Sometimes reality outpaces fiction, and that is precisely what the latest Netflix documentary released on October 10, 2025 demonstrates, titled “My Father, the BTK Killer.” It plunges viewers into the life of Kerri Rawson, the daughter of Dennis Rader. An American serial killer, better known as the “BTK Killer” (Bind, Torture, Kill) who operated from 1974 to 1991, before being arrested in 2005.
What stands out isn’t only the horror of his crimes, numbering at least ten victims. It’s also what it did to the family, especially Kerri. Indeed, the young woman grew up with a father loved and respected in his community before the truth came out. By weaving together archives, investigators’ testimonies, and intimate moments with Kerri… Netflix’s shocking documentary reveals how you can be part of a heavy secret without knowing it.
And through Kerri Rawson’s account, our entire perception of the “banality of evil,” the face a monster can hide behind, is challenged. What makes this film important isn’t merely the reconstruction of a judicial file. It’s the terrible question: what would we do if a loved one were the enemy? How do you keep living after that?
BTK Killer: A Frightening Double Life
On one side, Dennis Rader led a seemingly “normal” life. He was married, a family man, an active member of his church, and even the leader of a Boy Scout troop. But behind this mask of a model citizen lay horrific crimes. The family man killed at least ten people, between 1974 and 1991, in Kansas. For years, he remained on the loose… even taunting the police, using his nickname “BTK” to send provocative letters.
Thus, when Kerri discovers the scale of her father’s acts, her entire world comes crashing down. She recounts in the film the moment an FBI agent came to warn her. She moves from innocence to brutal revelation: her father, this beloved man, is a killer. And it’s this dissonance between public image and hidden reality that returns us to a universal question. How far can you deceive those you love? And how do you live after such betrayal?
A Portrait of an Unprecedented Reconstruction
Facing this discovery, Kerri Rawson opts for neither silence nor forgetfulness. She becomes a witness, a survivor, and above all, the voice for those who remain in the shadows. The documentary accompanies her in this journey: to speak, confront, exist differently. The film also takes us beyond the crimes: it questions the impact on the family and the public shame. We see Kerri consulting files, facing the media, questioning what her childhood was like. The realism is brutal, but empathy is present.
And beyond her personal story, the documentary poses a key question. How do the police, relatives, and society react when evil hides behind the ordinary? The investigation is not only about policing: it’s intimate, human. Watching this film means accepting to be unsettled. To be confronted with what some would like to veil. But it’s also about recognizing that there are paths forward. Not forgetfulness, but rebuilding.
“My Father, the BTK Killer” isn’t just another crime documentary. It’s a painful journey inside a family broken by the revelation of a monstrous father. It’s also the proof that evil can hide in banality. But above all, it’s the strength of a daughter who refuses to be a bystander, turning her pain into testimony. By choosing to tell the story, Kerri Rawson holds up a mirror to each of us. What would we have done? And most of all, how do you keep living when you grew up beside a monster?
The documentary, “My Father, the Serial Killer” has been available on Netflix since October 10, 2025.
Karla Miller RADIO
LIVE
