[3], After completing his probation in 1979, Robinson was arrested for embezzlement and check forgery, for which he served sixty days in jail in 1982. [n 8][12], In late April, the skull found inside Berdella's closet was identified via dental X-rays obtained via subpoena from the University of Kansas Medical Center as that of Robert Sheldon. Berdella further claimed he had not seen him since. Robinson raised more than 100 issues in appealing his Kansas convictions and death sentence, including the ability of a juror in his 2002 trial to bring a Bible into deliberations. He declined to allow officers inside his home,[4]:26 and the search warrant earlier requested was drafted to search his property. [4]:41, Before the search of Berdella's property had concluded, the KCPD assembled a special task force of 11 detectives and one sergeant to focus exclusively on Berdella's case. Initially, Jerry Howell and his friends scathed and taunted Berdella over his overt homosexuality, although according to Berdella, Jerry Howell later confided in him[4]:7879 that he and his friends occasionally earned money as male prostitutes. A suspected serial killer already charged in six killings in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas has been charged with first-degree murder in a seventh death. [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. 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). Updated October 03, 2016 4:13 PM. Shortly thereafter, investigators discovered that photograph "D" released to the media in this same array was one Larry Wayne Pearson. [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. [10], To several of his neighbors, Berdella stated he gradually almost felt like a foster parent to many of these youths. Occasionally, Berdella's father physically and emotionally abused his children, and beat them with a leather strap. [n 9], On July 22, 1988, a grand jury formally indicted Berdella for the murder of Larry Wayne Pearson. [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. 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. [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. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. These confessions were given to prosecutors between December 13 and 15, 1988. [28] He would later have his lawyer threaten to file harassment accusations against police unless their questioning and surveillance of him ceased. From approximately 1965, he would begin avidly collecting these artifacts; this practice would later inspire him to open his own antiques business in 1982. 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. 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. Market data provided by Factset. [4]:100 Shortly after graduation, Berdella relocated to Kansas City. Consequently, their bodies were never recovered. 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." [4]:57, At his work premises, Berdella became acquainted with a fellow merchant named Paul Howell, who operated a booth adjacent to his own. Robinson also was convicted for the 1985 death of a third young Kansas woman whose body was never found. [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. Show you care with a Cracker Barrel Gift Card. [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. (May 18, 2006). 8225 North Church Rd., I-35 & State Route 152, Kansas City, MO, 64158-1105. [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. On Christmas Day 1965, the Berdella family drove to Canton, Ohio to visit relatives. [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. Police questioned Robinson, who denied any knowledge of her whereabouts. Robinson became a Scoutmaster, a baseball coach, and a Sunday school teacher. '", Robert Berdella, describing how he viewed his victims once he had decided to render them captive. K.S. [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. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Two officers were told to maintain a discreet surveillance of the property, as Bryson was driven to the Menorah Medical Center, accompanied by a third officer, for treatment as the fourth officer radioed the Kansas City Police Department (KCPD) to request a formal search warrant of the property be drafted. When Berdella refused, Stoops burst into tears. In both instances, he had denied having anything to do with the disappearance. 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". Berdella invited him to his house with an offer of lunch,[4]:139 with an added incentive of sex as Stoops stated he needed $13 to purchase drugs (the equivalent of about $35 as of 2023[update])[8]:270, Berdella would later stress to investigators he had been extremely physically attracted to Stoops, and this victim was held captive for two weeks before he died, with him gradually increasing his captive's terror to make him a cooperative and incapacitated sex slave. 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. After the longest criminal trial in Kansas history,[6] he was convicted on all counts. On Oct. 7, a Black woman escaped from a home in Excelsior Springs a city just north-east of Kansas City. 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. The ruling marked the first time Kansas's highest court has upheld a death sentence since the reinstatement of capital punishment there in 1994. On the fifth day of his captivity, having by this stage endured torture such as the repeated administration of electrical shocks with the transformer, and the breaking of several hand bones with an iron rod to render him submissive,[4]:311 Berdella deduced Pearson had earned his trust as to his continued cooperation in his sexual and physical abuse. [4]:261. [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. [3], By then, Robinson had discovered the Internet and roamed online chatrooms using the name "Slavemaster," looking for women who enjoyed playing the submissive partner role during sex. 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. [4]:281, On September 26, 1985, Berdella answered a phone call from an acquaintance named James Ferris,[n 3] who asked to stay at Berdella's home for a short time. [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. 