It’s topping the Netflix charts, and will make you question every meaningful relationship you’ve ever had

by Robert Scocchi
| Published 36 seconds ago

Netflix has been known to produce an unimaginable amount of true crime docuseries of questionable quality and integrity. Prone to stretching simple stories across multiple episodes for the sole purpose of getting viewers at home to binge-watch, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds and lose the plot. My father, the BTK killerwhich was recently released on Netflix, is not one of these specials. It tells its entire story in one 94-minute entry and contains no fat or filler.

Told from the point of view of Keri Rawson, Dennis Rader’s daughter, My father, the BTK killer It’s a tragic story about the kind of repercussions you wouldn’t normally think about. What happens when you find out that your dad has recorded a huge body count over the decades, all while you come home from work every day and act like “dad”?

He was just “Daddy.”

Aiming to get her life back in My father, the BTK killerRawson fondly describes her childhood, which by all accounts was a standard experience. Dennis Rader would take her fishing, camping, and cook family dinners. He was an active member of his church and community. Living in the small town of Wichita, Kansas, everyone knew each other, and no one in their wildest dreams suspected Ryder as the BTK killer, who stalked and strangled his victims, but only before writing threatening letters to the police and the local news station to make sure he got media attention.

Rawson, who was born after Rader claimed the first seven out of 10 of his victims, wonders if her birth was the reason he saw a period of hibernation in… My father, the BTK killer. Or worse, she speculates that he only married and had children so he could live his double life without anyone suspecting anything because society would see him as a family man. In 2005, when Rawson was 26, he visited her FBIWho captured her father after decades of searching for BTK. They previously assumed he was in prison or dead due to his inactivity for so long.

Stacking the deck after taking a bad hit

My father, the BTK killer a result

Rawson is an innocent victim in My father, the BTK killerBecause she was completely unaware of his activities, she has to live the rest of her life facing the consequences of his actions. After years of silence on the matter, she finally decided it was time to speak out about her father and assist authorities in the ongoing investigations based on the knowledge she gained while studying her father’s behavior in hindsight. Because there is reason to believe that Ryder has killed more than 10 victims linked to his name, she has since worked with authorities to assist with cold cases and defend victims of similar crimes.

Although her life and legacy may seem tarnished by her father’s reputation, Rawson, now separated from the rest of her family, is the only member to speak out about Denise Rader as a way to deal with the fact that she unknowingly lived with a monster throughout her childhood. Working through his writings and the evidence collected, I helped develop psychological profiles that could be of great value to authorities in future cases. However, one creepy detail missing from the documentary is any exploration of why BTK, who chose his own nickname (who does that?), would consider calling himself “The Garrote Phantom.”

My father, the BTK killer It is a Netflix Original and can be streamed now with an active subscription.