Judge Enters Plea for Suspect

WICHITA, Kan. — A judge entered a plea of not guilty Tuesday on behalf of Dennis L. Rader, the former church leader and city compliance officer accused of being the BTK serial killer.

A grim Rader declined to speak during a court appearance. His lawyers instead asked District Judge Gregory Waller to enter the plea.

Rader, 60, is being held at the Sedgwick County Detention Center on a $10-million bond. Waller scheduled a trial on 10 counts of first-degree murder for June 27, though the prosecution and defense expected the start to be pushed back.

For 31 years, Wichita residents lived in fear of the BTK strangler, who coined the nickname to describe his methods: bind, torture, kill. He taunted police with word puzzles, sadistic poems and boastful letters about the slayings.

Kansas passed its death penalty law after the killings, so Rader would not face capital punishment if convicted. The state Supreme Court ruled Kansas’ law unconstitutional in 2004; the attorney general is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court.

During Rader’s brief arraignment, Dist. Atty. Nola Foulston said prosecutors would seek the “Hard 40” sentence -- meaning Rader would have to serve 40 years in prison before being eligible for parole.

The penalty was in effect when the last of the BTK killer’s known victims was slain.

Delores “Dee” Davis, 62, was abducted from her home near suburban Park City, where Rader lived, in 1991. She was strangled and her naked body dumped in a rural drainage ditch. Though the case remained unsolved for years, investigators connected her death to the BTK killer the day after Rader was arrested in February.

By law, Foulston had to inform Rader and his lawyers about the state’s plan to seek the Hard 40 penalty.

The district attorney walked over to the defense table Tuesday and stood in front of Rader. She looked him in the eye and said that Davis’ torture and killing met the law’s standards of a “heinous, cruel and atrocious” act.

Rader nodded. When Foulston finished speaking, Rader said: “Thank you.”

The other nine slayings Rader is charged with would allow for a life sentence but would permit parole after 15 years.

As Rader was escorted out of the courtroom, one man sitting in the back shouted: “Don’t worry, you won’t last that long.”

Rader kept walking. He didn’t look back.

Defense lawyers said they were not expecting to present an insanity defense, nor had they pursued a plea bargain with prosecutors. They were, however, considering a petition for a change of venue.

“I look forward to a trial of this case, because it is important for people to know and for people to finally say it’s over,” Foulston said after the hearing.