Database: $100,000
Investigator: $150,000
Travel: $20,000
Experts: $60,000
Attorney: $50,000
Communication, copies, supplies: $10,000
Equipment: $8,000
Misc.: $2,000
Total: $400,000.
My attorney would control all information and distribution of funds. Nothing will begin until there is a firm written agreement in place!
My first letter was clear about the possibilities available to you. Yet you responded with a request for information about my formative years, assuming it would be no threat to my present or future legal status. Unfortunately, that is not the case. When I win a new trial, it will be necessary to prepare a “mitigation case” containing the very information you now seek. My attorneys did not investigate or provide any mitigation evidence at my first trial.
And hurrying on, he adds:I did offer you a smidgen of palpable researchable material right there in England. In November of 1957 I was a 13-year-old Boy Scout who traveled to London to appear in the Command Performance for the Queen. No one has as of yet recovered the newspaper articles of that trip. As you see, everything is tied together.
Sadly for J.R. this “smidgen of palpable research material” which he offered as an “exclusive” for the author has already been plastered all over the Internet, and the newspaper articles are freely available on the worldwide web, too.
John goes on to say: “I offered you the opportunity to do a real life true crime book and documentary. One that would expose blatant police and prosecutorial misconduct, fairly present the real evidence including complete details of the lives of the victims, and perhaps unveil the real killer. You could, of course, simply go for titillating, sensationalized products based on the fiction already out there. That decision, of course, is yours.”
The titillating and sensationalized products John refers to are the official trial records.
John E. Robinson is very much like John Wayne Gacy—another businessman/sado-sexual serial killer who also had all the apparent trappings of integrity. Both men used their human hunting skills to find and entrap their prey. However, whereas bisexual Gacy tortured and murdered young men, in many instances male prostitutes, J.R. actively searched for victims in the S&M Internet chat rooms.
I would use the analogy of J.R. being very similar to an insect that fools others into approaching it by using a flashing code. This predator and human parasite, Robinson, sent out attractive signals, like promises of money and sexual satisfaction, that were intended to lure the vulnerable toward him. The intended prey approaches the flashing predator and is summarily eaten. So it was with the prey of John Edward Robinson.
John is a determined man if anything, and he says that for the past five years he has been “tireless [in his] attempts to locate individuals, companies, or organizations willing to assist in the completion of the necessary investigation, testing, etc., required to fully disclose the real story.” Blah, blah, blah.
J.R. adds:Determined to either prove my innocence or die trying, I began writing letters to anyone and everyone I could think of for both the UK portion of my case as well as those who might possibly help on this side of the pond. I wrote to Alana Hayling—head of producing documentaries at the BBC in March 2007—and received not even a courtesy reply. I recently wrote to Mr. Felix Dennis, owner of Maxim magazine who lives in Stratford-Upon-Avon and have no word yet.
My basic offer has been very simple. If they would provide funding for the investigation and testing, along with some equipment necessary, I would give them access to the results, no matter the outcome as long as everyone agreed that nothing would be made public until my attorney authorized release.
No doubt that the BBC and Maxim were bowled over by the generosity and business opportunity offered them by J.R., and the reason they haven’t replied? Because they haven’t, as yet, recovered their composure, perhaps. Nevertheless, moving up a gear, J.R. gets into full swing:The cost of putting all discovery information onto a searchable interactive database, investigating, testing, travel, and equipment will be about $400K and will require at least twelve months to complete. The investigator will need some specialized equipment—video and digital recorders capable of two concurrent recordings. All funds would be disbursed by an attorney. I would receive nothing but an allocation to cover supplies and postage.
Now completely carried away, J.R. almost bursts into song:We are starting from scratch with a thorough methodical investigation of everything. Every document, every photo, every video, every witness, testing every item and utilizing acknowledged experts to evaluate to calculate every person or object.
Ah, yes, John, that sounds fine, but what about the five decomposing bodies found in barrels on your property and in your unit at the storage depot . . . ?
To facilitate this investigation, we have obtained every page of material connected to my case, some 300,000 more or less. Here is how we anticipate proceedings:
A) A database will be designed with unlimited search capabilities. All documents will be scanned, cross-referenced with new documents added as developed.
B) A full-time investigator will be hired under the supervision of my attorney. He/she will complete the legwork required to secure records and documents previously ignored, and conduct video interviews with all witnesses.
John, please stop right there . . .You, your publisher and your media firm could end up getting two for one. I will tell you that my attorney has been contacted by other publishers and media companies as the result of the letters from me . . .
