1 00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:06,720 Speaker 1: New episodes of Monster BTK are released every Monday and 2 00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: brought to you absolutely free. But if you want to 3 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: hear the whole season right now, it's available ad free 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:18,120 Speaker 1: on iHeart True Crime Plus. For more information, check out 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:22,440 Speaker 1: the show notes. Enjoy the episode. 6 00:00:24,800 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 2: You're listening to Monster BTK, a production of iHeart Podcasts 7 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:33,640 Speaker 2: and Tenderfoot TV. Listener discretion is advised. 8 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 3: I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was 9 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:47,160 Speaker 3: walking home. The snow is knee deep and the wind 10 00:00:47,200 --> 00:00:51,400 Speaker 3: was blowing pretty hard, and I walked into the backyard. 11 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:54,720 Speaker 4: We had a wood fence with a gate, so I 12 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 4: went through the yard and. 13 00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:58,320 Speaker 3: My dog, Lucky, he was outside in the snow and 14 00:00:58,080 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 3: he was never outside. 15 00:01:00,200 --> 00:01:01,319 Speaker 4: I'm like, what are you doing out here? 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 5: Boy? 17 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 3: He looked at me and wagged his tail, and I 18 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:06,600 Speaker 3: opened up a kitchen door and went into the back. 19 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:09,160 Speaker 4: When I walked to the house, I looked at the stove. 20 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:12,839 Speaker 4: It had my mom's purse on it. All the stuff 21 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 4: was stowed out. 22 00:01:13,560 --> 00:01:15,200 Speaker 3: That's not how my mom kept the house. She was 23 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:19,640 Speaker 3: very adamant about keeping our house super clean. I yelled out, 24 00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 3: anybody home, and I heard a voice yelled, Charlie, come quick, 25 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 3: Mom and Dad are playing a bad trick on us. 26 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:29,480 Speaker 3: I ran down the hall and I could just sense 27 00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 3: something was wrong already. 28 00:01:30,840 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 4: I could just feel it. 29 00:01:32,840 --> 00:01:34,959 Speaker 3: And I opened up the door and saw my mom 30 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 3: and my dad, and I saw my mom on the bed, 31 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 3: and my heart broke. It felt like somebody had actually 32 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 3: ripped my chest open and pulled my heart out. It 33 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,800 Speaker 3: was a physical pain. I tried to undo the ropes 34 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,680 Speaker 3: that were on him. My dad's tongue was half bit 35 00:01:52,800 --> 00:01:56,960 Speaker 3: off hanging. The ropes were so tight there was no 36 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:58,440 Speaker 3: way to untie them. 37 00:01:59,000 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 4: To this day, I can smell fear and death. 38 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:04,800 Speaker 3: I can smell fear on a person because when you 39 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 3: walked in the house, you could smell it. 40 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 4: You could smell the death in the house. 41 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 6: My name is Susan Peters. I'm a journalist and former 42 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 6: news anchor for Kake TV also known as Cake TV, 43 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:28,440 Speaker 6: in Wichita, Kansas. I started out as a reporter in 44 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 6: Illinois and then anchored the news in San Diego. When 45 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 6: I moved to Kansas in nineteen eighty three, people would 46 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 6: ask me if I knew about the serial killer BTK. 47 00:02:40,720 --> 00:02:44,399 Speaker 6: At the time, I didn't know much, but my coworkers 48 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 6: told me about the seven people he killed in the 49 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:51,360 Speaker 6: nineteen seventies. His first victims were the Otero family. 50 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:56,120 Speaker 3: We moved to Puerto Rico to stay with my grandparents 51 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 3: while my dad looked for his future. He just spent 52 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 3: twenty years of his life in the Air Force since 53 00:03:02,480 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 3: he was seventeen, and he was searching for the best opportunity. 54 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 3: My name is Charlie O'tero. I am a surviving son 55 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 3: of Joseph and Julia O'tero. One day he got ahold 56 00:03:15,040 --> 00:03:17,520 Speaker 3: of us and said, you're coming to Wichita. You'd found 57 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:21,320 Speaker 3: the job here at a small airfield, Cook Airfield, And 58 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 3: we hopped on a plane and flew to Wichita. And 59 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 3: I left the beautiful tropical island of Puerto Rico and 60 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 3: landed in the wheatfields of Kansas and mill of snowstorm. 61 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:33,800 Speaker 4: And we were just getting used to the neighborhood. It 62 00:03:33,919 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 4: was totally different from what I was used to. 63 00:03:39,680 --> 00:03:43,760 Speaker 6: It was January of nineteen seventy four. The Otero family 64 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,440 Speaker 6: had recently moved into a small home at eight oh 65 00:03:46,480 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 6: three North Edgemore on the east side of Wichita. In 66 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 6: some ways, it was the picture perfect American dream, with 67 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:58,000 Speaker 6: a fenced in backyard, for the children and the dog 68 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 6: to play in. The parent were Julie and Joseph and 69 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 6: they had five children from oldest to youngest. There was Charlie, Danny, Carmen, 70 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 6: Josephine nicknamed Josie, and Joseph Junior, who they also called Joey. 71 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 6: They were a close knit family, supported by two hard 72 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:23,200 Speaker 6: working parents from Spanish Harlem in New York. 73 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,080 Speaker 3: You really hadn't got a chance to meet other people 74 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 3: in the neighborhood yet, and it was winter, so we 75 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 3: were pretty home bound and we just spent a lot 76 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 3: of time together. Don't get me wrong. We had our moments, 77 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,279 Speaker 3: but there was always love in the house. 78 00:04:40,320 --> 00:04:40,760 Speaker 5: Always. 79 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:44,160 Speaker 4: My mom didn't cause he was in the church. I mean, 80 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 4: she was a kind of woman that would bring orphans 81 00:04:46,960 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 4: home for Christmas to our house. 82 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:54,200 Speaker 6: Over the years, I've developed a deep relationship with Charlie. 83 00:04:54,560 --> 00:04:57,279 Speaker 6: He's told me all about his mother and how she 84 00:04:57,520 --> 00:05:00,920 Speaker 6: kept the family together. When they were new to Wichita. 