Neighbours knew him as a churchgoing family man. But law enforcement knew him as a convicted con artist. Which begs the question – who, exactly, is John “JR” Edward Robinson?
(Note – a lot of quotes from sources coming up.)
Born in Cicero, Illinois on December 27th, 1943, JR was the middle child of 5. His father, Henry, was a machinist for Western Electric and a chronic binge drinker. His mother, Alberta, was the backbone and disciplinarian of the family. She would stand for nothing less than perfection. And John was her pride and joy.
In 1961, he attended Cicero Junior College in order to study X-Ray technology. He did not graduate – not that he’d tell anyone that, of course.
Three years later, he married Nancy Jo Lynch in Kansas City, Missouri. He was employed as a laboratory technician and office manager by Dr. Wallace Graham, a local Kansas City physician. Ever charismatic, JR saw an opportunity when it presented itself. He “began his criminal activities in 1967”.
Dr. Graham reported JR to the police for embezzling $33,000 from him by manipulating cheques and deposits. He was convicted of “stealing by means of deceit” and sentenced to probation for 3 years. This did absolutely nothing to deter him.
While on probation, JR got a job as a manager of a television rental company where he proceeded to steal merchandise without remorse. For whatever reason, he was never prosecuted, though he was fired.
In 1969, JR worked as a systems analyst for Mobil Oil Corporation. JR stole 6200 US stamps from the company and was promptly fired. The following month, in order to avoid the authorities, JR and Nancy moved to his home state of Illinois, where he worked in Chicago at Illinois R. B. Jones.
There, he embezzled $5,500 over the course of six months before he was caught and fired. His father paid off the restitution, allowing Illinois authorities to dismiss the charges. Having gotten away with that, JR and Nancy went back to Kansas City, Missouri where he was arrested and charged with violating the terms of his probation.
He was only jailed for a few weeks. His probation was extended to 5 years – to 1976.
Missouri probation authorities discharged JR 2 years early in 1974 from his probation. Wasting no time, JR started up Professional Services Association Inc. (PSA) which purported to provide financial and budget consultation to physicians in the Kansas City area. JR had no expertise in this area, but that didn’t stop him from pretending he did.
The company was dismissed by their clients after only a few short months for displaying irregularities in the financial handlings of clients. And yet, Robinson still sent out letters to potential investors, detailing major fabrications of prosperity and company growth.
JR was eventually charged with 4 counts of securities and mail fraud. In June of 1976, a federal judge fined him $2,500 and sentenced him to 3 years probation – “the third such sentence in six years”. And still, JR kept chugging on.
In 1977, now 34 years old with 4 children, JR moved across state lines into Kansas. He bought a 9-room house in 4 acres of land in a neighbourhood called Pleasant Valley Farms in Johnson County. The house has 4 levels and 2 big stone fireplaces, as well as a horse stable and corral out back. It was the definition of showy affluence.
His neighbours saw him as a successful business man, community activist, and entrepreneur. They were none the wiser of his sordid and secret criminal life. (I’d like to take this moment to point out that it’s unclear just how much his wife knew of the activities her ‘dear’ husband got up to.)
In order to keep up with the image of affluence, JR started up another company – this one delving into hydroponics, “a method of growing vegetables in a controlled nutrient-rich environment”, called Hydro-Gro Inc. He even went so far as to produce a 64-page information booklet.
His neighbours sung his praises – he was highly intelligent, kind, and charming. He had it all! And he was committed to making the community better! JR ate it up, and went a step further to keep the image intact.
On December 8th, 1977, a headline in The Kansas City Times read: “Group For Disabled Honours Area Man”. The article outlined the extraordinary work done by John Robinson. It also stated that he’d earned a signed “proclamation” from the mayor, awarding him the accolade of “Man of the Year”. Everyone at City Hall was confused. But John Robinson was adoring all the attention and celebration, even though it was short-lived.
Two weeks later, it was revealed that JR had “orchestrated the event through a complex sequence of fake letters of recommendation he’s sent to City Hall”. The Kansas City Star, rival of the Times, was quick with a new headline – “Man-Of-The-Year Ploy Backfires on ‘Honoree’”.
