Robin Gecht lived a relatively quiet life in Chicago before the horrors of his crimes came to light. While specific details about his early life remain largely unknown or undisclosed in public records, Gecht worked as a carpenter and reportedly once worked for serial killer John Wayne Gacy. He was married and had children, appearing on the surface as an average working man. However, beneath the facade, he harbored disturbing fantasies and reportedly created a private "satanic chapel" in his attic where he allegedly performed gruesome rituals.

Gecht’s manipulative nature and dominant personality enabled him to attract and influence a group of young men who would become the Ripper Crew. He became the leader of a sadistic cult that performed ritualistic killings, blending satanic ideology with extreme violence and perversion.

His ability to maintain a calm and calculated demeanor despite the horrific crimes he committed and ordered allowed him to evade murder charges, even though his accomplices directly implicated him in their detailed confessions.

Between 1981 and 1982, Chicago’s streets became hunting grounds for one of America’s most depraved cults—the Ripper Crew, led by Robin Gecht and joined by Edward Spreitzer and brothers Andrew and Thomas Kokoraleis. Together they carried out a series of ritualistic abductions, murders, and mutilations of at least seventeen women, plus a random drive-by shooting that killed Rafael Tirado.

Their terror began on May 23, 1981, with the abduction of Linda Sutton. Ten days later her body was found—mutilated and missing a breast. After nearly a year’s silence, they struck again on May 15, 1982, when Lorraine Borowski was kidnapped and later discovered murdered in a cemetery.

Just two weeks after Borowski’s death, they abducted Shui Mak, a Chinese immigrant. Following a family dispute, Mak was left by the roadside; the Ripper Crew picked her up, assaulted her, and ultimately killed her. Her body lay undiscovered for four months. Around the same time, they seized Angel York—handcuffing and mutilating her—but she survived. Sadly, her description didn’t lead to arrests.

On August 28, 1982, Sandra Delaware was found stabbed, strangled, and mutilated in the same ritualistic fashion. And on September 8, Rose Davis was discovered with identical wounds and missing a breast. Then, on October 6, Gecht and Spreitzer committed a random drive-by shooting, killing 28-year-old Rafael Tirado and wounding his friend, Alberto Rosario.

Later that evening, Gecht lured sex worker Beverley Washington into his van with the promise of high pay. She survived the brutal torture that mimicked the other killings, and her testimony proved pivotal. Police traced Gecht’s distinctive van to the scenes and arrested him—though he was briefly released for lack of evidence. On November 5, after his accomplices began confessing, he was taken back into custody. Their statements revealed grisly “satanic” rituals in Gecht’s so-called chapel, where they tortured, sexually assaulted, mutilated—and even consumed parts of—their victims.

Despite never being charged with murder—due to insufficient physical evidence—Gecht was convicted in 1983 for the assault on Washington and given a 120-year sentence. Spreitzer received a death sentence that was later commuted to life without parole. Andrew Kokoraleis was executed on March 17, 1999—the last execution in Illinois before the 2011 abolition of the death penalty—while Thomas Kokoraleis served his term and was released on March 29, 2019, sparking public outrage.