WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The sentencing of the BTK serial killer this week will allow the families of his victims to confront him in court for the first time. But they also will hear in graphic terms the depravity of the crimes that terrorized this Midwest community for more than three decades.

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Unlike June's courtroom confession in which Dennis Rader pleaded guilty and then coldly delivered a lecture-style recitation of his killings, the sentencing is expected to be wrenching as investigators disclose explicit details of the sexually motivated crimes and the relatives describe their loss and pain.

Rader told KAKE-TV — the Wichita station with which he had often communicated as "BTK" since the 1970s — that he was working on an emotional statement for his sentencing.

BTK was the killer's own moniker for "Bind, Torture, Kill." In a haunting prophetic message sent to KAKE in the 1970s, BTK wrote: "There is no help, no cure, except death or being caught and put away."

Rader, 60, will almost certainly die behind bars for the murders committed in the Wichita area from 1974 to 1991.

Judge Gregory Waller must rule on whether Rader will serve his 10 sentences consecutively or concurrently. He set aside three days for the hearing — to start Wednesday — but most observers expect it will last two days.

Prosecutors want Rader to get the longest possible sentence — a minimum of 175 years without a chance of parole. To support that, they plan to present 10 or fewer witnesses, along with photos of the crimes and other evidence, said Georgia Cole, spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.

The state had no death penalty when the crimes were committed.

Defense attorneys did not return calls seeking comment.

In his confession, Rader said sexual fantasies drove him to commit the killings, which he referred to as his "projects." Days after the confession, Rader called KAKE-TV from prison and told them he had picked out an 11th victim before he was caught.

Rader, a former president of his church, blamed the killings on a "demon" that got inside him at a young age.

"If he showed any kind of remorse, you could feel sorry for him, but he shows none," said Sharon Bright, whose husband, Kevin, was the only survivor of a BTK attack. "He even thinks he is a Christian."

With the criminal case winding up, Rader now faces a series of lawsuits from the families of his victims seeking to keep him from profiting from his crimes. Rader's ex-wife, Paula, has filed a petition to intervene in those cases, primarily to protect proceeds from the recent sale of their home.