Confessed Kansas serial killer Dennis Rader was sentenced today to 10 life sentences after two days of gruesome testimony, tearful pleas by victims' relatives for harsh punishment and Rader's own statement that demons drove him to torture and kill 10 people.
Sedgwick County District Judge Gregory Waller said the 60-year-old Rader will not be eligible for parole for at least 40 years.
Rader was arrested in February and pleaded guilty in June to stalking, torturing and killing seven women, two children and one man. He is not eligible for the death penalty because Kansas did not reinstate capital punishment until after his crimes, which ran from 1974 to 1991.
In a rambling, disjointed statement offered just before the judge passed sentence, the former dog catcher, Boy Scout leader and church congregation president called himself a Christian, quoted a Bible verse and talked about demons he referred to as "factor X" that drove him to torture and kill.
"I hope someday God will accept me. The dark side was there, but now I think light is beginning to shine," he told the judge.
Rader, who had dubbed himself BTK for "bind, torture and kill," also spoke fondly of his victims, tearing up as he said he had a lot in common with them, attending the same church as one woman and sharing a love for animals with another.
Rader's first victims were four members of the Otero family, including 11-year-old Justine, whom Rader hanged while he masturbated.
In another killing, Rader strangled a 53-year-old neighbour and took her body to a church, where he posed her in bondage positions on the altar as he snapped photos. He then rejoined the Boy Scout camping trip from which he had slipped away to commit the murder.
"This man needs to be thrown in a deep dark hole and be left to rot," a crying Beverly Plapp told the court. Rader killed Ms Plapp's sister Nancy Fox in December 1977. He confessed to breaking into her home, binding her and strangling her before masturbating on her body.
As the family members took turns at the microphone, Rader removed his glasses, wiping his eyes and nose.
"It's been almost 19 years now that my brother and I had the most important woman in our life taken from us," said Stephanie Clyne, who was ten when her mother Vicki Wegerle was murdered. "We didn't have enough time with her. Every day is a struggle to get through without her."