John Edward Robinson (born December 27, 1943) is an American serial killer, con man, embezzler, kidnapper, and forger who was found guilty in 2003 for three murders committed in and around Kansas City, receiving the death penalty for two of them. Robinson was convicted in the 2000 death of 27-year-old Suzette Trouten of Newport, Michigan, and the 1999 killing of 21-year-old Izabela Lewicka, a Polish immigrant who attended Purdue University. Market data provided by Factset. Robinson hired her, reportedly with the promise of extensive travel and a new wardrobe. Sheldon's skull was that which he placed inside a closet on the second floor of his property,[40] in an area of the household Berdella referred to as "my gallery area. Soon, Berdella became acquainted with Paul Howell's younger son, Jerry. By the final day of his captivity, Stoops was so weak Berdella later stated he had been unable "to breathe in a sitting position". "[4]:323 Berdella removed the teeth from this skull and stowed them inside envelopes in the same room. [4]:4647, When Berdella reached puberty he discovered that he was homosexual; initially, he kept this fact a closely guarded secret, and he did not become open about his sexuality for several years. Market data provided by Factset. "There are [probably] other barrels waiting to be opened, other bodies waiting to be found."[1]. From 1974 to 1991, Rader committed many incredibly brutal murders, some of which wiped out entire families. He had a speech impediment and wore thick glasses from the age of five because he was severely nearsighted. [9][10], Kansas and Missouri police note that long stretches of Robinson's time remain unaccounted for, and fear that there are additional undiscovered victims. For you to survive being here, and for you to, you know, make it, it could either be rough or it could be easy. As Berdella's father valued sports and physical education, he viewed his older son's lack of interest in sports as a sign of failure, and often compared him unfavorably with his younger brother. Jones Company. Getty Aerial view of suspected serial killer John Edward Robinson Sr.'s home June 6, 2000 in Linn County, Kansas . Upon being sentenced, Berdella was transferred to the Missouri State Penitentiary, to commence his life sentence. Robinson was prosecuted and found guilty by a. Show you care with a Cracker Barrel Gift Card. HuffPost writes of how Berdella was a trusted figure who started a neighborhood watch program but mostly kept to himself.On the day before Easter in 1988, neighbors called the police . Robinson, portraying himself as a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, offered to pay Debbie's medical expenses and give Sheila a job. In the 19th century, Kansas was a bloody place, especially before the Civil War, as " Free-Soilers " and slavery advocates "duked" it out for control of the new territory. On September 25, the Kansas City Defender, a non-profit newsroom, posted a TikTok of Bishop Tony Caldwell, a local community leader, claiming "there is a serial killer currently on the loose in Kansas City" and that four Black women had been murdered and three others went missing from Prospect Avenue in the last week. As a child Berdella was intelligent, but a loner who rarely played outside his home and seldom had friends visit to socialize. In addition to these disclosures, Kellogg was able to name three of the men depicted in the Polaroids as being Todd Stoops, Robert Sheldon, and Larry Wayne Pearson. [32] In return for his cooperation, the prosecution agreed not to seek the death penalty[36] at a formal hearing scheduled for 9a.m. on December 19. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. On the farm, a task force found the decaying bodies of two women, later identified as Lewicka and Trouten, in two 85-pound (39kg) chemical drums. About Us. 8225 North Church Rd., I-35 & State Route 152, Kansas City, MO, 64158-1105. Throughout his studies in high school, he had earned such excellent grades and displayed such potential that in 1966, one teacher had placed him in an independent study program. [21] According to Berdella, he did not initially intend to capture Pearson, but began forming the plan to do so on June 23, two weeks after having bailed Pearson out of jail and noting Pearsonin the weeks prior to his captivitydisplayed little interest in finding a job. [4]:33[n 7]. 185-189. If I grow to like you, and to trust you, then I could do special things for you, such as buy you cigarettes, pick up a movie on the way home from work and so forth. At the Western Missouri Correctional Facility, he met 49-year-old Beverly Bonner, the prison librarian. The Blair family is a well-known crime family in Kansas City. She did sign a 115-item slave contract that gave Robinson almost total control over every aspect of her life, including her bank accounts. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. or redistributed. The plot of the film revolves around a disturbed man who stalks and then abducts a young woman whom he finds attractive, holding her captive in his windowless stone basement, and viewing her as little more than an attractive specimen. Stasi was never heard from again. Throughout the latter part of his six weeks of captivity, Pearson trained himself to sleep without moving, in order that he did not antagonize Berdella and thus invite further torture or being returned to the basement. Although one victim (Mark Wallace) had been seized by opportunity when he had discovered him seeking shelter from a severe thunderstorm in his tool shed, his other five victims had been captured after he had unsuccessfully tried to steer them away from their general lifestyles, and had thus simply become frustrated at the failure of his efforts. [7], In November 2015, the Kansas Supreme Court vacated the Trouten and Stasi murder convictions on technicalities, but upheld the Lewicka conviction and its accompanying death sentence. He was 43 years old. Among other issues, there was no unequivocal evidence that any of the murders had been committed within his jurisdiction. He was assigned a temporary public defender as his legal representative, and held in protective custody in a Jackson County jail in lieu of $500,000 bail (the equivalent of approximately $1,258,200 as of 2023[update]). [4]:8182, Berdella is believed to have killed his first victim on July 5, 1984. [8]:245 Berdella's father was a devout Roman Catholic of Italian descent. [4]:5657, In 1982, Berdella began renting his own booth at the Westport Flea Market. After hearing nothing