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. Kansas City police say serial killer rumors on social media are untrue Robert Berdella was born on January 31, 1949, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio,[4]:45 the first of two sons born to Robert Andrew Berdella Sr., a die setter for the Ford Motor Company, and Mary Louise (ne Huffman) Berdella. [48][12], Berdella's house was purchased by a local businessman for an undisclosed sum in December 1988. Berdella remained a casual friend of the family, also offering his assistance if Jerry encountered any minor scrapes with the law. [4]:285286 Despite the brutality to which he had subjected his first three victims, Berdella claimed that Ferris was the first victim upon whom he intentionally inflicted torture. Over the course of those years, he killed eight women and two men via strangulation, suffocation, stabbing, or hanging. Upon being sentenced, Berdella was transferred to the Missouri State Penitentiary, to commence his life sentence. Also in the room was an electrical transformer, plugged into a wall, and with wires leading to the bed. He further claimed he had been demonized unfairly by the media before, during, and after his arraignments and plea bargains, and that police ineptitude had resulted in his being allowed to remain at liberty following his first murder. According to Berdella, one hour after his "experimenting" with hypodermic needles by inserting them into various muscles upon his victim's back, Mark Wallace died through a combination of "the drugs, the gag, and the lack of oxygen". John E. Robinson Sr., the convicted serial killer who stored some of his victims' bodies in barrels, has filed a motion to have his Johnson County death sentence thrown out. Simultaneously, he began to devote more of his attention to his own business as opposed to his work as a chef. (Investigators later sought to obtain handwriting samples from Berdella in an effort to prove he had written the notes found within the various stenographer's pads discovered at his house; he refused to cooperate and was sentenced to six months in jail for contempt of court. Robinson was sentenced to death for killing two women in Kansas, in 1999 and 2000. Who Were John Robinson's Victims? - The Cinemaholic Medical staff determined his heart was unstable and called an ambulance. Robinson was prosecuted and found guilty by a. [2]:9, In 2002, Robinson stood trial in Kansas for the murders of Trouten, Lewicka, and Stasi along with multiple lesser charges. Mon 7am-4pm. 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. [3] The following year, he violated probation by moving to Chicago without his probation officer's permission and gained a job as an insurance salesman at the R.B. Should Berdella ever discover any of them was a police informant, he would use this knowledge for blackmail. File photo The Kansas City Star John E. Robinson Sr., the. 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. Michael H. Stone & Gary Brucato. [19] He would remain adamant to investigators that this would be not for his enjoyment, but what he termed his "physical and mental satisfaction". 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. 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]". [21], Following the submission and acceptance of this plea, the judge insisted that Berdella confess under oath as to Pearson's death. Convicted serial killer John E. Robinson's death penalty was upheld in a 415-page ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court on Friday. As Bryson spoke, the officers also noted that in addition to the dog collar and broken foot, Bryson had red, swollen eyes, and visible scars and welts across his entire body. [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]). By his mid-teens, Berdella had begun to display a degree of self-confidence, becoming rude and condescending to others, particularly women. 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. With the state's assistance, he would complete a drug rehabilitation program. [8]:245 Berdella's father was a devout Roman Catholic of Italian descent. Tiffany, now 16 and named Heather, still lives with Don and Helen Robinson. Police questioned Robinson, who denied any knowledge of her whereabouts. 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. Berdella later stated this movie had formed a lasting impression on him. [11] The following month, he was arraigned and pleaded guilty in the 4th Circuit of the Jackson County Court before Judge Alvin C. Randall to the first-degree murder of Larry Pearson. 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? [27] The search also uncovered several human vertebrae scarred by both hacksaw and knife marks stowed in a hallway,[4]:44 and several human teeth stowed in two envelopes. 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. The entry reading "CP", for example, referred to the chlorpromazine he had injected into his victims to assist in his restraining them, whereas entries reading "DC" referred to swabbing their eyes with drain cleaner or the injection of the substance into their vocal cords.[39]. 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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. All rights reserved. 