It was a relief to hear Dennis Rader admit in court today that he killed 10 people. Now the citizens of the Wichita area and the victims’ families know for certain that the monster who committed these crimes has been caught and will be punished.
But it was chilling to hear him describe without emotion how he "trolled and stalked" his victims. How he falsely comforted several of them before strangling them. How he assigned code names, such as "project green" and had a "hit kit" and "hit clothes." And how there apparently were many other Wichitans whom he considered as "potential hits."
We still don’t know why he committed these crimes, other than he said he had a "sexual fantasy." We also don’t know why he resurfaced. Did he want to get caught? Had he begun "trolling" for his next victim? More details will come out during the sentencing phase of the case, which begins Aug. 17.
But what we heard from his own mouth today was enough to decide that there is no punishment that the state can impose that will be too harsh.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
Follow us