Embarrassed, JR’s neighbours began to notice changes in his attitude and demeanour. He was often prickly, and very mean. Rather than intelligent and charming, he was starting to come across as cocky and arrogant. His carefully crafted persona was starting to show cracks.
Many neighbours also noticed that he was controlling and strict with his family, often yelling at his wife and children in a manner benefiting a drill sergeant. While the children seemed to thrive on the discipline, Nancy was worn out and dragged down. She began divorce proceedings, only to reconcile the marriage following counselling. (Who knows what went on in those sessions.) Nancy remained in the marriage, quiet and withdrawn.
While still running Hydro-Gro, JR took a job as the director of personnel at a Kansas City subsidiary of Borden Inc. in 1980. Within months, he was caught stealing and manipulating cheques and deposits in order to divert funds to his floundering PSA business. Investigators were quick to discover over $40,000 in losses.
Some of those losses were spent on an apartment that JR kept in Olathe. He kept the apartment in order to meet up with women, employees of Borden, for salacious rendezvous. And yet, when reported, “Missouri authorities still coddled him”.
JR faced a maximum sentence of 7 years, but only spent 2 months in prison. And once again, he was put on probation, this time for 5 years.
JR bluffed his way through the ordeal, telling anyone who would listen that it was simply a “misunderstanding over a business matter”. It’s unclear how far this bluff got him, but the “misunderstanding” certainly did nothing to stop him.
Going back to his usual long-term con, JR set up yet another company – Equi-Plus – which purported to offer management and consulting services. They were quickly hired by Back Care Systems to develop a marketing plan. But what BCS got in return were inflated and bogus invoices. “A criminal investigation was begun into the business activities of John Robinson, who responded by providing a series of faked affidavits, all of which attested to the legitimacy of the invoices.” Before long, the company would serve as more than just another front for fraud and theft.
In 1984, JR hired Paula Godfery – “a pretty, dark-haired young woman who had graduated from high school in Olathe the previous year”. JR told her that he’d enroll her in training courses in Texas and pay all her expenses.
JR picked her up and drove off. After several days without contact, her parents reported her missing to the Olathe Police Department. Robinson told the authorities that he had no idea where Paula was. They then suspended the investigation when a suspicious letter arrived, supposedly sent by Paula, saying that she was fine and didn’t wish to speak to her family. She was over 18, legally an adult. She could do what she wanted. Police pursued the inquiry no further. “It is now widely believed that Paula Godfrey was JR’s first murder victim, as she has never been seen again.”
Robinson was preying on young, impressionable, vulnerable women. Robinson was shedding his carefully crafter persona and showing these women the face of what he truly was – an atrocious monster.
After Paula Godfrey went missing, Robinson set up Kansas City Outreach – he claimed it was an organization that provided housing for young, unwed mothers and babies, which helped with babysitting and employment. What it really was was a thinly veiled attempt at gathering potential victims.
Robinson reached out to two organizations – Truman Medical Centre, a leading Kansas City public hospital, and Birthright, an organization that actually counselled unwed and pregnant young woman. Robinson wanted these organizations to submit candidates to his program. He wanted candidates they thought would benefit from his ‘services’.
In January of 1985, Truman Medical Centre put him in touch with Lisa Stasi. She was a young mother to an infant daughter, Tiffany, who’d been abruptly left by her husband. Robinson introduced himself to her as John Osborne. He told her that he could set her up with a high school equivalency diploma and job training in Kansas City, Chicago, and Denver. He promised to set her up in an apartment to get her settled.
What he did instead was set her up in a room at the Rodeway Inn in Overland Park. Lisa was informed that she wasn’t, under any circumstances, allowed to leave the room. On January 8th, Robinson told Lisa that he’d arranged travel to Chicago. He also asked her sign 4 blanks sheets of stationery and provide him with her family’s addresses. He would be in charge of her correspondence while she was in training, he said.
The next day, Robinson was absolutely furious with Lisa. He had to pick her up from her sister-in-law Kathy’s house. She’d disobeyed his rules. Kathy begged Lisa not to go, but Lisa was excited to have what to her appeared to be a fresh start. Kathy did not like the looks of “John Osborne”. She would later go on to say: “I was afraid of him. I knew deep down that was the last time I would see Lisa.”
