[K C Muffin]

This from the KC Star. Sickens me. Throw the guy in a dark, dank cell, push bread and water through the bars twice a day and throw away the key.

"WICHITA — Dennis Rader is now allowed to watch television and listen to a radio in his cell at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.

He can read magazines, newspapers, books. And he can write or draw on paper with pencil or pen.

That’s because Rader — the BTK serial killer, sentenced to prison in August — has earned the privilege to have such items through good behavior, said Bill Miskell, a spokesman for the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Rader’s new privileges, however, are a concern to others. A lead Sedgwick County prosecutor and the mother of one of Rader’s 10 victims said they feared that Rader now had access to materials that could stoke the kind of violent sexual fantasies that drove his killing from 1974 to 1991.

Rader, who called himself BTK, for “bind, torture, kill,” drew pictures of women tied up and in terror. In recent years, he cut out and stored thousands of print advertisements and fantasized about the women and children pictured in them.

“We’re having a hard time understanding why somebody like this is allowed to earn privileges when all the evidence was presented as to how he can turn what most people would consider to be innocent into something that is evil,” said Kevin O’Connor, a deputy district attorney.

Last year the district attorney’s office pushed for and a judge recommended severe restrictions on what Rader could have in his cell.

Rader has gained the ability to watch television and read periodicals because he has progressed two levels since entering the prison last summer, Miskell said. The Department of Corrections has incentive levels for inmates designed to encourage good behavior by granting privileges — or taking them away as discipline for infractions.

Miskell said he could not disclose which items Rader has, nor would he say whether any of the materials Rader receives are specially controlled or censored because of Rader’s criminal history. But Miskell did note that any written materials with sexually explicit content are not allowed.

As with other inmates who have earned the privilege to watch TV or listen to the radio, Rader would have to use his own money for it, Miskell said. A 13-inch color set from the prison canteen is $103.20; a 12-inch black-and-white is $80.49. Whether Rader had the money was unclear. Miskell said he could not say.

The TV sets must have clear plastic molding — so contraband can’t be hidden inside. And inmates must use headphones while watching shows or listening to music to keep noise levels down.

Still, Miskell said, even with the additional privileges, Rader remains in the most restrictive environment — administrative segregation. That means he is let out of his 8-by-10 cell only one hour a day, five days a week, to shower and exercise.

Rader has not had perfect behavior, however. Records show an April 10 disciplinary report.

That report stems from an attempt by Rader to mail a letter to one person outside the prison, asking that person to send a second letter to another person, Miskell said. Inmates can mail only directly to one person at a time.

The rule is designed partly to prevent inmates from sending letters to victims’ families. Rader’s letter was intercepted before it left the prison, Miskell said.

Georgia Mason, mother of Nancy Fox, whom Rader killed in 1977, was unhappy with Rader’s new status.

“I just don’t think he needs anything in that little cell,” she said. “I think any magazine would satisfy his little fantasy. What magazine is there without women’s pictures in it and kids’ pictures?”

She wonders whether he can read about himself. “He’d be thrilled to death to read a book about himself,” she said.

Miskell said he did not have an immediate answer to the question, nor did he know whether Rader could watch a program about himself.

In January, prosecutors said they were concerned that Rader’s prison life would not be as restrictive as they and District Judge Greg Waller recommended.

Steve Osburn, the chief public defender who helped represent Rader in court, said he had faith that the prison knew how to manage Rader.

Because of the high security Rader is under, Osburn said, “I don’t know how he can possibly be a danger to anybody, no matter what he has.”

“I don’t think you just stick someone away and deny them access to other people and the outside world.”

Even if Rader doesn’t have magazines or television, he said, “You can’t … control people’s thoughts.”

Denying Rader access to reading and viewing materials could worsen the situation, Osburn said: It could push Rader back into his fantasy world.

Who cares? Truly sickens me that this guy basically laughed while extinguishing life and now can just take it easy the rest of his natural life.