Setting His Sights On The New Family

It would seem that in Rader’s almost 30 years of existence, his incessant need to actually kill would never be tamed. In his search for a victim, he would settle on a woman named Julie Otero. They were a new Hispanic family that had moved into their neighborhood, and since he could no longer keep the demon in, he finally made his move. He had watched Julie and her 11-year old daughter with intensity over a span of a few months, studying their patterns and movements. And finally, he felt he was ready to allow ‘The Minotaur’ out to play.

Breaking In

At 8 a.m. on the morning of January 25, 1974, Rader would snip the phone line of the Otero home and sneak inside through the back door, also taking a gun with him. When he entered, he didn’t expect to find four family members home plus their dog. It wasn’t what he anticipated but he knew there was no backing down anymore. He forced the father to put the dog in the backyard, which Joseph Otero obliged, thinking Rader just wanted to rob them. But Otero couldn’t have been more wrong.