Langworth now told him. He said I need you to wear uniform. Tomorrow you and Scott Moon are going to be on the arrest team. Langworth said he wanted a pair of uniformed officers to start the arrest by pulling a raider over, making it look like a routine traffic stop. Langworth wanted Hardy and Moon because they had both arrested hundreds of gang bangers, many of them armed and violent, sometimes chasing them down on foot. Langworth was confident that his detectives could handle Raider, but he wanted Hardy and Moon. There too.
Speaker 1:A meeting at the epic center was hurriedly arranged to finalize plans. So Langworth, captain John Spear, deputy Chief Robert Lee found the door slot. They waited until someone could let them in. Speer would remember the next few minutes for the rest of his life because they stood in the quiet of the parking garage looking out on the lights of the city. Only they and a handful of other cops knew the news that the city had waited to hear for 31 years BTK was going to be put in a cage.
Speaker 1:Langwood was smiling. He and the others have never shown much affection except with rough cop humor. But many men had hugged each other tonight. Langwood pulled out his cigarettes and lit one and Lee said you know, kenny, if it really is him, I will smoke a cigarette with you. And Lee had not smoked in years. So Langwood flicked the cigarette half out of his pack and held it out to Lee. Langwood handed another to Speer, who had quit smoking 15 years before. Neither of the non-smokers had a match. So Langwood held his lighter for his two friends. Then they stood there and smoking in a silent garage.
Speaker 1:So at the meeting the BTK detective suddenly found themselves passed over and pissed off. The chief wanted the SWAT team, not the BTK task force, to make the arrest. It makes sense. This would be the biggest arrest the department had ever made. There was a chance that if the arrest did not come out perfectly, that BTK might burn his evidence, blow up his house, kill himself. Try to take a few cops with him.
Speaker 1:The SWAT team was well trained and Otis was fuming. There was little use in arguing. Police departments are much like military units. Otis are Otis. But Otis was Otis and he said chief, I really want to be on that arrest. And Williams just looked at him and said look, I'm not going to let you. But Otis said look, the only difference between me and the SWAT team is that a SWAT guy has a machine gun. And I know. But you know what? I don't need a machine gun. We all worked this case until we really wanted to do the arrest. And Otis thought well, otis has, he has balls, he got balls. So other detectives spoke up too. And then Langworth said look, I think these guys want to handle it, chief, I think they ought to handle it too. And Williams nodded. He said okay, no one knows BTK better than these guys. So he then back off about the SWAT team and he ordered the task force to make the arrest. Otis said back relieved had the chief not relented, otis would have strapped on his bulletproof vest, taking part on the arrest anyway, hoping that the body armor and a helmet would hide his identity from commanders.
Speaker 1:Afterward Langworth made two calls to people he trusted. One was Paul Holmes and the other one the every time Ghostbuster who had surfaced. Paul Holmes was the every time Ghostbuster who has surfaced an unofficial member of the task force. And Holmes had worked hundreds of unpaid hours for the task force since BTK resurfaced. So Langworth now offered him a golden gift Holmes could be present for the arrest. But Holmes declined. And that was a what? Come on, you're gonna miss it. And Holmes had to say no. He appreciated the honor but he was going to visit his daughter.
Speaker 1:Langworth also called his mother early on. Langworth have asked the poor patrol cars to cruise past Irene's house every hour. The street officers had done their job so well that they once called Langworth in a moment of forgetfulness. One day he got a call from this patcher telling him that a white car had pulled into his mother's drive and Langworth said oh shoot, that's my mother's new car. He said sorry I forgot to tell you, but he was glad that the officers were on top of the job In Langworth. To Irene he said I can tell you much, but I wanted to tell you we're going to get this guy tomorrow it's over and he slept well that night for the first time in 11 months Now.
Speaker 1:The commanders had assigned four teams of undercover cops to Raider surveillance. They did not watch him 24 hours a day, they left at night and they hung back when they watched Trina to spook him. Raider was a creature of habit. He left for work at the same minute every day and drove home for lunch at 12.15 pm, arriving at 12.18 pm, like clockwork. The commanders planned accordingly. Hardy and Moon were pulled behind Raider as he went home For the traffic stop and Chief Williams loaned them his car, which was unmarked and had police lights embedded in the grill. This was convenient because it did not look like a Wichita patrol car. The cops did not want to make Park City people suspicious. So once Hardy and Moon pulled Raider over, goudreau of Otis Snyder, london and John Sullivan and Chuck Pritchard from the FBI would pull up and draw their weapons.
Speaker 1:London was assigned to drag Raider out of the truck with Otis backing up London with a short gun. A helicopter would improve the. They couldn't uh, how to explain this. London was assigned to drag Raider out of his truck with Otis backing up London with the shut down, and there's going to be a helicopter that would provide cover overhead, in a few yards behind the arrest team. Then you would have Langworth and Ralph that they will be watching from inside a car and then they would drive Raider downtown. So backing the arrest team was more than 200 people, many of them assigned to simultaneous searches. They would go to Raider's house, his church, his mother's house, his office at City Hall, the library. They would confiscate Raider's city truck and the bump unit was standby. There was a computer C-Shirt team relief teams, interview teams. Those to be interviewed included Raider and his wife's son, mother and two brothers who lived in the area.