J.R. . . . please hold on here . . .. . . and she has passed along that information and [is] presently checking out the veracity of those individuals and firms . . .
John, what about the fact that at least eight of the women you met ended up beaten to death . . . ?
. . . Don’t blow smoke.
. . . John, please . . . . . . I may be able to up the ante for you. For several years I have been in contact with a person who befriended Dennis Rader, the confessed B.T.K. serial killer of ten. This person visited him in jail and corresponded with him regularly. This individual claims to have details and information never before revealed and has been working on a book. This person has the information, wants to do a book but has no industry name. The two of you should be able to do a great “insider” True-Crime book and a documentary about B.T.K. You and your publisher could end up getting two for the price of one. I will await word from you . . .
. . . for God’s sake J.R., shut the fuck up!
. . . I was embezzled out of over two hundred thousand pounds over a three-year period. To that end I have received preliminary word that a nonprofit organization—Reprieve—operated by an attorney Clive Stafford-Smith OBE has agreed to help. My attorney has replied to a letter I received from them, by e-mail, and [like the BBC and Maxim] we are still awaiting a reply . . . Finally I must tell you that I am working with a group of college students to publish a book of my poetry and short stories. An attempt to raise the money for the required investigation. No credit would be given—no author named. The book will, if published, simply be written by “A Condemned on Kansas Death Row.” I will receive nothing. Arrangements are still in the embryonic stage . . . .if you, your publisher . . . are interested . . . you need to put your heads together and let me know . . . It will take me a little time to make arrangements with the attorney . . .
. . . John . . . the five bodies in barrels . . . ? For the record, I will explain exactly how the Kansas Department of Corrections mail system works. When a letter is received, it is automatically date-stamped on the outside of the envelope. Then the letter is opened by the censors, date- and time-stamped, read, and all the letters to the inmates in segregation copied . . .
. . . John please account for the five bodies . . .
. . . Outgoing letters go to the mailroom unsealed. Letters to companies and individuals not relayed (family) are copied, the letter is s
ealed, and the notice stamp placed on the outside of the envelope . . .
And so he goes on, and on, and on for ten pages of mind-numbingly excruciating drivel.
If John Robinson wasn’t such a deadly serious man, one could read his letters and have a rib-tickling good laugh. It is the funniest stuff I have read for years—I mean carpet-rolling, hyperventilating, rib-aching bouts of laughter, full of zip, pizzazz. Packed full of his usual joie de vivre, his unadorned prose, and the gamut of all those other great American qualities we have come to expect from such a sassy serial killer as J.R.
But has J.R. actually learned a single thing from his past mistakes? Laci [name changed to protect her true identity], wrote to John Robinson in August 2008. This is his unedited reply, and the grammatical errors are his:Laci, I received your letter. First of all let me explain that I have some simple rules for anyone that I write.
You must realize that all kinds of people write. It usually happens when some story is run on TV. All claim to want to “be my friend” when actually all they want is to receive a letter from a death row inmate. My attorney even located a blog that tells people how to write me to receive a response. If that was your goal, here you are . . .
I laughed when you said you were into true crime, if you have read either of the books written about me, you just read a media created fairytale. 85% of the material is false, but people like to read crap so that’s what they write. The DA who prosecuted me had his wife, who owns a media company; create quite an evil persona of me.
Okay the rules—first, if you really want to communicate with me you must send me a photocopy of your driver’s license and a photo ID that shows who you are, your birth date, address. Second, don’t ask me about my case. I have maintained my innocence from the beginning. My case is on appeal and I don’t need to discuss it. Third, if I detect any phony b.s I won’t [sic] respond again. Fourth, you must guarantee me that anything we write will remain completely confidential!
If you write to me here is a way to do it. On the front of each page write a very normal letter. If you want to write other information about your experiences fantasies, etc, write them on the back of the page like a separate letter.
Your list of lifestyle interests looks like you copied it from the alt.com website questionnaire [the website where he found Suzette Trouten].
If you are seeking, tell me but understand I am very demanding! I am enclosing information that tells you what can and cannot be sent in . . . actually it’s a list of don’ts. Look good at the information about photo’s “sexually obscene material or nudity” Yes I want you to send pictures but they have to get past the censors so use your head. I’m also enclosing you information about how you can help out financially. I live in solitary confinement, I don’t work (they won’t allow it) and I have very limited funds. If you want to help out with postage and supplies you need to follow the directions.
You say you have two degrees, in what, from where and when?
How involved do you want to get? Are you interested in helping if I need typing complete, computer searches, light investigation? Tell me about your computer literacy, etc. I will give you the opportunity to tell me all about yourself and I want you to be very frank about what you’re looking for! I need someone who will be committed to helping me. If I’m ever going to prove my innocence I need a person on the outside I can really trust.