further from her, Godfrey's parents filed a missing persons report. John E. Robinson Sr. in 2002. [4]:261. [4]:121122, As numerous male names had been found scrawled upon various stenographer's pads at Berdella's address, the detectives began attempting to trace each of them. In 1965, Berdella saw the film adaptation of the John Fowles novel The Collector. [4]:312, After six weeks of captivity, Pearson deeply bit into Berdella's penis before screaming he could not continue to tolerate his ongoing poor treatment. [4]:57, At his work premises, Berdella became acquainted with a fellow merchant named Paul Howell, who operated a booth adjacent to his own. In a video that went viral on TikTok and other platforms, a man claimed that four Black girls . Robert Andrew Berdella Jr. (January 31, 1949 - October 8, 1992) was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered at least six young men after having forced his victims to endure periods of up to six weeks of captivity. The prosecution team assigned to the case accepted the plea, with assistant prosecutor Pat Hall later explaining this decision as being "in the best interest of our client, the people of the state of Missouri". Shortly thereafter, Pearson temporarily lodged with Berdella, and willingly performed chores around his home as a means of paying rent. After several weeks, the woman dies of a contracted illness despite her captor's efforts to keep her alive. [4]:9495 These investigators would shortly discover Berdella had paid a $30 fee to secure a bond for Pearson in June 1987 (the equivalent of about $78 as of 2023[update]),[12] and that no further records existed to indicate Pearson was still alive. [14][n 2] By the early 1980s, many of his older acquaintances had ceased any form of social contact with him, with Berdella increasingly relying on these young men as a source of companionship and friendship. [30], On December 19, 1988, Berdella formally waived his rights to be tried for any of the outstanding murder charges, upon the understanding he was to be convicted of one further count of first-degree murder (that of Robert Sheldon), and four counts of second-degree murder. After the longest criminal trial in Kansas history,[6] he was convicted on all counts. [11], As would be the case with all Berdella's murders, he kept a detailed log in which he documented each act of sexual and physical torture inflicted upon his victim. You see, what you got, is nothing compared to what you can have. Nonetheless, investigators did discover that, in August 1987, Berdella had filed an assault report from a hospital room in which he alleged a man named "Larry Person" had deeply bitten his penis during oral sex, causing a serious laceration. [28] Several other Polaroid images depicted as-yet unidentified young men, and several detectives were assigned to identify them, determining if they were alive or dead and, if alive, the circumstance of the picture. Berdella accepted with the specific intention of kidnapping Ferris, whom he arranged to meet at a bar that evening. [4]:47. The unnamed victim still had a collar with a padlock around her neck that was later removed by police. The following June, Berdella found Mark Wallace (whom he vaguely knew via Wallace having previously helped him with yard work) hiding in his tool shed to seek shelter from a severe thunderstorm. The next entry read "Very delayed breathing", and finally, Berdella noted that Ferris died with a slang term he had used in his career as a chef, "86", which Berdella later explained "meant anything from 'Throw it out' to 'Stop the project'". In 2005, he admitted responsibility for five homicides in Missouri as part of a plea bargain to receive multiple life sentences without possibility of parole and avoid more death sentences. In 1964, he moved to Kansas City and married Nancy Jo Lynch, who gave birth to their first child, John Jr., in 1965, followed by daughter Kimberly in 1967, and twins Christopher and Christine in 1971. The family regularly attended Mass, and both sons regularly attended religious education courses. "He's maintained the secrets about what he's done with the women. Hours. She was initially considered a possible victim but was later identified as Lois Tomich, who police believe was killed by her ex-husband. As a means of obtaining additional income, he also sold items of art and antiques he had accrued and collected from contacts he had established in Africa, Asia, South America, and various Pacific Rim countries. Two days later, three more bodies were discovered in barrels in a storage locker Robinson rented in the Kansas City area. His first known victim was 19-year-old Jerry Howell. Ferris gradually became delirious,[4]:288 but Berdella continued his physical and sexual assaults until he noted in his log that Ferris was "Unable to sit up more than 1015 sec[onds]". [n 1] He began spending much of his free time with male prostitutes, drug addicts, petty criminals, and runaways. A metal tray containing syringes, small bottles apparently containing prescription drugs, swabs, and eye drops were also close to the bed. Members of the public were prohibited from attending this hearing, with only family members of his victims and news reporters permitted access to the proceedings. [6] Berdella had promised to drive the youth to attend a dancing contest in Merriam. His third, noncapital conviction in Kansas was in connection with the 1985 death of Lisa Stasi, a 19-year-old who was last seen by her family with Robinson in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park. [2]:9, Across the state line in Missouri, investigators searched a storage facility where Robinson rented two garages. For example, at one point in relation to victim James Ferris, Berdella had written an entry reading: "2 1/2 ket nk + shoulder" to indicate he had injected 2.2 cubic centimeters of ketamine into his victim's neck and shoulder. Medical staff determined his heart was unstable and called an ambulance. Bob Berdella, the Kansas City Butcher, might have been viewed as an odd man by neighbors, but no one ever suspected that he was responsible for raping, torturing, and murdering seven men in 1980s Kansas City. He was also diagnosed with high blood pressure for which he took several medications. [29] Prosecutors had gathered sufficient circumstantial evidence to accompany the physical evidence retrieved. Legal Statement. He received a 5-to-20-year prison sentence for interfering with the parental custody of Stasi's baby, 20.5 years for kidnapping Trouten, and seven months for theft.