John Robinson was born on December 27, 1943, in Cicero, Illinois. He was the third of five children in a family with a troubled dynamic. His father, Henry, was an abusive alcoholic, and his mother, Alberta, was a strict disciplinarian. Robinson showed early promise and became an Eagle Scout in 1957. This achievement led him to a memorable trip to London, where he and a group of Scouts performed before Queen Elizabeth II. After the performance, Robinson had a once-in-a-lifetime experience when actress and singer Judy Garland gave him a kiss backstage.

He initially pursued a path toward priesthood by enrolling at Quigley Preparatory Seminary in Chicago, a school for aspiring priests. However, Robinson's time there was short-lived; he dropped out after just one year due to disciplinary problems. School records revealed he struggled academically, often got into fights, and spent considerable time in detention.

In 1961, Robinson enrolled at Morton Junior College in Cicero with the goal of becoming a medical radiographer. Yet again, his academic pursuits were cut short, and he dropped out after two years. In 1964, he relocated to Kansas City and married Nancy Jo Lynch. The couple had their first child, John Jr., in 1965, followed by daughter Kimberly in 1967, and twins Christopher and Christine in 1971.

Robinson's life took a dark turn in 1969 when he was arrested in Kansas City for embezzling $33,000 from the medical practice where he worked using forged credentials. He was sentenced to three years of probation but violated it by moving to Chicago without permission. There, he worked as an insurance salesman and was arrested again in 1971 for embezzling funds, resulting in an extension of his probation. His criminal activities continued, leading to another probation extension in 1975 following an arrest for securities fraud and mail fraud linked to a fake medical consulting company he had created.

Despite his criminal record, Robinson was actively involved in his community. He served as a Scoutmaster, a baseball coach, and a Sunday school teacher. In 1977, he even managed to become a board member of a local charitable organization by forging letters that led to him being named the organization's "Man of the Year." He hosted an awards luncheon in his honor under this false pretense.

Robinson completed his probation in 1979, but his illegal activities persisted. He was arrested for embezzlement and check forgery, serving sixty days in jail in 1982. After his release, he set up a fraudulent hydroponics business, stealing $25,000 from a friend who needed money for his dying wife's medical care, promising a quick return on the investment.

John Robinson is believed to have committed eight murders, though the actual number of his victims remains uncertain. The police in Kansas and Missouri suspect there are more victims, given the significant gaps in Robinson's timeline and the fact that some victims were never reported missing or found. "He's kept the secrets of what he's done with the women. He'll never reveal it. It's the last control he has," said an investigator. "There are probably other barrels waiting to be opened, other bodies waiting to be found."

In 1984, Robinson set up two more fraudulent shell companies and hired 19-year-old Paula Guylene Godfrey as a sales representative for his management consulting firm, Equi II. Godfrey, eager to start a business career, informed her family that Robinson had arranged for her and other women to fly to San Antonio, Texas, for a clerical skills course. Robinson picked her up on September 1, 1984, to drive her to the airport, but she was never heard from again. After her parents reported her missing, they received a letter, allegedly from Godfrey, stating she was fine and didn't want to see her family. The police closed the investigation as Godfrey was of legal age, and no further trace of her was ever found.

In 1985, Robinson, using the alias John Osborne, met 19-year-old Lisa Stasi and her four-month-old daughter Tiffany at a homeless shelter. He promised Stasi a job and a stable living situation in Chicago, convincing her to sign several blank sheets of stationery. Stasi and her daughter checked into a motel room in January 1985, with Robinson arranging and paying for their stay. A few days later, Robinson took Stasi and Tiffany to his brother's house, where he claimed the mother had committed suicide and offered Tiffany for adoption to his brother for $5,500 in "legal fees." Stasi was never seen again, and Tiffany's identity was confirmed through DNA testing in 2000.

In January 1987, 27-year-old Catherine Frances Clampitt left her child with her parents in Texas and moved to Kansas City to find work. She responded to an ad for Equi II, which promised extensive travel and a new wardrobe. After Robinson hired her, Clampitt stayed in local hotels near the Equi II offices. She went missing on June 15, 1987, after going to a meeting with Robinson. Her case remains unsolved. Robinson was incarcerated from 1987 to 1993 for multiple fraud convictions. During this time, he met Beverly Bonner, a prison librarian. After his release, Bonner left her husband and moved to Kansas to work for Robinson. She disappeared, and Robinson continued to cash her alimony checks for years.

After his release, Robinson began frequenting BDSM chatrooms under the name Slavemaster, targeting women who enjoyed submissive roles. He met Sheila Faith and her wheelchair-bound daughter Debbie, convincing them to move to Kansas City in 1994. They disappeared shortly after, and Robinson cashed Faith's pension checks for the next seven years. In 1999, Robinson offered a job and a bondage relationship to 21-year-old Polish immigrant Izabela Lewicka. After moving to Kansas City, Lewicka received an engagement ring from Robinson and signed a 115-item slave contract. She vanished later that year, and her body was found in a drum on Robinson's farm in 2000.

In March 2000, Suzette Trouten moved from Michigan to Kansas to be Robinson's submissive sex slave. Her mother received letters supposedly from her daughter, but they all had Kansas City postmarks and were unusually free of typos. Robinson claimed Trouten ran off with an acquaintance, but her body was found in a drum on his farm in 2000 alongside Lewicka's.

Robinson was arrested in June 2000 after a woman filed a sexual battery complaint, and another accused him of stealing her sex toys. The theft charge provided the probable cause needed for search warrants. Investigators found the bodies of Lewicka and Trouten in chemical drums on his farm. In a storage facility in Missouri, they found three more drums containing the bodies of Bonner and the Faiths. All five women had been killed by blunt force trauma.

Robinson was tried and convicted in Kansas for the murders of Trouten, Lewicka, and Stasi, receiving the death penalty for Trouten and Lewicka's murders and life imprisonment for Stasi's. He also received additional sentences for other crimes. Robinson later faced murder charges in Missouri but avoided a trial by agreeing to a plea deal that gave him life sentences for five murders. In November 2015, the Kansas Supreme Court vacated the Trouten and Stasi murder convictions on technicalities but upheld Lewicka's conviction and death sentence. Robinson remains on death row at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.

In the aftermath, Robinson's wife Nancy divorced him in 2005. Heather Robinson, Stasi's daughter, sued a Kansas City hospital and a social worker for facilitating her illegal adoption. She settled the suit and won a judgment preventing Robinson from profiting from his crimes. In 2006, the body of a young woman was found in Iowa, initially suspected to be another of Robinson's victims, but she was later identified and ruled out.