85 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 6: Wichita was a quiet and calm town for the family 86 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 6: to settle into. It was a stable community, or so 87 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:13,880 Speaker 6: it seemed. As the Otos made their home, evil was 88 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 6: brewing and it was about to boil over. A monster 89 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:27,239 Speaker 6: was watching them, stalking them and learning their daily routine. 90 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:30,120 Speaker 6: He knew when the mother, Julie, took the kids to 91 00:05:30,160 --> 00:05:33,240 Speaker 6: school each day, and he knew the exact time that 92 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:38,360 Speaker 6: the father, Joseph Sr. Usually left for work. But on 93 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:43,120 Speaker 6: the morning of January fifteenth, nineteen seventy four, the family 94 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,279 Speaker 6: routine was different. 95 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,480 Speaker 3: I remember asking my father to take me to school 96 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 3: early that day. My mom used to usually give me 97 00:05:52,640 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 3: a ride because it was like two miles away Southeast 98 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:57,839 Speaker 3: High from where we lived. That day, my dad stayed 99 00:05:57,839 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 3: home because he had an appointment with somebody or some thing, 100 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 3: and so he gave me a ride. 101 00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 4: He also took me to school early because I. 102 00:06:06,520 --> 00:06:10,080 Speaker 3: Asked him to because it was finals day for the 103 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,520 Speaker 3: nine week period and I wanted an extra study hall 104 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:15,880 Speaker 3: to bone up a little bit more on some of 105 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 3: the classes I. 106 00:06:16,640 --> 00:06:17,839 Speaker 4: Was taking tests in. 107 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:22,920 Speaker 3: And that's probably what saved me Ang, Danny, and Carmen's lives, 108 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,159 Speaker 3: because they had to go with me. 109 00:06:26,560 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 6: Joseph Otero Senior dropped his three eldest children off and 110 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:34,680 Speaker 6: returned home in his wife's car. No matter how many 111 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,359 Speaker 6: times I walk through this story, it's very hard to 112 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:41,960 Speaker 6: talk about what happened next as Julie and joe Otaro 113 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:51,479 Speaker 6: got their youngest Josie and Joey ready for school that day. 114 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 6: It was twenty degrees in Wichita and snow coated the 115 00:06:55,360 --> 00:07:01,120 Speaker 6: frozen ground. Around eight twenty am, as planned, the stalker 116 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:05,480 Speaker 6: unlatched the door on the family's wooden gate and let 117 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 6: himself into the back yard of the Otero's home on 118 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:14,040 Speaker 6: Edgemore Street. In the pockets of his jacket, he carried 119 00:07:14,160 --> 00:07:20,840 Speaker 6: rope Venetian blind cord, gags, white adhesive tape, plastic bags, 120 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:26,000 Speaker 6: and a knife. The man inched slowly toward the back door. 121 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 6: He jiggled the door knob, but it was locked, so 122 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 6: instead he found a telephone line tacked to the outside 123 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 6: wall and cut it with a hunting knife. Just then, 124 00:07:40,160 --> 00:07:42,840 Speaker 6: the man heard the back door open, and he was 125 00:07:42,880 --> 00:07:47,600 Speaker 6: surprised to find a small boy looking directly at him. 126 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:52,200 Speaker 6: This was nine year old Joey O'teraro. By the boy's 127 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 6: side was a large dog. As the man stood there, 128 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 6: he felt his plan start to unravel. Not only did 129 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 6: the family have a dog he hadn't planned for, but 130 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 6: the young boy was home, and as he soon learned, 131 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,480 Speaker 6: the father was home as well. He panicked and pulled 132 00:08:12,480 --> 00:08:16,760 Speaker 6: out his gun. Inside, he found the mother and daughter. 133 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 6: The young girl began to cry. The man dealt with 134 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 6: the dog, first telling Joey to put him in the yard. Then, 135 00:08:26,280 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 6: still holding the family at gunpoint, he backed them into 136 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,160 Speaker 6: the main bedroom and began to tie each of them up. 137 00:08:38,320 --> 00:08:42,640 Speaker 6: One by one, he killed each of them. He strangled 138 00:08:42,720 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 6: Joseph with a rolled up T shirt, followed by Julie 139 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 6: with a rope. The man struggled, he had never done 140 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,599 Speaker 6: this before. The man then took Joseph Junior into a 141 00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:59,360 Speaker 6: different bedroom and strangled him as well. Finally, he took 142 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:04,000 Speaker 6: eleven year old Josephine downstairs to the basement and hung 143 00:09:04,080 --> 00:09:08,520 Speaker 6: her from a sewage pipe. The man tried to cover 144 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 6: his tracks. He drove the Otaro's Vista cruiser to Dylan's 145 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 6: grocery store. Before he got out, he adjusted the seat 146 00:09:16,559 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 6: forward to disguise his height. Then he walked to his 147 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:24,520 Speaker 6: own car down the street. He took inventory and realized 148 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 6: he had forgotten his knife. He drove back to the 149 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 6: house in his own car and picked up the knife. Quickly, 150 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 6: he sped off, and just like that, he was gone. 151 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 6: That afternoon, Charlie Otero was finishing up his finals two 152 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 6: miles away at Southeast High School. The school bell rang 153 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 6: and he walked home with a two younger siblings, Danny 154 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 6: and Carmen. They were expecting to reunite with the rest 155 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,560 Speaker 6: of their family, as they had always done. They had 156 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:12,920 Speaker 6: no idea what was waiting for them at home. 157 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 3: I took all my tests, aced all of them, and 158 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:21,840 Speaker 3: then I was walking home. I remember walking through the snow, 159 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 3: thinking this really sucks. Kansas sucks. I get across the 160 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 3: street from my house. The garage door was up and 161 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,360 Speaker 3: the car was gone. So I'm like, here's my chance 162 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:36,520 Speaker 3: to rag my mom. Because I never get to rag 163 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:38,600 Speaker 3: my mom. You didn't get to say anything bad to her, 164 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:40,079 Speaker 3: and this is my chance to say, why do you 165 00:10:40,080 --> 00:10:41,720 Speaker 3: the garage door open? Now I got to clean the 166 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 3: snow out, so I'm already practicing my spiel. 