A former church leader today pleaded guilty to 10 counts of murder, admitting in a chillingly matter-of-fact voice to a series of slayings that terrorised a US city beginning in the 1970s.
Dennis Rader, 60, of suburban Park City, entered the guilty pleas as his trial was to begin in Wichita, Kansas.
Referring to his victims as "projects", Rader laid out for the court how he would "troll" for victims, then stalk them and kill them.
"I had never strangled anyone before, so I really didn't know how much pressure you had to put on a person or how long it would take," he told the court in describing his first killings in 1974, a couple and two of their children.
Most of the victims' relatives who were in the courtroom sat silent and stared at Rader; one woman wiped away tears. Victims' families left the courtroom, escorted by officials into another building, and did not speak to reporters.
Prosecutors had said before the hearing that no plea deal had been made. Rader was arrested on February 25th.
Saying he was motivated by sexual fantasies, the former president of the church council at Christ Lutheran Church and Boy Scout leader, Rader admitted killing 10 people in the Wichita area between 1974 and 1991.
The serial killer known as BTK - the self-coined nickname that stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill" - taunted media and police with cryptic messages.
"Today in court, for the first time, our community and the nation has now heard Dennis Rader reveal that he has committed those homicides," District Attorney Nola Foulston said. "Today we have some resolution."
Sentencing was set for August 17th. Rader will not face the death penalty because the state had no death penalty at the time. But it is likely he will never leave prison because each count carries a possible life sentence.
Rader, wearing a beige coat and dark tie, told District Judge Gregory Waller he understood the charges and that he was waiving his right to a jury trial.
"The defence worked with me real well," Rader said. "We went over it. I feel like I'm pretty happy with them."
Asked by Judge Waller if he was pleading because he was guilty, Rader answered, "Yes, sir."
The earliest crimes linked to the BTK strangler date to January 15th, 1974, when Joseph Otero, 38, and his 34-year-old wife, Julie, and their children Josephine, 11, and Joseph jr, nine, were found dead in their home.
"The whole family just panicked on me. I worked pretty quick," he said.
When questioned by the judge about the motivation for the Otero slayings, Rader said: "That was part of what you call my fantasy." Pressed further, Rader said, "Sexual fantasy, sir."
Rader has not been accused of sexually assaulting his victims, but he admitted masturbating over some of them.
BTK's next three known victims were young women found strangled in their homes between 1974 and 1977.
After years of silence, the killer resurfaced last year with a letter to The Wichita Eagle that included photos of the 1986 strangulation of one woman and a photocopy of her missing driver's licence. The woman's case had not been linked to BTK until then. That letter was followed by several other cryptic messages and packages. The break in the case came after a computer diskette the killer had sent was traced to Rader's church. Rader also was charged with the killings of two other women, one in 1985 and another in 1991.
He described to the court how he chose his victims.
"If you've read much about serial killers, they go through what they call different phases. In the trolling stage, basically, you're looking for a victim at that time," Rader said. "You can be trolling for months or years, but once you lock in on a certain person, you become a stalker."
Rader worked as a compliance officer, handling code violations and stray dogs. He has been married for 34 years and has two grown children. Steve Osburn, one of Rader's defence lawyers, said evidence against him included a confession, DNA and "personal trophies" Rader collected from his victims.
Rader did not apologise during the hearing, though Osburn suggested later that he may apologise at his sentencing.