Do you know who murdered Henry C Robinette Jr? In the late morning chill of November 18, 1991, Henry C. Robinette Jr., a 52-year-old Wells Fargo armored guard, was going about his duties in the Friendship Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It was a day that began like many others for Robinette, a man known for his willingness to work hard, often taking on extra shifts to provide for his family.
On this particular Monday, he had volunteered to cover a route that wasn't his own after another messenger called in sick.
At approximately 11:04 a.m., Robinette had just completed a pickup of the weekend's receipts from the Hamburger Hamlet restaurant on Wisconsin Avenue. As he exited the establishment, he was ambushed by two men. The assailants, described as two Black men, one in his late teens and the other in his early twenties, confronted the guard in a brazen daylight attack. In a moment of cold-blooded violence, Robinette was shot and fatally wounded. A witness later recounted that Robinette was on his knees and not resisting when he was shot in the neck.
The suspects didn't linger. After shooting Robinette, they stole his sidearm, along with the cash and traveler's checks he was transporting. They were last seen fleeing the scene and getting into a small sedan. Despite the passage of decades and the lingering pain for his family, the case remains unsolved. No arrests have ever been made in the murder of Henry C. Robinette Jr. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Metropolitan Police Department continue to seek information, offering a substantial reward for any tips that might finally lead to the apprehension and conviction of those responsible for cutting short a life in the line of duty.
