JOHN EDWARD ROBINSON
“The Internet’s First Serial Killer”
NATALIE CARGILL
BACKGROUND
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Third of five children
•
Had an alcoholic father and a strict disciplinarian mother
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Became an Eagle Scout in 1957
•
Enrolled in Quigley Preparatory Seminary in 1957 but
dropped out one year later due to disciplinary issues
•
Later enrolled in Morton Junior College to become an Xray techician
•
Married in 1964, had his first child in 1965, and twins five
years later in 1971
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Had gained a popular reputation in online sex chatrooms
where he looked for submissive women
•
Claimed to have joined a secret sadomasochism cult
where he lured victims to be raped by members
•
Sexual harassment tendencies; propositioning many of
the women in his neighborhood and an incident with
another woman much later, which led to his arrest
EARLY CRIMES
Robinson never got in any trouble with the law
early in his life throughout high school and
college, but did get himself into problems in school
and in his workplace, including:
• Dropped out of his all-boys preparatory school
for future priests due to disciplinary problems
• Gained his job as an X-ray technician using
forged credentials
CRIMES AND SENTENCES
Year
Crime
Sentence
1969 and 1971
Embezzlement
3 years probation,
extended probation
after second charge of
embezzlement
1975
Securities fraud and
mail fraud
Extended probation
1980
Check forgery and
embezzlement
60 days in jail
CRIMES AND SENTENCES (MURDER)
Year
Crime
1984
Hired Paula Godfrey to one of his fraudulent companies, who he sent
away for “training”; she was never heard from again
1985
Hired Lisa Stasi; claimed she had committed suicide and gave her
baby daughter to his brother and sister-in-law who were looking to
adopt; never heard from again
1987
Hired Catherine Clampitt who vanished in June that year
1987-1993 (during incarceration)
Hired Beverley Bonner, the prison librarian, who then went missing;
Robinson continued to cash her alimony checks
--
Met mother Sheila Faith in a chatroom and convinced her and her
daughter to move in with him; they immediately vanished and
Robinson continued to cash her pension checks
1999
Met Izabela Lewicka in a chatroom and convinced her to move with
him; she vanished in the summer of that year
1999
Met licensed nurse Suzette Trouten and convinced her to move with
him; after she went missing Robinson told her mother she had run off
with an aquaintance after stealing money from him
EVIDENCE
• Robinson had become very careless over the years of his
killing streak and no longer tried to cover his tracks.
• His name had become associated with more and more
missing persons investigations, which attracted the
attention of authorities
• A task force had found two 85-pound chemical drums on
his farm, which contained the decaying bodies of Izabela
Lewicka and Suzette Trouten
• Three more chemical drums were found in a storage
facility across the state in which Robinson rented two
garages; these contained the bodies of Beverley Bonner,
Sheila Faith, and her daughter, Debbie
SENTENCE
•
•
•
•
•
In 2002, Robinson received a death sentence for the murders
of Suzette Trouten, Izabela Lewicka, and several other minor
charges; he received a life imprisonment sentence for the
murder of Lisa Stasi (Kansas didn’t have the death penalty at
the time)
Received a five-to-20-year prison sentence for interfering
with the custody of Stasi’s daughter, 20 ½ for kidnapping
Trouten, and 7 months for theft
Faced additional murder charges in Missouri
Eventually received a life sentence without parole for each
murder
Currently on Death Row in El Dorado Correctional Facility in
Kansas
QUOTES ABOUT JOHN EDWARD ROBINSON
"He had no real employment, unless you consider
figuring out ways of scamming people out of
their money to be real employment." –District
Attorney Paul Morrison during Robinson’s trial
"This was classic John Robinson. The guy was a
gamesman to the end.“ –Morrison on Robinson
after he pleaded guilty in Missouri trying to
avoid a death sentence
NICKNAMES
• The Slavemaster (used in online
chatrooms)
• Internet Slavemaster
• John Osborne (used for fraud)
CULTURAL REFERENCES
•
Internet Slave Master, published in 2001 by John Glatt,
•
documented Robinson’s life and crimes up until his trial
Depraved, also by Glatt, published in 2005, chronicles the
lives of his victims and others who were involved in
Robinson’s crimes
•
Anyone You Want Me to Be: A True Story of Sex and Death
on the Internet, by John Douglas and Stephen Singular,
•
•
published in 2003
Crimes were documented on episodes of Cold Case Files on
A&E and on FBI: Criminal Pursuit and Sins & Secrets on
Investigation Discovery
Mentioned in Criminal Minds as an example of old serial killer
cases