Where is John Edward Robinson Now? | The Chilling Case of the “Slavemaster”

What did John Edward Robinson do?

John Edward Robinson is an American serial killer who committed murders in and around Kansas City. He was known to make contact with his victims via online chatrooms and is often referred to as “the internet’s first serial killer.” As well as being a vicious killer, he was also a con man, a kidnapper and a forger. He was given the grim title of the “Slavemaster” for his use of BDSM activities during his crimes. 

Authorities think Robinson could be responsible for many more murders than the eight they know about, as there are long stretches of time that remain unaccounted for. He hasn’t revealed the secrets that lie in his past and is unlikely to do so in the future, leaving many victims’ families without the answers they crave about their loved ones. 

How was Robinson caught, and what happened at the trial?

Like a lot of serial killers, Robinson got sloppy in avoiding detection, and by 1999, the Kansas and Missouri authorities were onto him, as his name constantly came up in missing person investigations. He was arrested in June of 2000 at his farm after a woman filed a sexual battery complaint against him, and in another bizarre case, he was accused of stealing a woman’s sex toys. The theft charge ended up being key because it gave the police the probable cause they needed to obtain search warrants. 

After searching his farm, a task force found the dead bodies of two women in two chemical drums. Investigators also searched a storage facility where Robinson had rented two garages. They discovered three more chemical drums containing three more corpses. All five of the victims were killed the exact same way, with one or more blows to the head with a blunt instrument. 

In 2002, Robinson’s murder trial began in Kansas. It was the longest criminal trial in Kansas history, and Robinson was convicted of the murders of two victims, receiving the death penalty, and life imprisonment for one more murder, as the victim was killed before Kansas reinstated the death penalty.

Where is John Edward Robinson now?

John Edward Robinson is still on death row at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas. He is 79 years of age. 

The case was the focus of episodes of Cold Case Files, FBI: Criminal Pursuit, Sins & Secrets and It Takes a Killer. 

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