by RJ Parker
But as time went on, Jessi also seemed to be playing Tom for a fool. The two never really stopped talking and even found themselves flirting with each other on occasion. It was almost as if Jessi couldn’t let go of the image of Tommy she had formed in her head. And even after all the contention between the two when the truth had came out, he still couldn’t stop chatting with her.
Tension between the two men at work grew thicker with each passing month. Some of their colleagues were aware of the odd love triangle and the contempt the two had for each other. Tom made verbal threats toward Brian. He began working out and his demeanor became dark and intense. Coworkers began to shy away from him, fearing what he might do.
Then one Friday night in September, Brian gathered up his things to leave work around 10:00. He walked out into the parking lot and got into his truck. Before he could even put the key in the ignition, gunfire rang out. He was shot three times at close range in the arm and neck and died nearly instantly in what authorities later described as a “sniper attack.” His body remained in his truck for two days until someone found him on Monday morning.
Police canvassed the neighborhood to interview potential witnesses. They learned that locals had seen a man walking around the area that Friday night wearing camouflage and a ski mask. They also found a discarded peach pit on the ground near Brian’s truck, which they bagged and saved as potential evidence. Learning of the online love triangle, police feared Tom might have been headed to Jessi’s house in West Virginia. They sent a team of police to her house to make sure she was safe. A forty-five-year-old woman named Mary Shieler greeted them at the door. At first Mary told them her daughter Jessi was not home, but when she learned why they were there, she became visibly upset. Eventually she came clean with police and admitted that she was the one who had been communicating with Tom and Brian for the last year as ‘Tallhotblond.’ She had sent them both racy photos of her seventeen-year-old daughter, who was actually named Jessi.
On September 18, just three days after Brian’s murder, police brought Tom in for questioning. They also searched his home, his car, and his cell phone and computer. On his computer, they uncovered a year and a half’s evidence of chat records between Tom and ‘Jessi,’ as well as numerous threats Tom made to Brian online. They also located an owner’s manual for a .38 military grade rifle, similar to the one that had killed Brian. Tom told them he had always wanted that type of gun, but just hadn’t bought one yet. But then investigators found a photograph of his gun cabinet, displaying a .38 military grade rifle. Eventually, investigators were able to pin Tom to the murder using DNA from the discarded peach pit left at the scene and the photograph of his gun cabinet containing the type of rifle used in the crime.
Tom was officially arrested on November 27, 2006. He pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder. In August 2007, he took a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter, earning him a minimum of twenty years in prison. His wife divorced him.
Police also wanted to charge Mary with a crime, but they were unable to actually pin anything on her. Technically, she hadn’t done anything illegal. Mary’s husband also divorced her and her daughter Jessi moved away from the home, unable to forgive her mother for what she had done. Erie County Sheriff’s Lt. Ron Kenyon spoke out about the case in an effort to warn the public about the dangers of connecting with people online. “When you’re on the Internet talking, you haven’t got a clue who that is on the other end,” he said. “You don’t have a clue.”
Chapter 6: David Russell
As one of the most widely used social networks, Facebook has connected so many people. Old friends were able to find each other and distant families were able to meet again online. Facebook also offers the possibility for strangers to meet and become friends. However, the process of meeting someone new online can be very dangerous, and even deadly.
David Russell was a British man who worked at a McDonald’s restaurant. For nineteen years, David led a flawless life. He was a good guy and a hard worker. However, this would all change when David turned twenty.
In 2010, David met nineteen-year-old Maricar Benedicto through Facebook. They chatted for a while. David posed as Oliver Sykes, the tattooed lead singer of the popular metal band called ‘Bring Me The Horizon’ and Maricar used the pseudonym Ruby Townsend. They also used Skype to chat. Maricar truly believed that David was indeed Oliver Sykes and decided to travel from the U.S. to the UK just to meet him. She had no way of knowing that she was going to meet a potential killer.
Maricar arrived in April of 2011. The night before her arrival, David surfed the internet searching for ways to kill someone with his bare hands, how to cut skin with a knife, and the best knife that he could use to kill. David met Maricar at the railway station and then took her to a forest not very far away.
David claimed that the place he was taking her to held some of his most special childhood memories. After they arrived in a secluded area, David asked Maricar to sit on a tree trunk. After that, he blindfolded her, claiming that he had a surprise to give her. Maricar completely trusted him and she let him blindfold her, and even complied when he asked her to put her arms up with her palms facing up and tilt her head back.
Maricar could not see anything, but she suddenly felt something sharp on her neck. She could feel her neck was being sliced open. While he was slitting Maricar’s throat, David screamed, “Why won’t you die? You’ve ruined my life. It’s all your fault.” Maricar jumped up and when she did so, the blindfold that she had on her eyes fell off. She tried to run for her life, but David went after her. He stabbed her in her back three times. David then used a log to hit her in the face and head repeatedly. He did not stop until Maricar informed him that she had given his name and his address to the immigration officials when she arrived in the UK. After hearing this, David ran back to his home and is suspected of taking an overdose of medication. He left Maricar in the woods, fighting for her life. She barely managed to make her way to a house nearby where she was able to get help.
