BTK Suspect Waives Court Hearing

The man accused of the BTK serial killings waived his right to a preliminary hearing Tuesday, meaning he acknowledged the state has enough evidence to go to trial.

During the hearing, which lasted only a few minutes, Dennis Rader answered "Yes, sir" to questions from Sedgwick County District Gregory Waller about whether he understood his rights. Prosecutors presented no evidence against him.

Rader, formerly a city ordinance enforcement officer for suburban Park City, was arrested on Feb. 25 and is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. Rader, 60, will enter a plea at his arraignment, which was set for May 3.

Prosecutors, who say Rader killed 10 people between 1974 and 1991, said they were disappointed the public would not get to hear evidence in the case, reports The Kansas City Star.

Had the preliminary hearing taken place, prosecutors planned to present enough evidence to Waller that Rader is Wichita's infamous BTK so the Park City man would be bound over for trial. The preliminary hearing could have lasted from three to 10 days. Because Rader waived his hearing, that wasn't necessary.

Lead public defender Steve Osburn told the paper that Rader plans to enter a plea of not guilty at the May 3 arraignment. He said waiving today's preliminary hearing was in "Mr. Rader's best interests. We've discussed it for quite some time."

Fourteen members of victims' families were in the courtroom, where seating was at a premium. Just five members of the general public got seats. The Rev. Michael Clark, pastor of Rader's Park City church, also was in the courtroom.

The BTK strangler, whose nickname stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill," had been suspected of eight deaths beginning in 1974, but since Rader's arrest authorities have linked two more victims to the serial killer. Prosecutors can't seek the death penalty because the crimes were committed before 1994, when Kansas passed its capital punishment law.