BTK Gets 10 Consecutive Life Terms
Sentencing Comes After Tearful Testimony And Statement By Rader
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Play CBS Video Video BTK Sentenced To Life Confessed serial killer Dennis Rader was sentenced to 10 life sentences for a 17-year murder spree. Tearful relatives confronted the BTK killer. CBS News' Drew Levinson reports.
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Video BTK Killer Speaks CBS News RAW: Convicted serial killer Dennis Rader spoke at his sentencing in court.
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Video Victims' Relatives Testimony CBS News Raw: Steve Relford, whose mother was slain by the BTK Killer, speaks to Dennis Rader and the court.
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Addressing the courtroom, "BTK" killer Dennis Rader said: "Hopefully someday God will accept me." (CBS)
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Members of the Otero family listen Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2005, to testimony in the first day of Dennis Rader's sentencing hearing. (AP)
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Dennis Rader spoke to this Wichita, Kan., courtroom minutes after hearing from relatives of his victims. (CBS)
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Interactive The BTK Killer A look at some of the lives snuffed out by Kansas' BTK Strangler and a timeline of the murders.
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Interactive Serial Killers & Mass Murder Meet some of the world's worst killers, find out how some have gotten caught and what some have said about their crimes.
The sentence — a minimum of 175 years without a chance of parole — was the longest possible that Judge Gregory Waller could deliver. Kansas had no death penalty at the time the killings were committed.
The two-day hearing featured testimony from detectives who graphically detailed the 10 killings and tearful relatives of the victims. It culminated with rambling testimony from Rader, who said he had been dishonest to his family and victims and at times wiped his eyes.
"Nancy's death is a like a deep wound that will never, ever heal," Beverly Plapp, sister of victim Nancy Fox, testified. "As far as I'm concerned, Dennis Rader does not deserve to live. I want him to suffer as much as he made his victims suffer."
"This man needs to be thrown in a deep, dark hole and left to rot," she said. "He should never, ever see the light of day."
Rader offered Biblical quotes, thanks to police and an apology to victims' relatives before Waller sentenced him.
"A dark side is there, but now I think light is beginning to shine," Rader said. "Hopefully someday God will accept me."
Rader, 60, a former church congregation president and Boy Scout leader, led a double life, calling himself BTK for "bind, torture and kill." He was arrested in February and pleaded guilty in June to the 10 murders from 1974 to 1991.
The family members who spoke called him a coward, and they quietly sobbed.
Some of those who were given five minutes to speak to Rader and the court, such as Carmen Otero, expressed pure anger, CBS News 60 Minutes correspondent Erin Moriarty reports for CBSNews.com. Others, such as Kevin Bright, gave testimony almost too intense to listen to.
"No remorse, no compassion — he had no mercy," said Bright, the brother of victim Kathryn Bright, who himself was shot but managed to flee. "I think that's what he ought to receive."
Rader's voice choked as he made a rambling, half-hour address to the courtroom, saying he had been dishonest to his family and victims and selfish.
©MMV CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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