Speaker 1:O'connor asked um have jokingly whether he could take part in the arrest and he offered to um hide in a car trunk and stay out of the way. But the cops smiled saying no. The O'Quaster fingers about keeping the story quiet. Otis have enjoyed a conversation earlier in the week in which he got to mislead the ego reporter who had uh, steak out the cops at the Valadiz arrest. Tim Potter had who he had to cancel several vacations and long weekends with his wife as the BTK story had progressed. He called Otis at midweek, unaware that Otis was helping plan the arrest. Potter was exhausted from a string of 12-hour days and on the phone with Otis he said that he was taking his wife to Kansas City for a long weekend. He cracked the joke could you do me a favor and not arrest BTK while I'm gone? And Otis said look, you don't have anything to worry about, just enjoy your vacation, we'll be right back. Longer than Johnson.
Speaker 1:They were scared to death that reporters would blow their cover. So Johnson was upset at 9am the next morning when she got a call from a Kansas City television reporter. He had heard there was going to be a BTK arrest. Was it true? Johnson lied, telling him it was a rumor. She lied again when a reporter from which it has KWCH TV called.
Speaker 1:By the time three hours before the schedule arrest, several law enforcement agencies had spent hours stating cops into their assigned positions. Johnson felt frantic. He said word was going to leak out. So when she went to the daily 10am briefing for local reporters she found himself slipping into paranoia. The briefing went smoothly, a visitation of the crimes police had investigated. The night before she looked at her watch there were two hours to go.
Speaker 1:So on a side street in Park City, two blocks from Raiders House, officers Hardy and Boone sat in Chief Williams, chevy and Paula, still amazed that they had drawn the assignment and the arrest team had come quiet. And um, they had come quiet into Park City without notifying local authorities and they were listening to the police radios Behind them. Detective said in other cars sometimes people driving past was there. So would Raider run or shoot himself or shoot at them? Whatever he did? Um, hardy and Boone decided that they would be ready. Boone was 35 and have surfed on the gang unit and and SWAT team. Hardy was 28 when he joined the force at age 21. He looked so youthful that Spear had called him altboy, but he was not naive. Hardy and Boone arrested gang members every time In. Gaut and Snyder sat behind them in one. Um, in one car, london, and notice in another, sullivan and Pritchett, the two FBI guys in a third, langworth, ralph and Larry Thomas in the fourth car. So Gaut put his car up beside London and noticed the minutes until 12, 15, ticked a bye and everybody wore body armor.
Speaker 1:Odyssey Dutson, sorry, had those in recliner at home overnight but had not sleep deeply. He held for 12 gauge short done itching to get going. There have been times in the past 11 months where he had almost had to carry his partner, took the car after Gaut suffered back spasms from the stress of work. There have been the day when Odys burst through the door of a house where the plane had line had been cut to be thinking that he would face down BTK. But it had turned out to be some loser scheme to keep his girlfriend from moving out. There have been weeks when Odyssey had looked at the obituraries hoping to find a hint that BTK might be dead. In funeral homes Odyssey swapped the nostrils of half a dozen dead men, hoping that the DNA was going to match. He was ready for for this to be over.
Speaker 1:Something occurred to Snyder as he sat with Gautch. He said hey, who's going to cuff Raider? And Gautch said I don't know. So he turned to Odys in the ear beside him and said who's going to cuff Raider? And Odyssey said it's not going to be me because I'm carrying this shotgun. So Snyder remembered that there were a lot of WPD cops, long retired, like Trawaski and Cornwall and Timish stored many others who thought their failure to catch BTK has strained their careers. And now here the Wichita Police Department said admit agents from the FBI and the KBI. And you know, gautch said I think whatever's cuffed out, uh sorry, I think whoever cuffs him ought to be WPD. And Gautch said no, I agree, so do I. So Snyder thought for a moment and I said he said well, I think it should be you. Then this is Snyder saying it to Gautch. He said you will be the, you will be the closest to Raider, and Odyssey would have his hands full with the shotgun. And Gautch shrugged his and Snyder smiled. He said okay, but you have to use my cuffs. So Gautch said okay. So Sam and Snyder handed over his cuffs and he was 1215 and the radio voice said he is on the move In the next few moments.
Speaker 1:The undercover cop tailing Raider radiated every turn. Raider moved every street he passed. Harry looked at the railroad mirror and saw Raider in his white city truck driving him toward him. Hardy fell his heart race. He let Raider pass him. Hardy did not dare look in his direction and Moon said it's okay, he didn't even look at us. So Hardy got the engine, drove up behind Raider. Moon flipped on the flashlight the flashing lights embedded in the grill and Raider put up over immediately.