167 00:10:45,440 --> 00:10:48,439 Speaker 6: This is when Charlie and his siblings entered the home 168 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 6: to the gruesome scene you heard about at the top 169 00:10:51,600 --> 00:10:56,200 Speaker 6: of the episode. I can imagine the horror as they 170 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,800 Speaker 6: pieced together that their parents were not in fact playing 171 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:03,720 Speaker 6: a cruel trick on them, the fear as they figured 172 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 6: out what to do next. 173 00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:10,600 Speaker 4: You try to use a phone. It was dead. 174 00:11:11,280 --> 00:11:13,880 Speaker 3: Me and Danny and Carmen went outside and I told 175 00:11:13,920 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 3: Danny to go next door to the neighbor's house and 176 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 3: use their phone to call the police. And we waited 177 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 3: outside together in the snow, huddled up, and a police 178 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:27,480 Speaker 3: officer came and he goes, what's going on here? 179 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:29,840 Speaker 4: I said, go inside, you'll see. 180 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,480 Speaker 6: Officers Robert Bulla and Jim Lindeberg of the Wichita Police 181 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 6: Department arrived at the Otero household at three forty two pm. 182 00:11:40,040 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 6: The police report describes what the officers initially found. Read 183 00:11:44,920 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 6: here by a voice actor. 184 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 2: Officers checked the bedrooms. The door to the southwest bedroom 185 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,920 Speaker 2: stood halfway open. The officers pushed the door open and 186 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 2: saw a man on the floor. A cut white rope 187 00:11:57,800 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 2: and a butcher's knife were on the floor next to them, 188 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:03,600 Speaker 2: and the woman was on the bed. The woman's legs 189 00:12:03,600 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 2: were bent and hanging over the edge of the bed. 190 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,880 Speaker 2: The officers noticed blood on her nose and mouth. Officer 191 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 2: Bulla found no pulse. The woman's hands appeared to be 192 00:12:13,760 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 2: tied behind her back. A white cloth gag covered with 193 00:12:17,280 --> 00:12:18,959 Speaker 2: blood was found next to her head. 194 00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:23,959 Speaker 6: Officers Bulla and Lindabergh found Joseph and Julie in the 195 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 6: main bedroom. They radio dispatch two possible homicide victims. Then 196 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,120 Speaker 6: Officer Lindenburgh left the house to check back in with 197 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:34,920 Speaker 6: the children. 198 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 3: He came back out and looked at me and said, 199 00:12:38,800 --> 00:12:41,480 Speaker 3: could your father have done this? I knew what he 200 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,880 Speaker 3: was insinuating right away. He was insinuating that. 201 00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:46,520 Speaker 4: My dad had come home and found my mom with 202 00:12:46,559 --> 00:12:47,120 Speaker 4: another man. 203 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 3: Because my dad was dark, dark, dark, almost Negro, and 204 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:53,560 Speaker 3: my mom was white, white, white, as white as you 205 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:54,880 Speaker 3: can be without. 206 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,679 Speaker 4: Being seen through. My Dad's in there, his hands tied 207 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,280 Speaker 4: and he's dead. How could he have killed himself and 208 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 4: tied himself up? I knew it was insinuating. I had 209 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:04,800 Speaker 4: that knife in my hand when he said that, and 210 00:13:04,840 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 4: I almost stuck. 211 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 5: It in him. 212 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:11,079 Speaker 4: And at that instant I lost all respect for authority. 213 00:13:11,559 --> 00:13:13,760 Speaker 4: I hated the police. I hated the world. 214 00:13:13,800 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 3: At that moment when I first saw my mother, I 215 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 3: lost my religion instantly. 216 00:13:18,280 --> 00:13:18,959 Speaker 4: I hated God. 217 00:13:19,679 --> 00:13:22,880 Speaker 3: We were in a state of shock, and I kept 218 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:25,079 Speaker 3: telling the police officer I said, I got to stop 219 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:26,199 Speaker 3: Joey and Josie. 220 00:13:25,880 --> 00:13:26,600 Speaker 4: From coming home. 221 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 3: He called the station and had a bunch of cops coming, 222 00:13:30,559 --> 00:13:32,040 Speaker 3: and I told himself, I do not want Joey and 223 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:34,160 Speaker 3: Josie to get here and see all these cops. 224 00:13:33,880 --> 00:13:35,280 Speaker 4: And I want him here with me. 225 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:37,760 Speaker 3: Now, I knew it was my job to take over 226 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 3: and take care of my siblings, and I didn't know 227 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:41,960 Speaker 3: Joey and Josie in the house, so I. 228 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:43,800 Speaker 4: Kept telling him I need Joey and Josie with me, 229 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 4: over and over. 230 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:50,520 Speaker 6: Again, seemingly, all of Whichitas police force made their way 231 00:13:50,559 --> 00:13:54,440 Speaker 6: to the Otero household on North Edgemore in what was 232 00:13:54,559 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 6: generally a quiet neighborhood, to begin solving a quadruple homage side. 233 00:14:01,720 --> 00:14:04,560 Speaker 6: The children told the officers that when they arrived home 234 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:07,840 Speaker 6: to find their parents, they attempted to cut the ropes 235 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:13,080 Speaker 6: and desperately tried to perform CPR. As Officer Bulla interviewed 236 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:17,320 Speaker 6: the Otero children, Lieutenant Jack Watkins arrived at the house. 237 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 6: It was he and Officer Bulla who discovered little Joey 238 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:27,880 Speaker 6: in the upstairs bedroom and Josie in the basement. Here 239 00:14:27,920 --> 00:14:30,600 Speaker 6: again is an excerpt from the police report. 240 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 2: While Officer Bulla was outside of the home, Lieutenant Jack 241 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 2: Watkins discovered the body of Joseph Otero Junior in another 242 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:43,480 Speaker 2: upstairs bedroom. Lieutenant Watkins and Officer Bulla searched the rest 243 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,240 Speaker 2: of the home. Josephino Taro was found in the northwest 244 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 2: storage area of the basement. Josephino Taro was hanging by 245 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 2: a rope that had been tied to a sewer pipe. 246 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:57,880 Speaker 2: A white cloth was tied around her mouth. Josephino Taro 247 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:01,360 Speaker 2: was wearing a blue, short sleeved knit sweater and was 248 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:02,680 Speaker 2: naked from the waist down. 249 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 6: As the eldest, Charlie pleaded for answers about his little 250 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:14,400 Speaker 6: sister and brother, Josie and Joey. It's Charlie's nature to 251 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 6: protect his family, and he wanted to protect the two 252 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:21,040 Speaker 6: youngest from what the three of them had already seen. 253 00:15:22,440 --> 00:15:24,320 Speaker 3: I kept telling him when we got to the police station, 254 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:27,000 Speaker 3: I kept saying, where's Joey and Josie. I need him 255 00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:28,920 Speaker 3: here now, I need him here now. I can't even 256 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:30,240 Speaker 3: tell you how long we were there. It could have 257 00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:31,760 Speaker 3: been an hour, it could have been ten hours, it 258 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,840 Speaker 3: could have been ten seconds. At that point, the world 259 00:15:34,960 --> 00:15:39,440 Speaker 3: is upside down inside out for me. Finally, police chaplain 260 00:15:39,640 --> 00:15:41,720 Speaker 3: pulled me over and says, Charlie. 