From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Edward Robinson (born December 27, 1943)
is an American
serial killer
convicted in 2003 of the murders of several women.
Early
life
John Edward Robinson was born in Cicero, Illinois. As a Boy
Scout he performed before Queen Elizabeth II
at a concert in London and
became an Eagle Scout. As a
freshman at Quigley
Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, he was a poor student and had a
discipline problem. He did not return to Quigley for his sophomore
year; it is believed that he was denied admission as a sophomore
due to either his academic or discipline shortcomings.
He had dreams of becoming very important. He was named "Man of
The Year" once at a Kansas City charity (an award he rigged in
his own favor), and was described by acquaintances as very
personable and easy to like.
Beneath his outward charm, however, he was a con
artist and thief who served time in jail in 1987 on charges of
felony theft. He was supposed to
serve five years, but he was released after only four years for
good behavior. He was then handed to Missouri authorities, who arrested him because
his conviction in Kansas
violated one of the conditions imposed when Robinson was released
on probation from a
Missouri jail after being convicted of forging signatures on some documents. But he
started complaining of chest pains and was released with a doctor's
recommendation letter.
Murders
In 1995, Robinson bought a computer and began contacting women
for sex, calling himself "The Slave Master", in reference to his BDSM lifestyle.
According to the police, he would later meet some of those women
in person and have sex with them. Then, the women he met
disappeared. In the summer of 2000, some of their bodies were
discovered at Robinson's farm near La Cygne, Kansas and in a rented
storage space in Raymore, Missouri.
Victims
- In 1984, 18-year-old Paula Godfrey left home to take up a job
with one of Robinson's many non-existent companies. After being
told she was being sent away to take a few seminar classes to get
her trained, her parents contacted the police and filed a missing
person's report. A few days after questioning Robinson on Godfrey's
whereabouts they received a type-written letter from Godfrey. The
letter assured them that everything was fine, and that she simply
did not want to contact her family. Her signature was at the bottom
of the letter. The case was dropped as Godfrey was an adult and had
the right to disappear.
- In 1985, Lisa Stasi, a 19-year-old single mother, met a man
calling himself "John Osborne" at a shelter. The man promised her
an apartment, job training, a monthly stipend, and even daycare for her
four-month-old daughter, Tiffany. Stasi agreed, signing a few blank
sheets of paper. She was never heard from again. A few days after
meeting Stasi, Robinson contacted his brother and informed him he
had a baby he could adopt;
he said that the baby's mother had committed suicide in a hotel room, and his connections
with local charity would allow him to get the child for him if he
paid the legal fees. The baby was Tiffany Stasi, and the papers
Robinson brought were all forgeries. The money went straight into
Robinson's account.
- In 1987 Catherine Clampitt moved from Texas to Kansas in order to work with Robinson at
the age of 27. Her body was never found, although Robinson admitted
to killing her after he was convicted in the other six women's
deaths.
- In 1993, Robinson was released from a stint in jail. He had met
49-year-old Beverly Bonner in prison. A librarian, she had been
charmed by the eloquent man, and upon his release divorced her
husband to follow Robinson. Robinson killed Bonner shortly after
she had all of her alimony
checks forwarded to a PO box, and placed her body inside a barrel
which he later put into a storage unit in Raymore,
Missouri. Robinson continued to collect her alimony checks and
cash them in his account for years.
- In 1994 Robinson met 45-year-old Sheila Faith, whose
15-year-old daughter, Debbie, used a wheelchair and was in need of
constant medical care. Robinson met her in an online chat room and
promised to provide care for both her and her daughter. The Faiths
were charmed and moved to Kansas. Robinson arranged to have the pension check Sheila received
from her first husband's death be routed to a PO box. The Faiths
were not heard from again until their bodies were discovered in
barrels in the storage unit in Raymore, Missouri.
- In 1999, Robinson offered 21-year-old Izabela Lewicka a job and
bondage relationship. Soon after moving to Kansas, records show
Robinson paid for a ring and a marriage license that was never
picked up. Lewicka emailed family and friends to tell of her
marriage; a few months later she told friends she was going on a
trip and was not heard from again. Her body was later discovered in
a barrel on the ranch in La Cygne, Kansas.
Trial
Robinson was arrested and accused of murdering three women. He
was convicted at the Johnson County Court House in Olathe, Kansas in
2002 and sentenced to death. He then pleaded
guilty in Harrisonville, Missouri and did
not receive a second death sentence from a Missouri court. Robinson
could be the first person executed by lethal injection in the state of
Kansas. In 2005 the Kansas Supreme Court ruled the
current capital punishment laws in Kansas unconstitutional. However
in Kansas v.
Marsh, 548 U. S. (2006), the U.S. Supreme
Court found otherwise; subsequently, Kansas still has the death
penalty.
In popular
culture
In 2001, a book about him and his victims, Internet Slave Master, was
released, covering his life up to the trial. A second book about
Robinson, called Anyone You Want Me to Be: A True Story of Sex
and Death on the Internet, was written by John Douglas
and Stephen Singular. The book Depraved by John Glatt was
released in 2001, mostly detailing the lives of those affected by
Robinson's crimes.
Robinson's life was documented on A&E's show Cold Case
Files.
Email
hoax
The trial also spawned a number of e-mail hoaxes, with web users warned first
against the usernames SlaveMaster,
SweetCaliGuy4evr, imahustlababay,
Free_mumia911, Monkeyman935, Rockhard
abs, and most recently, DreamWeaverGrey.
The email usually looked something like this:
- Subject: FROM THE STATE POLICE: NOT A JOKE
- PLEASE READ THIS: State Police Warning for Online
- WARNING FROM THE STATE POLICE . . USA (Not a
joke.)
- State police warning for online: Please read this "very
carefully"..then send it out to all the people online that you
know.
- Something like this is nothing to be taken casually; this
is something you DO want to pay attention to. Think of it as a bit
of advice too.
- If a person with the screen-name of Monkeyman935 contacts
you, do not reply.
- DO not talk to this person; do not answer any of his/her
instant Messages or e-mail. Whoever this person may be, he/she is a
suspect for murder in the death of 56 women (so far) contacted
through the Internet.
- Please send this to all the women on your buddy list and
ask them to pass this on, as well. This screen-name was seen on Yahoo, AOL, AIM, and Excite so far.
- This is not a joke! Please send this to men too...just in
case! Send to everyone you know! Ladies, this is serious.
See also
References
- Slave Master (Pinnacle True Crime) by Sue Wiltz and
Maurice Godwin. Kensington Books ISBN 978-0786014088
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