On January 15, 1974, between 7 and 7:30 Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, entered the Otero family home in Wichita Kansas through an open back door. Four family members were home at the time - Joseph Otero Sr (38), Julie Otero (33), Josephine Otero (11), and Joseph Otero Jr.(9). At gunpoint, he forced the family to retreat into a back bedroom where he bound all four family members.

Once they were all secured, he attempted to suffocate the parents by placing plastic bags over their heads, but Joseph Sr. bit a hole in his bag and Julie became unconscious, but was still alive. After seeing that Joesph Sr had bit the bag, he wrapped several t-shirts around his head to make it impossible for him to bite, then placed a new plastic bag over his head and wrapped a belt around his neck. Julie became semi-conscious, and when he saw she wasn’t dead, he strangled her with a cord while she begged for the life of her children.

Upon killing the parents, he took Joseph Jr. to another bedroom and suffocated Joseph Jr in the same way he killed his father. Josephine was the final surviving member of the family in the house, and was Rader’s primary target. He took her down to the basement where he tied her to a pipe, sexually assaulted her, hung her by the pipe from her neck until she was dead.

The three youngest Otero children returned home from school later that day and discovered their dead family members. Rader left a note about the murders of the Oteros inside a copy of Applied Engineering Mechanics at the Wichita Public Library. He contacted the Wichita Eagle and Beacon newspaper in October of 1974 to alert the newspaper of the note, this was his first of many contacts with the media regarding his crimes. Rader was not captured until 2005, and he confessed to 10 murders, including those of the Otero family. He was sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences and remains behind bars in Kansas.