More clues sought in barrel deaths

Robinson was arrested in Olathe, Kansas, on Friday

Kansas-Missouri investigation also focuses on women missing since 1980s

June 8, 2000
Web posted at: 2:13 p.m. EDT (1813 GMT)

In this story: Property still being searched for bodies Suspect posed as philanthropist, officials say Internet encounters turned rough RELATED STORIES, SITES

LA CYGNE, Kansas (CNN) -- The search of rural Kansas property owned by John Edward Robinson resumed Thursday as authorities gather evidence in a murder and missing persons investigation covering two states. Robinson is suspected of trawling the Internet as a "slavemaster" looking for sadomasochistic sex, authorities said.

They said that in addition to five bludgeoned bodies found stuffed in barrels over the last several days, three other women and a baby missing since the 1980s could also be victims.

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"It's impossible for any of us to know when this is going to end," Johnson County (Kansas) District Attorney Paul Morrison said Wednesday.

Robinson, 56, was arrested in Olathe, Kansas, on Friday. The next day, police found two bodies buried in 55-gallon barrels on a 16.5-acre plot Robinson owns in La Cygne, Kansas, south of Kansas City.

Authorities said they drained a pond at the La Cygne site on Wednesday but found no additional bodies. They were searching Thursday beneath a mobile home on the Linn County property that Robinson used as a weekend retreat.

One of the bodies discovered on Saturday was later identified as Suzette Trouten, a 28-year-old Detroit-area woman who moved to the Kansas City area shortly before she disappeared in March.

Morrison said Trouten moved at the request of Robinson, whom she met through sadomasochistic chat rooms on the Internet, where he sometimes used the identity of a "slavemaster."

The other body found in Linn County has not been identified but may be Izabela Lewicka , a 22-year-old Kansas City-area woman who has not been seen since last fall. Lewicka was believed to have been dating Robinson and possibly working for him as well, Morrison said.

On Monday, investigators found three more bodies in barrels in a Raymore, Missouri, storage facility rented by Robinson. They were badly decomposed and authorities have not been able to determine their identities, said Cass County (Missouri) Prosecutor Chris Koster.

Officials said the remains in all five deaths appear to be those of adults.

As part of the investigation, police have started focusing on three missing persons cases from the mid-1980s that involve young women who were connected to Robinson:

• Paula Godfrey, 19, was reported missing in September 1984.
• Lisa Stasi , 19, and her 5-month-old baby, Tiffany , were reported missing in January 1985.
• Katherine Clampet, 27, was reported missing in June 1987.

All three lived in Overland Park, Kansas, and had job-related links to Robinson, authorities said.

The officials said they do not believe any of those women were the victims found in the barrels. They said that if they were killed in the 1980s, finding remains would be very difficult.

Authorities said Robinson in the 1980s often presented himself as a wealthy philanthropist who wanted to help young women trying to get a start in the world.

The Kansas City Star newspaper reported that Robinson was introduced to Stasi after telling social workers that he was setting up a charitable organization to assist unwed mothers.

Morrison said all the missing persons cases "were investigated intensively in the 1980s" but "because of facts that I cannot discuss today, the cases were never successfully resolved."

Authorities remove one of the barrels found at the 16.5-acre property

Robinson is in the Johnson County jail in Olathe on $5 million bail, charged with aggravated sexual assault against a female under the age of 16 and theft.

The charges are in connection with allegations made by two women who said they were attacked in separate encounters after corresponding with Johnson on the Internet.

According to authorities:

• Each woman traveled to the Kansas City area and met Robinson at a hotel for sex.
• The women complained to police after their encounters with Robinson turned brutal.
• One woman alleged that Robinson stole several hundred dollars worth of sex toys from her.

The Kansas City Star reported that Robinson had been in and out of jail many times since 1969 on various theft and fraud charges.

Johnson has not been charged in the barrel killings, but authorities have named him as the main suspect. They said they are waiting to obtain more details about the victims and the circumstances of their deaths before filing murder charges.

Correspondent Gary Tuchman, The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Possible link probed between missing people, suspect in barrel deaths
June 7, 2000

Cass County, Missouri
Johnson County, Kansas
The Kansas City Star
Johnson County Kansas District Courts

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