Dennis Rader, the man police believe is the BTK &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/cis/2001/08/31/13874.html' target=_blank>serial killer, hid for more than 30 years in plain sight.
He lived in this suburb of Wichita, the city he is suspected of terrorizing, with a wife and two children. He led a Cub Scout troop and was active in his Lutheran church. As an ordinance enforcement officer for the local government, he could be seen measuring grass in a front yard with a tape measure to see if it was too long, a neighbour said.
On Saturday, police identified Rader as a suspect in the BTK killings and announced an end to their 31-year manhunt. Although no charges have been filed, a jubilant collection of law enforcers and community leaders told a cheering crowd they were confident the long-running case could now be closed. Officials also said they connected two more deaths to BTK - a self-coined nickname that stands for Bind, Torture, Kill - bringing his total to at least 10, says the CBC News.
According to the ABC News, people who knew 59-year-old Rader are talking about two different sides of the man. Some are calling him a friendly neighbor who helped the elderly, while others are painting a picture of a bully who sometimes took his job as a city ordinance enforcement officer and dog catcher too far.
Donna Barry, a neighbor of Rader's who has known him and his family since she was a child, told "Good Morning America" she was surprised about his arrest, but said she had seen a darker side of Rader as well. Barry said that she once watched as Rader shot a neighbor's dog in front of the owners, Barry and her children.
"If he didn't like the way animals were being treated in the neighborhood, he was right there to push the law on making it go his way," Barry told "Good Morning America" in an exclusive interview.
Subscribe to Pravda.Ru Telegram channel, Facebook, RSS!