Vicki Lynn Wegerle's house

Crime Scene Location in Wichita, Kansas, United States

On September 16th, 1986, the BTK killer, Dennis Rader, strangled 28-year-old Vicki Wegerle to death at this house in Wichita.

In the weeks leading up to Wegerle's murder, Rader had selected the young wife and mother as one of his "projects."

For three weeks, he stalked her and figured out her family's routine.

In his mind, she was known as "Project Piano." He chose this nickname after hearing the sound of a piano emanating from the house while he was staking it out.

Telephone repairman

That day, BTK knocked on Wegerle's door and pretended to be a telephone repairman. According to his confession in court, he was wearing a Southwestern Bell hard hat at the time.

After she allowed him inside to check the phone lines, he walked over to her telephone and pretended to examine it using a fake instrument.

However, as soon as she looked away, he pulled out a pistol and pointed it at her. At that point, he ushered the frightened young woman into a bedroom and told her that he was going to tie her up.

The murder of Vicki Lynn Wegerle

Although BTK tied Vicki Wegerle's hands together, she somehow managed to break free from her restraints and put up a fight.

During the struggle, he managed to overpower his victim and strangle her to death with a nylon stocking.

He took photographs of her body

In the aftermath of the crime, Rader rearranged his victim's clothes and took a number of photographs of her body. However, he did not stick around for long.

Because all of the windows and doors were open, the fight with Wegerle had agitated the dogs at the back of the house. According to Rader, the dogs were barking and causing a huge commotion.

Furthermore, his victim had claimed that her husband was coming home.

Sensing that he didn't have a lot of time, he quickly cleaned up his tools, took a few "trophies," and then left the scene in Wegerle's car.

Where did Vicki Wegerle live?

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

GPS coordinates

The latitude and longitude coordinates for the house are:

37.709084, -97.369739

Map

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

Google Maps Link

Address

The full address for this location is:

2404 W 13th St N
Wichita
Kansas
KS 67203
United States

Directions

The house is situated in a neighborhood called Indian Hills Riverbend. It sits on the northern side of the intersection between West 13th Street North and Arrowhead Street.

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.

Vicki Wegerle's house

This is an aerial image of Vicki Wegerle's former house at 2404 W 13th Street North.

When Vicki's husband, Bill, was driving home for lunch, he spotted his wife's car heading in the opposite direction. He could also see that a stranger was behind the wheel.

Once he entered the house, he discovered his wife's body in the bedroom.

Because the crime wasn't initially attributed to BTK, many people (including police officers) suspected that Bill Wegerle had murdered his own wife. These suspicions were heightened after he failed two lie detector tests.

Bill remained a suspect until Rader suddenly reestablished contact with the press in 2004.

In March of 2004, following a decade of silence, BTK sent Vicki's driving license and photographs of her dead body to the Wichita Eagle newspaper.

Google Street View

This Google Street View image of 2404 W. 13th Street North was taken in July of 2019.

The house was built in 1920. It has four bedrooms and is 1,239 square feet in size.

Vicki's family sold the property in 1989, which was roughly three years after her death.

The street where BTK parked her car

Following the murder, Rader drove Vicki's gold Monte Carlo car to this location near Johnson's Garden Center—at the top of North Edwards.

The area in question is just a short one-minute drive away from the Wegerle residence.

Coordinates: 37.707970, -97.373688

Google Maps Link

Witness

One neighbor said that the dogs started barking at roughly 10.15 a.m. Fifteen minutes later, another witness saw the family's 1978 gold Monte Carlo pulling out of the driveway.

Aerial image

This aerial map shows the short distance that Rader drove after he stole the car.

Judging by his M.O. in other cases, it is likely that his own vehicle was parked within walking distance of Edwards Street.

Because Vicki's husband, Bill, saw the family car driving in the opposite direction, it meant that he was just seconds away from arriving home. Had Rader stayed at the scene any longer, it is likely that a confrontation would have ensued.