Disturbing meaning behind photos of BTK Killer tying himself up in woman's clothing

Warning: This article contains disturbing images that some viewers may find distressing

The horrific crimes of the BTK Killer Dennis Rader have become a topic of discussion 20 years after his capture, leading many to once again find horrific photos of the serial killer.

A new Netflix documentary, focused on the BTK Killer’s daughter’s life, has led many to revisit the horrific case.

The BTK Killer, standing for bind, torture, kill, eluded capture for over 30 years for his crimes and killed at least ten people, predominantly women.

In investigating the case further, however, many viewers of the documentary may have come across photos of the murderer tied up wearing women’s clothing.

The photos have a disturbing real meaning linked to the BTK Killer’s horrifying motivations.

The BTK Killer carried out his murders for erotic reasons

The BTK Killer took photos of himself in his victim's clothing (Wichita Police Department)

Dennis Rader would tie up his victims before murdering them and was motivated by obsessive sexual fantasies of tying women up to murder them.

He was eventually identified in large part because at the scene of many of his crimes he had masturbated after carrying out his murders.

This was used to identify him after he sent a floppy disk to police that they were able to trace back to his church, leading them to believe he was the horrific serial killer.

Though he is known to have killed at least ten people, he is thought to have killed even more over the years.

Rader is currently serving ten consecutive life sentences and will have to serve a minimum of 175 years.

Dennis Rader would tie himself up like his victims, often wearing their clothes

The BTK Killer got sexual gratification from tying himself up (Wichita Police Department)

When Rader was arrested in 2005, police found what he had called the ‘mother lode’, a horrifying cache of macabre polaroid pictures.

He would often photograph his victims after their deaths, but would also photograph himself wearing their clothes.

Rader has spoken about finding sexual gratification in bondage from a very young age, pointing to his mother getting caught in their sofa as a child as his earliest memory of wanting to see women trapped.

At times, he would photograph himself in the same positions that he would carry out his murders, wearing their clothes and imitating what he did to them.

Rader is reported to have done this to fulfil his own sexual desires of asphyxiation and bondage to feel what his victims felt, saying that he had experimented with ‘auto-erotic activity’.

In addition to this Capt. Sam Houston, one of the investigators from the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office, testified that Rader would take these photos so that he could ‘live in that moment for years’.

Rader has also spoken about how taking the photos and recreating his own crimes gave him a longer 'cooling off period' between murders, as he would often spend years between his crimes to evade capture.