Internet ‘Slave Master’ Faces Murder Counts

Prosecutors charged a Kansas man known on the Internet as “the slave master” with murder Tuesday and one said he would seek the death sentence for a “depraved” crime in which the bodies of five women were found stuffed in 55-gallon drums.

John E. Robinson Sr., 56, of Olathe, Kan., was charged after the bodies of two women were found in barrels on a farm he owned in Linn County, Kan., and three were found in barrels in a rented storage facility in Raymore, Mo. The discoveries were made earlier this month.

“John E. Robinson committed the offense of murder in the first degree in a manner outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture or depravity of mind,” Cass County prosecutor Chris Koster said on Tuesday, reading from a letter notifying Robinson that he intends to seek the death penalty.

Koster filed three counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action against Robinson, alleging he used a hammer or a similar instrument to beat the women to death.

In Kansas, Johnson County prosecutor Paul Morrison filed two counts of first-degree murder against Robinson as well as one count of kidnapping.

One of the Kansas bodies was identified Tuesday as that of Izabela Lewicka, 22, a Kansas City-area woman who immigrated from Poland and had not been seen since last fall.

Lewicka was believed to have been dating Robinson and possibly working for him as well, according to Morrison.

Like the other bodies found, Lewicka died from a blow to the head and her murder appeared to be part of a premeditated scheme, said Morrison. He said the case had a “significant financial” aspect but would not elaborate.

On Monday, a task force investigating the murders identified one of the bodies found in Missouri as Beverly Bonner, 49, of Cameron, Mo.

Bonner dropped out of sight six years ago after going into business with Robinson. She met Robinson when she was working as a librarian in a Missouri prison where Robinson was serving a sentence for one of the many fraud and theft charges brought against him over the years.

Last week, the task force identified the body of Suzette Trouten, 28, as the other body found on the 16.5-acre plot in Linn County. Trouten had moved to the Kansas City area in February to work for Robinson after getting to know him over the Internet, according to law enforcement officials.

Robinson, who has been described by family as a good father and husband who lived modestly, has been in custody since June 2 when he was arrested at his home on sexual assault charges in connection with sadomasochistic encounters with two women he met on the Internet.