It was a miracle that Maricar had survived the attack. David was arrested and charged for kidnapping and attempted murder. The defense claimed that David suffered from borderline autism. They argued this was David’s first offense and that he was simply a “troubled young man.” However, on October 5, 2011, the Northampton Crown Court sentenced David to life in prison. He will not be up for parole for at least seventeen and a half years.
Commenting on the tragedy, Oliver Sykes, whose identity David used to lure the girl, said that he was very unsettled by the news; although people had used his identity before as a joke or to pull pranks, something which made him feel uncomfortable, this particular incident was terrifying. Oliver wished a good recovery for Maricar and directed people to the Carly Ryan Foundation, which raises awareness of the dangers of using the social networking sites and talking with strangers. In 2006, fifteen-year-old Carly Ryan was murdered by a fifty-year-old man posing online as an eighteen-year-old musician from Melbourne, Australia. The killer was caught and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for twenty-nine years. Ultimately though, Oliver hoped that people would be more careful in meeting strangers online.
Chapter 7: Robert Frederick Glass
Limitless information can be accessed with just a few clicks on the internet. Unfortunately, social media has also opened the door to unleashing many sick fantasies. An occurrence recognized by psychologists as the ‘Mardi Gras phenomenon’ (when someone assuming various personalities believes they can freely speak and act without consequences), has become a common occurrence online. People feel the internet allows them to express their fantasies anonymously and freely. One dark fantasy that Sharon Rina Lopatka had was to be tortured to death. By making her fantasy known through the internet, her wish became true.
Robert ‘Bobby’ Frederick Glass was a computer analyst working for the government of Catawba County, North Carolina. Forty-five-year-old Robert was a hard worker. As part of
his responsibilities, he programmed the tax rolls and monitored the amount of gas consumed by the county vehicles. For nearly sixteen years, he worked for the government.
Robert was married and had three children: two daughters (ages ten and seven), and one son (age six). According to his wife Sherri, Robert was very interested in computers, to the point that he became more interested in computers than their marriage. Sherri noticed that Robert would spend a lot of time on his computer. Later, she discovered that Robert had been exchanging emails with other people using his online names ‘Toyman’ and ‘Slowhand.’ The emails were disturbing and violent. However, overall, Sherri described her husband as a good man who worked hard. His other side, he kept well hidden. In May of 1996, however, Robert and Sherri separated and she took custody of their children.
Sharon Rina Lopatka was born on September 20, 1961. Her active Orthodox Jewish parents raised her and her three younger sisters in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland. Sharon’s classmates saw her as a normal girl who engaged in sports and participated in the school choir. In 1991, she married a Catholic man named Victor and moved into his home in Hampstead, Maryland. The marriage was her way of rebelling against her parents since they did not approve of their relationship.
Sharon soon started working from home. She earned money through the internet by rewriting ads, performing psychic readings, and selling pornographic videos. She had dangerous sexual fantasies and searched for someone willing to fulfill them. Sharon often logged into hard-core sexual chat rooms to chat anonymously with people interested in things like necrophilia, bondage, and sadomasochism.
Sharon was fascinated with the idea of torture until death. Over several months, she posted messages expressing her desire to be tortured to death. She received many responses, but none of the people writing her back were serious enough to actually go through with it. That is, until Sharon met Robert. The two met online through one of the chat rooms they both frequented. On paper, they were perfect for one another. Robert liked inflicting pain and Sharon wanted to be tortured. Sharon sent Robert an email expressing her desire to be bound and then strangled when she was close to orgasm. When she asked him to fulfill this fantasy of hers, Robert accepted. Over the next few months, they continued to exchange emails and they finally decided to meet.
On October 13, 1996, Sharon told her husband that she was visiting a friend in Georgia. Instead, she took the morning train to North Carolina to meet Robert. He was waiting for her as she arrived and they drove together to his trailer home, some eighty miles away from the train station. Later, Sharon’s husband found a note that she left for him, explaining that she was not coming back and asked him not to look for the person who killed her.
Victor immediately reported his wife missing. The police started an investigation and were able to link her to Robert by retrieving the emails exchanged between the two. They staked out Robert’s trailer for a few days, hoping to catch a glimpse of Sharon who might still be alive, but there was no sign of her. On October 25, after obtaining a search warrant, the police raided the trailer while Robert was at work. The outside and inside of the trailer was filled with dirt and garbage. The police were able to locate some of Sharon’s belongings in the trailer, as well as some other items of interest, including drugs, bondage items, a pistol, child pornography, and computer disks. But Sharon was nowhere to be found.
While searching the property, an officer wandered to an area seventy-five feet away from the trailer where he noticed the soil seemed freshly dug. He began digging and located Sharon’s remains buried two and a half feet underground. Robert was arrested at his work the same day. He was interviewed and presented with the evidence found. Robert told the police that he and Sharon were simply fulfilling their sexual fantasies. She was willing, and he never made her do anything. During their intercourse, and at her request, Robert strangled Sharon. However, he claimed that her death was accidental.
