Marine Hedge's house

Murder House in Wichita, Kansas

This is the house where the BTK killer, Dennis Rader, murdered Marine Wallace Hedge.

It is situated at 6254 Independence Street in Wichita, Kansas.

The property is just a few doors away from BTK's former address at 6220 Independence Street. In this case, Rader deliberately selected a neighbor just to see if he could get away with it.

In his own words, it would be a "biggie" if he could pull it off.

"So I thought, can I really pull this off? Can I really pull this off close to my house and get away with it? Ooh, this will be a biggie if I can."

In the days leading up to the murder, Rader stalked Hedge and figured out her routine. On one occasion, he even scoped out her workplace at a local coffee shop.

On April 27th, 1985, he feigned an illness and excused himself from a weekend Boy Scout meeting. He then drove his vehicle to a bowling alley near Woodlawn and 21st Street.

Once there, he went inside and had a beer, as he wanted to create the impression that he was drunk.

After he drank his beer and purposely spilled some of it on his clothes, he called a taxi cab and asked the driver to take him to Park City.

When the taxi was close to Independence Street, he pretended to be so drunk that he needed some fresh air. This gave him an excuse to get out of the vehicle at a random spot without raising any suspicions.

Rader's goal was to get dropped off in the area without being spotted by his family or any of his neighbors. If someone had seen him exiting the cab, it would have ruined his alibi that he was away at a Boy Scout meeting.

After getting out of the vehicle, BTK crept through the park at the back of Hedge's home and cut her phone lines. He then quietly entered the house via the back door.

At the time, Hedge wasn't home. As a result, Rader decided to wait.

When she finally did return, he hid in her bedroom closet and remained there until the early hours of the morning.

Once she was fast asleep, he exited the closet and switched on the bathroom light. At that point, she woke up and started screaming.

Realizing that he needed to act quickly, Rader jumped on top of the 53-year-old and strangled her to death with his bare hands.

Following the murder, he put her in the trunk of her own car and drove to Christ Lutheran Church, where he took several photographs of her body in various bondage positions.

Once his "photo shoot" was finished, Rader put Hedge back into the trunk of the car and drove east along 53rd Street before finally stopping to dump her body in a ditch.

Marine Wallace Hedge house address

Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location.

Address

6254 Independence Street, Wichita, Kansas, KS 67219, USA

Map

To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below:

Google Maps Link

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the house are:

37.797472, -97.325518

Directions

The house sits to the north of East 61st Street in Park City.

Private Property Warning

This is a private property. It is not a public place. Therefore, you should be respectful and not step foot on the property without permission.

Photos

Photos of the house and other related images.

Rader's route

This aerial image shows the route that Dennis Rader took that night.

At the time, his in-laws lived at 6314 Jacksonville Drive, which was just north of Hedge's house.

Because his in-laws had an open backyard, he was able to walk through their property and enter Jardine Memorial Park.

After entering the park, he climbed over Marine Hedge's fence and cut the phone lines.

During Rader's sentencing, the court heard that the taxi dropped Rader off on Parkview Street, which is on the other side of the park (the street on the right).

At the time of the murder, Hedge lived seven doors away from Rader and his family. Their houses were so close that they would sometimes wave at each other while they were doing gardening work.

Her body is discovered

Hedge's body was discovered on May 5th, 1985, which was roughly nine days after her murder.

Her car was discovered in the parking lot at the Brittany Center shopping mall on 21st and Woodlawn.

The shopping center was close to the bowling alley where Rader had parked his vehicle in the lead-up to the crime.

Brittany Center

On May 3rd, 1985, the police discovered Hedge's vehicle in the southwest corner of the Brittany Center parking lot.

At the time, the 53-year-old was still missing.

After finding her car, investigators quickly realized that they were dealing with a homicide. There was a blanket in the trunk, and mud on the tires suggested that someone had driven it along dirt roads.

Coordinates: 37.720509, -97.261418

Google Maps Link

BTK brought Hedge's body to Christ Lutheran Church

After strangling Hedge to death, BTK put her body into the trunk of her own car and drove to Christ Lutheran Church at 5356 North Hillside Street.

Rader had keys to the property because he was a senior member of the church.

After bringing her down into the basement, he took several photographs of her in various bondage poses.

However, he lost track of time while he was doing this and became somewhat panicked when he realized that the sun was starting to come up.

At that point, he cleaned up the scene, put her body back into the trunk, and then drove east along East 53rd Street.

Coordinates: 37.780930, -97.297885

Google Maps Link

53rd Street

Rader dumped his victim's body in a drainage ditch on 53rd Street and then covered it with foliage.

This street has undergone a significant number of changes since the murder.

In 1985, it was a narrow dirt road that was lined with trees. A couple of years ago, the city redeveloped the area by removing the trees and widening the road.

During the 1970s and 1980s, this section of 53rd Street picked up a reputation for being a popular "dumping spot" for dead bodies.

Many murderers saw it as an ideal location to dispose of their victims. Although it was quiet and remote, it was also convenient due to its close proximity to Wichita.

Coordinates: 37.781339, -97.222175

Google Maps Link