The next day, Kathy called the Inn looking for Lisa. She was informed that Lisa had been checked out and the bill had been settled by John Robinson – not Osborne – using a corporate card for Equi-II – a company created to act as parent to all of Robinson’s other ventures.
Robinson was unaware that Kathy was in a blind panic looking for Lisa. He went about his day in celebration. After years of trying to adopt a child, his brother Don and sister-in-law Helen finally had their shot. They took Robinson at his word when he informed them that he had connections in Kansas City. They flew down from Chicago, signed official looking adoption papers, and paid a $5,500 fee. They were too ecstatic to question anything.
They met their new baby girl that very evening – while Kathy was filing a missing persons report for Lisa and baby Tiffany – and they named her Heather. They flew back to Chicago the following day, on the 11th, overwhelmed with joy at the notion of their growing family.
Truman Medical Centre may have been negligent in checking out the legitimacy of Robinson’s organization, but Birthright certainly was not. Ann Smith grew more and more suspicious as the references Robinson provided proved to be false and illegitimate. She started making calls to the authorities.
On December 18th, 1984, Ann was put in touch with Stephen Haymes, the district supervisor of the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole. He pulled Robinson’s records and discovered a lengthy criminal history. This man had no business counselling any other human being, let alone anyone who was vulnerable.
Haymes sent Robinson a letter, informally asking for him to come to his office on January 17th, 1985 – days after Lisa and Tiffany were reported missing. Robinson ignored the letter. The next letter Haymes sent was registered with the Board. It demanded Robinson’s appearance on January 24th. Haymes also contacted the Kansas City FBI office, making inquiries. They were well aware of Robinson and his record.
On the 24th, at exactly 1PM, Robinson made his appearance at Haymes’ office. He bluffed, and lied, and chuckled his way through the informal questioning. It was then, through his FBI contacts, that Haymes became aware Lisa and Tiffany Stasi having been reported missing.
When he reached out to the Overland Park police, they assured Haymes that everything was under control. They weren’t taking the report seriously. Haymes was not pleased. He found it quite timely and highly suspicious that mere days after the missing person’s report was filed, the police department received a letter from Lisa assuring everyone that she was fine. Even more suspicious was that the letter was typed – Lisa didn’t know how to type.
“Haymes asked Robinson where Stasi was. Robinson claimed she had run off to Colorado with a guy named ‘Bill.’” Haymes saw through the lie with ease. He shared his concerns with the FBI. Two agents were assigned to being their own inquiry. The FBI had jurisdiction, after all. Robinson had crossed state lines.
Special Agent Thomas Lavin and Special Agent Jeffery Dancer – along with Haymes – “discovered that Robinson was involved in an astonishing variety of ongoing criminal activities in the Kansas City underworld”.
Among those activities was forgery. Along with Irvin “Irv” Blattner, Robinson was being investigated by the US Secret Service for forging the signature on and cashing a government cheque. The Johnson County District Attorney’s office was also building a case against Equi-Plus for defrauding Back Care Systems. Robinson had a lot to answer for in both Kansas and Missouri.
While these investigations were going on, “Robinson developed a strong taste for sadomasochistic sex” – also known as BDSM. (Note – I am not a practitioner, nor am I very knowledgeable about BDSM practices. But I do believe that I can way with certainty that what Robinson was interested was not proper BDSM. What he participated in was an affront and an insult to the BDSM community.)
Just for good measure, Haymes called Robinson into his office again. When questioned, Robinson changed his tune. Lisa and Tiffany had been found, safe and sound. However, this story collapsed like a house of cards in a tornado when investigators did some simple fact checking.
A woman came forward informing investigators that she’d been asked – or threatened, rather – by Robinson to lie to them if they asked about Lisa and Tiffany. Robinson was using nude photos he’d taken of her as blackmail. If she told the police what he wanted her to, he wouldn’t leak her photos.
Following that interview, investigators discovered that Robinson, with the help of a dancer named M&M, was scouting for women to employ as S&M sex workers in a Kansas City-wide sex work ring. A female agent went undercover, hoping to get enough out of Robinson for an arrest warrant.
