We’re blind-reading Corey Mead’s article, "The Poet," set in late 1970s Wichita, Kansas. The city is already on edge due to the active BTK Strangler when Ruth Finley, a quiet telephone company employee, begins receiving menacing phone calls from a stranger who knows a traumatic secret from her past: she was branded by a "sex maniac" as a teenager in 1946.

As the harassment escalates from letters to physical confrontations, the stalker—who eventually dubs himself "The Poet"—taunts Ruth and her husband Ed with crude, rhyming letters and public messages in the newspaper classifieds. Police, including Lieutenant Bernie Drowatsky, struggle to determine if they are hunting a copycat or if Ruth is the next target of BTK.

Join us for part one of this baffling case as we discuss the resilience of Ruth Finley, the investigative hurdles of the  ...