Why do Criminal Profilers fail to catch serial offenders?

1. Why do Criminal Profilers fail to catch serial offenders? The Thirty Year Hunt for the BTK Murderer Professor Craig A. JacksonBirmingham City University

2. Questioning Offender Profiling • Wilson D, Jackson CA, Kaur-Rana B. Against the Medical-Psychological Tradition of Understanding Serial Killing by Studying the Killers. Amicus Journal, 2010; 22: 8-16. • Jackson CA, Wilson D, Kaur-Rana B. The usefulness of criminal profiling. Criminal Justice Matters, 2011; 84: 6-7. • Lynes A, Wilson D, Jackson CA. Zola and the Serial Killer: Robert Black and La Bête Humaine. International Journal of Criminology and Sociology, 2012; 1(1): 69-80.

3. BTK serial murderer in Wichita, Kansas

4. The Crimes of the BTK Serial killer in Kansas active from 1974 to 2005 Murdered 10 people from 1974 – 1991 (caught in 2005) Victims 1974 Killed Joe Otero, Julie Otero, and 2 children Jo jr& Josephine 1974 Killed Kathryn Bright and wounded her brother Kevin 1977 Killed Shirley Vian 1977 Killed Nancy Fox 1985 Killed Marine Hedge 1986 Killed Vicki Wegerle 1991 Killed Dolores Davis (last confirmed victim of BTK)

5. The Victims of the BTK Serial killer in Kansas active from 1974 to 2005 Murdered 10 people from 1974 – 1991 (caught in 2005)

6. BTK's MO and Signatures Cuts phone wires outside house Entered houses while occupier is out, and waits OR Forced way inside with false ID and .22 revolver Talked victims to compliance "Escaped prisoner on the run…" Victims allowed themselves to be tied up Strangled them several times before killing Sometimes masturbated at the crimescene Stole tokens / souvenirs (ID badges, jewelery)

7. Kathryn Bright murder scene 1974

8. Shirley Vian murder scene 1977

9. Shirley Vian murder scene 1977

10. Vicki Wegerle murder scene 1986

11. Dolores Davis murder scene 1991

12. BTK's First Letter to the Police 1977

13. The Taunting Begins 3 letters from BTK to media (1 was a poem) "Oh Death to Nancy" A letter sent to a potential victim who accidentally evaded him in 1979, Anna Williams "Oh Anna why didn't you appear" A recording of his voice calling for an ambulance after killing Nancy Fox Witnessed by an off-duty fireman

14. "Oh Anna Why Didn't You Appear" “ T'was a plan of deviant pleasure so bold on that Spring nite My inner feeling hot with propension of the new awakening season Warn wet with inner fear and rapture, my pleasure of entanglement Like new vines so tight Oh Anna why didn't you appear ”

15. Supercop Press Conferences Several press conferences Thinking BTK would be watching Richard LaMunyon & Lt Kenny Landwehr would talk down the camera lens. Talking direct to the BTK Foster a relationship with BTK

16. Subliminal Blipvert in Press Conferences

17. Subliminal Blipvert in Press Conferences

18. Subliminal Blipvert in Press Conferences

19. A Gift for the Profilers Two teams of FBI profilers assessed all case details 1979 The Hot Dog squad 1985 The Ghostbusters Used best known Profilers from FBI Profiles were so varied as to be useless Contradictory Vague Non-Specific

20. Unhelpful Criminal Profiles “Look for an American male with a possible connection to the military. His IQ will be above 105. He will like to masturbate, and will be aloof and selfish in bed. He will drive a decent car. He will be a ‘now’ person. He won’t be comfortable with women. But he may have women friends. He will be a lone wolf. But he will be able to function in social settings…he will be either, never married, divorced or married, and if he is married his wife will be younger or older. He may or may not live in a rental, and might be lower class, upper lower class, lower middle class or middle class. And he will be crazy like a fox, as opposed to being mental.”Malcolm Gladwell (2007)

23. BTK Went Quiet From 1991 - 2004 BTK was silent - no murders, no letters Was BTK dead? Was BTK in prison? Was BTK bored of killing? Was BTK too old or not fit?