261 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:43,000 Speaker 4: We got to tell you Joey and Josie were in 262 00:15:43,040 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 4: the house. They're dead too. After that, I pretty much 263 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:48,000 Speaker 4: went blank. 264 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:55,920 Speaker 6: Back in East which a tall local police officers, detectives, 265 00:15:56,240 --> 00:16:00,440 Speaker 6: and other officials were gathered in mass at the Oteo household. 266 00:16:01,080 --> 00:16:04,280 Speaker 6: They immediately set up a headquarters in the school across 267 00:16:04,320 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 6: the street from the Otero home. The police report states 268 00:16:08,200 --> 00:16:12,600 Speaker 6: that Chief of Police Floyd Hannon assigned ten teams of 269 00:16:12,680 --> 00:16:17,240 Speaker 6: detectives to investigate the murders and search for the family's 270 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:22,040 Speaker 6: missing car. Again. Here is an excerpt from the police report. 271 00:16:23,120 --> 00:16:26,920 Speaker 2: At five forty six pm, Detective Lewis Brown located the 272 00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 2: Otero car in the parking lot of the Dylan's Grocery 273 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 2: store at Central and Oliver. The keys to the Beiges 274 00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:38,600 Speaker 2: nineteen sixty six Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser were missing. Steve Christian, 275 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 2: the brother of the former owner of the Otto home, 276 00:16:41,800 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 2: reported seeing the car backing out of the driveway at 277 00:16:44,720 --> 00:16:47,480 Speaker 2: approximately ten thirty am. 278 00:16:47,960 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 6: At the Otero home. Officer Bulla assisted lab director Ron 279 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:57,920 Speaker 6: Eggleston in processing the scene. Notably, Eggleston found stains on 280 00:16:58,000 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 6: the concrete floor directly in front of young Josephine in 281 00:17:03,080 --> 00:17:10,840 Speaker 6: the basement. He collected samples of those stains. The local 282 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:14,560 Speaker 6: newspapers and television stations caught wind of the killings and 283 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:18,080 Speaker 6: also set up shop by the O'to home. They had 284 00:17:18,200 --> 00:17:19,880 Speaker 6: very little to go on. 285 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:25,400 Speaker 7: Back in that day and to this day, we monitor 286 00:17:25,600 --> 00:17:28,840 Speaker 7: the police frequencies, the fire frequencies and that type of thing. 287 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:32,199 Speaker 7: We didn't know what had happened, but we knew that 288 00:17:32,240 --> 00:17:34,920 Speaker 7: they had sent a lot of detectives to this one 289 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:39,720 Speaker 7: particular address in East Wichita. Nobody was talking about it 290 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:43,440 Speaker 7: on the frequencies that we were monitoring, so we didn't 291 00:17:43,480 --> 00:17:45,199 Speaker 7: know what was going on, but we thought, you know, 292 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 7: there's something going on there, and I was sent out 293 00:17:48,240 --> 00:17:49,720 Speaker 7: to see what was happening. 294 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:55,240 Speaker 6: This is my longtime colleague and friend Larry Hatdiberg, who 295 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,480 Speaker 6: was on the scene reporting for KKE TV on the 296 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:00,000 Speaker 6: day the Otaros were murdered. 297 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 7: None of the detectives, no one would talk to me. 298 00:18:05,280 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 7: They just say, you know, we'll have information later, But 299 00:18:08,119 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 7: no one would talk to me. And it was until 300 00:18:12,200 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 7: hours and hours and hours after I arrived that we 301 00:18:15,600 --> 00:18:19,000 Speaker 7: found out that there were four dead bodies inside the house. 302 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 4: And it wasn't. 303 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:23,240 Speaker 7: Until later that we found out that two of those 304 00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:27,639 Speaker 7: bodies were children, and it was shocking. All we knew 305 00:18:28,040 --> 00:18:31,640 Speaker 7: is that some crazy person had gone in and killed 306 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,000 Speaker 7: an entire family. That was the shocking part that just 307 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 7: didn't happen in Wichita, Kansas. Even the police department, I think, 308 00:18:39,560 --> 00:18:42,879 Speaker 7: were shocked by the murder. They never had really a 309 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 7: murder of that size happened before. 310 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 6: Detectives went to work studying the crime scene. For ten days, 311 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 6: seventy five officers and detectives worked eighteen hours a day. 312 00:18:58,240 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 6: At the end of the first week, sleep deprived, out 313 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 6: of energy and out of ideas, the police and all 314 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,080 Speaker 6: of Wichita were left with the same questions. 315 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:14,240 Speaker 7: We wondered, what kind of crazy person do we have? 316 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,080 Speaker 7: Is it somebody on drugs that did it, as somebody 317 00:19:17,160 --> 00:19:19,119 Speaker 7: who had a vendetta against this people. 318 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 6: During the investigation, police Chief Floyd Hannen held press conferences 319 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,960 Speaker 6: at least twice a day where he would disclose specifics, 320 00:19:31,359 --> 00:19:36,600 Speaker 6: speculate about motives and possible suspects. Newspapers like the Wichita 321 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:42,080 Speaker 6: Eagle and The Beacon covered every development. The police began 322 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:46,679 Speaker 6: with a handful of different possibilities. The first was that 323 00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:50,160 Speaker 6: the killer could be someone within the family, as Officer 324 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:55,280 Speaker 6: Bullet suggested to Charlie upon initially securing the scene. Investigators 325 00:19:55,359 --> 00:19:59,439 Speaker 6: quickly ruled that theory out. The second was that there 326 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 6: was a possible drug connection. Chief Hannon himself flew to 327 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 6: Panama and to Puerto Rico to follow this idea. The 328 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 6: third was that someone was out to get Julie. 