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02/27/2005: "Wichita Police Department Hands out Awards . . . and the Oscar goes to . . ."

Dennis Radar, alleged B.T.K. serial killer

he Wichita Police Department held a press conference, as they laughingly call them, yesterday. They had the spotlight of the entire nation, indeed the world. Fame and glory being the fleeting thing that it is, they took the opportunity to congratulate themselves (for the better part of an hour!) for doing their job. In this case their job was to capture the serial killer who called himself BTK for Bind them, Torture them and Kill them.

The police chief blew the entire case . . . he jeopardized it in my opinion . . . when he announced, "BTK has been arrested." What happened to the word "allegedly"? What happened to the trial? What happened to innocent until proven guilty? From a legal standpoint, couldn't a good attorney get the alleged BTK off scott free because of this verbiage?

Not being an attorney, I can't say. But to me, that and the entire affair was in poor taste. Everyone who wanted to be on national television from the mayor to Rep. Todd Tihart, was on the stage taking and giving congratulations for their part in the capture.

Now having said all that, I will say that the DNA is a match and the man they have probably is, without a doubt, BTK. But when did we convict before a trial. When did we start doing that? When did our language lose the words allege until the jury says "guilty"?

In fact, it was not police work that brought the alleged killer down in the end. It was his own daughter who turned him in and offered her on DNA.*

As I've always said, WPD can't catch anything but a cold on their own. So the award goes to Kerri Radar, the daughter of Dennis Radar, the alleged serial killer known as BTK. And to her, the city of Wichita owes everything. She did the hard part. The cops only did what we pay them to do. Thank you Kerri.

*Fox News reports that his daughter turned her father in. Police, however, deny this.