Gary Allan Robbins: The Traveling Salesman Serial Killer
Background
Gary Allan Robbins, whose middle name also appears as Alan in some records, was an American suspected serial killer, rapist and torturer whose known criminal activity stretched from approximately 1981 until 1988. Born on May 9, 1935, Robbins lived at different times in the Pittsburgh area, including Squirrel Hill and Murrysville, Pennsylvania. He reportedly worked as a traveling or door-to-door insurance salesman, an occupation that allowed him to move between communities without immediately attracting suspicion.
Investigators ultimately associated Robbins with violent attacks in Pennsylvania and Ohio and suspected that he had committed additional murders in Michigan and Maryland. Some accounts described his travels as extending across numerous states. Authorities believed that at least four women were murdered, although the available public record does not identify every victim or provide a verified date for each killing. Because Robbins died before he could be arrested and questioned, the full number of women he attacked remains unknown.
Method of Selecting Victims
Robbins reportedly looked for houses advertised for sale and approached women who were alone inside them. By presenting himself as an insurance salesman, prospective buyer or ordinary traveler seeking assistance, he could persuade a resident to open her door without creating immediate alarm. Once inside or close enough to overpower the woman, he would reveal his true intentions.
Descriptions of his attacks indicate that he bound and gagged victims, frequently using scarves or similar pieces of cloth. Some women were sexually assaulted, and investigators believed that certain victims were tortured before being killed. Robbins was also known to use a firearm. The combination of restraints, sexual violence and shooting suggested a repeated pattern rather than unrelated crimes committed during robberies.
His attacks were especially frightening because they occurred in private homes, places where the victims expected to be safe. Robbins reportedly depended on deception rather than forced entry. The innocent appearance of a salesman or lost motorist allowed him to get close to women before they understood the danger.
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