Full BTK news coverage

By Roxana Hegeman

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WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge ruled Friday that the news media are not entitled to see a court document that details what led police to arrest the suspect in the BTK serial killings case.

Six media organizations, including The Associated Press, sought last month to intervene in the BTK case after nearly all documents were put under court seal. Most of the other documents were subsequently unsealed, except for the affidavit that has the important details about how police came to focus on Dennis Rader as a suspect.

Police and prosecutors have refused to discuss their evidence against Rader, 60, a former Park City compliance officer who was arrested Feb. 25 and charged in 10 deaths linked to BTK.

The initials stand for "Bind, Torture, Kill," the nickname the killer gave himself in a series of taunting letters as authorities pursued him.

Because Rader waived his right to a preliminary hearing, prosecutors have not had to present their evidence against him in open court.

Media attorney Lyndon Vix said public interest in the case is intense because the BTK murders terrorized Wichita for nearly 30 years.

"The response to these unique circumstances should not be to take the proceedings into the dark," Vix said. "This case, more than any other, must be conducted in a manner that gives the public confidence things are being done right."

Vix added, "The notion that a person can be arrested, charged and confined without the state revealing to the public that it has any basis for doing so seems more consistent with an authoritarian state than the United States."

Under Kansas law, probable cause affidavits are automatically kept secret unless the court makes them public.

Prosecutor Kevin O'Connor said the media is not being excluded from open court proceedings, and prosecutors want to try Rader in court, not through the media. He said the public's interest is protected by the attorneys and judge, who have "a great deal of experience in trying cases of this nature."

The defense concurred with the prosecution.

In making his ruling from the bench, District Judge Gregory Waller said the media had speculated on the facts of the case without any attention to the rights of the defendant or the state.

"The only reason the court can see at this point in time to disclose the information is that the media simply has the desire to put forth what they believe are the facts," Waller said.

In addition to the AP, The Wichita Eagle, the Kansas Press Association and television stations KWCH, KAKE and KSNW sought to have the documents unsealed.

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