Convicted serial killer who stored bodies in barrels appeals death sentence

John E. Robinson Sr., the convicted serial killer who stored some of his victims’ bodies in barrels, has filed a motion to have his Johnson County death sentence thrown out.

Robinson, 72, filed the motion Thursday in Johnson County District Court, alleging that his death sentence was imposed in violation of the Kansas and U.S. constitutions.

He asked that a lawyer be appointed to assist him in the appeal.

His case made national headlines in the summer of 2000 when investigators found the bodies of two women in barrels on property Robinson owned in Linn County, Kan., south of Kansas City.

The bodies of three more women were also found barrels in a storage unit rented by Robinson in Cass County, Mo.

Investigators also linked Robinson to three women who had not been seen since they disappeared in the 1980s. It was later determined that the infant daughter of one of those women had been raised by relatives of Robinson after he had engineered a phony adoption.

Robinson and some of his victims were involved in the bond and discipline sexual lifestyle and shared a master-slave relationship.

In 2002, a Johnson County jury found Robinson, who lived in Olathe at the time, guilty of killing three women over a period of 15 years, including the mother of the infant girl. He was subsequently sentenced to death.

After the Johnson County trial, Robinson pleaded guilty in Cass County to five counts of murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

Last year, the Kansas Supreme Court upheld most of the convictions and the death sentence in the Johnson County case.

And last month, the U.S. Supreme denied his request for a hearing.

In Thursday’s filing, Robinson did not address his specific claims. He said he will need the help of a lawyer to properly prepare the appeal.

This story was originally published November 18, 2016 at 7:55 AM with the headline "Convicted serial killer who stored bodies in barrels appeals death sentence."