Ten life sentences for BTK killer

Dennis Rader was caught by police in February

Tearful relatives of the victims of "Bind, Torture, Kill" murderer Dennis Rader described him as a "monster" as he was sentenced to life in prison.

"This man needs to be thrown in a deep, dark hole and left to rot," Beverly Plapp, sister of victim Nancy Fox said.

Former church leader Dennis Rader, 60, pleaded guilty in June to the murders of 10 people in Wichita, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991.

He will serve 10 life sentences without possibility of parole for 40 years.

Kansas did not have death penalty when the murders were committed.

Kansas killer's reign of terror

Relatives were able to confront Rader for the first time at the hearing, and told of their grief and hopes that Rader would receive the sternest punishment.

"Nancy's death is a like a deep wound that will never, ever heal," Beverly Plapp testified.

"As far as I'm concerned, Dennis Rader does not deserve to live. I want him to suffer as much as he made his victims suffer."

She added: "He should never, ever see the light of day."

Others who spoke called him a coward, and they quietly sobbed.

"No remorse, no compassion - he had no mercy," said Kevin Bright, the brother of victim Kathryn Bright, who himself was shot but managed to flee BTK.

"I think that's what he ought to receive."

A rambling Rader told the court he had been dishonest to his family and victims and selfish.

'Took body to church'

Earlier, the second day of the sentencing hearing heard gruesome details from police officers involved in hunt for Rader, who was captured in February after a letter from someone claiming to be BTK was sent to a local TV station.

Capt Sam Houston of the Sedgwick County Sheriff's Office told the court that Rader's torture fantasies were fuelled by the final moments of his victims' lives.

Dolores Davis, 63, was Rader's last known victim in 1991. He handcuffed her and tied her with pantyhose before he choked her to death, telling police it took two or three minutes for her to die.

Capt Houston said Rader had subsequently written a journal entry, noting: "It was this moment that the victim was tied and bound. He could live in that moment for years."

Rader threw Davis's body under a bridge where it decomposed. He later came back to take Polaroid photographs of her wearing a feminine mask he had prepared.

Prosecutors showed a photograph of Rader wearing the mask, tied to a chair and donning a woman's blonde wig.

On Wednesday, a Sedgwick County sheriff investigator testified that Rader told him that he strangled Marine Hedge, his 53-year-old neighbour in her home, on April 27, 1985, and then took her body to his church.

'Projects'

Rader took photographs of her at the church and spent about five hours cleaning up the scene before dumping the body in a remote ditch.

Relatives of victims will tell of their grief

Lee said Rader told investigators he took the body to the church to fulfil his sexual fantasies. Rader had left black plastic sheets and other material at the church in anticipation of the killing.

Rader seemed particularly proud of the killing because Hedge lived just a few houses from him. He had dubbed his plan "Project Cookie".

Most of the Rader's victims were women, often strangled in their homes.

After the killings, local media later would receive rambling letters claiming responsibility for the killings from a person who named themselves BTK for "Bind, Torture, Kill".

After his capture, Rader described how he would hunt for victims, referring to the killings as his "projects".

He told a local television station that his troubles began when he was at school and his tendencies ought to have been spotted at some point.