Robin Gecht

Serial Killer

Robin Gecht and the Chicago Ripper Crew

Robin Gecht is commonly described in true-crime accounts as the leader of the group known as the Chicago Ripper Crew, a group linked to a series of exceptionally violent crimes in Illinois during 1981 and 1982. The other principal members were Edward Spreitzer and brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis. Although Gecht has frequently been labeled a serial killer, an important legal distinction is that he was never convicted of murder. Other members of the crew were convicted of homicides, while Gecht was convicted of attempted murder, aggravated kidnapping, rape, and the offense then known under Illinois law as deviate sexual assault. Statements made by Spreitzer and the Kokoraleis brothers repeatedly implicated Gecht in killings, but some of those statements changed over time or were later recanted. Therefore, allegations concerning Gecht's participation in specific murders should be distinguished from crimes for which he was personally convicted.

The Pattern of Crimes

The crimes associated with the Ripper Crew followed a disturbing pattern. Women were approached or abducted, frequently using a van belonging to Gecht. Several victims were restrained with handcuffs, wire, cords, ligatures, or other materials. Sexual assault, stabbing, strangulation, blunt-force injuries, and mutilation of the breasts appeared repeatedly in the evidence from different cases. Prosecutors used these similarities to demonstrate a common method among several attacks. The crimes were committed in Chicago as well as surrounding communities and suburbs, with bodies abandoned in fields, wooded areas, cemeteries, alleys, and near the Chicago River. Much of what investigators learned about the broader series came from statements given by Spreitzer and the Kokoraleis brothers after their arrests. Those accounts often placed Gecht in a directing or participating role. However, the accounts were not completely consistent. Spreitzer, for example, gave different versions of some crimes and sometimes changed which accomplice he said was present. Andrew Kokoraleis later claimed that investigators had pressured him and supplied information used in his confessions. Courts nevertheless found substantial evidence sufficient to convict the other men in several murders. Gecht continued to deny that he had killed anyone.

Fatal Victims Documented in the Court Records

• Linda Sutton May 23, 1981 / June 1, 1981 Chicago and Villa Park, Illinois: Sutton disappeared on the evening of May 23 after being seen in Chicago. Her body was discovered on June 1 in a field near the Brer Rabbit Motel in an unincorporated area near Villa Park. The precise time of her death was not established in the appellate record, so May 23 should be treated as her disappearance and probable killing date rather than a medically determined time of death. An autopsy determined that she died from stab wounds and associated blood loss. Her hands had been cuffed behind her, and extensive tissue was missing from her chest. Later medical review found that the condition of the wounds was consistent with deliberate breast amputation. Spreitzer was ultimately convicted of Sutton's murder, and statements from more than one crew member implicated Gecht in her abduction and assault.
• Lorraine "Lori" Borowski May 15, 1982 Elmhurst and Darien, Illinois: The 21-year-old Borowski disappeared while walking to the real-estate office in Elmhurst where she worked as a secretary. Her employer arrived to find the office unopened and some of her belongings, including shoes and keys, outside. Her remains were discovered on October 10, 1982, in an unused portion of a cemetery in Darien. Because her remains were badly decomposed, an exact forensic time of death could not be established. Confession evidence presented at trial described her as being abducted on May 15, driven to a cemetery, beaten, stabbed, and left there after she died. Andrew Kokoraleis was convicted of Borowski's murder and aggravated kidnapping.
• Shui Mak late May 29 to early May 30, 1982 Barrington Road and northwestern Cook County, Illinois: Mak, age 30, disappeared during the early morning after leaving the automobile in which she had been traveling with her brother. Court records describe slightly different date conventions, with one account referring to May 29 and family testimony placing the relevant events at approximately 1 a.m. on May 30. Her skeletal remains were discovered September 30, 1982, in a wooded area near a new housing development in northwestern Cook County. Medical examination found serious fractures of the skull and ribs and determined that blunt trauma to the head and rib injuries caused her death. Statements given by members of the crew described Mak being offered a ride, taken to an isolated area, beaten, and attacked.
• Sandra Delaware August 27, 1982 Chicago River at the Fullerton Avenue Bridge, Chicago: Delaware's body was found beneath the Fullerton Avenue Bridge at the Chicago River on August 27. Her wrists and ankles had been bound with shoelaces, and a ligature was around her neck. The autopsy determined that she died from ligature strangulation together with an abdominal stab wound that penetrated her liver. Spreitzer gave investigators an account placing himself and Gecht together during an attack on a woman that day. Spreitzer later pleaded guilty to Delaware's murder.
• Rose Beck Davis September 8, 1982 Lake Shore Drive area, Chicago: Davis's body was discovered September 8 between two buildings near Lake Shore Drive. A stocking had been tied around her neck, she had suffered severe blunt-force injuries to her head, and her chest had been slashed. The medical examiner determined that strangulation caused her death. Evidence also showed additional sexual and physical injuries. Spreitzer gave a statement describing an abduction involving himself, Andrew Kokoraleis, and Gecht, although details contained in statements from different defendants varied. The Davis murder became one of the homicides for which members of the crew were convicted.
• Rafael Tirado October 6, 1982 Damen and Lemoyne, Chicago: Tirado and Alberto Rosario were standing near the corner of Damen Avenue and Lemoyne Street when they were struck by gunfire. Rosario survived, but Tirado suffered gunshot wounds to the head and neck and died from his injuries. One of Spreitzer's statements alleged that he was driving with Gecht when Gecht fired a pistol and rifle, although Spreitzer later supplied a different version naming another crew member as the shooter. Spreitzer nevertheless pleaded guilty to Tirado's murder.

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Confirmed Victims: (6)

Linda Sutton Age: (31), Date of Death: 1981-05-23

Ripper Crew - Wikipedia