[2]:4, In 1984, having established two more fraudulent shell companies, Robinson hired Paula Godfrey, aged 19, ostensibly to work as a sales representative. Last week Diamond Blair, nephew of serial killer Terry Blair, was convicted of second-degree murder. 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. For the first time, we're hearing from the daughter of one of his victims, and it's an unbelievable story you'll . [29] Prosecutors had gathered sufficient circumstantial evidence to accompany the physical evidence retrieved. 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. [19] He would remain adamant to investigators that this would be not for his enjoyment, but what he termed his "physical and mental satisfaction". Investigators also noted that posts on the bed had been extensively worn, suggesting that restraints had earlier been tied to these posts, and that the individual or individuals had struggled to free themselves. Market data provided by Factset. In. 8225 North Church Rd., I-35 & State Route 152, Kansas City, MO, 64158-1105. She was initially considered a possible victim but was later identified as Lois Tomich, who police believe was killed by her ex-husband. Updated: Sep 26, 2022 / 12:25 PM CDT. Consequently, their bodies were never recovered. [6], Berdella became known as the Kansas City Butcher due to his practice of extensively dissecting his victims' bodies, which he would then dispose of in garbage bags, and The Collector due to both the movie which he stated was the basis of the fantasies behind the modus operandi of his crimes, and much of the evidence subsequently uncovered by investigators.[4][7]. Robinson, who has never cooperated with investigators, refused. It's the last control he's got," said one investigator. [2]:9, In 2002, Robinson stood trial in Kansas for the murders of Trouten, Lewicka, and Stasi along with multiple lesser charges. In 1994, the mother and daughter moved from Fullerton, California, to Kansas City and immediately disappeared. From approximately 1965, he would begin avidly collecting these artifacts; this practice would later inspire him to open his own antiques business in 1982. Luminol tests revealed that the floor of Berdella's basement, and two plastic trash barrels, were extensively bloodstained. [39] Investigators consulted a specialist in toxicology in their investigation into Berdella following his arrest who stated that, judging by the notes he had written about victim Robert Sheldon, the accumulation of chlorpromazine injected into this victim had been toxic. Pearson's body was later dismembered in the basement, and his head initially stored in a plastic bag inside Berdella's freezer before being buried in the backyard. Her missing persons' case remains open. [4]:5657, In 1982, Berdella began renting his own booth at the Westport Flea Market. Robinson is known to be responsible for eight homicides, but his total victim tally remains unknown. Wallace willingly accepted the offer and, 30 minutes later, Berdella decided to render him captive. The Kansas Homestead Where America's First Serial Killer Family Committed Its Crimes Is Up for Sale. 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. Shortly thereafter, Pearson temporarily lodged with Berdella, and willingly performed chores around his home as a means of paying rent. Both Berdella's career and the side business eventually flourished, and by the mid-1970s he began working as a senior cook at several renowned Kansas City restaurants, also joining a local chefs' association and helping establish a training program for aspiring chefs at a local community college. These 10 Kansas Serial Killers' Stories Will Chill You To The Bone Should Berdella ever discover any of them was a police informant, he would use this knowledge for blackmail. [2]:6, Robinson became well known in increasingly popular BDSM chatrooms. On this occasion, Berdella could not post bond, and he spent five days in jail, although the charges against him and one of the other students would be dropped due to a lack of evidence. As a form of reward, Pearson was moved to the second floor, with Berdella first informing Pearson that if he continued to cooperate, he would not continue to inflict as much pain upon him as he had done so while he had been held captive in the basement. Robinson received the death penalty for the murders of Trouten and Lewicka, and life imprisonment for Stasi's murder because she was killed before Kansas reinstated the death penalty. He declined to allow officers inside his home,[4]:26 and the search warrant earlier requested was drafted to search his property. "There are [probably] other barrels waiting to be opened, other bodies waiting to be found."[1]. [4]:100 Shortly after graduation, Berdella relocated to Kansas City. Though his statement was technically a guilty plea and was accepted as such by the Missouri court, observers remarked that it was notably devoid of any remorse or specific acceptance of responsibility. He also wrote several letters to a local minister claiming that prison officials knew of his high blood pressure, yet were not providing him with his prescribed heart medication. [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. In response to these guilty pleas, Judge Meyers imposed five further concurrent life sentences, with an additional condition barring any future prospect of parole in the sole case of first-degree murder to which he pleaded guilty. [4]:80 According to Berdella, he plied Howell with alcohol, Valium and acepromazine both in his car and at his house until the youth became unconscious. In 1965, Berdella saw the film adaptation of the John Fowles novel The Collector. On Christmas Day 1965, the Berdella family drove to Canton, Ohio to visit relatives. For $5,500 in "legal fees", the couple received Tiffany (whose identity was confirmed by DNA testing in 2000[5]) and a set of authentic-appearing adoption papers with the forged signatures of two lawyers and a judge. [2], In 1985, using the name John Osborne, Robinson met Lisa Stasi and her four-month-old daughter, Tiffany, at a women's shelter in Kansas City. 