My Father, the BTK Killer

"My Father, the BTK Killer": Off-Camera Chaos, Stephen King Shade & True-Crime Drama You Weren’t Supposed to See

Netflix’s My Father, the BTK Killer is already nightmare fuel on-screen—but the real-world fallout swirling around its star subject, Kerri Rawson, and the people who told her story is just as explosive. From neighbor showdowns during filming to a long‑simmering feud with Stephen King, GoFundMe drama and fan backlash, this “documentary” comes with a whole extended universe of mess.

On-Set Drama & Production Tea

Neighbor vs. Netflix, Round 1

While filming at the site of Kerri Rawson’s childhood home in Park City—now just an empty lot after the BTK house was torn down in 2007—a next‑door neighbor allegedly yelled at the crew, snapping that they had “no respect for other people’s privacy.” The moment went down as the team was shooting Rawson visiting the spot where she grew up, underscoring how raw the case still is in Wichita decades later .

Borgman’s Netflix Blitz

Director Skye Borgman didn’t just quietly drop this doc—she crammed it into a seven‑week window where Netflix released three of her documentaries back-to-back, all under a three‑year deal with the streamer . My Father, the BTK Killer was one of those rapid‑fire releases, giving it a bit of “content mill” buzz in industry circles, even as the subject matter is deeply personal and heavy ^[2].

Flying Between Horror and Home

Production stretched roughly a year, with Rawson and the crew shuttling between Los Angeles and Wichita, as she personally guided them around BTK‑adjacent locations: the Park City lot where her family home once stood, key spots tied to her father’s double life, and local institutions like The Wichita Eagle and KAKE TV ^[1][2]. One local paper is even described as practically “a main character” in the film because so many of its old front pages and newsroom archives are woven into the narrative ^[1].

Cast Feuds & Family Fallout

Daughter vs. Dad: A Prison Showdown for the Ages

The emotional centerpiece of the documentary is Kerri Rawson’s 2023 three‑hour prison confrontation with her father, Dennis Rader, at El Dorado Correctional Facility. It was their first in‑person meeting in 18 years. Rawson describes completely losing her cool, unleashing “a blast of 45 years of anger” and going “off script” as she watched him flip between “dad” and BTK in front of her .

• She says he gaslit and manipulated her, claiming he “never touched the family” and accusing her of “making stuff up… to be famous” ^[3].
• After that meeting, Rawson declared she never wants to see or speak to him again, calling him “subhuman” ^[3]. Director Skye Borgman says the confrontation left Rawson visibly shaken and essentially ended their relationship for good ^[3].

Estranged From Mom and Brother

The documentary and Rawson’s broader media presence haven’t just cost her a relationship with her father. Borgman has said that as Rawson stepped into the public eye and began confronting the truth of her upbringing, she became estranged from her mother and brother as well ^[3]. The film quietly hints at how going public about a serial killer father can blow up the rest of the family too.

Scandals & Controversies

The Stephen King Feud That Won’t Die

Long before Netflix got involved, Kerri Rawson had already gone to war—with Stephen King. When King admitted he’d used the BTK crimes as inspiration for his novella A Good Marriage (and the 2014 film of the same name), Rawson publicly accused him of exploiting her father’s ten victims and their families:

• “He’s exploiting my father’s 10 victims and their families. He's just going to give my father a big head, and he absolutely does not need that,” she said .
• She also claimed: “We feel exploited… We consider ourselves the 11th victim family.” and argued any money King made from the story should go to abused children, battered wives, or police, not his bank account ^[4].

That clash has resurfaced in fan discussions around the Netflix film, with some posts pointing out that the doc shows Rawson talking about “10 years rotting inside” while King’s fictional twist was playing in theaters and on streaming .

GoFundMe vs. Netflix Money Questions

In early 2025, months before the documentary’s release, Rawson launched a GoFundMe titled “Aid Kerri in Her Health and Housing Crisis”, revealing she’d been hospitalized for months (likely from long COVID) and feared losing her home while raising two kids . Enter Reddit: one heavily upvoted comment complained she was “capitalizing off her dad”, pointing out that she’d written a bestselling memoir, then started a GoFundMe, and then did a Netflix special all tied to BTK . Fans are fiercely split—some say she’s clearly struggling and entitled to support; others argue there’s something uncomfortable about any perceived financial benefit from proximity to a notorious serial killer ^[7].

“Where Are the Victims’ Families?” Backlash

The doc pointedly does not feature interviews with BTK victims’ families. Borgman has said they spent 20 years trying to include those voices, but none agreed to participate; she insists they still tried to foreground the victims in the storytelling ^[3]. Viewers were quick to notice. On Reddit, one top comment complains that the film is “literally called ‘MY father the btk killer’ so it's entirely about HER. They didn't interview any victims families” . While there’s no widely reported formal “boycott,” this omission has fueled ongoing criticism that the film centers the killer’s daughter at the expense of those murdered.

Leaks, Secrets & Disturbing Deep Cuts

The Station Wagon Revelation

One of the documentary’s most chilling reveals? Rawson found out years later that the old family station wagon her dad gifted her in high school—complete with “96 Grad” painted on the window—was the same vehicle he’d used to move the body of his final known victim, Dolores Davis, in 1991 ^[6]. That detail lands like a horror twist: your sentimental teenage car was literally a body transport.

The Notebook from the Abyss

The film shows Rawson encountering a notebook where her father wrote bondage‑fantasy material involving her own name. She openly questions on camera whether he might have molested her in the bath when she was a toddler, saying: “Did Dad molest me in the bath when I was like 3?” . The moment is one of the doc’s most talked‑about sequences and has prompted intense online discussions about the limits of what should be put on‑screen in true crime.

Pap Smear Overshare That Sparked Internet Cringe

In one scene, a law enforcement officer needlessly specifies that a piece of evidence came from a victim’s Pap smear—a detail many viewers found jarringly graphic and gratuitous. A Reddit thread in r/NetflixDocumentaries roasted the choice, with users asking why that level of specificity was necessary at all and labeling it “really unnecessary” . The line has since become a minor meme in true‑crime corners as an example of docs going too far for shock value.

Wild Trivia & Fan-Favorite Theories

Cold-Case Hunter Daughter

The documentary doesn’t just look backward—it follows Rawson as she actively helps investigators probe whether her father might be linked to other unsolved disappearances, including the case of missing woman Cynthia “Cyndi” Kinney in Osage County. Sheriff Eddie Virden has said there’s evidence suggesting Rader may have buried a victim in a barn near the Kansas–Oklahoma border, though Rader denies killing Kinney and no body has been found ^[6]. Fans have run with this, spinning theories that My Father, the BTK Killer is only the first chapter in a longer saga of new BTK‑related revelations.

“Two Dads” Theory

Viewers and critics alike have latched onto what some call the “two dads” concept: the idea that Kerri psychologically split her father into “my dad” vs. “BTK” to survive her childhood. The doc shows her slowly deconstructing that coping mechanism during the prison confrontation and investigation into his past ^[3][6]. Social media commentary often frames the film as less a serial‑killer doc and more a live‑wire therapy session caught on camera.

Backlash as Character Arc

Borgman herself has leaned into the drama, noting that the online backlash against Rawson—from Stephen King arguments to people questioning her motives—is part of what now drives her forward as an advocate. She explicitly says Rawson “gets a lot of backlash from speaking publicly, but it’s part of who she has become” ^[2]. In other words, the hate is now written into her origin story.