329 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,200 Speaker 8: Usually there's a connection of something, and in this particular case, 330 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:19,679 Speaker 8: there was no connection. We didn't know anything. What caused this, 331 00:20:19,800 --> 00:20:23,560 Speaker 8: what's the background of the Oteo's, who would do this? 332 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 8: What was it? The investigators their immediate reaction was this 333 00:20:28,840 --> 00:20:32,119 Speaker 8: was a revenge killing of some kind, whether it be 334 00:20:32,240 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 8: drug related, whether it be a business thing. We didn't 335 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:39,800 Speaker 8: know what it was. My name is Richard Lamunion. I'm 336 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:43,360 Speaker 8: currently the city manager for the City of Maze. At 337 00:20:43,359 --> 00:20:46,840 Speaker 8: the time of the Otero murders, I was a member 338 00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 8: of the Witchdaw Police Department. I joined the department in 339 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:54,520 Speaker 8: nineteen sixty three. I was a police chief from nineteen 340 00:20:54,560 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 8: seventy six through nineteen eighty nine. 341 00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:01,280 Speaker 6: Leamunion says they did have very much to go on 342 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:04,159 Speaker 6: at the start of the investigation, but that from the 343 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:07,399 Speaker 6: get go police could tell this had not been a 344 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:08,439 Speaker 6: random killing. 345 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:13,360 Speaker 8: It was a planned scenario. There was a script at 346 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 8: least if not written in this individual's mind. Are individuals. 347 00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,200 Speaker 8: We didn't know if it was one two or twenty two, 348 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 8: but there was definitely a plan premeditated and that's why 349 00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,160 Speaker 8: it threw us back to this has to be a revenge. 350 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:34,360 Speaker 8: The Chief authorized some of the detectives to make some trips. 351 00:21:34,800 --> 00:21:38,439 Speaker 8: One of them was even made to Mexico, so there 352 00:21:38,480 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 8: were some special efforts made. It's not unusual to send 353 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:45,320 Speaker 8: out detectives and things to other places, but when you 354 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:48,480 Speaker 8: send them out of the country or something, that's unusual. 355 00:21:52,119 --> 00:21:55,040 Speaker 6: A week had passed since the Otero murders, and the 356 00:21:55,080 --> 00:21:59,600 Speaker 6: investigators assigned to the case weren't getting any answers. Chief 357 00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:03,320 Speaker 6: Hannah pulled out all the stops, signing off on any 358 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,400 Speaker 6: and all ideas detectives came up with for solving the murders. 359 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:12,560 Speaker 6: One night, detectives Gary Caldwell and Bernie Drowotsky hired a 360 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:16,440 Speaker 6: psychic to stay in the house with police. The detectives 361 00:22:16,560 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 6: were desperate, and the psychic had claimed she helped solve 362 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,280 Speaker 6: a crime by leading police to a body and a trunk. 363 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,639 Speaker 6: One overnight, stay with the psychic later, and Caldwell and 364 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,679 Speaker 6: Drowatsky still had nothing to bring back to Chief Hannan. 365 00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:36,520 Speaker 6: With each lead running into a dead end, pressure was 366 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,879 Speaker 6: mounting on the department as the community feared what would 367 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,760 Speaker 6: come next. The officers themselves struggled to come to terms 368 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:49,400 Speaker 6: with the tragedy. Lemonnion describes the department's turmoil as they 369 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:50,320 Speaker 6: worked the case. 370 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,440 Speaker 8: You know, police officers, even though you deal with tragedy 371 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:57,920 Speaker 8: every day and everything, you're still a human being. When 372 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:01,280 Speaker 8: you see a situation like this, you see the victims 373 00:23:01,359 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 8: laying there with plastic bags over their head, strangled, and 374 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,920 Speaker 8: then you see children. In your mind you think back, well, 375 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 8: I have children, I have sisters, I have brothers, I 376 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,000 Speaker 8: have other things. So it does impact you, but you 377 00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:19,040 Speaker 8: can't let that influence you at the time. 378 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,919 Speaker 6: The first week of the investigation was difficult. In hindsight, 379 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,840 Speaker 6: we can say that the Witchital Police Department was not 380 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 6: equipped to deal with this kind of murder in nineteen 381 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:35,480 Speaker 6: seventy four. In fact, they made multiple mistakes. Someone in 382 00:23:35,520 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 6: the department lost several crime scene photos and most of 383 00:23:40,040 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 6: the autopsy photos. Through crime scene photographs, they discovered that 384 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:49,040 Speaker 6: a responding officer opened to the Otero freezer and left 385 00:23:49,080 --> 00:23:52,679 Speaker 6: the ice tray on the counter. This mistake set the 386 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 6: department back as they worked to piece together the timeline 387 00:23:56,560 --> 00:24:03,560 Speaker 6: of the crime. Yet, there was one big thing that 388 00:24:03,600 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 6: the investigators did correctly on the first day. 389 00:24:08,560 --> 00:24:10,879 Speaker 8: When it came to preserving evidence. You know, we had 390 00:24:10,920 --> 00:24:15,280 Speaker 8: preserved evidence before. In this particular case, there was semen 391 00:24:15,359 --> 00:24:18,439 Speaker 8: found on the little girl in the basement where he 392 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 8: had literally brushed up against her, and there was a 393 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:23,800 Speaker 8: little bit of her leg. Now, how do you preserve that? 394 00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 8: And this is nineteen seventy four. We didn't have computers, 395 00:24:27,560 --> 00:24:29,919 Speaker 8: we didn't have DNA, we didn't have any. 396 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:30,440 Speaker 4: Of that stuff. 397 00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 8: However, our crime investigation unit, what they ended up doing 398 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:39,200 Speaker 8: was they did three things. Number One, they dried part 399 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 8: of it, they kept part of it and fluid, and 400 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:47,080 Speaker 8: then they froze part of it, all three of them. 401 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:52,479 Speaker 6: As the investigation unfolded, tensions were understandably high in the city. 402 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:57,120 Speaker 6: The close knit community of Wichita was starting to fall apart. 403 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,800 Speaker 6: People were becoming suspicious of their names, fearing that the 404 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:17,680 Speaker 6: killer could live next door. Following the murder, the O'tero 405 00:25:17,880 --> 00:25:21,440 Speaker 6: children were once again swept off to a new location, 406 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:24,680 Speaker 6: leaving a city in which they had not spent long 407 00:25:24,800 --> 00:25:28,679 Speaker 6: enough to consider home, one that would remind them only 408 00:25:28,720 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 6: of darkness for decades to come. 409 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:36,720 Speaker 3: We had known a family in Panama that was stationed 410 00:25:36,920 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 3: at McConnell, Sergeant Joques. So we called them up and 411 00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 3: they said, yeah, I get your butts over here. So 412 00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:47,879 Speaker 3: police took us to McConnell. I remember being in the 413 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 3: Jaquesz house with armed guards all around, and I remember 414 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:54,880 Speaker 3: getting a phone call and it was Senator Kennedy's office. 