💀 “My Father, the BTK Killer”: The Daughter Who Loved a Monster — and the Netflix Documentary That’s Shocking the World

When police knocked on Kerri Rawson’s door on a cold February morning in 2005, she expected the kind of visit that might make anyone anxious — but not the one that would split her world in two.

“Your dad is BTK,” they said.

At 26, Kerri was living quietly in Michigan, far from her Kansas childhood. What she heard next would change her forever: her father, Dennis Rader, had just been arrested and charged with ten murders that terrorized Wichita, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991.

He wasn’t just the killer who haunted local headlines for decades — he was her dad.

⚡ A Daughter’s Unthinkable Truth

Netflix’s new true-crime documentary, “My Father, the BTK Killer,” directed by acclaimed filmmaker Skye Borgman, dives headfirst into that unimaginable reality.

Rader, who dubbed himself “BTK” — short for “Bind, Torture, Kill” — pleaded guilty in 2005 to ten counts of first-degree murder. He’s now serving ten consecutive life sentences.

For most viewers, he’s the embodiment of evil. But for Kerri Rawson, he’s also the man who tucked her in at night, helped her with homework, and taught her to ride a bike.

In Borgman’s film, that contradiction forms the heart of the story. The documentary is not a rehashing of BTK’s gruesome crimes — it’s an intimate exploration of what it means to discover that your father is a serial killer, and to somehow continue living with that truth.

“It’s the way she can love him, or love moments of him, and also not,” Borgman tells TODAY.com. “Kerri can kind of separate the two versions of her father — the dad she knew and the killer she didn’t.”

🕯️ The Arrest That Shattered a Family

The film opens with Kerri’s vivid recollection of the day the illusion shattered. She describes standing in her Michigan apartment as police officers broke the news.

“I remember hearing those words,” she says in the documentary, her voice trembling. “And I remember the world collapsing.”

Within hours, national headlines carried the story of the BTK Killer’s capture. Photos of the unassuming, bespectacled church deacon from Park City, Kansas — Kerri’s father — filled every major network feed.

Neighbors described Rader as polite, meticulous, and “boring.” He had been the local compliance officer, a Boy Scout leader, and an active church member. But behind that mask of normalcy was a sadistic murderer who had terrorized Wichita for nearly two decades.

The revelation gutted Kerri and her family. Her mother filed for divorce within weeks. Kerri fell into years of trauma, guilt, and depression — emotions that Borgman captures with quiet precision.

🎥 Skye Borgman’s Vision: Empathy in the Face of Horror

Director Skye Borgman, best known for Abducted in Plain Sight and Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, has built a career out of unpacking the human stories behind true crime.

Her approach is deliberate and empathetic. She doesn’t sensationalize Rader’s crimes; instead, she focuses on Kerri’s emotional journey — how she processed the unthinkable, sought healing, and eventually found the courage to face her father again.

“When I first spoke to Kerri, I realized this wasn’t just a crime story — it was a story about forgiveness, trauma, and the boundaries of love,” Borgman says.

In one of the documentary’s most powerful moments, Kerri reads a letter she wrote to her father in prison. Her voice cracks but never falters.

“I will always love you,” she reads, “but I will never understand you.”

That single line captures the entire film’s paradox — the clash between unconditional love and moral revulsion, between blood ties and betrayal.

🔍 The Monster Next Door

My Father, the BTK Killer also examines how Rader managed to live undetected for decades, hiding his crimes behind the veneer of suburban normalcy. Borgman uses chilling archival footage, crime scene photos, and newly unearthed police interviews to illustrate the duality of Rader’s existence.

Even more haunting are the family photos — the smiling man at Christmas, the proud father at his daughter’s graduation — juxtaposed against his cold, handwritten BTK letters to the press.

The contrast is unbearable, and yet, it’s precisely what gives the documentary its emotional punch.

💔 A Daughter’s Courage

For Kerri Rawson, sharing her story wasn’t easy. It took years of therapy and soul-searching before she was ready to confront her father publicly. Her 2019 memoir, A Serial Killer’s Daughter, opened that door — and Borgman’s documentary pushes it even wider.

“Kerri’s bravery floored me,” Borgman says. “She didn’t want to tell a story about her father’s evil. She wanted to tell one about survival — about what happens after the headlines fade.”

In the film’s closing moments, Kerri visits a Kansas field where one of Rader’s victims was found. She kneels, silent, surrounded by open sky.

It’s not a scene of forgiveness, but of release — a quiet reclaiming of her own life from the shadow of his.

🧠 Beyond the Horror

Critics have praised My Father, the BTK Killer for its restraint and emotional intelligence. Rather than exploiting the gruesome details, it asks deeper questions: Can love survive the truth? Can we separate the person we knew from the monster they became?

For Kerri Rawson, the answer is complicated — and that’s what makes her story unforgettable.

“He’s my dad,” she says in the film’s final line. “And he’s BTK. Both things are true. And I have to live with that.”

As the credits roll, one thing becomes clear — this isn’t just another true-crime documentary. It’s a portrait of unimaginable strength in the face of unspeakable horror.

And it’s a story that will stay with viewers long after the screen goes dark. 💔