24. BTK Returned Resumed taunts in 2004 14 years after last killing in 1991 14 letter drops 2004-2005 Wrote to Chief Detective Kenny Landwehr via local papers Began leaving packages and notes in parks, libraries and car parks

25. BTK Returned

26. The Taunting Resumes

27. The Taunting Continues

28. New Victims Selected

29. Pen Pals again with SuperCop “COMMUNICATION. Can I communicate with Floppy and not be traced to a computer. Be honest. Under Miscellaneous Section, 494, (Rex, it will be OK) run it for a few days in case I’m out of town-etc. I will try a floppy for a test run some time in the near future – February or March.”

30. At the End of it All • BTK sent the floppy disk to detectives • Contained a word processed letter • Metadata of the disk showed the following words • "Dennis“ • "Christ Lutheran Church“ • "Park City Community Library"

31. Who was BTK? Dennis Lyn Rader Married father of two Heterosexual ADT home security installer (1980s) Scout Leader Church Minister City dog warden (1990s)

32. Who was BTK?

33. Who was BTK? Bondage BDSM Violent sexual fantasist Combined offending with his job

36. Questions about BTK? Why undetected by wife and children? Why so long between kills? How evaded Police for so long? Why correspond with police and journalists? Why not stay undercover – 14 years after his last kill? Any more kills after 1994?

37. Psychopathology of BTK? Military service (Japan) The “chicken” story (barns) True detective magazines Mouseketeer Annette Funicello 50 other “projects” ongoing when arrested

39. Rader today

41. Sources • Televised confession on June 27, 2005. This is the complete, unabridged version. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvWOje46Xp8 • Rader interview with forensic psychologist, Dr Robert Mendoza pre-trial. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXa_YreEFEs • ABC interview – why profiling does not work. • http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2011/09/aim_20110903.mp3 • Interview with Dr Katherine Ramsland, author of “Confessions of a Serial Killer: the untold story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer”. Based on 5 years of correspondence with Rader. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXdIYYkf_H8

42. References • Canter, D.V., Alison, L.J., Alison, E. and Wentink, N. (2004), ‘The organized/disorganized typology of serial murder: Myth or model?’, Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 10, pp. 293-320. • Douglas, J. and Dodd, J. (2007), Inside the Mind of the BTK: The True Story behind the Thirty Year Hunt for the Notorious Wichita Serial Killer, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. • Douglas, J., Ressler, R., Burgess, A. and Hartman, C. (1986), ‘Criminal profiling from crime scene analysis’, Behavioral Sciences and the Law, 4, pp. 401-421. • Gibson, DC. (2005), BT.K. Strangler versus Wichita Police Department: The significance of serial murder media relations. Public Relations Review 32. 58–65 • Jackson, CA., Wilson, D., Kaur-Rana, B. (2011). The usefulness of criminal profiling. Criminal Justice Matters, 84: 6-7. • Keppel, R.D. and Walter, R. (1999), ‘Profiling killers: A revised classification model for understanding sexual murder’, International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 43, pp. 417-434. • Snook, B., Cullen, R.M., Bennell, C., Taylor, P.J. and Gendreau, P. (2008), ‘The criminal profiling illusion: What’s behind the smoke and mirrors’, Criminal Justice and Behavior, 35, pp. 1257-1276. • Snook, B., Eastwood, J., Gendreau, P., Coggin, C. and Cullen, R.M. (2007), ‘Taking stock of criminal profiling: A narrative review and metal-analysis’, Criminal Justice and Behavior, 34, pp. 437-453. • Trager, J. and Brewster, J. (2001), ‘The effectiveness of psychological profiles’, Journal of Police and Criminal Psychology, 16, pp. 20-28. • Wilson, D., Jackson, C.A. and Rana, B. (2010), ‘Against the medical-psychological tradition of understanding serial killing by studying the killers: The case of BTK’, Amicus Journal, 22, pp. 8-16.