John E. Robinson, Sr.: The Slavemaster

Carolyn Troutman didn't know it when she contacted authorities about her missing daughter, but police had recently stepped up their surveillance of John Robinson. Suzette also cultivated online friendships with other subs from around the world who also knew she had gone to Kansas to be with John Robinson. Some of the women she traded instant messages with daily thought it was strange that she no longer appeared online.

For several weeks, Robinson contacted Suzette's submissive friends and some of her relatives by e-mail, pretending to be Troutman. Most weren't fooled by the blatant attempt at subterfuge. Robinson soon dropped the act and set his sights on seducing one of Suzette's online friends named Lore, who lived in Eastern Canada.

Lore and another Canadian woman began their own amateur investigation of the man they believed was named "J.R. Turner." Robinson moved quickly after Lore told him she was interested in finding a dominant master for a friend. The e-mails and chat sessions turned into telephone calls, which were picked up by the police taps in place. The Lenexa, Kansas police contacted Lore and told her they were investigating John Robinson. They did not explain the extent of the probe, but asked her to continue her relationship with him.

"The police didn't tell me to get John Robinson to lure me to Kansas City," Taylor said later at Robinson's trial. "I was willing to help."

Robinson made vague offers to Lore about meeting in person, she said.

"He offered nothing other than I would be financially taken care of and never have to work," she testified.

Lore wasnt the only target of Robinsons homicidal lust. He was meeting women locally and had struck up an online and telephone friendship with a Texas woman who fit his typical pattern. Vickie was a recently laid off psychologist who suffered from depression and a lack of meaningful companionship. She was eager for a change in her life and Robinson was quick to pick up on this. He convinced her that he was a well-connected community leader who could help her start over in the Kansas City area. Vickie was somewhat reluctant to drop everything and move to Kansas for many reasons, not the least of which was that she couldn't afford to relocate. That wasn't a problem, Robinson assured her. He would pay for everything until she could stand on her own.

Listening in on the call, police knew Robinson had selected his next victim.