Anna Williams' house

On the night of April 28, 1979, a 63-year-old widow named Anna Williams returned to her home at 615 South Pinecrest Street and noticed that the door to her spare bedroom was open.

Upon closer inspection, Williams discovered that someone had opened one of her dressers and left clothes on the floor. Furthermore, some money and jewelry were missing.

Unbeknownst to her, she had just narrowly survived the BTK killer, Dennis Rader, by arriving home later than usual.

By 1979, the city of Wichita was acutely aware that an unidentified serial killer called "BTK" was on the prowl. Between 1973 and 1977, he broke into four houses and murdered seven people.

In 1978, he became so eager for public recognition that he sent an anonymous letter to a local newspaper in which he claimed responsibility for the crimes.

Before murdering Kathryn Bright and Nancy Fox, the killer had cut their phone lines, entered their homes, and then patiently lay in wait. In light of this, many women habitually began to check their phones when they arrived home.

When Williams picked up her telephone and realized it was dead, she immediately fled to a neighbor's house and called 911.

During an inspection of the house, the police found belts, bindings, and ropes, tools that were part of what Rader called his "hit kit."

That day, he had broken into Williams' house by crawling through her basement window. He then waited hours for her to arrive home.

On this occasion, however, Williams deviated from her normal routine. Instead of driving directly home from work, she went square dancing and then stopped by her daughter's house.

Rader stalked his victims for weeks beforehand and learned their schedules because it made him feel more in control of the situation. When his target failed to return within the expected timeframe, he started to grow impatient and apprehensive. Because he was a family man, he may have also been under time constraints.

Consequently, he decided to cut his losses and leave.

Williams wasn't the only person who narrowly survived death that day, as her 24-year-old granddaughter, Rebecca, often accompanied her home and stayed the night. However, on that occasion, her boss had asked her to work overtime on the evening shift.

Rader, who was aware that Rebecca might be present, later admitted that he planned to kill them both if they arrived home together.

He was reportedly fuming when he was forced to leave Williams' house, as he had spent a great deal of time stalking her and fantasizing about the crime. Roughly two months later, he mailed a large envelope to her house.

Inside were items he had taken, a sketch of a woman hanging, and a poem titled "Oh Anna, why didn't you appear."

The title was originally "Oh Louis Why Didn't You Appear." However, Rader had crossed out the name "Louis" and written "Anna" instead.

Investigators believe he wrote it himself, as they were unable to find a similar poem. It is unclear why he included the name "Louis."

Williams moved out of state shortly after she received the envelope and died several years later.

She did not live to see Rader's arrest in 2005.