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| “ | Don't be scared... I was just goofin' around! | „ |
| ~ ADT Serviceman after his wife catches him performing autoerotic asphyxiation. |
Dennis Lynn Rader AKA BTK, is the overarching antagonist in the Netflix crime drama Mindhunter. He is a fictionalized version of real-life serial killer Dennis Rader, who terrorized the Wichita, Kansas area for 15 years as the "BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill) Killer".
He was portrayed by Sonny Valicenti.
Overview[]
The ADT Serviceman appears in short vignettes at the beginning of each episode that are unrelated to the plot. These scenes mostly portray moments from his everyday life at work and with his wife and children, with a few portraying him doing things like watching a building before driving away, mailing letters, and interacting with customers in their homes.
In context, however, these scenes have a more sinister edge. The scenes of his work life suggest that he is a sadistic bully and a stalker, making himself feel powerful by strictly enforcing meaningless rules and trolling for victims in the guise of customer service. Meanwhile, depictions of his home life - including burning sadistic drawings and engaging in autoerotic asphyxiation before his wife catches him in the act - imply that he is a sadomasochist who is sexually aroused by inflicting pain, both on himself and on others. The scene in which he mails letters, meanwhile, suggest that he is sending the anonymous letters that the real BTK famously sent to the media, bragging about his crimes and demanding more attention.
Towards the end of the first season, he is portrayed packing a kit that includes a rope and a gun. The following scene depicts him inside someone's house, wearing a stocking cap, waiting impatiently until he finally gets up to leave, angry and frustrated. This scene is implied to depict a real-life incident in which Rader broke into a woman's house, intent on killing her, but left after she did not return home when he had expected.
In the second season, his true identity is more strongly implied; the series' protagonists even investigate one of BTK's crimes, unaware of who he truly is. In the final episode of the second season - thus far the character's last appearance - he is portrayed wearing women's underwear and a female mask, performing autoerotic asphyxiation while looking at newspaper clippings of the BTK murders.
Trivia[]
- In addition to his real-life crimes, Rader is also implied to be the "broomstick killer" - a fictional unsub from the first season who killed a mother and her child in Fairfield, Iowa after raping them with a broomstick. The killer is never identified, but Special Agent Bill Tench, investigating BTK, notices that the victims were bound in the same fashion as the Fairfield victims, implying the same unsub was responsible.