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. [24] The meter reader led Bryson to the house he had been approaching, whereupon the occupants promptly called the police, who arrived minutes later. (AP Photo/Matthew S. Hicks, Pool). Bender Mounds, Kansas by Kathy Alexander. Luminol tests revealed that the floor of Berdella's basement, and two plastic trash barrels, were extensively bloodstained. He viewed this business as his full-time job and later ceased working as a chef. After several weeks, the woman dies of a contracted illness despite her captor's efforts to keep her alive. Prior to his arrest, Berdella was that serial killer clich, someone neighbors described as a nice man who kept to himself. [3], Describing his murders as being "some of my darkest fantasies becoming my reality",[4]:264 Berdella pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the first-degree murder of one of his victims, Larry Pearson, in August 1988, and would later plead guilty to one further charge of first-degree murder, and four charges of second-degree murder in December 1988. He also engaged in acts of animal torture on at least two occasions; during one of these instances, he decapitated a duck in the presence of his peers, and in the second instance, he experimented with sedatives and tranquilizers on a dog. Police say there is no truth to a rumor about a serial killer that is circulating on social media in the Kansas City area. When asked if he performed this act deliberately, and with malice aforethought, Berdella simply stated, "Yes. By the final day of his captivity, Stoops was so weak Berdella later stated he had been unable "to breathe in a sitting position". Nonetheless, in his early teens he briefly had a girlfriend. This casual friendship began when Pearson entered his shop and explained to Berdella that, as a child, he had held an interest in both witchcraft and wizardry. On each victim's capture, Berdella described in graphic detail the sexual, physical, and emotional abuse to which he had subjected each victim, and which he had recorded within his torture logs. ", "Robert Berdella: The Butcher of Kansas City, Missouri", "Talk of Reopening Serial Killer Bob Berdella's Bazaar Bizarre is Dismissed as a Hoax", "House of Horrors Shocks Residents of a Quiet Neighborhood", "Serial Murder, Psychopathy, and Objectification", "Berdella Sentenced To Life In Prison Without Parole", "Crime Watch Leader had Human Head in Yard", "Man Convicted of Murder After a Head Was Found in Garden", "Robert Berdella: The Butcher of Kansas City", "Macabre Mystery Surrounding Death of 2 Men in Kansas City", "Second Skull Found at Berdella's House Identified", "Man Convicted of Murder after a Head was Discovered in His Yard", "Missourian Admits Murders of 5 Men: Shopkeeper Now Serving Life Terms for 6 Killings in All", "Robert Berdella: Serving Six Life Sentences", "Killer Reportedly Agrees to Confess to Five Slayings", "The Kansas City Butcher: The Confession", "Berdella Criticizes Police; Insists He Does Feel Remorse", "Bob Berdella: The Butcher of Kansas City", "Police Seek Victims from Torture Photos", "Auction of Killer's Art Collection Cancelled", "Auction of Killer's Art Collection Canceled", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Robert_Berdella&oldid=1142906983, American people convicted of sexual assault, American people who died in prison custody, American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment, Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Missouri, Serial killers who died in prison custody, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2023, All articles containing potentially dated statements, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Pages using infobox criminal with motive parameter, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 23:48. [n 1] He began spending much of his free time with male prostitutes, drug addicts, petty criminals, and runaways. Berdella was able to name all of his victims to investigators. Berdella was largely unathletic, whereas his younger brother, Daniel seven years his junior displayed an aptitude for various sports from an early age. In 1994, the mother and daughter moved from Fullerton, California, to Kansas City and immediately disappeared. [2]:4, In 1987, Catherine Clampitt, aged 27, left her child with her parents in Wichita Falls, Texas, and moved to Kansas City to find employment. Only Berdella referred to James Ferris by his given first name, Walter. In 1965, Berdella saw the film adaptation of the John Fowles novel The Collector. 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. Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. However, Koster faced pressure to make a deal because his case was not technically airtight. Berdella also volunteered at fundraising events for a local public television station until the mid-1980s.[14]. [4]:266. [8]:271, In the spring of 1987, Berdella became friendly with a 20-year-old named Larry Wayne Pearson. 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. [18], Shortly after, the judge at his trial, Alvin Randall, was informed of Berdella's death. It's the last control he's got," said one investigator. 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. "[6], According to published reports, although Berdella had a depressive personality disorder,[4]:202 he was also a diagnosed sexual sadist[44] who gained extreme sexual excitation from the humiliation, pain, and torture to which he had subjected his victims. [6] Chris Koster, the Missouri prosecutor, insisted as a condition of any plea bargain that Robinson lead authorities to the bodies of Stasi, Godfrey, and Clampitt. [4]:300, Berdella brought Ferris home and drugged him with crushed tranquilizers he had concealed in a meal, then tied him to his bed before torturing him almost constantly for approximately 27hours. He was 43 years old. In response, Randall sarcastically remarked: "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. Investigators had until 07:30 on April 3 to compile sufficient evidence to formulate either an, When formal murder by dismemberment charges were filed against Berdella, his bail sum was increased to $750,000 (the equivalent of approximately $1,887,400 as of 2023. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. He later dissected Sheldon's body in the third floor bathroom. When he arrived home his family told him his father had died. [2]:4 In 1957, Robinson became an Eagle Scout and traveled to London with a group of Scouts who performed before Queen Elizabeth II. Two days later, three more bodies were discovered in barrels in a storage locker Robinson rented in the Kansas City area. [4]:353 Berdella sought solace in his Catholicism and later read extensively about many faiths but eventually became cynical about all religion. 2" Stainless Steel Barrel blank. To his neighbors, Berdella was considered to be flamboyant yet helpful and civic-minded, despite the generally unkempt state of his property and his somewhat haughty attitude. In response, Berdella killed Pearson by first bludgeoning him into unconsciousness with a tree limb,[22] then suffocating him with a bag and ligature, before driving to the hospital to receive treatment for his wound. 