Nancy Jo Fox's house

This is the house where the BTK killer, Dennis Rader, murdered Nancy Jo Fox.

It is located at 843 South Pershing Street in Wichita, Kansas.

Rader selected Fox as one of his "projects" in 1977 after he noticed her walking into this house one night. To find her name, he searched through her mailbox. He also learned where she worked and scoped the place out.

After spending weeks "doing his homework" and figuring out her routine, he finally felt confident enough to make his move.

On the night of December 8th, 1977, he parked his car a few blocks away from South Pershing Street and proceeded to Fox's residence on foot.

Although the lights were off and Rader knew that Fox wasn't due to be home yet, he decided to err on the side of caution by knocking on the front door.

Once he was satisfied that there was no one inside, he walked around to the back of the property and cut the phone lines.

Then, after breaking a back window and gaining entry to the house, he sat in the kitchen and waited for the young secretary to return.

Rader confronts Fox

When Fox arrived home, Rader confronted her and told her that he had sexual problems and that he was going to tie her up.

Although the 25-year-old was scared, upset, and verbally hostile toward him, she eventually calmed down and complied with his demands.

BTK never revealed his true intentions to his victims until it was too late for them to escape. Many of his targets were under the impression that they would survive the encounter if they played ball.

After smoking a cigarette, Fox told Rader that she wanted to "get it over and done with." She also informed him that she was going to call the police afterwards.

The fact that she made such a threat indicates that she was thoroughly convinced that he was going to let her go.

Murder

Shortly before the murder, Rader allowed Fox to use the bathroom. He also asked her to undress while she was in there.

When she returned, he placed handcuffs on her wrists, put her face down on the bed, and then tied her feet together.

Once she was completely restrained, the "real" BTK emerged.

At that point, he took out a belt and began strangling her from behind.

Because Rader was a sadist who got a kick out of torturing his victims, he repeatedly tightened and loosened the belt so that he could prolong the act. As she was falling in and out of consciousness, he taunted her by telling her that his name was BTK and that he was a "bad guy."

Fox fought back by trying to claw at him. However, this only added to his excitement.

Following the murder, Rader cleaned up the crime scene and took some of her clothes as trophies. He also removed the handcuffs and re-tied her wrists using pantyhose.

The following day, he was so eager for her body to be found that he anonymously called 911 from a public payphone and reported the crime himself.

Following his arrest in February 2005, Rader told Detective Tim Relph that Fox was his "proudest" murder, as everything had gone according to plan. He also claimed that the young secretary would be his "primary mistress" in the afterlife.

Photos

Photos of the house and other related images.

Nancy Jo Fox's house

This Google Street View image of the Fox's former house was taken in January 2022.

On the night of the murder, the adjoining duplex on the right (841) was vacant.

After stalking the 25-year-old, he learned that she wouldn't be home on a Tuesday or Thursday evening, as those were the two days that she worked late at Helzberg's Jewelers.

Rader always parked his vehicle a couple of blocks away from the crime scene because it lowered the risk of a witness seeing his license plate.

Following the murder, BTK drank a six-pack of beer and masturbated.

BTK's 911 call

The day after Fox's murder, BTK anonymously reported the crime from a public payphone beside Central Avenue and St. Francis Street.

Rader knew the area because it was close to a cafe that his work crew often visited.

Feeling excited and in need of attention, he decided to call 911 and report that a murder had occurred at 843 South Pershing Street:

"You will find a homicide at 843 South Pershing. Nancy Fox."

During the short call, Rader covered the phone with a handkerchief in an attempt to mask his voice. However, the authorities were able to trace the location of the call because he left the phone dangling.

Following his arrest, BTK admitted that this was a risky act on his part. He also recalled how he felt extremely nervous whenever he heard the recording being played on local news stations.

At the time, he was using his company's work truck. This was noticed by a witness, who reported that they saw a 6-foot-tall white male using the payphone. The witness said that the man in question was wearing an industrial-type uniform and driving a truck with writing on the side of it.

Had this witness been close enough to read the writing on the side of Rader's truck, it would have led the police straight to him.

Nowadays, the payphone in question no longer exists, as the building that it was originally attached to has been demolished and replaced. In the image above, we have marked certain points with color-coded dots so that the two photos are easier to compare. The red circle indicates the general area where the phone was located.

Newspaper article

The article above appeared in the Wichita Eagle newspaper on December 11th, 1977.

BTK made the call at 8:20 a.m. outside of Organ's Market at 527 East Central.

Although a woman saw him while he was using the payphone, she was not interviewed until three days later due to a lack of manpower.

While speaking to reporters, Detective Captain Al Thimmesch said that he saw no link between the murders of Fox and Shirley Vian. However, behind closed doors, the police were starting to realize that they had a serial killer on their hands.

Their attempts to hide this information from the public ultimately failed, as BTK was eager to inflict fear on the city of Wichita and gain recognition for his crimes. Three months later, in February 1978, he anonymously sent a bragging letter to KAKE-TV in which he claimed responsibility for seven murders.

His opening sentence read, "How many do I have to kill before I get my name in the paper or some national attention?"