415 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:57,640 Speaker 3: He was determined the Armed Forces Committe at that time, 416 00:25:57,720 --> 00:25:59,960 Speaker 3: and they called and said, well, what can we do 417 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:00,439 Speaker 3: for you? 418 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 4: I told him, I. 419 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:03,880 Speaker 3: Said, I have four bodies to bury, and I don't 420 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:06,400 Speaker 3: want him in Wichita. I'll be damned if I'm bury 421 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:08,800 Speaker 3: my family here in Wichita. So he said, what do 422 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:10,119 Speaker 3: you want to do. I said, I want my family 423 00:26:10,160 --> 00:26:14,320 Speaker 3: buried in Puerto Rico. And he said done, And they 424 00:26:14,400 --> 00:26:17,440 Speaker 3: buried my family in a national military cemetery in Puerto Rico, 425 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:19,200 Speaker 3: in my dad's hometown of Santurse. 426 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,880 Speaker 6: At just fifteen years old, Charlie took on this responsibility, 427 00:26:25,440 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 6: shouldering the immense weight of this tragedy. Out of love 428 00:26:29,760 --> 00:26:31,240 Speaker 6: for his siblings. 429 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,439 Speaker 3: I kept telling myself, you know, if I came on glued, 430 00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:37,359 Speaker 3: what would Danny and Carmen do. I had to be 431 00:26:37,440 --> 00:26:40,879 Speaker 3: that pillar of strength for them to hold on to 432 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:41,560 Speaker 3: because we. 433 00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 4: Didn't have anything at that point. You got to remember, we. 434 00:26:43,760 --> 00:26:46,520 Speaker 3: Had just spent our whole lives as the family unit, 435 00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 3: traveling all over and now there wasn't one. 436 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:50,680 Speaker 4: We had no mom. 437 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,239 Speaker 3: One minute, my mom is bringing orphans and giving him 438 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,680 Speaker 3: my bedroom for Christmas, and the next minute, I'm the orphan. 439 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,800 Speaker 3: So I got on the phone. I called my uncle John. 440 00:27:01,359 --> 00:27:04,160 Speaker 3: He became my guardian, our guardian. To this day, I'm 441 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 3: still very close to them in the family. 442 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 4: He was there. The next day I called them. 443 00:27:09,680 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 3: They got in the car and drove straight to Wichita 444 00:27:11,920 --> 00:27:16,200 Speaker 3: from New Mexico from Albuquerque. And that's when our life 445 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:17,359 Speaker 3: turned around again. 446 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 6: After the funeral, the surviving Otarot children tried to settle 447 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:27,040 Speaker 6: into life in New Mexico with their parents and siblings gone. 448 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,920 Speaker 6: It was understandably difficult to adjust. 449 00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:34,399 Speaker 3: We had a hard time. PTSD was kicking in, Danny 450 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 3: was acting up. I started racing motorcycles to release my aggression. 451 00:27:40,400 --> 00:27:43,359 Speaker 3: I was very aggressive, very careless with my life, with 452 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 3: my body. 453 00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:46,359 Speaker 4: I got in a bike wreck right. 454 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:48,200 Speaker 3: After I graduated from high school and I had a 455 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:51,160 Speaker 3: handlebar go through my helmet and down my throat. Saw 456 00:27:51,200 --> 00:27:53,840 Speaker 3: my whole life pass before me, and my life kind 457 00:27:53,880 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 3: of changed at that point. 458 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,959 Speaker 4: Its like, who cares? Why build a future if somebody's 459 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:01,719 Speaker 4: just going to come take it from you just maintained 460 00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:03,200 Speaker 4: an existence. 461 00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 6: While Charlie and his siblings carried on, the city of 462 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:14,480 Speaker 6: Wichita was still in shock. As Cake anker Larry Haddiberg says, 463 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,399 Speaker 6: this was a level of violence that seemed inconceivable in 464 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 6: a small town like Wichita, Kansas. 465 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:27,639 Speaker 7: And that in itself, I think turned this quiet town 466 00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:31,159 Speaker 7: that never had anything happen into a town that for 467 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 7: a period of time was really on edge because they 468 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,280 Speaker 7: didn't know what was going to happen next. They didn't 469 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:40,680 Speaker 7: know who was going to be next, and it was 470 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 7: a terrifying time for an awful lot of people. Someone 471 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 7: killed four members of a family, two children and two adults, 472 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 7: and that had really never happened before in Wichita, particularly 473 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 7: the children. I mean, they've had double murders, but to 474 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,960 Speaker 7: include the children in that, that was shocking to a 475 00:29:01,120 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 7: Kansas town. It just didn't happen here, and yet it did. 476 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:16,120 Speaker 6: But this was just the beginning. Over the next five years, 477 00:29:16,520 --> 00:29:20,000 Speaker 6: the killer would continue to terrorize witch It tak He 478 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:24,120 Speaker 6: targeted dozens of women and stalked them at night. He 479 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,120 Speaker 6: watched them come and go from work, and for many 480 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 6: of them, he broke into their homes and murdered them. 481 00:29:31,760 --> 00:29:36,880 Speaker 6: In the seventies alone, he killed seven people. But even 482 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 6: that wasn't enough for him. He also started writing taunting 483 00:29:42,600 --> 00:29:46,960 Speaker 6: letters to the media. Larry Hattiburd talks about one letter 484 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:51,200 Speaker 6: that arrived to Cake. In February of nineteen seventy. 485 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:57,400 Speaker 7: Eight, KTV received a postcard from someone who indicated that 486 00:29:57,480 --> 00:29:59,920 Speaker 7: they had information about the killing. 487 00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 4: I will never forget this. 488 00:30:02,120 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 7: It was a Saturday morning and the postcard had come 489 00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 7: into our mail room. 490 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 5: How many people do have to kill before I get 491 00:30:10,600 --> 00:30:15,280 Speaker 5: my name in the paper or some national attention. I 492 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:19,640 Speaker 5: am compelled to kill by factor X, the same factor 493 00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:22,640 Speaker 5: the motivated son of Sam in New York, Jack the 494 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,400 Speaker 5: Ripper in London, and the Hillside Strangler in Los Angeles. 