Bind. Torture. Kill. The story of BTK, the wolf in sheep's clothing

His story is fascinating. The most elusive serial killer in America. A serial murderer who inspired Thomas Harris and Stephen King. A key character in the series «Mindhunter». He motivated a boy to become a police officer, and it was this boy who caught him 30 years later, dedicating his life to this mission. For three decades, from 1974 to 2005, this brutal serial killer terrorized the residents of Wichita, Kansas. All of his victims — women, men, and even children — were tied up with complex knots and then strangled. The killer referred to himself as BTK bind, torture, kill. Under this nickname, he terrorized the county for years and enjoyed corresponding with the police through the local newspaper. When he was finally caught, everyone was shocked: the brutal sadist and strangler turned out to be Dennis Rader — a loving husband and father, a member of the local Boy Scouts organization, and a respected churchgoer. The story of BTK is unique not only because of the killer himself. In the 1970s, when the first high-profile murders of the strangler began, Kenny Landwehr was a local teenager. An impressionable boy wanted to become a police officer to hunt down such murderers and scum. No one suspected that he would be the one to catch BTK 30 years later, dedicating his entire professional life to this cause. Landwehr played a game of «cat and mouse» with the maniac for years, waiting for him to make a mistake. The meticulously reconstructed police investigation that forms the basis of the book shows how difficult it is to catch a serial killer, even living in the same city with him.