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. The auction attracted considerable national interest; attracting telephone bids from across the United States. [29], Berdella would be formally charged with the murder by dismemberment of Larry Wayne Pearson in July after the head discovered in his backyard was formally identified as Pearson's on May 12. Shortly thereafter, Pearson temporarily lodged with Berdella, and willingly performed chores around his home as a means of paying rent. 'He didn't look dangerous': The truth about serial killer, con man John Before Friday's ruling, the court had faced criticism over the number of death sentences it had overturned. Unfortunately for those of us who have lived here all our lives, there has been more than one serial killer in Kansas - including one of the most terrifying serial killers of all time: Dennis Rader, also known as BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill). [5] He died of a heart attack while incarcerated at the Missouri State Penitentiary in October 1992. [4]:277, Wallace was carried to the second floor bedroom where he endured almost a day of captivity and torture including the application of alligator clips to his nipples to facilitate electrical shocks to his body at any point at which Wallace began regressing into a state of unconsciousness. [n 11] In addition, he vehemently denied media rumors that he had been engaged in any form of satanism, or that he had sold sections of his victims' bodies at his flea market booth. Trouten's mother received several typed letters signed by her daughter and purportedly mailed while the couple was abroad, although the envelopes all bore Kansas City postmarks. Kansas City 'Serial Killer' Rumor Is 'Completely Unfounded,' Say Police In a video that went viral on TikTok and other platforms, a man claimed that four Black girls . Several days later, her parents received a typewritten letter, with Godfrey's signature at the bottom, thanking Robinson for his help and asserting that she was "OK" and did not want to see her family. 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. It is unclear whether Lewicka believed she and Robinson were married; she told her parents she had married but never told them her husband's name. [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. Her missing persons' case remains open. About Cracker Barrel; Food with Care; Furthermore, Berdella confessed that the level of abuse he inflicted had increased with each successive victim, and he had viewed the Polaroid images he had taken of his victims as being a "trophy or record of the event". A metal tray containing syringes, small bottles apparently containing prescription drugs, swabs, and eye drops were also close to the bed. [10], Berdella provided testimony to prosecutors between December 13 and 15, after he changed his plea and sought approval of their agreement not to seek the death penalty against him if he fully confessed. [32] In this plea bargain, Berdella agreed to confess in graphic detail as to whom he had killed, what indignities he had subjected each victim, how he had killed each victim, and what he had done with their bodies. Two days later, three more bodies were discovered in barrels in a storage locker Robinson rented in the Kansas City area. Following the senses of shock and disgust he claimed to have initially experienced after killing his first victim,[4]:270 the movie had resurfaced in his memory and subsequently became a motivating psychological force in the actions he exhibited against his victims in his subsequent murders. The family regularly attended Mass, and both sons regularly attended religious education courses. [4]:307,309, On the afternoon of June 23, Berdella and Pearson watched the movie Creepshow 2 together before eating lunch. [4]:104, At the age of 19, Berdella was arrested for attempting to sell methamphetamine to an undercover officer;[11] he was released after posting a $3,000 bond (equivalent to about $25,600 as of 2023[update]),[12] and would later plead guilty to the offense and was handed a five-year suspended sentence. 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. [11] Also found in the room were a long iron pipe, various lengths of rope, and leather belts. At the age of 14, in a rather . [4]:258 He also informed investigators there were occasions during his final three victims' periods of captivity when he ceased making additions to his abuse logs because he assumed the victim would not "be able to make it much longer". "[4]:323 Berdella removed the teeth from this skull and stowed them inside envelopes in the same room. [2] His crimes took place in Kansas City, Missouri, between 1984 and 1987. "[32] He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. [4]:259261 The following day, he dismembered Howell's body using a chainsaw and boning knives, before wrapping the sections in newspaper and trash bags. Jones Company. Legal Statement. 