Dennis Rader, suspected by police of being the “BTK”
killer, was working as an alarm technician when most of the
serial murders took place. Rader worked at the Wichita,
Kan., branch of ADT Security between 1974 and 1988
according to media sources. Rader was arrested Feb. 25 and
faces 10 charges of first-degree murder in the BTK murders
that took place from 1974 to 1991. BTK stands for
the “bind, torture and kill” method used by the killer.

Former co-workers at ADT told the Los Angeles Times
that Rader was nicknamed “Blue Book Man” for the way he had
memorized every regulation in ADT’s policy manual. “He
followed them to the T,” Denise Mattock, a sales secretary
who says she was a “good buddy” of Rader’s told the
Times. “That’s the kind of guy he was: Rules were
meant for everyone and rules were not meant to be
broken.”

After four years in the Air Force that ended in 1972, the
Times says Rader used the technical skills he picked
up in the service to join ADT in November 1974. Earlier in
the year, the first five BTK murders took place and a
letter sent by the killer contained so much detail that
authorities profiled the killer as taking meticulous notes
and sketches after the murders describing the crime
scenes.

In his 14 years at ADT, co-workers say Rader, who rose up
to become installation supervisor, was known for the
intricate sketches of clients’ places of business and
homes. “There was a lot of detail in his work – almost to
the point where it seemed he was a little anal about it,”
former ADT co-worker Mike Tavares told the Times.

The murders continued with two taking place in 1977. During
this time, Mattocks says she asked Rader if she should get
an alarm system for her home. Rader then told her not to
bother because “BTK usually cuts the phone lines before
entering a house, disabling the alarm system.”

It is of note that during this time period, residential
systems were rare and ADT had a much more substantial
commercial client list than residential. Media reports also
say that there is no evidence that the murder victims were
ADT clients. However, all of the murders that took place
while Rader was at ADT took place during the day and
Rader’s hours in the field were usually between 8 a.m. and
4:30 p.m.

Rader left ADT in July 1988 and later became code officer
for Park City, Kan.

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