BTK’s ex-wife seeks assets

? The ex-wife of confessed BTK serial killer Dennis Rader is asking the courts to shield the proceeds from the sale of the couple’s home from being seized to pay awards in civil cases brought by relatives of his victims.

A judge previously ordered proceeds from the auction of the house frozen under one of the lawsuits, and Atty. Gen. Phill Kline filed a lien on the property for reimbursement of the costs of Rader’s public defenders. The State Board of Indigent Defense Services has filed court papers saying the costs of Rader’s defense will exceed $80,000.

Paula Rader, who was awarded the Park City house in her emergency divorce granted July 26, filed motions last week seeking to intervene in the six lawsuits against her former husband.

Paula Rader is hoping to protect her interest in the home, which sold for $90,000 at an auction July 11. The home had an assets value of $57,000, but the new owner said she wanted the proceeds to help Rader’s family.

Sedgwick County District Judge Tim Lahey is set to take up all the civil suits at a special hearing Aug. 26.

Dennis Rader, 60, has filed a notice of his intention to act as his own attorney in the wrongful-death lawsuits, intended to keep him from making any money from his crimes.

Rader pleaded guilty in June to killing 10 people in the Wichita area from 1974 to 1991. He called himself BTK, for “Bind, Torture, Kill” and sent taunting messages to police about the crimes – the same messages that eventually led to his arrest in February. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 17 on 10 counts of first-degree murder.

Dennis Rader did not contest his ex-wife’s request for an emergency divorce last month and gave his wife all their property and his retirement benefits.