What We Know About BTK’s Life In Prison
By DB KELLY
History - Science
Moving In
Dennis Rader moved into El Dorado Correctional in 2005. He was confined to an 8x10 cell except for five one-hour periods for showers and transfers to small cells outside.
Rader’s meals were passed through the cell door, reading materials were restricted, and he wasn’t allowed a television to prevent access to media that may encourage killing urges.
Special Privileges
A year into his sentence, Rader was considered such a model prisoner that his initial restrictions were lifted in a major way, including restrictions on drawing.
Rader also got permission to have a television and a radio in his cell, and greater access to reading materials. Rader's defense team said these basic perks were humane.
Daily Routine
Rader outlined his daily routine in a series of 2012 letters obtained by TMZ. He woke at 5 a.m. with breakfast, then recorded natural phenomena like sunrise times.
After a 9 a.m. break, Rader would go on to letter and poetry writing, then it was time for exercise. He tried to get in at least 2,000 steps per day, along with 120 push-ups.
His Daughter
Rader's daughter, Kerri Rawson, has many unopened letters from him that never stopped coming, even though she didn't respond for several years.
With the 2019 release of her own memoir, Rawson told Esquire, "He still doesn’t understand why my family hasn’t visited or called, or why we aren't more just like the way we were."
Hobbies
Along with journaling and recording everyday occurrences, Rader wrote that he kept a daily record of his "hobby 'Portfolio,'" in which he kept track of Wall Street stocks.
Rader also kept track of the prices of silver and gold, and he ran what he called "a Fantasy business... in to rentals, land management — etc." with eight employees factored in.