She met with Robinson for lunch at an Overland Park restaurant. He claimed that she could earn between $2,000 and $3,000 for a weekend travelling to Denver or Dallas. In Kansas City, she could earn $1,000 a night. He claimed his clientele included lawyers, judges, and doctors. He then went into extreme and graphic detail (that I refuse to repeat) of the kind of treatment she should expect to undergo.
When the other agents heard the recording, the pulled the plug on the operation. They feared for their colleague’s safety. However, all was not lost.
Blattner agreed to help the investigation in exchange for leniency. The agents also advised Truman Medical Centre to cut its ties with Robinson and the fraudulent Kansas City Outreach program. They were told to remove the two young women they’d sent to Robinson from the Trost Avenue apartment he kept in Overland Park. The agents feared they were being groomed for sex trafficking.
As investigators crept closer and closer to apprehending Robinson, M&M introduced him to a potential sex worker. Theresa Williams was 21, from Boise Idaho, working odd jobs around Kansas City. Robinson took her to a hotel room for an “audition”. He photographed her, and offered her the position of his “mistress”. She was to serve him, personally, as well as other clients. In exchange, Robinson “would put her up in an apartment and pay all her expenses and fees” as well as provide her with marijuana and amphetamines.
Theresa was brutally, and repeatedly, terrorized by Robinson.
On June 7th, 1985, Lavin and Dancer, having followed a lead to the apartment, paid Theresa – who was alone – an unannounced visit. She was at the end of her rope. She broke down and informed them of some extremely damning things. Robinson was wasting no time trying to cover his own ass. He was making her write a diary, accusing Blattner of committing various crimes. Theresa’s life as at stake. The agents also found the illicit substances Robinson was providing her in the apartment.
In the middle of their visit, Robinson returned to the apartment. He kept his composure, and left quickly. The agents wasted no time getting Theresa out of the apartment and secured in a safe and unknown location. They found several sheets of blank Stationery that Theresa had been made to sign.
With all the evidence piling up, Haymes asked the courts to revoke Robinson’s probation and jail him. Robinson was quickly released on bail pending an appeal. The FBI kept Theresa safe before making sure she got out of town. “Appeals later overturned the district judge’s ruling on the ironic grounds that Robinson’s constitutional rights had been violated: He had not been allowed to adequately confront his accuser.”
However, in January of 1986, the Johnson County District Attorney’s office charged Robinson with fraud. A jury convicted him. Due to his extensive criminal history, the judge sentenced him to between 6 and 19 years in prison as an habitual criminal. In May 1987, Robinson finally went to prison.
During this time, 27-year-old Catherine Clampitt of Wichita Falls, Texas went missing. “Born in Korea but adopted and raised by the Bales family in Texas, Catherine was a one-time drug user now seeking rehabilitation. She had begun to work for JR at Equi-II in early 1987, but had disappeared a few months later.” She lived with her brother Robert in Overland Park after answering a job ad placed by Robinson. Robert called the police when she went missing, but there was “insufficient evidence to link her disappearance to Robinson”.
Fast forward to 1991 – Robinson is paroled in Kansas after serving less than four years of his sentence. Haymes had something to say about that – “I believe him to be a con man out of control. He leaves in his wake many unanswered questions and missing persons… I have observed Robinson’s sociopathic tendencies, habitual criminal behaviour, inability to tell the truth and scheming to cover his own actions at the expense of others.”
While incarcerated, Robinson had acted just the same as he did on the outside – with charm and charisma in order to manipulate and scheme. Haymes figured he’d act just the same in the Missouri prison – for violating his probation by buying illicit substances – as he did in the Kansas prison. Haymes was correct.
Robinson wasted no time befriending the prison doctor, William Bonner, and his wife, Beverly, the prison librarian. It wasn’t long before Robinson found himself with a job in the library, spending long hours alone there with Beverly.
