Full BTK news coverage

By David Twiddy

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PARK CITY, Kan. (AP) — He lived among them for nearly 30 years, having arrived in the community before graduating from college. But Dennis Rader, the man police believe is the BTK serial killer, wasn't well liked by some of his neighbors.

Most residents who lived near Rader described him as a bureaucratic bully, an ordinance enforcement officer for this Wichita suburb who often went out of his way to find reasons to issue citations.

One neighbor said Rader was once seen measuring grass in a front yard with a tape measure to see if it was too long. Another recalled catching Rader filming his house, documenting possible violations.

And yet, there were hints at a pleasant side. He helped elderly neighbors with yard work, was active in his church and served as a Cub Scout leader.

Police say BTK — the killer's self-coined nickname stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill" — may have killed as many as 10 people between 1974 and 1991. Police arrested Rader on Friday and said Saturday they were confident he was the killer.

"He was definitely two-sided," said Jim Reno, who lived across the street from Rader and his wife for 16 years and experienced several confrontations with him over what he called Rader's "harassment."

Rader, 59, moved into the neighborhood around 1976 and graduated from Wichita State University in 1979. Although he studied criminal justice, Rader never became a police officer, instead going into code enforcement, or what Reno called "a glorified dog catcher."

Park City Mayor Emil Bergquist, citing a request of investigators, declined to comment about Rader's employment record or any part of the case.

Rader lived with his wife, whose parents lived around the corner. No one answered the door at the residence Saturday afternoon. Public records indicate he has two adult children.

Bill Lindsay, 38, lived behind Rader and said something about the man unnerved him. Lindsay said his wife caught Rader in their adjoining backyards filming the back of their house.

"He really acted really funny," said Lindsay, a truck driver. "I'd be on the road and my wife would tell me, 'Dennis has been out again, taking his pictures.'"

And yet most neighbors never suspected Rader of any connection to the serial killings.

"I didn't start thinking about (BTK) until I started seeing increased law enforcement in the neighborhood" in the last few weeks, Lindsay said.

Jason Day, 28, described the working-class neighborhood 7 miles north of Wichita as "very quiet. You'd never consider something like this happening here."

Day said his brother was in Rader's Cub Scout pack at the nearby Park City Baptist Church, but their mother pulled him out because of Rader.

"It was his demeanor," he said. "He was so strange."

Rader also was a scout leader at Christ Lutheran Church, where he had held leadership positions for about 30 years. Church members "are in a state of shock and bewilderment about the turn of events that have unfolded this week," said Michael Clark, the church's pastor.

Not everyone had a bad story about Rader. David Cool said he had lived next to Raders' in-laws for most of his life, and his parents knew Rader. He said Rader helped his parents, now in their 70s, with yard work.

"Mom doesn't have a bad word to say about him," Cool said.

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