The BTK Killer
The BTK Killer
“The floppy did me in.” Words from notorious serial killer Dennis Rader, also known as the BTK killer. Rader’s spree of violence lasted nearly 30 years and included 10 victims. Raider’s actions were strange, in the way that he communicated to the police. He truly enjoyed taunting the police and gloating about his crimes. His usual way of communicating with the police was through letters or 3x5 cards that he would send to the police directly or to the local television station. In one communication to the police department Raider stated “Would it be secure for the murderer to communicate with police via a floppy disk?” Knowing that having a different form of evidence to analyze the police told Dennis Raider that would …show more content…
In the case of the BTK killer the metadata that the forensic examiner was able to uncover was the fact that the user account of the computer being used was named “Dennis” and it gave specific details about the location of the computer. The computers that were used were identified as one at public library and a computer at the church. All of this information was located in the “properties” section of the document. The details the metadata provided about the church then prompted the investigators to conduct an internet search on church and found that there was a Dennis Raider on staff. Additionally the metadata was able to provide the date the file was created, the date that the file was modified, and the date that the file was printed. Metadata is used in all forms of digital media to include documents, web pages, videos, images and much more. The metadata in this case was created automatically by the Microsoft Office application and was saved even though Dennis Raider deleted the file from the disk.
The details that digital forensics provided about the killer’s identity were essential in identifying Dennis Raider as the BTK killer. It took a digital forensic analyst 30 minutes to do what investigators took 30 years to do. Two forms of digital forensics were used to identify the killer, the internet search and the analysis of the metadata. Undoubtedly digital media leaves a trail of data behind and thanks to solid police work and the understanding of evidence types led to the identification of this notorious killer and eventually his
“The floppy did me in.” Words from notorious serial killer Dennis Rader, also known as the BTK killer. Rader’s spree of violence lasted nearly 30 years and included 10 victims. Raider’s actions were strange, in the way that he communicated to the police. He truly enjoyed taunting the police and gloating about his crimes. His usual way of communicating with the police was through letters or 3x5 cards that he would send to the police directly or to the local television station. In one communication to the police department Raider stated “Would it be secure for the murderer to communicate with police via a floppy disk?” Knowing that having a different form of evidence to analyze the police told Dennis Raider that would …show more content…
In the case of the BTK killer the metadata that the forensic examiner was able to uncover was the fact that the user account of the computer being used was named “Dennis” and it gave specific details about the location of the computer. The computers that were used were identified as one at public library and a computer at the church. All of this information was located in the “properties” section of the document. The details the metadata provided about the church then prompted the investigators to conduct an internet search on church and found that there was a Dennis Raider on staff. Additionally the metadata was able to provide the date the file was created, the date that the file was modified, and the date that the file was printed. Metadata is used in all forms of digital media to include documents, web pages, videos, images and much more. The metadata in this case was created automatically by the Microsoft Office application and was saved even though Dennis Raider deleted the file from the disk.
The details that digital forensics provided about the killer’s identity were essential in identifying Dennis Raider as the BTK killer. It took a digital forensic analyst 30 minutes to do what investigators took 30 years to do. Two forms of digital forensics were used to identify the killer, the internet search and the analysis of the metadata. Undoubtedly digital media leaves a trail of data behind and thanks to solid police work and the understanding of evidence types led to the identification of this notorious killer and eventually his