WICHITA, Kan. — An Oklahoma sheriff says he believes Dennis Rader is connected to a missing person case but Rader is denying involvement. This is leaving some people wondering why he’s not confessing to these violent crimes if he was involved when he confessed to 10 murders in 2005.
Dan Monnat, a criminal defense attorney, said this may have something to do with Oklahoma law. The state reinstated the death penalty in 1973 which means if Rader were to confess to killing an Oklahoma teen he could be sentenced to death.
“Death is the ultimate penalty. Every human being convicted of a capital case has to have his or her case evaluated,” says Monnat when talking about the death penalty and the process it follows.
He also explains that each case is evaluated by multiple people and appellate courts. This is so every executions occurs in what Monnat describes to be a constitutionally perfect way.
Monnat says whenever Rader confessed to the 10 murders in 2005 Kansas did not have a death penalty so the killer is currently at the El Dorado Correctional Facility for life.
Oklahoma however has an active death penalty and according to the Death Penalty Information Center, it is one of the states with the highest executions, second only to Texas.
Monnat says another reason Rader may be denying involvement is because he doesn’t think the law enforcements investigating him have actual cases.
“Every government prosecutor ought to be able to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt without the words of the accused,” explains Monnat.
However Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden says he believes he has a strong case. He tells KAKE news in his opinion he is 100% certain Rader is involved in the disappearance of Cynthia Kinney and calls the serial killer the number one suspect.
He says he is going to continue his investigation and won’t stop until he runs out of leads or closes the almost 50-year-old cold case.
Virden tells KAKE news Oklahoma investigators were in Kansas again on Thursday for a meeting involving the investigation.
Virden and other Oklahoma authorities were in Park City on Tuesday digging on Rader’s former property. He says they found some items of interest but couldn’t go into much detail about what they were because this is an ongoing investigation.
See full video at KAKE.com