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. Case of convicted serial killer John E. Robinson Sr. to finally get He helped start a neighborhood watch program, had worked as a chef, and ran his own booth at the . These bags were later placed inside larger trash bags which Berdella placed outside for a garbage crew to collect and take to a landfill site. from CA$700.00 Straight & Spiral fluting. "[4]:15, By the third day of his capture, Bryson had earned sufficient trust from Berdella to persuade him to establish a daily regime of tying his hands in front of him after his sexual abuse rather than above his head and to the bed upon the excuse that Berdella's doing so was restricting the circulation to his arms; he had also persuaded Berdella to leave a television on within the room, with the remote control placed between his legs whenever Berdella was out of the room. [4]:17, Questioned at the scene by four officers, Bryson initially claimed he had been hitchhiking when abducted by Berdella, who had kidnapped, raped, and tortured him for four days before he escaped by jumping from a window on the second floor of the property. Robert Berdella - Wikipedia [24] The meter reader led Bryson to the house he had been approaching, whereupon the occupants promptly called the police, who arrived minutes later. Authorities recovered the bodies of up to 11 people from the Old West tract of land owned by . Aside from Pearson's severed head and the striations upon his vertebrae, the accompanying evidence, compiled to bring this charge, included some 60 Polaroid photos of Pearson; the logs Berdella had kept of his captivity of the subject (and which the handwriting was proven to be Berdella's); chemical tests upon Pearson's hair which indicated the subject may have received fatal dosages of various tranquilizers; the injury Pearson was known to have inflicted upon Berdella on August 5, 1987; and the fact Berdella had paid Pearson's bond in June 1987. [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. These confessions were given to prosecutors between December 13 and 15, 1988. [43][18] At 2:00p.m. on October 8, 1992, Berdella complained to prison staff of severe heart pains, and was taken from his cell to the prison infirmary. December 13, 1988. In 1965, Berdella saw the film adaptation of the John Fowles novel The Collector. 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. [n 4], "You did not choose to be here, but you are. 8225 North Church Rd., I-35 & State Route 152, Kansas City, MO, 64158-1105. Updated October 03, 2016 4:13 PM. He noted this victim's time of death as being 7:00p.m. on June 23. 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. Death sentence upheld for Kansas killer who stuffed women's bodies in He later dissected Sheldon's body in the third floor bathroom. Rader was married and had two children, and was a leader in his community through the Christ Lutheran Church and Cub Scouts. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Roger Coleman, relaying his distress pertaining to staff at the Missouri State Penitentiary withholding his heart medication. The following is a chronological summary of the victims identified thus far: Robinson's criminal activities were also profiled on episodes of the A&E series Cold Case Files,[1] Investigation Discovery's FBI: Criminal Pursuit, Sins & Secrets, Vanity Fair Confidential, It Takes a Killer, and Deadly Doctors, as well as Forensic Files, and The New Detectives on the Discovery Channel. For you to survive being here, and for you to, you know, make it, it could either be rough or it could be easy. Authorities believe that he's responsible for the murders of at least eight women in Missouri and Kansas. Market data provided by Factset. It's the last control he's got," said one investigator. [4]:5657, In 1982, Berdella began renting his own booth at the Westport Flea Market. 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. Berdella entered this plea of guilty at his, Berdella's identification of the two human heads upon his property had by this stage been corroborated by. She vanished in June of that year. [45] Moreover, despite his claims to journalists whom he had contacted in the years of his incarceration, Berdella never expressed any degree of remorse for his actions and tersely referred to his victims as "play toys" in an interview he granted shortly before his death. [31] In response to questioning by his attorneys, Berdella stated: "I put a plastic bag over his head, and tied it with rope and allowed him to suffocate." The suit accused Gaddis of putting Robinson in contact with Stasi and her newborn daughter in 1984 after he told Gaddis that he ran a charitable organization assisting "unwed mothers of white babies." The Kansas Supreme Court upheld the death sentence for a convicted serial killer on Friday who trolled the Internet for female victims, sometimes using promises of work or sex, and stuffed. John Edward Robinson's Kids & Family: 5 Fast Facts - Heavy [n 9], On July 22, 1988, a grand jury formally indicted Berdella for the murder of Larry Wayne Pearson. He declined to allow officers inside his home,[4]:26 and the search warrant earlier requested was drafted to search his property. '", Robert Berdella, describing how he viewed his victims once he had decided to render them captive. He also became acquainted with a clique of students who supplied him with drugs which he then sold to other students at a profit. Officers also discovered a stenographer's pad containing the detailed torture logs he had maintained for each victim above a chest of drawers,[4]:37 several newspaper clippings from The Kansas City Star regarding a missing young man named Jerry Howell, and both a wallet and a driving license belonging to a missing person named James Ferris was discovered in a closet on the second floor of the property. 