495 00:30:27,640 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 5: It seems senseless, but we cannot help it. There is 496 00:30:32,560 --> 00:30:36,240 Speaker 5: no help, no cure except death or being caught and 497 00:30:36,320 --> 00:30:40,280 Speaker 5: put away. A little paragraph in the newspaper would have 498 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 5: been enough. 499 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 6: In one of these letters, he even named himself BTK, 500 00:30:48,360 --> 00:30:56,080 Speaker 6: which stands for buying torture Kill. Then, in April of 501 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:02,080 Speaker 6: nineteen seventy nine, BTK seemingly disappear. He committed his last 502 00:31:02,200 --> 00:31:07,240 Speaker 6: murder and cut off all communication, or so we thought. 503 00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:11,760 Speaker 7: For a period of time, everything just shut down, weird. 504 00:31:11,960 --> 00:31:15,560 Speaker 7: Nothing from BTK, not a word, and so all of 505 00:31:15,600 --> 00:31:16,840 Speaker 7: the rumors started to fly. 506 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 4: What has happened to BTK? Is he dead? Is he incarcerated? 507 00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:22,840 Speaker 4: What's the deal with BTK? 508 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:29,760 Speaker 6: As suddenly as he appeared, he was simply gone. To outsiders, 509 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,920 Speaker 6: it may have seemed as though Wichita had finally been 510 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 6: freed of its boogieman, but the presence of BTK was 511 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:42,280 Speaker 6: always felt. I initially moved here in the eighties. People 512 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,560 Speaker 6: no longer left their doors unlocked, and there were always 513 00:31:45,840 --> 00:31:50,280 Speaker 6: nervous whispers. No one felt safe in Wichita anymore. 514 00:31:51,480 --> 00:31:53,880 Speaker 7: This was not a community that locked its door so 515 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:58,240 Speaker 7: much after BTK. This was a community that locked its doors. 516 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 7: This is a community where young women were terrified. They 517 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 7: didn't go out alone at night. If they were going out, 518 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:07,920 Speaker 7: they let everybody know where they were going and what 519 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:09,280 Speaker 7: time they would be arriving. 520 00:32:10,680 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 6: It turns out that feeling was justified because BTK hadn't 521 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:21,480 Speaker 6: gone anywhere. He was just lain dormant, waiting for his 522 00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:26,520 Speaker 6: time to rise again. In this case, it would be 523 00:32:26,680 --> 00:32:32,480 Speaker 6: decades later. Fast forward to two thousand and four, when 524 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:36,240 Speaker 6: this story culminated in one of the most dramatic turn 525 00:32:36,280 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 6: of events in Kansas history. 526 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:44,440 Speaker 4: Eight minutes past. 527 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 9: Now in decades after a serial killer terrorized Wichita, Kansas 528 00:32:49,000 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 9: cops say the case that was once cold may be 529 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:56,520 Speaker 9: warm yet again. Today. Wichita paper says it received another 530 00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:59,960 Speaker 9: letter claiming responsibility for an eighth victim who was killed 531 00:33:00,120 --> 00:33:01,280 Speaker 9: in nineteen eighty six. 532 00:33:02,920 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 6: It was spring of two thousand and four. No one 533 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:10,560 Speaker 6: had heard from BTK in twenty five years. Most of 534 00:33:10,640 --> 00:33:13,960 Speaker 6: us had moved on with our lives assuming he was gone. 535 00:33:14,400 --> 00:33:18,480 Speaker 6: But on March nineteenth, two thousand and four, the Wichita 536 00:33:18,520 --> 00:33:22,440 Speaker 6: Eagle received a letter from someone claiming to be Bill 537 00:33:22,880 --> 00:33:28,960 Speaker 6: Thomas Kilman initials BTK. In it, he claimed to have 538 00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:33,160 Speaker 6: killed a new victim. Investigators believe the letter is from 539 00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:36,560 Speaker 6: BTK because it has information about a two decade old 540 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 6: homicide link to BTK that only the killer would know. 541 00:33:40,720 --> 00:33:44,920 Speaker 6: At KTV, of course, this became our top story and 542 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 6: for a whole year it remained our top story because 543 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 6: the letters didn't stop there. A few months after this 544 00:33:52,720 --> 00:33:58,200 Speaker 6: first correspondence, a letter arrived at our TV station. A 545 00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:01,760 Speaker 6: letter received by KTV was turned over to us last Wednesday, 546 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:05,160 Speaker 6: and we are treated as it possibly being sent by BTK. 547 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 7: He started writing to us. He wrote to k TV 548 00:34:09,200 --> 00:34:13,759 Speaker 7: my employer. We knew that he was watching us every night, 549 00:34:14,160 --> 00:34:17,760 Speaker 7: which was a little terrifying, and for the female anchors 550 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:22,040 Speaker 7: at our television station, it was getting pretty close because 551 00:34:22,719 --> 00:34:25,759 Speaker 7: we were concerned that he could strike them, that he 552 00:34:25,800 --> 00:34:27,440 Speaker 7: could kill them, make them a target. 553 00:34:30,880 --> 00:34:34,520 Speaker 6: One of those people was me, as the most visible 554 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:37,800 Speaker 6: female anchor at CAKE. I knew I was at high risk. 555 00:34:38,600 --> 00:34:42,880 Speaker 6: In fact, in one of his letters, BTK even mentioned 556 00:34:42,920 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 6: my name. This is from the BTK letter received on 557 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 6: February third, two thousand and five. 558 00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:54,640 Speaker 5: Thanks to the news team for their efforts. Sorry about 559 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:56,840 Speaker 5: Susan and Jeff's coolds. 560 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:00,640 Speaker 6: During a newscast, I had mentioned on the air that 561 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 6: my co anchor and I were feeling under the weather. 562 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:08,880 Speaker 6: Just two days later, this letter arrived. It hit me 563 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:12,920 Speaker 6: like a punch to the gut, because that meant he 564 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:13,799 Speaker 6: was watching me. 565 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:20,000 Speaker 7: So we had extra security on our on air females. 566 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:21,600 Speaker 7: It was a terrifying time. 567 00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:21,960 Speaker 5: I know. 568 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,319 Speaker 7: I would walk co anchor out to the station, out 569 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:27,920 Speaker 7: to the parking lot every night and get her in 570 00:35:27,960 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 7: her card, just to make sure that there wasn't anybody 571 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:34,440 Speaker 7: waiting around there. It was a scary time, particularly for 572 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 7: the women in our television. 