Verdict Archive

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Case file · Sedgwick County District Court, Kansas, United States

Dennis Lynn Rader: charges, verdict and sentence

State of Kansas
v.
Dennis L. Rader
Sedgwick County District Court, Kansas, United States · 2005 to 2026

Dennis Rader was arrested on 25 February 2005 and charged in Sedgwick County, Kansas, with ten counts of first-degree murder covering killings from 1974 to 1991. He pleaded guilty to all ten counts on 27 June 2005, the day his jury trial was due to begin, and on 18 August 2005 was sentenced to ten consecutive life terms.

Where it stands nowAs of August 2025 Rader was serving ten consecutive life sentences at El Dorado Correctional Facility in Butler County, Kansas, according to KWCH. Investigators in other states have publicly named him as a suspect in unsolved cases, but no new charges were found in the sources reviewed.

Charges and outcomes

ChargeOutcomeDate
First-degree murder, ten counts3,4Pleaded guilty27 June 2005

Sentence

Ten consecutive life sentences imposed on 18 August 2005, with a minimum of 175 years before parole eligibility.

Court record, stage by stage

  1. arrestArrested during a traffic stop5,2
  2. indictmentCharged with ten counts of first-degree murder6
    Sedgwick County District Court
  3. indictmentAt arraignment Rader stood mute and Judge Gregory Waller entered a not guilty plea and set a trial date of 27 June5
    Sedgwick County District Court
  4. verdictPleaded guilty to all ten counts on the first scheduled day of his jury trial, and Judge Waller found him guilty3,4
    Sedgwick County District Court
  5. sentenceSentenced to ten consecutive life terms, with a minimum of 175 years before parole eligibility, the longest sentence the judge could impose. Kansas had no death penalty when the killings occurred1,2
    Sedgwick County District Court, Judge Gregory Waller

Sources

  1. Associated Press via Deseret News, BTK serial killer sentenced to 10 consecutive life terms (AP) (18 August 2005)
  2. KWCH 12, Today marks 20 years since BTK serial killer sentenced to life in prison (18 August 2025)
  3. NPR, Rader skips trial, pleads guilty as BTK (27 June 2005)
  4. CNN, BTK suspect pleads guilty (27 June 2005)
  5. NBC News, Judge enters not-guilty plea for BTK suspect (May 2005)
  6. CBS News, 10 murder counts for BTK suspect (1 March 2005)

This file describes court proceedings. It does not describe or name victims beyond the court record. Our standards.