Department of Criminal Justice, 308.865.8774
Lt. Kenneth Landwehr, section commander for the Wichita Police Department and the principal investigator in the BTK murder case, will be the keynote speaker at the University of Nebraska at Kearney criminal justice conference and career fair Thursday, March 30.
Landwehr will begin his presentation, “BTK Investigation 1974-2005,” at 8:30 a.m. in the UNK Nebraskan Student Union. Dennis Rader, commonly known as the BTK (bind, torture and kill) killer, is a serial murderer who killed at least 10 people from 1974 to 1991 in Sedwick County, Kansas.
The purpose of the criminal justice conference, according the UNK professor of criminal justice Kurt Siedschlaw, is “to provide topical and informative presentations on current issues being addressed within the criminal justice system for criminal justice professionals and students.”
The conference will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will include presentations by Dr. Shannon Black, clinical psychologist and clinical director of the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry; Andi Morris, crime analyst for the Nebraska Sex Offender Registry; and Dr. Mark Weilage, clinical psychologist for the Sex Offender Treatment Program of the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.
Dr. Black and Morris will co-present “Sex Offender Registry and Notification” at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m., Dr. Weilage will present “Sex Offender Treatment: Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.”
The annual criminal justice conference and career fair is tailored to current national, state and local issues. Accordingly, the BTK case and the presentations regarding sex offenders are contemporary issues that will be addressed in detail.
In addition to the presentations, this year there will be at least 23 agencies that will have representatives recruiting UNK students during the job fair. According to Siedschlaw, the representatives for this event are from criminal justice agencies throughout Nebraska and Kansas, including corrections and law enforcement agencies from the local, county and state level.
“The most important thing that participants can learn at the conference and the career fair is the dynamic nature of criminal justice work and employment,” Siedschlaw said. “Participants will be provided information on the characteristics and complexities of a major serial murder case, and will also be provided information on the functioning and realities of sex offender registry and treatment in Nebraska.”
