Video Included

Thursday, Feb. 10, 2005

A letter comes to KAKE from BTK on Feb. 10, 1978. The message to the media is a sign the serial killer is watching KAKE. This letter prompts police to send a hidden message to BTK.

“Subliminal messages of all kinds are illegal, but KAKE was given special permission by the FCC to air the report and here is what it looked like,” said Gary Shapiro, former KAKE reporter.

It was only flashed on the air for a split second, but the subliminal message aired by KAKE-TV in 1978 has people talking even now, particularly the image of glasses turned upside down.

The story behind the glasses is quite simple. When BTK murdered Nancy Fox, there was a pair of glasses lying upside down on her dresser along with numerous items. Then, he sent a drawing of the crime scene to KAKE-TV.

“When he sent his drawing, all of the other items on the drawer were gone except for the pair of glasses that were left there,” says Richard Lamunyon, former Wichita police chief.

So, police felt BTK singled out the glasses for some reason and included them in the subliminal message.

According to an article in The Wichita Eagle, a woman who lived next door to Shirley Vian may’ve been the intended target. She says investigators asked her whether she wore glasses. She did.

BTK message boards are a buzz with speculation about whether BTK targeted women with eyeglasses, but Lamunyon doesn’t think so.

“If you look at the history and the communications he’s shared with us, I think he’s telling us pretty much that the killings are random,” Lamunyon says.