Kansas Jury Recommends Death For Man Convicted of Killing 3 Women, Stuffing Bodies in Barrels

AP / ABC News ^ | 11/02/02 | The Associated Press

[KS Flyover]

OLATHE, Kan. Nov. 2 — Jurors recommended the death penalty Saturday for a man convicted of killing three women, including two whose bodies were found in barrels on his rural property.

John Robinson Sr. was convicted Tuesday of two counts of capital murder in the deaths of the two women with whom prosecutors say he had sadomasochistic sexual relationships and one count of first-degree murder in the case of a woman whose body was never found.

Robinson sat rocking in his chair with his hand on his face but showed little emotion as the verdict was read.

Judge John Anderson III will formally sentence Robinson in a few months.

Robinson, 58, was convicted for the murders of Suzette Trouten, 27, and Izabela Lewicka, 21. Both women were killed after being lured to Kansas by Robinson to engage in sadomasochistic sexual relations.

Their bodies were discovered in June 2000 on Robinson's rural property 60 miles south of Kansas City. Two days later, three more bodies were discovered in barrels in a storage locker rented by Robinson in Raymore, Mo.

With the Kansas trial complete, Robinson is expected to stand trial for the Missouri deaths as early as the spring 2003.

Robinson was also convicted of first-degree murder for the 1985 death of Lisa Stasi, 19. Her body was never found.

Robinson's defense has maintained that he was incapable of committing the murders, pointing to the unidentified fingerprints and palm prints found where the bodies were stashed. They also said Robinson suffered from mental disease, but said they were unable to properly evaluate his condition.

The case began in March 2000, when Trouten's family notified Kansas police that she was missing after coming to Kansas, purportedly to take a job caring for Robinson's father. The investigation continued, with officials linking Robinson to the 1985 Stasi disappearance.

He was arrested in June 2000 on charges of sexual battery filed by two women with whom Robinson had engaged in sadomasochistic sex at Kansas City area hotels. The charges were amended in subsequent days following the discovery of the bodies in Linn County and Missouri.

[KS Flyover]

One scum of the earth killer down, two to go in Kansas.

Previous threads:

Five Bodies Found In Barrels - 06/06/2000

Trial Set to Begin for Murder Suspect Accused of Stashing Victims' Bodies in Barrels (Kansas) - 09/15/02

KC Star News Archive: The John E. Robinson Sr. case

[KS Flyover]

Next stop Missouri.

[ambrose]

You were framed!

(A joke, for the humor impaired)

[Just another Joe]

You were framed!

My tin foil hat is on.

[barker]

three more bodies were discovered in barrels in a storage locker rented by Robinson in Raymore, Mo.

And I drove right by this place twice a week while the bodies were in there. Does Kansas actually carry out the death penalty? Missouri does.

[stickywillie]

John E. Robinson has morfed into the Son of Spam.

[alfa6]

Care to throw a little more gasoline on that fire, ambrose

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[alfa6]

I am not aware of any recent executions in Kansas, barker. I do know that there has not been a lot of capital murder cases tried in Kansas since the death penalty was reintroduced about 5 years ago. Maybe KS Flyover has some info.

It will be interesting to see how the case holds up on appeal since Robinson's attorneys did not present much of a defense. They claimed that they did not have sufficent time to properly prepare for the case. IIRC this was at least Robinson's 2nd team of lawyers if not the third set.

You all take care now

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Dan in Wichita]

The death penalty was reinstated in Kansas just a few years ago. There are a small handful of people now on death row (just now joined by Robinson, soon to be joined by the Carr brothers for their role in the Wichita Horror, a quadruple murder which took place about 4 blocks from my home). Because of endless appeals, no capital sentence has been carried out since the reinstatement of the death penality, and likely will take a few more years before appeals end. If my memory is correct, the last execution in Kansas happened in the mid-1960's, when two men were hanged for murdering a family in western KS, a story popularized by Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood".