In the summer of 1999, a 21-year-old White/Caucasian female of Polish descent, Izabela Lewicka, vanished from the Kansas City area, leaving her family with unanswered questions. A talented artist and a sophomore at Purdue University, she had told her parents she was moving to Kansas for a supposed internship with a small publisher. In reality, she had connected with a man online who went by the screen name "Slavemaster" and had entered into a relationship with him that would ultimately lead to
her demise.
The man, John Edward Robinson, a seemingly ordinary churchgoing family man, was in fact a serial predator. He lured women with promises of jobs, travel, and a BDSM lifestyle. Izabela was one of these women, drawn into his dark world under the guise of a "slave contract." After she moved to be with him, her communication with her concerned parents became sparse and eventually ceased altogether. Robinson, a practiced con artist, told anyone who asked that Izabela had been deported back to Poland due to a drug-related issue.
The truth of Izabela's fate remained hidden until June of 2000. An investigation into the disappearance of another woman, Suzette Trouten, led law enforcement to Robinson's property in Linn County, Kansas. There, they made a gruesome discovery: two 55-gallon chemical drums. Inside one of the barrels were the remains of Izabela Lewicka. An autopsy would later reveal that she had been killed by a blow to the head with a blunt object, likely a hammer.
The discovery of Izabela's body was just the beginning. Further investigation into Robinson's activities uncovered a horrifying pattern of manipulation and murder spanning decades. Authorities found more bodies of his victims stored in barrels in a Missouri storage unit. John Edward Robinson was arrested and stood trial for the murders of Izabela Lewicka, Suzette Trouten, and Lisa Stasi, another of his victims whose body was never found. In what became the longest criminal trial in Kansas history, Robinson was convicted on all counts. For the murders of Izabela Lewicka and Suzette Trouten, he received two death sentences, bringing a close to the search for justice for the young Polish immigrant who had unknowingly crossed paths with a prolific serial killer.
