Paula Dietz is a bookkeeper from the United States, although the public knows her best as the ex-wife of the famous BTK Killer Dennis Rader. They were married for more than 30 years until authorities detained him for horrific killings that spanned from 1974 to 1991 and resulted in the deaths of ten individuals.
Born on 5 May 1948 in Park City, Kansas, in the United States, Paula Dietz spent her entire childhood there. Moreover, we only have a little information about her parents and siblings.
In 1966, Paula matriculated from her local high school. Further, in 1970 she completed her graduation with a BA in Accounting from the National American University of Wichita.
Paula Dietz Career
Paula Dietz worked as a bookkeeper for the rest of her life after graduating. Her employer respected and valued her much as a worker. Paula left Kansas because it became intolerable for her to live or work there. Now, she is retired. Also, she is avoiding social attention, according to her daughter.
Paula Married to The BTK Murderer: Biggest Mistake of Her Life
In 1970, Paula Dietz and Dennis Rader attended the same church on Sundays when they first met. The young lovers soon married in May 1971. Kerri, their older daughter, and Brain, their boy, were the couple’s children.
Paula participated in the church choir on Sundays, and Dennis served as congregation president at the nearby Lutheran church. Moreover, both Paula and Dennis were a part of their Protestant community.
Ex-husband Dennis Rader’s Early Life
On March 9, 1945, Dennis Lynn Rader was born in Pittsburg, Kansas, in the USA. William Elvin Rader, his father, and Dorothea Mae Cook Rader were both his parents. He further had three siblings, Jeff, Paul, and Bill.
He subsequently admitted that though he had three brothers by his side, he felt incredibly alone during his entire childhood and adolescence. It was because his parents didn’t pay him much attention.
After all, they worked so hard and didn’t have much time to spend with their children, especially with him. After serving in the US Air Force from 1966 to 1970, Dennis moved to Park City, Kansas, where he got jobs in the meat department of the Leekers IGA grocery.
At Butler County Community College in El Dorado, Dennis studied during this time, graduating with a BA in electronics in 1973. Later, he applied to Wichita State University, where he earned a BA in Administration of Justice in 1979. He met Paula Dietz that year.
The Double Life of The BTK Murderer
Dennis, who held the role of assembler for Coleman Company Inc., was given responsibility for installing alarm security systems at the ADT Security Services office in Wichita.
The truth shocked not only Dennis’s family but the entire world. Dennis appeared to have a full life and no spare time for anything, including hobbies.
He used this work to follow his victims and to have access to their houses. Josephine and Joseph Jr., together with their parents Julie and Joseph, murdered in their own home on January 15, 1974, marking the beginning of his murderous spree.
Charlie, the family’s eldest son, was the only survivor. He was at school when he eventually returned home and discovered the bodies of his family members.
The same year, Dennis killed Kathryn Doreen Bright, a 21-year-old woman. Shirley Ruth Vian Relford and Nancy Jo Fox — two additional victims he killed in 1977, adding to the list of unmarried women who were the majority of his victims.
But in 1985, after nearly eight years of inactivity, he murdered Marine Wallace Hedge, 54. Vicki Lynn Wegerle, a 28-year-old young woman, was the last victim of his murderous spree before Dolores Earline Johnson Davis, 62 at the time of Dennis’s pantyhose-strangulation of her in 1991, put an end to his list of victims.
Arrest and The Emergency Divorce
On February 25, 2005, while making his way to church, the cops took Dennis Rader into custody. Later, Norman Williams, Wichita Police Chief announced that Rader as a BTK murderer. After doing murders, he used to leave letters at the crime scene. This stood for “bind, torture, kill”.
Paula received an emergency divorce the same day she filed the paperwork after Dennis admitted to all of the murders. Sedgwick County District Judge Eric Yost signed the documents without thought and consideration, skipping the customary 60-day pending period.
Dennis got a 175-year sentence and is serving life at El Dorado Correctional Facility. He will now spend the rest of his life in prison.
Summing Up
Now, Paula Dietz and Dennis Rader are no longer together. The family property was auctioned off for $90,000 by Paula, according to the Seattle Times. She then reportedly departed town, and nobody has seen the lady since then.
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