At 49 years of age, Robinson was released from prison in 1993. But he wouldn’t be returning to his sprawling house in Pleasant Valley Farms. Nancy had been forced to relocate, taking a job as the manager of a mobile-home development in Belton, Missouri that came with housing. Downsizing to the suburb of Kansas City was fairly straight forward – the kids were out of the house, there was plenty of room for the two of them alone.
A few months later, Beverly announced to William that she was leaving him for Robinson, in order to work at Hydro-Gro acting as the company’s president. She filed for divorce shortly thereafter.
Soon after that, friends and family were receiving letters from Beverly from overseas, detailing her excitement about her work adventures abroad. These letters never had a return address. State side, Robinson was directing all of Beverly’s mail to a P.O. Box in Olathe. He was cashing all of her alimony cheques. No one heard from Beverly Bonner after January of 1994.
Robinson wasted no time looking for his next victim. Sheila Faith thought that she’d found her dream man. She was lonely, widowed, with a teenaged daughter, Debbie, who was wheelchair bound with spina bifida. She lived off the disability payments from Social Security. She was over the moon for her new man. She just never told anyone his name.
Sheila and Debbie lived in Pueblo, Colorado. But Sheila desperately wanted to meet her dream man in person. Sheila and Debbie planned a road trip from Colorado to Texas in 1994. Sheila decided they’d make a stop in Kansas to visit. In early summer, Robinson drove to Colorado to pick up Sheila and Debbie in the middle of the night. They were never seen again.
Robinson managed to change their mailing address, and ensured that the disability cheques would be sent to the Olathe P.O. Box. Robinson collected those cheques for nearly 6 years.
Fresh out of prison, Robinson rekindled his interest in (and misuse of) BDSM. He placed and monitored ads in Pitch Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Kansas City. Robinson ended up answering an ad placed by a woman going by the name of Chloe Elizabeth. They communicated a lot by phone – Chloe Elizabeth wanted to ensure her own safety and the legitimacy of Robinson’s identity and intentions before meeting in person. Robinson falsified his entire identity, except for his name and the names of his businesses.
In October of 1995, Robinson met Chloe Elizabeth at her home, where they engaged in a scene. From their phone conversations, they knew what to expect of each other, and what their limits and boundaries were. During this meeting, Robinson did not push those boundaries. Chloe Elizabeth felt comfortable with him. So much so, she signed a slave contract he’d brought with him for their scene. It helped that she had a male friend stationed nearby, ready to intervene at her signal should anything go wrong. The friend took down Robinson’s license plate number, just in case.
Their relationship progressed well, until Chloe Elizabeth started picking apart the red flags and Robinson’s lies. She balked when he insisted they go over a list of their assets. Chloe Elizabeth had never intended for that to be a part of their deal. Undeterred, Robinson asked her to travel with him, asking her to sign several blank sheets of stationery (can you see the pattern here?) and provide him the addresses for her family and friends. She absolutely refused.
Then she followed up on the gut instinct her male friend had had – this guy was no good. Chloe Elizabeth discovered that Robinson wasn’t divorced, as he’d said he was, and he was less than the stellar representation he gave off. She broke off the relationship in February of 1996 upon discovering his extensive criminal history. She wasn’t willing to risk her safety any more than she already had. Thankfully, Robinson left her alone after that.
The Robinsons had recently moved from Belton to a similar development in Olathe. Back in Kansas, Robinson decided to buy 16 acres of farmland, which included a small fishing pond, just an hour south of Olathe. He put a mobile home on the property, and also outfitted a small shed. He often brought friends and family out to the land for relaxation and fishing. No one found the purchase surprising, or suspicious.
With that taken care of, Robinson discovered the wonders of the internet. In Olathe, he maintained 3 desktop computers and 2 laptops. Robinson adopted the handle and username “Slavemaster”. He began trolling BDSM chatrooms and forums, looking for his next victims.
In 1997, in one such forum, Robinson met Izabel Lewicka. Born in Poland, she’d moved with her family to Indiana when she was 12. A freshman at Purdue University, Izabel was studying fine arts and had a keen interest in computers.
In the spring of 1997, she informed her family that she’d be leaving for Kansas to partake in an “internship”. Izabel, not wanting to tell them the real reason for her departure, left only an address for Overland Park behind.