The medical examiner reported that Sharon died of strangulation. There was some evidence of sexual torture, but ultimately the results were inconclusive. Sharon’s death was considered to be deliberate, since she only met with Robert because he agreed to kill her. And because Robert had sent Sharon many emails containing details of how he wanted to kill her, the prosecution could argue that the murder was premeditated.
Robert was charged with first-degree murder. He was kept in the county jail. The charge was eventually reduced to voluntary manslaughter. On January 27, 1997, Robert pleaded guilty to this charge and to six counts of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor for the child pornography found in his trailer. He received a sentence of thirty-six to fifty-three months for the first charge and twenty-one to twenty-six months for the second. Robert served his sentence at the Avery-Mitchell Correctional Institution in North Carolina. On February 20, 2002, just two weeks before his release, Robert died from a heart attack. This case was the first in which the police had zeroed in on a suspect relying only on evidence from emails.
Chapter 8: John Edward Robinson
With all the technological advancement and the extended use of the internet, it has become easier to reach out to friends and family all over the world. However, it has also become easier to meet strangers, near and far, and share interests or even dark desires. With the option to stay anonymous online, killers have been able to find their prey. “The internet’s first serial killer,” as he is referred to sometimes, was John Edward Robinson.
John Edward Robinson was born on December 27, 1943. John did not become a killer overnight. It is possible that his behavior was influenced at an early age by his disciplinary mother and alcoholic father. At age thirteen, he joined the Eagle Scouts and then enrolled in a private school for boys aspiring to be clerics. He dropped out after just a year. His early crimes included embezzlement, kidnapping, and forgery. He was first arrested in Kansas in 1969 for embezzlement, but he only received three years of probation, which he violated by moving to Chicago. In 1977, through lies and forgery, he was able to get himself elected onto the board of a charitable organization, forge letters to and from various authority figures to praise him, and name himself the organization’s Man of the Year, where he organized a luncheon in his honor. On the surface, John was a nice man, a loving husband and father, and a good civilian. However, truly he was totally the opposite. He was also engaged in BDSM (bondage, discipline, sadistic, and masochistic behaviors).
John is known to have killed eight women, four of which he met through the internet. The actual number of his victims is unknown, but it can be established through the known victims that at least half of them were lured via the internet. No details of how he treated his victims were ever revealed, but he most likely killed them with one or two blows to the head using a blunt object, probably a hammer.
In 1984, John hired nineteen-year-old Paula Godfrey as a sales agent for one of his ‘companies.’ After telling her family and friends that she was going away for training, Paula disappeared. Her parents reported her missing to the police. John was questioned but he denied that he knew anything of Paula’s whereabouts. Some days later, Paula’s parents got a letter with her signature to assure them that she was fine but didn’t wish to see them anymore.
In a strange twist to the story, John’s brother and sister-in-law had been trying to adopt for years. One year before Paula’s disappearance, in 1983, John convinced his brother that he would help him because he knew an attorney who handled private adoptions. For the next two years, John looked for a single mother with a young child. He was using the name John Osborne when he met nineteen-year-old Lisa Stasi and her four-month-old daughter Tiffany in Kansas in 1985. He convinced Lisa that he could give her a job and apartment in Chicago, and see that her baby be put in daycare. John also asked Lisa to sign some blank papers. At the same time, he informed his brother that he had found an infant up for adoption whose mother had committed suicide. He charged his brother $5,500 (this is the actual amount paid: $2,500 up front and then $3,000 later) for
the ‘attorney fees’ and brought baby Tiffany to his brother and his wife. Lisa disappeared without a trace.
In June 1987, John killed twenty-seven-year-old Catherine Clampitt after ‘hiring’ her and promising her a job with travel. Her remains were never discovered.
During a fraud conviction in 1993, he met a forty-nine-year-old librarian, Beverly Bonner, in a Missouri prison. After his release, he convinced her to leave her husband and come work for him in Kansas. He also arranged for her alimony checks to be forwarded to a post office box in Kansas, and then he killed her.
Between 1993 and 1994, John started using the internet to meet his next victims. He used the name ‘Slavemaster’ as his online screen name and started looking for a submissive sex partner. Bit by bit, he became known in BDSM chat rooms. His first victim he met online was forty-five-year-old Sheila Faith. She had a fifteen-year-old daughter named Debbie with cerebral palsy who was bound to a wheelchair. He promised to give Sheila a job and put Debbie in therapy. Upon moving to Kansas City, Missouri in 1994, Sheila and her daughter disappeared. John intercepted and cashed in Debbie’s disability checks for the next seven years.
In 1999, he met twenty-one-year-old Polish immigrant Izabela Lewicka online. John, while still married, paid for a legal marriage certificate to wed Izabela, which he never collected. He also convinced Izabela to sign a 115-item ‘slave contract’ (a document stating she was giving him full control over her life, including her bank accounts). In the summer of the same year, Izabela disappeared.
John’s last victim was a twenty-eight-year-old licensed nurse named Suzette Trouten. In 2000, John convinced her to move to Kansas so that they could travel together. Suzette disappeared without a trace soon after that.
