The smiling young man in this photo grew up to be one of America’s most evil men
Then, in 1991, he stopped.
No more letters. No more victims.
Some believed the killer had simply died. But in reality, it was the birth of his daughter that kept him too busy to kill.
The ego that gave him away
More than a decade later, in 2004, BTK suddenly reemerged.
He started sending packages to local TV stations and newspapers, notes, drawings, even dolls posed to resemble his victims.
He bragged about his crimes and mocked investigators who had never caught him.
Then, in one fateful message, he made a mistake.
He asked police if they could trace a floppy disk he wanted to send, and if they promised they couldn’t. Detectives responded publicly that it was safe.
When investigators examined it, the data pointed to a local church computer — and a man who served as the president of the church council.