Speaker 1:What happened next took only seconds. Hardy scrambled out of the cars, london drove up alongside and skidded to a halt at a diagonal only a couple of feet. Where have his car, hardy? Was trying to think. Hardy was pretty much trapped between the cars. So Moon got out on the other side. He drew his clock and met Raider who was getting out of his truck. With an irritated look, raider froze when he saw Moon wearing the distinct tan uniform of the Wichita Police Department. He looks like his mind just went into vapor lock and Moon thought so Lincoln, or sorry.
Speaker 1:London drew his 9 millimeter pistol, moved toward Raider but Eddie's oldest who was getting out of the passenger sign he found himself trapped with, with Harry between the car. He had no room to get out or aim his shotgun. So, oldest, here at London, ray, you have boxed me in. So he threw his right hip shoulder 230 pounds against him in the. So let's explain this back. I'm trying to describe it as best as I can. London drew his 9 millimeter pistol. He moved toward Raider but oldest was getting out of the passenger side. He sort of found himself trapped with Hardy between the cars. That means that he had no room to get out and he didn't have room to aim his shotgun. So, oldest, here at London, he said Ray, you have boxed me in. So he threw his right hip shoulder 230 pounds against the door and crunched a dent into the side of the chief's car. And Moon called to Raider and said don't move, hold your hands up or I can see them. So Raider stood as the frozen.
Speaker 1:London, who had hesitated, now ran toward Raider and London said get down on the ground. He was six feet tall, weighted like 225 pounds. He had been a power weight lifter. He grabbed Raider by the back of the neck and forced him to the pavement. Everyone else ran up. Now gone strong. Snider's heart skipped a beat but he saw one of the two uniformed officers pull out a pair of cuffs. But Gouch moved in quickly with Snider's cuffs and then Snider got there too. Snider held his glock in one hand, padded Raider down with the other, hearted, hearty, twisted Raider's left arm behind his desk, sorry, behind his back and someone else pulled Raider's right arm into place and Gouch snapped Snider's handcuffs onto Raider's wrists. Snider looked up and suppressed a grin. Sullivan, the FBI agent, glowed down at Raider while holding a submachine gun. Sullivan would forever be known in tests for his lore as machine gun.
Speaker 1:Sully Snider noticed that there was none of the usual why did I do? What's this about? You know the stuff that people usually say during a rest. Snider looked resigned and he was wearing his tan compliant officer uniform, complete with his webbed belt that had the. It held the can of paper spray. He had a stick baton and one of the cops asked another. He said do you want us to take this off? And Raider said you can if you want, saying that and this is Raider saying that, thinking that they were addressing him, but they ignore him and removed the belt.
Speaker 1:So London pulled Raider to his feet. Raider looked into London's eyes from inches away and spoke Said hey, would you please call my wife? She was expecting you for lunch. I assume you know where I live. And Snider thought what a guilty man. He knows why we're here. As they propelled Raider to the back of the line of cars, raider peered into the car that he would ride in. In the back seat he saw a man with a tan and familiar face. The cops ease Raider into the car, into the seat, and Raider said hello, mr Langward. And Langward replied hello, mr Raider, and Glance at Ralph who had turned around to look. As he had sat at the wheel, langward could see that Ralph was thinking the same thing.
Speaker 1:Raider's going to confess. They have kept Park City police in the dark. The chief, bill Ball, first realized that a police story was unfolding in his town when he saw a helicopter flying low just east of I-135. At City Hall Ball learned that Raider had been arrested. Also, wigita Police were carrying a warrant and they wanted to see Raider's office and one of them said get ready for a lot of media attention. So Langward and the FBI. They have planned a standard good cops by a cops tactic. The cops would push Raider to the pavement where the bad cops, langward, and the cops taking him to the epic center, would be the good cops. They would get Raider away from the arrest scene quickly and treat him respectfully.
Speaker 1:The abrupt arrest followed by courtier courtesy was calculated. To loosen his tongue. Langward once an auto boy, now wanted to be Raider's confesser. There would be no May for TV confrontation. Langward had spent 11 months building a rapport with BTK. He could build on that now.
Speaker 1:Raider complained politely that his handcuffs were too tight. He could reach behind Raider and adjust how they fit, but did not loosen them. Langward tried to think of something friendly to say. He looked out the window and said there's a nice sunny day. Do you play golf? Raider said no, I like to hunt and fish in the morning to gardening. Langward looked at him and said garden. Well, you will be planting potatoes pretty soon. As they pulled into the epic center parking garage, larry Thomas turned in the front seat and noticed that Raider was frigidding and Thomas said why. Raider's built cap was about to fall off his head. Raider, his handcuffed, was tilting his head to keep the cap on and Thomas said can I help you with your cap? And he said yes, please. As they walk inside, langward worry about botching the interview. Thank you for listening to the Murder Book. Have a great week.