So, there you have it. The beginning, where we go from here is up to you! You know all about me, I need to learn everything about you . . . I mean everything!!!
What kind of animals do you have? How long a sub in the lifestyle? Are you willing to take this to whatever level?
There may come a time when I need to ask a favor, are you willing to help?
Ok, you got my last stamp.
Thanks for the letter and the picture. I hope it’s just the first . . . Oh, last rule—if I were going to do that you have to commit to write at least once a week! J.R.
P.S. If you have experience in setting up websites or blogs, let me know!!!
Clearly J.R. Robinson hasn’t learned a thing.
Other Ulysses Press Books
Cannibal Serial Killers: Profiles of Depraved Flesh-Eating Murderers
Christopher Berry-Dee with Victoria Redstall, $14.95
Delving deep into the twisted actions of Hannibal Lecter–type murderers, Cannibal Serial Killers profiles the depraved individuals who prolong their horrific crimes beyond the thrill of the chase to a perverse ritualized finale.
Online Killers: Portraits of Murderers, Cannibals and Sex Predators Who Stalked the Web for Their Victims
Christopher Berry-Dee and Steven Morris, $14.95
It starts as a harmless online date but can quickly turn to kidnap, torture, and death. More than just tales of sinister criminals, this collection of true horror store chronicles the stories of men, women, and children whose Internet adventures led them into disastrous circumstances.
Serial Killers: Up Close and Personal: Inside the World of Torturers, Psychopaths, and Mass Murderers
Christopher Berry-Dee, $15.95
The headline-grabbing crime. The grizzly facts in the coroner’s report. The shocking revelations from the trial. Going deep into the bowels of the world’s toughest prisons to face these monsters and hear their stories, this book provides all these details plus one more: the murderer’s first-person perspective.
How to Make a Serial Killer: The Twisted Development of Innocent Children into the World’s Most Sadistic Murderers
Christopher Berry-Dee and Steven Morris, $13.95
They were born into this world as innocent children. They ended up as merciless killing machines. This book leads the reader on an insightful, scary, and often disturbing investigation into what made these infamous murderers go bad.
Serial Killers and Mass Murderers: Profiles of the World’s Most Barbaric Criminals
Nigel Cawthorne, $14.95
In one chilling chapter after another, this book profiles a terrifying succession of homicidal maniacs. It takes readers inside the minds of the people who committed the world’s most notorious and horrendous crimes.
Serial Killer Timelines: Illustrated Day-by-Day Accounts of the World’s Most Gruesome Murders
Dr. Chris McNab, $16.95
By examining the depraved, deceptive, very deliberate actions of famed serial killers as a series of specific events, this fully illustrated book offers a unique perspective on the working of the criminal mind and breaks down step by step how they did it, how they got away with it for so long, and how they finally got caught.
To order any of our titles directly call 800-377-2542 or 510-601-8301; fax 510-601-8307; e-mail [email protected]; or write to Ulysses Press, P.O. Box 3440, Berkeley, CA 94703. All retail orders are shipped free of charge. California residents must include sales tax. Allow two to three weeks for delivery.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Christopher Berry-Dee is an investigative criminologist who has published several papers and books, including Online Killers, Serial Killers: Up Close and Personal, and How to Make a Serial Killer. He is the director of The Criminology Research Institute and owner of The New Criminologist , the world’s most respected professional journal on all matters criminology. He consults with law enforcement worldwide, lectures on serial murder, and is responsible for solving a number of U.S. murder cases. Chris has homes in the UK and Samara, Russia.
Victoria Redstall is a model, actress, filmmaker, investigative journalist, and now a writer and author who has spent years visiting high-security prisons and interviewing sadistic killers. She has always had a keen interest in law enforcement and criminology, and has ridden along on patrol with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on the ground and in the air. Her first book, Serial Killers Up Close and Very Personal, was published in 2011 by John Blake Publishing.
1 At the time of this writing, Frances has been married nine times.
2 The exact location can be found on Goo
gle Maps.
3 Chester and the road to the Menard CC were featured in the 1993 movie The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford (Dr. Richard Kimble) and Tommy Lee Jones (U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard).
4 The second “Information Packet’ promised has never arrived.
5 A chapter on John Wayne Gacy is featured in my book Talking with Serial Killers II, published by John Blake, London.
6 480 Patrick’s Point Drive, Trinidad, Humboldt County, California.
The Voices of Serial Killers Page 27