Many are familiar with Dennis Rader, who became known as the BTK Killer or the BTK Strangler. Ten victims were identified from 1974 through 1991 as having been murdered by Dennis.
During this time frame, Dennis provided details related to the murders in letters that he sent to the police and local news stations. The trail went cold until the police examined a floppy disk sent to a Fox affiliate (KSAS-TV) in 2004. The floppy disk contained a deleted Microsoft Word document file. The investigators recovered the file and examined the metadata, which identified ”Dennis” as the author and the ”Christ Lutheran Church” as the software licensee.
Using this information, the investigators were able to locate the Christ Lutheran Church where Dennis was a Deacon. Combined with other evidence collected, the BTK killer was finally captured and convicted of these terrible crimes. Metadata can contain evidence crucial to criminal and civil investigations.
If you would like to view Microsoft Office metadata easily, download a copy of the free MetaViewer software from Pinpoint Labs.