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. In 1985, a Kansas serial killer believed to have murdered at least 10 women in two states killed Lisa Stasi, a 19-year-old mother whose body has never been found. In a carefully scripted plea in October 2003, Robinson acknowledged that Koster had enough evidence to convict him of capital murder for the deaths of Godfrey, Clampitt, Bonner, and the Faiths. [4]:302 On July 1, 1986, Stoops died; a forensic pathologist later testified that the ruptured anal wall caused septic shock which proved fatal. There, he enrolled in the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), with aspirations of becoming a college professor. life sentences without possibility of parole, life sentence without possibility of parole, List of serial killers in the United States, Cold Case Files - Sex, Lies and Murder (February 23, 2010), "Death sentence is upheld for serial killer John E. Robinson Sr.", "Authorities investigate Tomich for deaths of prostitutes", Complete Court TV coverage of "slave master" serial killer John Robinson, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=John_Edward_Robinson&oldid=1137938651, Robinson, John E Sr (KDOC# 45690) - current status is incarcerated, This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 04:47. Serial killer John E. Robinson Sr. makes case for new trial | The Robinson, portraying himself as a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, offered to pay Debbie's medical expenses and give Sheila a job. [4]:289[10], Todd Stoops was a 23-year-old drug addict and occasional prostitute who, alongside his wife, had twice lived briefly at Berdella's house in 1984. [47] Although many items sold for less than the expected price, by the end of the first day's auctioneering alone, more than $60,000 had been raised for this purpose (equivalent to $151,000 as of 2023[update]). [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. Police questioned Robinson, who denied any knowledge of her whereabouts. List of serial killers in the United States, List of serial killers by number of victims, "Berdella Doesn't Want to Discuss Crimes: Convicted in Dismemberments, He Cites Concerns for His Relatives, Lawsuits", "Robert A. Berdella, Already Convicted of One Count of First-Degree Murder, Pleads Guilty to A Second Charge", "Kansas City Sicko Kept Detailed Diary, Photos of Sex Torture, Bondage and Murder", "Robert Berdella: Madman or Just Murderer? Sheldon was drugged with sedatives and held captive in the second floor bedroom for three days, enduring forms of torture such as the swabbing of drain cleaner in his left eye,[4]:266 the insertion of needles beneath his fingertips,[4]:268 the binding of his wrists with piano wire with the intention of permanently damaging the nerves in his hands,[4]:271 and filling his ears with caulking to reduce his hearing capacity. Rader was a serial killer active in Kansas from 1974 to 1991. Berdella would typically befriend these individuals, then try to help free them from their drug addictions or criminal lifestyles, although he was adamant that, throughout much of the 1970s, he had no physical contact whatsoever with any of them. As had been the case with Robert Sheldon, Berdella invited him inside his house, and, noting Wallace's acute state of tenseness and depression, volunteered to inject him with chlorpromazine with the explanation this would "calm down and relax" him. The Blair family is a well-known crime family in Kansas City. [18], Shortly after, the judge at his trial, Alvin Randall, was informed of Berdella's death. [4]:307 That evening, Berdella ensured Pearson became intoxicated before injecting him with chlorpromazine and moving him down to his basement, where he bound Pearson's hands above his head, then linked the rope he had used for this purpose to a brick column, before injecting Pearson's larynx with drain cleaner. 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. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. After Robinson arranged for Bonner's alimony checks to be forwarded to a Kansas post office box, her family never heard from her again. 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. When asked if he performed this act deliberately, and with malice aforethought, Berdella simply stated, "Yes. [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. Furthermore, Berdella confessed to having alternately buried the two victims' heads in his backyard,[26] adding that he retrieved and cleaned the first skull that of Robert Sheldon at the time he buried victim Larry Pearson's head in the same hole. After Stoops and his wife moved out of Berdella's home the second time, Berdella did not see him again until a chance encounter at KansasCity's Liberty Memorial Park on June 17, 1986. By Associated Press May 28, 2022 Kansas Supreme Court upholds death sentence for serial killer John E. Robinson Sr. Zach Murdock 816-234-4153 Zach Murdock covers Johnson County for The Kansas City Star. Kansas City 'Serial Killer' Rumor Is 'Completely Unfounded,' Say Police He then suspended Howell's body above a large cooking pot and made several incisions to the youth's inner elbows and jugular vein, before leaving the body suspended in this position overnight to allow the blood to drain from his corpse. [n 1] He began spending much of his free time with male prostitutes, drug addicts, petty criminals, and runaways. 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. He had a speech impediment and wore thick glasses from the age of five because he was severely nearsighted. "He's maintained the secrets about what he's done with the women. A total of nine men are on Kansas' death row. Alarming social media posts warning of a Kansas City serial killer are untrue, according to police. Robinson was sentenced to death for killing two women in Kansas, in 1999 and 2000. [10], To several of his neighbors, Berdella stated he gradually almost felt like a foster parent to many of these youths. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 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.