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. The Bloody Benders - Serial Killers of Kansas. She did sign a 115-item slave contract that gave Robinson almost total control over every aspect of her life, including her bank accounts. or redistributed. He was also diagnosed with high blood pressure for which he took several medications. [4]:247 By this stage, Berdella had been openly gay for several years. After hearing nothing further from her, Godfrey's parents filed a missing persons report. 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. 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]. [4]:33[n 7]. At Berdella's home, Bryson was knocked unconscious with an iron bar, then bound to Berdella's bed, where he was subjected to similar methods of abuse and torture endured by previous victims, although in Bryson's case, Berdella repeatedly swabbed his eyes with ammonia,[23] before exclaiming to him: "The only things you need to think about are you, me, and this house. He previously. [2]:6, Robinson became well known in increasingly popular BDSM chatrooms. 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. It has been almost 15 years since a stream of crimson liquid, oozing from a metal barrel, revealed a serial killer's grisly handiwork. Beginning in the late 1970s, Berdella worked with the South Hyde Park Crime Prevention and Neighborhood Association, becoming their chairman in the early 1980s and encouraging neighborhood watch patrols. 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? "[32] He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In June 1967, Graham reported to the Kansas City police that Robinson had embezzled about $33,000 from him by manipulating checks and deposits. I never thought it out to the level of: 'What if one of these bodies ever gets loose? The frightened 22-year-old told Kansas City police that she's been locked in a basement for a month and identified 39-year-old . [25] Berdella had kept him bound to a bed on the second floor of the house throughout much of the time he had been held against his will, repeatedly sodomizing him, drugging him, and injecting his throat with drain cleaner to diminish his ability to speak loudly. 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. 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. 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. John Robinson, one of the most infamous serial killers of recent times, is the subject of the episode titled "Sole Survivor," on ABC's journalistic and true crime show '20/20'. 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. The house belonged to Robert Berdella, the man who would soon become known as Kansas City's most notorious serial killer. Rader was married and had two children, and was a leader in his community through the Christ Lutheran Church and Cub Scouts. [14] Both a hacksaw and a miter saw were discovered in the basement of the property,[21] and a chainsaw was also found to be soiled with bloodstains, flesh, and pubic hairs. The rumor . [2], John Robinson was born in Cicero, Illinois, the third of five children of an alcoholic father and a disciplinarian mother. "There are [probably] other barrels waiting to be opened, other bodies waiting to be found."[1]. Despite these later claims to investigators, Berdella would often engage in sexual relations with the men he befriended, and would establish a degree of control over them in part to engage in these sexual relations via methods such as loaning them money and allowing them to live rent free at his house for periods of time. Berdella finished this discussion with a stern warning: "I've gotten this far with other people before, and they're dead now, because of mistakes they made. Convicted serial killer John E. Robinson's death penalty was upheld in a 415-page ruling by the Kansas Supreme Court on Friday. [6], By the early 1980s, Paul Howell had relocated his business to a store close to the intersection of 39th and Main Street. This house, 4315 Charlotte Street, belonged to the Kansas City Butcher, one of the most deranged serial killers in history. Because of this he seldom socialized with his peers. Robinson was sentenced to death for killing two women in Kansas, in 1999 and 2000. [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. About Us. 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. He formally pleaded guilty to each of these charges before Judge Robert Meyers in the Jackson County Circuit Court. 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. 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. In 1999, he offered a job and a bondage relationship to Izabela Lewicka, a 21-year-old Polish immigrant living in Indiana. The Kansas Homestead Where America's First Serial Killer Family Committed Its Crimes Is Up for Sale. Woman Wins Lawsuit to Halt Profit Sought by Man Who Killed Her Mother. She vanished in June of that year. Berdella remained a casual friend of the family, also offering his assistance if Jerry encountered any minor scrapes with the law. "[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. Over the course of those years, he killed eight women and two men via strangulation, suffocation, stabbing, or hanging. All rights reserved. Under that guise, he hosted an awards luncheon in his honor. Robinson hired her, reportedly with the promise of extensive travel and a new wardrobe. He was sentenced to three years' probation. As a result, he became increasingly withdrawn, and further immersed himself in the solitary activities he had participated in since childhood such as painting, collecting coins and stamps, and writing to foreign pen pals. 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. [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. [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. [2]:9, Across the state line in Missouri, investigators searched a storage facility where Robinson rented two garages. Later, Robinson told Trouten's mother that she had run off with an acquaintance after stealing money from him. [37] His victims, he stated to investigators, had lost any degree of humanity in his eyes once he had chosen to render them captive. 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. [4]:3637 He further claimed to have intended to retrieve Pearson's skull once sufficient time had elapsed for it to skeletonize, although he was adamant there had been no rational or sinister reason for his doing so. In a video that went viral on TikTok and other platforms, a man claimed that four Black girls .
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