Olathe — Johnson County residents are more likely to have heard about the case against John E. Robinson Sr. than residents in two other Kansas counties, a woman whose company surveyed people for defense attorneys testified Wednesday.
Lawyers for Robinson, suspected of being a serial killer, say he can't get a fair trial in Johnson County because of extensive media coverage. After Wednesday's testimony on the change of venue motion, the hearing was continued to Feb. 28.
Robinson, 58, of Olathe, is scheduled to go to trial in September on capital murder charges in the deaths of two women whose bodies were found in June 2000 in metal barrels on property he owned in Linn County. He also is charged with first-degree murder in the death of another woman who disappeared in 1985 and whose body has not been found.
Lisa Dahl, president of Litigation Consultants Inc., testified that out of 400 Johnson County residents surveyed by telephone, 94 percent recognized the case and 67 percent believed Robinson was probably guilty or definitely guilty. That compares with 80 percent of respondents in Harvey County who knew the case and 64 percent in Ellis County.
Ronald Dillehay, a professor of psychology at the University of Nevada and an expert on such surveys, testified that Dahl's research was valid.
"I think the data show clearly and consistently that there is a very high level of awareness and prejudice in Johnson County," he said.
Dist. Atty. Paul Morrison, argued that because Johnson County is many times larger than the other two counties, there would be a greater chance of finding a "pristine" jury that had not heard of the case.
"That still leaves you with over 100,000 people in this county who do not have a preconceived notion about Mr. Robinson," Morrison said.
After the Kansas case is completed, prosecutors in Missouri plan to try Robinson on charges of killing three women whose bodies were found in barrels in Cass County, Mo.
Meanwhile, the father of a girl born to Lisa Stasi, one of the women Robinson is charged with killing, filed a lawsuit against Robinson, Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., and a social worker who once worked there.
Carl Stasi seeks unspecified damages from Robinson for his wife's wrongful death. He is asking for a total of $50 million from the hospital and social worker Karen Gaddis for the loss of companionship with his wife and daughter.
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