Computers and computing equipment can contain vital pieces of information in a criminal case.  Numerous high profile cases have been prosecuted with evidence from computers.  One example is the case of the “BTK Killer” or “BTK Strangler”.   The “BTK” stands for “bind, torture, and kill”, which was the methods used to commit the crimes. 

Dennis Rader, known as the “BTK Killer”, is a convicted serial killer who was found guilty through the aid of computer forensics in 2005.  Rader killed at least ten victims between 1974 and 1991 in the Wichita, Kansas area.  Several other people were severely injured or narrowly escaped death at his hands.  Rader was known as the “BTK” killer as he sent taunting letters to police and local news outlets during this period containing the details of his killings.  In 1991, the “BTK” killer went quiet and the case went cold for more than a decade.  

Rader resumed sending letter to the police and local Wichita media outlets in 2004.  He unknowingly asked the police in a letter if they could detect evidence from a computer floppy disk.  The police responded they could not, when in fact they could.  Rader was unfamiliar with the amount of information that can be contained on a computer file.  Even deleted files can still be retrieved from a computer storage device. 

Rader subsequently sent in a floppy disk file to police.  Forensic analysis by the police of the metadata within the file documents showed a document that Rader believed had been deleted.  The data was recovered using EnCase forensic software.  The information showed that the disk had been used by Christ Lutheran Church in Wichita, where Rader was president of the church counsel.  There were also references on the file to the name “Dennis”. 

By performing an Internet search, police were quickly able to find out who “Dennis” at the Christ Lutheran Church was.  This information helped lead to Rader’s arrest and subsequent conviction for his crimes.  Rader is serving a life sentence in a Kansas state prison, without any possibility of parole. 

Being a computer forensics examiner is an interesting, rewarding career. Learn more about this field and computer forensics certification at http://www.computerforensicscertification.net.
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