573 00:35:36,000 --> 00:35:40,280 Speaker 6: Station throughout two thousand and four. In early two thousand 574 00:35:40,320 --> 00:35:45,440 Speaker 6: and five, BTK continued to send letters threatening to kill again, 575 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:50,120 Speaker 6: presumably at random. His letters made it very clear he 576 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:55,040 Speaker 6: was once again targeting women across Wichita. Here is his 577 00:35:55,160 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 6: letter from July seventeenth, two thousand and four, a poem id, 578 00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,120 Speaker 6: oh death to Nancy. 579 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:08,520 Speaker 5: I'll stuff your jaws till you can't talk. I'll bind 580 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,680 Speaker 5: your legs till you can't walk. I'll tie your hands 581 00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:17,720 Speaker 5: still you can't make a stand. And finally I'll close 582 00:36:17,800 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 5: your eyes so you can't see. I'll bring sexual death 583 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:24,360 Speaker 5: one too you for me. 584 00:36:26,239 --> 00:36:28,640 Speaker 6: I mean it when I tell you every woman in 585 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:33,280 Speaker 6: Wichita was scared to death. You can imagine how terrified 586 00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:37,799 Speaker 6: everybody was looking behind themselves wondering if they were going 587 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 6: to be next afraid to walk out of the grocery 588 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:45,960 Speaker 6: store at night, afraid to be alone in their own homes. 589 00:36:48,719 --> 00:36:53,400 Speaker 10: February twenty, fifteen, thousand and five. I was home. It's snowy, 590 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,839 Speaker 10: and I see that dad. So I'm home in these 591 00:36:56,920 --> 00:37:01,400 Speaker 10: mint green fuzzy pajamas. It's like getting close to noon, 592 00:37:01,560 --> 00:37:04,520 Speaker 10: and I see this strange car parked out underneath this window. 593 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:08,640 Speaker 10: It was maroon for a door, like a old cow 594 00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:12,240 Speaker 10: lac or something. You know, it seemed out of place. 595 00:37:12,320 --> 00:37:15,240 Speaker 10: It was parked there for a long time. I'm getting 596 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,560 Speaker 10: scared because, like my dad had instilled such a stranger 597 00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 10: danger fair into me. You know, be wary of strangers. 598 00:37:22,080 --> 00:37:24,480 Speaker 10: Don't let strange people into your house. Make them show 599 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 10: you their badge, you know, question their uniform if you're 600 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:31,200 Speaker 10: not expecting them. I literally called my husband like once 601 00:37:31,320 --> 00:37:34,520 Speaker 10: or twice. I said, there's a strange car with a 602 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 10: man sitting in it. He's not moving. I don't know 603 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:37,800 Speaker 10: what he's doing. 604 00:37:38,200 --> 00:37:39,080 Speaker 2: I said, should I. 605 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:41,879 Speaker 10: Call the police? It almost felt like he was there 606 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:46,279 Speaker 10: for me. I hare a knock on my door, and 607 00:37:46,360 --> 00:37:49,839 Speaker 10: it was like something in me knew that the man 608 00:37:49,880 --> 00:37:51,400 Speaker 10: in the car was now on the other side of 609 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:54,399 Speaker 10: the door, and then he said, on the other side 610 00:37:54,400 --> 00:37:56,839 Speaker 10: of the door, I'm with the FBI and I need 611 00:37:56,880 --> 00:37:59,960 Speaker 10: to question you. And so that can I see your 612 00:38:00,080 --> 00:38:02,960 Speaker 10: badge and so he like clashes his badge. 613 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:03,800 Speaker 7: It looks legit. 614 00:38:04,880 --> 00:38:06,800 Speaker 10: He didn't have a gun, which I thought was weird. 615 00:38:06,800 --> 00:38:08,840 Speaker 10: BALI had was like a yellow legal pad and like 616 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:12,920 Speaker 10: a pencil. It was a very small apartment, very narrow hallway, 617 00:38:12,920 --> 00:38:15,200 Speaker 10: and I remember I was comfortable enough that I turned 618 00:38:15,239 --> 00:38:18,839 Speaker 10: my back to him to walk the few steps into 619 00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:22,960 Speaker 10: the kitchen, and he just drops it. He's like, do 620 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:27,360 Speaker 10: you know about BTK? And now I'm thinking, like what 621 00:38:28,520 --> 00:38:32,880 Speaker 10: I knew BTK had been active in like the seventies, 622 00:38:33,880 --> 00:38:37,120 Speaker 10: but I knew that BTK murdered women that lived alone. 623 00:38:37,320 --> 00:38:40,000 Speaker 10: So instantly I thought my dad's mom, Dorothea, had been 624 00:38:40,080 --> 00:38:43,319 Speaker 10: murdered because she was a widow and living alone. So 625 00:38:43,480 --> 00:38:46,800 Speaker 10: I instantly went there thinking, Grandma Dorothia has been murdered 626 00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:50,520 Speaker 10: by this BTK. So I said, is my grandma Okay? 627 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,480 Speaker 10: He's perplexed. He's like, why is she talking to me 628 00:38:53,560 --> 00:38:57,799 Speaker 10: about Grandma? He's like, your grandma, she's fine, And then 629 00:38:57,800 --> 00:38:58,400 Speaker 10: he drops it. 630 00:38:59,400 --> 00:39:00,040 Speaker 9: Your dad is. 631 00:39:07,480 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 7: Someone killed four members of a family. 632 00:39:10,680 --> 00:39:13,560 Speaker 10: Had you vanished from her home suddenly last weekend? Her 633 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,960 Speaker 10: phone lines had been cut, her door left open. 634 00:39:16,200 --> 00:39:19,520 Speaker 8: You see the victim playing there with plastic bags over 635 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:23,719 Speaker 8: their heads, strangled. You could tell there was a plan scenario. 636 00:39:24,000 --> 00:39:26,400 Speaker 10: Well, police have said no more about the contents of 637 00:39:26,440 --> 00:39:29,239 Speaker 10: the letter. It does contain some sort of threat and 638 00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:31,520 Speaker 10: implies the killer may strike again. 639 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:33,320 Speaker 4: He's going to play with these victims. 640 00:39:34,000 --> 00:39:36,600 Speaker 2: He'd get him to the point of death and then 641 00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:37,640 Speaker 2: bring them back. 642 00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:40,080 Speaker 7: And then brings them back to the point of death. 643 00:39:41,719 --> 00:39:47,200 Speaker 6: From My Heart Podcasts and Tenderfoot TV. I'm Susan Peters 644 00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:51,239 Speaker 6: and this is Monster BTK. 645 00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:03,480 Speaker 2: Monster BTK is a production of Tenderfoot TV and iHeart Podcasts. 646 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:07,680 Speaker 2: The show is written by Nomes Griffin, Trevor Young and 647 00:40:07,800 --> 00:40:13,319 Speaker 2: Jesse Funk. Our host is Susan Peters. Executive producers on 648 00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:17,520 Speaker 2: Behalf of Tenderfoot TV include Donald Albright and Payne Lindsay, 649 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:23,080 Speaker 2: alongside supervising producer Tracy Kaplan. Executive producers on Behalf of 650 00:40:23,160 --> 00:40:28,680 Speaker 2: iHeart Podcasts include Matt Frederick and Trevor Young, alongside producers 651 00:40:28,719 --> 00:40:35,080 Speaker 2: Nomes Griffin and Jesse Funk and supervising Producerrima Ilkali. Marketing 652 00:40:35,120 --> 00:40:39,120 Speaker 2: support by David Wasserman and Alison Wright at iHeart Podcasts 653 00:40:39,719 --> 00:40:46,120 Speaker 2: and Caroline Origemma at Tenderfoot TV. Auditional research by Claudia Dafrico, 654 00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:51,399 Speaker 2: original artwork by Kevin Mister Soul Harp, original music by 655 00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:55,440 Speaker 2: Makeup and Vanity Set. Special thanks to Orrin Rosenbaum and 656 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:59,000 Speaker 2: the team at UTA and the Nord Group. For more 657 00:40:59,040 --> 00:41:03,880 Speaker 2: podcasts from iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV, visit the iHeartRadio app, 658 00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:07,760 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 659 00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:09,480 Speaker 2: Thanks for listening.