Brian Rader is the son of Dennis Radar and Paula Dietz. Brian Rader is a 48 year-old former military man born on July 27, 1975. However, his claim to fame is as the son of the infamous BTK Killer.
Amidst all the drama that surrounds his father, who is a convict currently serving life for the murder of at least 10 people, Brian has led a pretty much normal life. While there has been so much interest in him and all that concerns him, there hasn’t been much mention of him in the public space. Here is all we know about him.
Summary of Brian Rader’s Biography
- Full name: Brian Rader
- Gender: Male
- Date of birth: July 27, 1975
- Brian Rader’s Age: 48 years old
- Ethnicity: White
- Nationality: American
- Zodiac Sign: Leo
- Religion: Christianity
- Brian Rader’s Parents: Dennis Rader and Paula Dietz
- Siblings: Kerri Rawson
- Famous for: Being the son of Dennis Rader
How Old is Brian Rader?
Brian Rader was born on July 27, 1975, which means he is now 48 years old. Born in Park City, a suburb of Wichita, Kansas, United States, he had a great midwestern childhood as he was brought up by his parents, Dennis Radar and Paula Dietz, together with his younger sister, Kerri Rawson.
His parents met in church in 1970, and they fell in love. They dated for a short time, and on May 22, 1971, the pair tied the knot. Two years later, they had their first kid, Brian. While his mother was a bookkeeper, his father worked with the United States Air Force until his discharge in 1970, and then he worked in an IGA market in the meat department before going on to take several other jobs.
Of American nationality and white ethnicity, not so much is known about his educational pursuits. Nonetheless, it has been made known that he got a very stable life as although his father was a serial killer who later got convicted, this did not happen until much later when Brian had become an adult.
His Father Is Responsible For Murdering More Than 10 People
Brian Rader’s father, Dennis Rader, came about as a man who had a normal life. He was a responsible member of the community, the president of the church council, and a Cub Scout leader, but there was something sinister about him. He was a serial killer.
He had always fantasized about killing animals when he was young, but no one knew that he had, in fact, gone on to become a killer. The older Rader killed his first victim in January 1974, only two months after the birth of Brian. His victims were four members of a single family in Wichita, referred to as the Otero Family. The people he killed on that day were 38-year-old Joseph Otero Sr. and his wife, Julia Maria Otero, and their two kids, Joseph and Josephine Otero, who were only 9 and 11, respectively.
In the year that followed, he killed 6 more people: Kathryn Doreen Bright (21), Shirley Ruth Relford (25), Nancy Jo Fox (25), Marine Hedge (53), Vicki Lynn Wegerle (28), and Dolores Earline “Dee” Davis (62). That said, he has been accused of some more killings, including that of Cynthia Dawn Kinney, who was only 16 when she was murdered in 1976, and Shawna Beth Garber (22), who was killed in 1990.
How Brian Rader’s Father Was Caught and Their Subsequent Relationship
For many years, the crimes of Dennis Rader would go unsolved, and he would only come to be known as the BTK Killer, a nickname he gave to himself, which means Bind, Torture, Kill.
From his first killing in 1974 to his last known in 1991, he escaped with no one, not even his wife or kids, linking him to the crimes. However, Brian’s father would not allow the matter to rest, even when the entire investigation was considered a cold case by early 2002.
Dennis sent a letter to The Wichita Eagle in March 2004 claiming to be Bill Thomas Killman and taking responsibility for the murder of Vicki Wegerle. He also sent in some pictures of the scene.
Not yet willing to let the matter rest, he dropped some more clues in the coming months, but his greatest undoing was to send a floppy disk to the Fox affiliate KSAS-TV in Wichita. I was through this that it was linked back to him, and he was arrested in February 2005. He was finally sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences and a minimum of 175 years.
Brian Rader was already 32 years old at the time of his father’s arrest. It is known that soon after the arrest, his mother, Paula Dietz, divorced his father and assumed that he was dead. Both Brian and his sister also distanced themselves from Dennis, but nothing more has been revealed on whether Brian has been able to come around and work on the relationship with his father.
What Does Brian Rader Do for a Living?
Like most other things about Brian, what he does at the moment for a living is not known. However, it is made known that he joined the US Navy in 2004. He was still serving when his father was arrested. He continued to serve until 2009, when he left to lead a very private life.
In describing her older brother, Kerri revealed that he is a very intelligent man, but that was all she could say about him. This is because he wants to be left alone, away from the media frenzy surrounding the sad crimes of his father.
There is a piece on Medium about him that claims he started several businesses, which he later sold. He is described as an entrepreneur who started his first business when he was 13 years old when he started selling cookies and lemonade. After his education, the piece indicated that he started a tech consulting firm, which he grew before he later started more businesses.
His Sister is More Vocal About Her Experiences
As indicated, Brian has a sister whose name is Kerri Rawson. She was born in 1978 in Wichita, Kansas, USA. She has been more forthcoming about her experiences and how life has changed since the arrest of her father.
She revealed that after it came to light that her father was the BTK killer, it messed up her life so much that she had to seek therapy for years. Already heading to her late 20s when her father was arrested, she is now a writer and trauma victim advocate. Her books include A Serial Killer’s Daughter: My Story of Faith, Love, and Overcoming (2019) and Breaking Free: Overcoming the Trauma of My Serial Killer Father (2023)
Kerri was previously married to a man simply identified as Darian, but the marriage ended in divorce. The pair were blessed with two kids before the demise of the marriage.
Brian Rader’s Personal Life Is Also Hidden
Yet another thing that is not clear about Dennis Rader’s only son is his love life. As it stands, while there are the beliefs that the years old is married, there is no certainty to it. Also, it is unclear if he has any kids at the moment.
A few years ago, his sister made the revelation that her brother does not have any kids or a family as she does, but it is not known if anything has changed since then.