Behind the Files

Hi casefile team! First of all, my compliments for the new releases after the break. You seem to exceed my expectations everytime! After listening to the BTK case, I was wondering if you guys are familiar with the "dark tetrad" psychology. Its a concept identifying the 4 components of a dark personality. There is a test you can take to measure if you have those components that can predict potential violent and or manipulative behaviour. I don't think its mentioned in one of the cases so far. Would love to hear your take on that, and how it correlates to the complex but sick mind of BTK. Fun fact my scores were lower than average except for the "crafty" side, which kind of surprises me. Greetings from the netherlands

Do you guys like (Aussie) meat pies? As an American I am so curious what the red sauce people add to the pie which looks like ketchup. Is it ketchup?

Does anyone here watch Australian Survivor? If so, what do you think of the new host and who’s your favorite player of the current season.

What about your version of this case do you think sets it apart from all other episodes and podcasts about BTK?

With cases as big as BTK, with seemingly endless information, how do you approach organising and synthesising your notes, and then turning that into a cohesive narrative? I’ve always wanted to know the secrets behind your prep process

Can you give us any hints about what else we can expects this season? So excited for Casefile’s 10th year!

One thing I’ve always been confused about with Rader is his practice of tying himself up and photographing himself, self asphyxiating, wearing victims’ clothing, and so on. Do you have insight into this? I’ve read similar stuff about Dennis Nilsen. But what confuses me about Rader is that his psychology around killing seems more sadistic / predatory whereas Nilsen more so had an elaborate sexualization of death and corpses instead of the act of killing itself (I guess a process versus product killer distinction). Did you come across anything in your research discussing this aspect of Rader’s paraphilias? It just seems odd to me that a person obsessed with control, predation, and inflicting pain would *also* at times put himself in the role of the victim, as it were. A form of attempted, posthumous control and humiliation over the victims? Anyways, great episodes, glad you all are back!

This case seemed to be headed toward investigative genetic genealogy that is growing in popularity. If he never started communicating with the police again, do you think BTK would have been targeted with this method?

I was randomly re-listening to old episodes last week and hit upon Ruth Finley which discusses BTK quite a lot. Wondering if you knew at that point that BTK was coming up on your agenda? And if you have any thoughts about how the two cases compare now that you have completed such a big piece on BTK?

These cases are quite bizarre in that there are primary sources from the perpetrator himself as he documented it all. Were his writings made public? Did you read them for the episode? On the one hand his writings are a valuable source of information but on the other hand it feels bad reading them knowing that he took glee in writing them and that he hoped people would read them and maintain his ‘legacy’.

What was the team’s thinking behind naming the episodes “Test A.rtf” rather than after BTK?

Firstly just wanted to say I haven't been so hooked on episodes for a long time so great work team. Was a great series. You mentioned Dennis will answer any media requests and talk to anyone - did Casefile contact him for anything or was there enough material out there already?

Part 4 of the Rader series was a great display of what a complete loser BTK really is. Casefile typically feels pretty unbiased while this felt more intentional. Is there something specific about Dennis Rader or his victims that influenced how you wrote the ending to this series?

The BTK case was really great. There were a couple of books cited, but could you give a kind of bibliography for the four episodes?

What about this case really stood out to the team? For me, what stood out was Rador thinking of the police almost like colleagues, asking if they could catch him with a floppy disk like they weren't trying to do just that, and how the police hadn't caught him sooner because they overestimated him. Was there a fact that once you learned it, you couldn't let it go?

Not really a question, more just a welcome back. I am so excited for the year to come and what Casefile will bring. I sincerely hope that everyone on the Casefile team had the most wonderful and relaxing Christmas and New Year with family and friends. It appears the break was a relaxing one, as you have most definitely returned with a gigantic bang and full of energy.

I want to know - where are the serial killers of today’s generation? Forensic technology, surveillance cameras and the use of social media and internet resources weren’t available to help solve crimes decades ago, surely people with murderous tenancies are still out there?

Why did it take Casefile so long to finally cover Rader? What made you all decide to cover it now?

Hey team! Love your work. Just wondering if you approach these big/well known cases differently? I think a lot of the time when you cover the well known ones I think I know a lot about it but there ends up being so much more I had no idea about.

Hey guys! Bloody stoked to have you back and what a strong return it was. One question - you mentioned Dennis Rader was open to talking to anyone who would listen and would return “fan mail”. It made me wonder, has Casefile ever interviewed or otherwise spoken to the perpetrator for research purposes while putting the episode and script together? Any upcoming New Zealand cases?