Grim last message of internet serial killer as he lured victims to death online
Grim last message of internet serial killer as he lured victims to death online
John Edward Robinson was dubbed the internet's first serial killer after luring victims to their deaths through online adult chat rooms.
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Add us as preferred source Comments By Emilia Randall 07:00, Thu, Jun 18, 2026 
The world's first serial killer to lure his victims to their deaths via the internet sent chilling messages to those he would ultimately murder.
John Edward Robinson prowled early internet chat rooms, sending sinister messages to his victims before going on to kill at least eight women.
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A seasoned con man, Robinson turned to murder while living in the Midwest with his wife and four children, preying on vulnerable young women.
He currently sits on death row at El Dorado Correctional Facility. Born on 27th December 1943, John Edward Robinson was raised alongside his parents and four siblings in Cicero, Illinois, where he attended a Catholic boys' school during his teenage years.
Robinson evaded justice for his horrific crimes for decades, until detectives uncovered evidence hiding in plain sight. When the full story emerged, he was branded the "Internet's First Serial Killer", reports the Irish Mirror.
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In 1984, Robinson claimed his first known victim, Paula Godfrey, a young teenager he had hired to work at his sales company. Although he was considered a suspect in her disappearance, he cunningly forged letters bearing Paula's signature to her family, trying to create the impression she was still alive.
As a result, the investigation into Godfrey's disappearance was subsequently abandoned.
Three years later, Robinson took on 27-year-old Catherine Clampitt, offering her employment, a new wardrobe and trips away. Clampitt vanished in June 1987 and has never been found.
In 1987, 46-year-old Robinson was imprisoned for defrauding his business investors. Upon his release on parole in 1989, Robinson stumbled upon internet adult chatrooms that would provide access to a fresh string of victims.
Robinson, who kept five computers in his home, dedicated countless hours each day communicating with people online under various aliases.
In early 1985, John Edward Robinson, a married father of four children, encountered Lisa Stasi, a 19-year-old mother with her baby, through a Kansas City hospital.
Lisa took up a job offer from Robinson and he assisted her in securing accommodation. Not long afterwards, Robinson killed the young mother, but left her infant daughter unharmed.
Robinson then claimed he would assist his brother and sister-in-law in adopting a child and swiftly presented them with Lisa's orphaned baby, falsely stating that Tiffany's mother had taken her own life, meaning the child urgently required a home. He also exploited this situation to pocket thousands of dollars in "adoption" charges.
The couple remained unaware of the reality until their daughter became a teenager.
Via an online chatroom, Robinson encountered Sheila Faith, and he presented the 45-year-old mother with employment and medical treatment for her 15-year-old daughter Debbie. Debbie used a wheelchair.
Shortly after the pair turned up in Missouri in 1994, they were killed by Robinson, but their vanishing remained unexplained for years. In 1997, Robinson encountered 19-year-old Polish immigrant Izabela Lewicka in an online chat room, subsequently persuading the young woman to relocate from Indiana to Kansas City to become his sex slave.
Lewicka signed a so-called "slave contract", handing Robinson complete control over every aspect of her life. In August 1999, Robinson murdered Lewicka, and when acquaintances of both Robinson and his victim enquired about her sudden disappearance, he claimed she had been caught in possession of drugs and deported back to Poland.
One message he sent to Izabela prior to her disappearance read: "I'm a wealthy businessman. I'm gonna take care of you. You can be my slave. And by the way, we're gonna travel all the time, go to exotic places and just have a wonderful life."
Robinson subsequently encountered 27-year-old nurse Suzette Trouten online, luring her with a fabricated care position. Once she had uprooted herself to Missouri, Robinson pressured Trouten into signing a slave contract, before callously taking her life, just as he had done with Lewicka.
To deceive Trouten's family into believing she was still alive, Robinson once again forged letters in her name. On this occasion, however, her mother sensed immediately that something was gravely amiss.
In April 2000, a Texas woman whom Robinson had met in a chat room spent a weekend with him in Kansas. She later alleged that he had forced her to perform sexual acts against her will, and had stolen her money and possessions, including more than $700 worth of sex toys.
Another woman approached police regarding Robinson, alleging he had been exceptionally violent towards her during a sexual encounter. Officers subsequently discovered a third woman was preparing to leave her residence with her young daughter to become Robinson's sex slave in Kansas City.
Police secured a search warrant in an attempt to locate the stolen sex toys, alongside a warrant for Robinson's arrest. Yet when detectives arrived at Robinson's property, they discovered two large barrels, each containing the body of a deceased woman.
The bodies were subsequently identified as those of Izabela Lewicka, the young Polish woman, and Suzette Trouten, the nurse.
Investigators learnt Robinson had rented two large units at a storage facility in Missouri, where they uncovered two further cylinders containing the bodies of three women. These were Sheila Faith and her teenage daughter Debbie, alongside Beverly Bonner, a prison librarian who had abandoned her husband to be with him.
Following examination of the victims' remains, medical experts concluded they had perished from blows to their heads.
Robinson's wife denied any knowledge of her husband's murders but acknowledged she was aware he was conducting affairs with other women.
In 2002, he faced trial for the murders of Lisa Stasi, Suzette Trouten, and Izabella Lewicka, along with numerous other charges. The trial, which spanned six weeks, became the lengthiest criminal prosecution in Kansas history, culminating in Robinson being found guilty of all charges.
Robinson additionally faced murder charges in Missouri, ultimately pleading guilty to the killings of Beverly Benner, Paula Godfrey, Debbie and Sheila Faith, and Catherine Clampitt. He was handed multiple life sentences for the murders, along with two death sentences.
Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