Her parents sent letters – none of which ever received a reply. They took action in August and drove to the address to look for Izabel. When they got there, all they found was a Mail Boxes Etc. Disheartened, they drove back to Indiana. At no point did they contact the police.
Robinson had set Izabel up in an apartment in south Kansas City where they regularly engaged in scenes. Izabel had also signed a contract, similar to the contract Robinson had asked Chloe Elizabeth to sign. He paid Izabel’s bills. When they weren’t in a scene, Izabel spent her time leisurely, frequenting a rare-and-used book shop, even befriending the staff.
Izabel lasted the longest among the women Robinson took interest in.
By 1999, Robinson had decided to move her into an apartment in Olathe, closer to his own home. If they were seen together, Robinson would refer to as his adopted daughter or his niece. To his work associates, she was his graphic designer, working at yet another one of Robinson’s companies – Specialty Publication.
“That summer, she introduced Robinson to her bookstore friends and told them he would be buying her books in the future because she was moving away.” By August of 1999, Izabel had disappeared. But Robinson had prepared a story. He told anyone who asked after Izabel that she’d been caught with marijuana and been deported to Poland. No one seemed to question him further on the matter.
Within weeks, Robinson was back online looking for someone else to victimize. He met 27-year-old home-care worker Suzette Trouten in the fall of 1999. They began long and extensive private chats. From Monroe, Michigan, Suzette was known for collecting teapots and for adoring her two Pekingese dogs, Harry and Peka. She was also very deeply involved in the BDSM community.
Robinson invited Suzette to Kansas – he said he had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for her. He wanted her to act as companion and nurse for his wealthy and elderly father, who planned a cruise around the Pacific on his private yacht. What Robinson neglected to mention was that his father had been deceased for 10 years.
Suzette jumped at the opportunity, and went about getting her affairs in order to ease the move to Kansas. She spoke to her mother, Carolyn, excitedly about her plans. She also chatted excitedly to her Canadian friend, Lori, a fellow BDSM practitioner she’d met online.
Suzette packed up her belongings, and her beloved dogs, and made the 2-day drive to Kansas on February 13th and 14th, 2000. Upon her arrival, Robinson registered her at the Guesthouse Suites in Lenexa – a suburb of Kansas City. The hotel didn’t allow pets. With reluctance, she allowed Robinson to check Harry and Peka into a local animal shelter that provided boarding.
Suzette signed a slave contract. When they weren’t engaged in a scene, she did menial jobs at Robinson’s office – mostly computer work. She also signed several sheets of blank stationery and addressed over 40 envelopes for Robinson. He told her he’d take care of her correspondence while she was sailing with his father.
Suzette kept in touch with her mother and Lori daily by phone and email. They both knew all about Robinson, and Suzette’s new and exciting adventure. The last they heard from her was on February 29th, 2000.
The following day, Robinson paid the Guesthouse bill and collected Harry and Peka. They were later found by animal control in a portable kennel without their identification collars. Something was not right.
Carolyn and Lori were worried. They hadn’t heard from Suzette since the 29th. It was unlike her. They both reached out to Robinson, demanding answers. He assured them that she was fine, but at the last minute she’d decided not to go sailing. Instead, she ran off with a man named “James Turner”. Carolyn and Lori called bullshit.
They received emails from “Suzette”, but they weren’t fooled. While they came from her account, the content of the emails did not sound like Suzette at all. They called the Lenexa Police Department and reported her missing. “Detective David Brown immediately began a thorough inquiry into the disappearance.”
It wasn’t long before he saw the connections with the other missing women who were associated with Robinson. A task force was organized, which included several local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies – including the FBI. The task force was supervised by Johnson County District Attorney Paul J. Morrison. Two detectives were sent to Missouri to see Stephen Haymes and gather information. Detective Brown instructed Carolyn and Lori to forward the emails to the task force and to tape record their phone calls with Robinson. His days were numbered.
Robinson was in the midst of chatting with another woman, 34-year-old Jeanne. He introduced himself to her as James Turner. He began to charm her. She decided to visit Kansas over April long weekend. He put her up in a suite, and they engaged in a scene – Robinson did not push her boundaries.
