WEDNESDAY. APRIL 20. 2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
7A
STATE
Preliminary trial waived in BTK case
BY ROXANA HEGEMAN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WICHITA — For decades since the strangulation deaths of his parents and two younger siblings, Charlie Otero futilely has sought answers to why his family was murdered.
Now, 31 years after their deaths, Otero and other family members of the BTK killer's 10 victims will have to wait longer for answers.
The man charged in the BTK serial killings waived his right to a preliminary hearing yesterday, an acknowledgment that the state has enough evidence to go to trial. That means prosecutors will not have to publicly reveal any of their case against Dennis Rader until trial.
Rader, formerly a city ordinance enforcement officer for suburban Park City, was arrested Feb. 25 and is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder. Rader, 60, will enter a plea at his arraignment, set for May 3.
Otero said in a phone interview from his home in Albuquerque, N.M., that he was "extremely disappointed" that he would have to wait to hear the evidence in the case.
On Jan. 15, 1974, the three surviving children of Joseph and Julie Otero came home from school to find their parents and two other siblings, Josephine, 11, and Joseph II, 9, dead at the family's Wichita home.
Otero said he was anticipating one day testifying against Rader.
ing him face to face," said Otero, who was 15 when he found his parents' bound bodies in their bedroom in 1974. Police told him later that his brother and sister were also killed.
"I am looking forward to see-
The strangulation of Otero's four family members were the earliest deaths claimed by the killer who nicknamed himself BTK, for "Bind, Torture, Kill."
The BTK strangler had been suspected of eight torture deaths beginning in 1974, but since Rader's arrest authorities have linked two more victims to the serial killer. Prosecutors can't seek the death penalty because the crimes were committed before 1994, when Kansas passed its capital punishment law.
Prosecutors presented no evidence yesterday against Rader.
who was neatly dressed in a gray suit and wearing leg restraints. In a preliminary hearing, prosecutors need only to prove that they have enough evidence to show probabie cause that a crime was committed and that the defendant did it.
District Attorney Nola Foulston told reporters: "Of course there is a certain type of disappointment because it prolongs the agony for the public to know. And as long as the public doesn't know, it places us in a position where we are out here telling you, I'm sorry, I can't tell you."
Osburn said after the hearing that Rader, who is cooperating with his attorneys, would plead not guilty and request a jury trial at his arraignment. An arraignment is normally held right after a preliminary hearing, but Osburn said he asked it be continued to give the defense more time to prepare.
Osburn said he did not anticipate a plea bargain. Defense attorneys have not decided about a change of venue for the trial.
In Topeka yesterday, Gov Kathleen Sebelius proposed adding nearly $405,000 to the state budget to cover costs associated with Rader's defense.
The money would allow the state Board of Indigents Defense Services to hire another attorney, paralegal and investigator to help the three Sedgwick County public defenders handling Rader's case. Also, the extra money would allow Rader's team to hire expert witnesses.
STATE
Sprint introduces live TV for phones
OVERLAND PARK — Sprint Corp. began broadcasting live television on its wireless telephone network yesterday, making the same Fox News Channel that's on cable and satellite — Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and commercials included — available to Sprint PCS customers.
Like a prayer
The broadcast of 15 frames per second is the first time a cell phone has been able to display video of a quality similar to that of a regular television, said Roger Entner, a research analyst and vice president of Ovum, a technology research firm. A regular TV broadcast displays 30 frames each second.
Both Sprint and Verizon Wireless already offer broadcast video clips on their phones. The "Sprint TV" service includes clips from more than two dozen networks, including NBC News and the Discovery Channel.
The Associated Press
Allison Long/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jonah Stiel, a 6-year-old kindergarten student, concentrates during a mock Seder yesterday at The Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy in Overland Park. The Passover Seder, which starts at sundown on Saturday, takes place the first two nights of the eight-day holiday.
The Lied
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 10A
When Hoch Auditoria, now Budig Hall, was home to performing arts at the University of Kansas, performers had to dress in Murphy Hall and then walk up the hill to perform.
In the summertime, when they got to the performance hall, temperatures would reach 100 degrees. With no air conditioning, they would open the doors to allow in air, also allowing in noise from traffic and people on the street.
With no dressing rooms, air conditioning or any extra backstage area for production plus bad acoustics, Hoch did not meet the needs for the performing arts. Even with these conditions people filled the auditorium that held almost 3,000. According to the book "The Lied Center of Kansas: A History of the Lied Center and Concert Series at the University of Kansas," the community desired these cultural experiences. It just needed a more suitable place to experience the arts.
Discussions sparked in the 1960s about the need for a performance hall to replace Hoch, but more serious plans were not developed until the 1990s. Plans were finally pushed forward by the destruction of Hoch Auditoria after a fire in 1991.
In 1923 Ernst Lied began his freshman year at the University of Kansas. After two years, he transferred to the University of Nebraska, but his experience at the University lasted with him until his death in 1980. He became a multi-millionaire through real estate and the Lied Foundation gave money for the Lied Center in Lawrence, but also for a Lied Center in Omaha, Neb., where Lied lived after his two years at the University.
The Lied Foundation donated $10 million to the development of Lied Center, the biggest contribution toward the project and one of the largest monetary donations in the University's history. The University donated most of the remaining funds with smaller donations made by local companies and individuals.
"The venue has provided the opportunity to do a lot more," Van Leer said.
- Edited by Austin Caster
Obesity problem less than expected
CHICAGO — Being overweight is nowhere near as big a killer as the government thought, ranking No. 7 instead of No. 2 among the nation's leading preventable causes of death, according to a startling new calculation from the CDC.
NATION
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated yesterday that packing on too many pounds accounts for 25,814 deaths a year in the United States. As recently as January, the CDC came up with an estimate 14 times higher: 365,000 deaths.
The new analysis found that obesity — being extremely overweight — is indisputably lethal. But like several recent smaller studies, it found that people who are modestly overweight actually have a lower risk of death than those of normal weight.
The study — an analysis of mortality rates and body-mass index, or BMI — was published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Protest postpones ambassador vote
WASHINGTON — John Bolton's nomination as U.N. ambassador suffered an unexpected setback yesterday when the Republican-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee scrapped plans for a vote in favor of a fresh look at allegations of unbecoming conduct.
No date was set for a vote, but a delay of at least two weeks seems likely while the committee looks into fresh allegations, including those of a Dallas businesswoman who says Bolton berated her at an international conference a decade ago.
Some Democrats also bluntly questioned Bolton's veracity.
The decision to postpone a vote closed a rancorous session in which Republicans first sought to push Bolton through the Foreign Relations Committee and Democrats resisted.
The Associated Press
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