Netflix’s new documentary tells the BTK Killer story through his daughter’s eyes
Imagine waking up one day to find out that your father isn’t the man you thought he was. Instead, he is one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. And Netflix is bringing you this real-life horror story next month.
It might just be a story for you, but for Kerri Rawson, it was her reality. Her life took an unexpected turn when, in 2005, her dad, Dennis Rader, was arrested on his lunch break and unmasked as the BTK Killer. Now, nearly two decades later, Netflix is revisiting this haunting story in My Father, the BTK Killer, a new documentary coming out on October 10th.
If you are wondering what BTK is short for, it’s “Bind, Torture, Kill”, which terrorised Wichita, Kansas, for decades. Between 1974 and 1991, Rader murdered ten people. Not just that, he often sent taunting letters to newspapers and police to prove his guilt.
And when they say most predators are disguised as the common man around you, they’re not wrong. Because to his neighbours, he was a church president and Cub Scout leader. Can you imagine a man holding such positions turning out to be a serial killer?
To investigators, he was the faceless figure who had kept a community in fear for years. The duality of his life is what makes the story so terrifying: a family man on the outside, a remorseless killer in the shadows.
What makes My Father, the BTK Killer different?
But My Father, the BTK Killer, isn’t just another crime doc replaying grisly details. Directed by Skye Borgman (American Murder: The Family Next Door, Girl in the Picture), the film turns the focus to Rader’s daughter. Kerri Rawson takes centre stage as she searches for answers. In this doc, she is reliving her childhood while grappling with the trauma of learning that her father was capable of unspeakable violence. Her voice reframes the case in a way that most true-crime stories don’t.
The documentary weaves together Kerri’s personal reflections and the chilling material from the archives. Viewers will see interrogation footage of Rader himself, sketches and photographs from the original investigations, and interviews with the detectives who finally pieced together his identity. For fans of Netflix’s true-crime catalogue, this is going to be a treat.
Another thing that makes this story different is the weight it carries for Rader’s family. Most crime series focus on victims or police, but this one asks harder questions. What happens to a child when the person they looked up to becomes a monster in the world’s eyes? How do you separate memories of camping trips and family dinners from the knowledge that those years were built on lies? Kerri’s perspective in this doc is supposed to bring a raw and emotional honesty that turns this case into something deeply human.
True crime has always thrived on shock value, but My Father, the BTK Killer goes a step further and explores survival not just for the families of victims, but for the killer’s own child. It’s as much about healing as it is about horror.
This October, as Halloween looms and Netflix shows its cards of horror content, My Father, the BTK Killer may be the ultimate trump card. Because the scariest monsters aren’t found in haunted houses… they’re the ones hiding in plain sight, sitting across the dinner table.