'BTK strangler' pleads not guilty

Dennis Rader was a municipal worker in Park City

A man accused of being the US serial killer known as the BTK - "Bind, Torture, Kill" - strangler has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of murder.

Dennis Rader remained silent while the judge entered the plea on his behalf and set a trial start date of 27 June.

Mr Rader, a former city compliance officer from Park City in the mid-western US state of Kansas, was arrested in February.

The killings took place in the state's Wichita area between 1974 and 1991.

District Court Judge Gregory Waller told the hearing in Wichita: "The court will enter a plea of not guilty. I'll set this for a jury trial on 27 June, 0900 in the morning."

Investigations reopened

Mr Rader is a church elder and former Boy Scout leader. He is also a former compliance supervisor with the Park City administration in Kansas state, dealing with such things as animal control and broken-down cars.

After Mr Rader's arrest in February, Kansas police said they would be reopening investigations into murders with similarities to those attributed to the BTK killer.

SUSPECTED BTK VICTIMS Marine Hedge, 53 Delores "Dee" Davis, 62 Joseph Otero, 38, his wife, Julie, 34, and their two children Kathryn Bright, 21 Shirley Vian, 24 Nancy Fox, 25 Vicki Wegerle, 28 (pictured) Killer's reign of terror

The BTK killer coined his own nickname in letters claiming responsibility for the murders.

Most of the victims were women killed in their homes, but the first murder attributed to the BTK killer was that of an entire family in January 1974: Joseph Otero, 38, his wife Julie, 34, and their two children.

Correspondents say that should Mr Rader be convicted of murder, he would not be eligible for the death penalty, because the killings occurred before Kansas reintroduced capital punishment in 1994.