While decided whether or not to make the move to Kansas, Jeanne visited again at the end of April. This time, something was horribly wrong. Robinson ignored all of her limits and boundaries. He abused her. He brutalized her. She called it off. She also demanded he return the sex toys she’d left from her first visit. He refused. He attempted to threaten her. He told her he’d publicly reveal the contract he’d made her sign, and the photos he took of her. Jeanne was not threatened. She contacted Lenexa police and reported the sex toys stolen.
Robinson was also chatting with and charming a woman named Kate at the same time. In mid-May, she visited Kansas in order to engage in a scene with Robinson. They set up in a room at the Guesthouse Suites. He’d introduced himself to her as James Turner as well. Kate was brutalized and abused. She screamed at him to get out. He did, sneering at her all the way.
Distraught and frantic, Kate ran to the front desk and demanded to see the room registration. She discovered that the man she’d been with had lied about his identity – he was in fact John Robinson. The clerk called the police. Detective Brown immediately moved Kate to a safe and secure location. He took her statement, and task force went full throttle on Robinson.
On Friday, June 2nd, 2000, a convoy of 9 police vehicles surrounded the Robinson residence. Dumbstruck, John Robinson was arrested and charged with sexual assault and theft. He was brought to the Johnson County Jail in handcuffs.
Investigators swiftly served a search warrant in order to search the house. They seized all 5 computers. There, they also found stationery signed by Lisa Stasi, which was dated 15 years earlier. Also found were receipts from the Rodeway Inn, showing that Robinson had checked Lisa out of the hotel in January of 1985.
Another search warrant was served for a storage locker under Robinson’s name. There, investigators found items linking him to Suzette Trouten and Izabel Lewicka. Suzette’s birth certificate, Social Security card, sheets of paper signed “Love ya, Suzette”, a signed slave contract, and a stun gun were found in the locker. Izabel’s driver’s license, photos of her, and a 6-page contract with 115 rules were also found.
The following day, June 3rd, another convoy of vehicles was sent to the 16-acre farmland. Near the toolshed, investigators found 2 yellow 55-gallon metal oil barrels. Bodies were found in both. They were labelled “Unknown 1” and “Unknown 2”.
Paul J. Morrison issued a search warrant affidavit to Missouri Prosecuting Attorney Mark Tracy of Cass County. “It indicated, among other things, that John Edward Robinson Sr. Was believed to have killed several women; that he used the internet to lure them to Kansas for BDSM sex; that he maintained a locker thought to contain evidence at Stor-Mor-For-Less in Raymore, Missouri, a Kansas City suburb, and that he had paid for the locker with a company cheque so as to conceal it was his.”
Meanwhile, an autopsy was underway for the two bodies discovered in the barrels. Both had received massive blows to the head, fracturing their skulls. They’d never had a chance to defend themselves. They were identified as Suzette Trouten and Izabel Lewicka.
At the Stor-Mor, a search warrant was executed. Investigators found three barrels, like the ones found on the farmland, near the back of the locker. They were sitting on beds of cat litter, an effort made to mask the smell. Each barrel contained the severely decomposed body of a female beaten death, probably with a large hammer. None of them had been able to defend themselves. They were identified as Beverly Bonner, Sheila Faith, and Debbie Faith.
In 2002, John Edward Robinson was convicted of the murders of Suzette Trouten, Izabel Lewicka, and Lisa Stasi. He received the death sentence. Not once has he cooperated with authorities. Lisa Stasi, Paula Godfrey, and Catherine Clampitt have never been found.
In Missouri, Robinson agreed to a plea bargain in order to avoid the death penalty. Missouri was more likely to execute than Kansas. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.
In 2005, Nancy filed for divorce for “incompatibility and irreconcilable differences”.
Baby Heather learned of her birth mother’s fate during her “uncle’s” trial.
John Edward Robinson, in all his uncooperative, narcissistic, sociopathic monstrosity, remains on death row at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.
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Sources:
Online Killers – Christopher Berry-Dee & Steven Morris
Serial Killer J. R. Robinson’s Sinister Alter Ego – David McClintick for Vanity Fair
John Edward Robinson’s Wikipedia page