3. In 1971, he was arrested for embezzling funds and was ordered back to Kansas City, where his probation was extended. [4]:269, Berdella confessed that many of the abbreviated entries within his torture logs were simply shorthand terms for methods of abuse he had inflicted upon his victims, whereas others would describe either their reactions to these ongoing acts of abuse and torture, or his initial observations upon viewing them when he entered the room where he had kept them restrained. Robinson, portraying himself as a wealthy businessman and philanthropist, offered to pay Debbie's medical expenses and give Sheila a job. At the age of 72, serial killer Robinson currently remains on death row and could become the first convict executed by lethal injection in that state in Kansas. 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. One other method of torture was the insertion of needles beneath their fingernails. [6], In the summer of 1967, Berdella graduated from Cuyahoga Falls High School. Don't try to fight me, or you'll just get more of what you had earlier. When she moved to Kansas City, Robinson (who was still married) gave Lewicka an engagement ring and brought her to the county registrar, where they paid for a marriage license that was never picked up. Although occasionally making a generous monthly profit, the income he typically generated via this business was often not sufficient to maintain his daily expenses and to make ends meet. [4]:8182, Berdella is believed to have killed his first victim on July 5, 1984. Nonetheless, he did claim that he had tried to prevent any of his victims from developing any form of malnutrition or infection by occasionally administering antibiotics, or nutrients intravenously as his abuse and torture escalated. [11] Corroborating Bryson's claims of having been restrained and tortured in a second floor bedroom, investigators discovered the bedroom on the second floor was found to have burnt ropes attached to the posts at the foot of the bed. On Christmas Day 1965, the Berdella family drove to Canton, Ohio to visit relatives. [2]:4, In 1984, having established two more fraudulent shell companies, Robinson hired Paula Godfrey, aged 19, ostensibly to work as a sales representative. [4]:2425, During later questioning at the KCPD,[n 5] Bryson divulged that his captor had shown him Polaroid images of men who appeared to be deceased,[4]:20 and that he was told that he would never leave the property and that if he became a nuisance or threat, he would either be subjected to greater levels of torture than what he had already endured, or simply killed. He previously. [7][unreliable source? The Blair family is a well-known crime family in Kansas City. This task force extensively researched Berdella's history, discovering that he was well-known among Kansas City's male hustlers, having earned a reputation for preying on transient young men. The ruling marked the first time Kansas's highest court has upheld a death sentence since the reinstatement of capital punishment there in 1994. [8], In 2006, the body of a young woman was found in a barrel in an area of rural Iowa where Robinson reportedly had a business partner. [2]:15 Robinson received a life sentence without possibility of parole for each of the five murders. [6], By the early 1980s, Paul Howell had relocated his business to a store close to the intersection of 39th and Main Street. "There are [probably] other barrels waiting to be opened, other bodies waiting to be found."[1]. He was also diagnosed with high blood pressure for which he took several medications. They found three similar chemical drums containing corpses subsequently identified as Bonner, Faith, and Faith's daughter. In arguments before the state Supreme Court earlier this year, Robinson's attorney said it was improper for prosecutors in Kansas to bring killings in Missouri into their case, so that Robinson would be eligible for a death sentence for multiple murders occurring in a single course of conduct. Berdella was largely unathletic, whereas his younger brother, Daniel seven years his junior displayed an aptitude for various sports from an early age. Berdella would recall that like the subsequent victims he would hold captive Howell had repeatedly pleaded for his ongoing abuse and torture to cease throughout the period of his capture, although Berdella would either ignore these pleas, taunt his victim, or threaten him. Consequently, their bodies were never recovered. Missing person reports had been filed in relation to both these men, and Berdella had been extensively questioned in relation to both of these disappearances. At the Western Missouri Correctional Facility, he met 49-year-old Beverly Bonner, the prison librarian. Serial killer John Edward Robinson is on death row in Kansas City, Kansas. When he arrived home his family told him his father had died.