A Wisconsin man was convicted of killing and dismembering a 19-year-old college student during their first date, in a crime eerily reminiscent of a Netflix documentary he had watched just days prior.
Maxwell Anderson, 34, showed no emotion as Judge Laura Crivello delivered the guilty verdicts for the April 2024 murder of Sade Carleena Robinson, following the jury’s deliberation of less than an hour on Friday afternoon.
Robinson was studying criminal justice at Milwaukee Area Technical College when she met Anderson for dinner on April 1, 2024.
Robinson, who was described as being excited for the date, went out to a restaurant and a bar with Anderson before returning to his Milwaukee home.
She was reported missing on April 2 after failing to appear for her shift at a local pizzeria. The police conducted a welfare visit to Robinson’s residence on April 3, but found no sign of her.
Robinson’s sawed-off leg was found on the shores of Lake Michigan that same day the police visited her residence.
Prosecutors used graphic and bloodied photos from Anderson’s phone to prove he was the teen’s killer.
One deleted image recovered by detectives captured Anderson holding Robinson’s chopped-off right breast, described as “his trophy” by one juror.
“This is his trophy in a way,” juror Melissa Blascoe told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “Those pictures will be in my mind for quite some time.”
Along with the leg that matched Robinson’s DNA, authorities also found additional body parts, including a foot and human flesh scattered throughout the city.
Her right breast is among other parts of her body that haven’t been recovered.
The jury was provided with additional evidence after the hearing that Anderson and Robinson were inside his home the night she was murdered when her killer turned on the Netflix animated series “Love, Death & Robots.”
In the second season finale, a dismembered corpse is discovered on the beach, similar to Robinson’s body.
“I was like, oh, … that’s disgusting because that could have been where he got some of his ideas or fantasies,” Blascoe told the outlet.
Police found a “sex dungeon” in Anderson’s home after his arrest.
In his basement, the creep had “a sex sling, restraints and handcuffs,” a police source told the Post last April.
Other photos on Anderson’s phone included pictures of the college student inside his home, described as graphic and disturbing.
“That was pretty damning evidence that shook everyone,” Blascoe said. “I physically felt like I was gonna throw up at that point. I know a lot of people were shaking and crying.”
Some of the photos captured Anderson groping Robinson as she lay face down on his couch.
Prosecutors said Robinson was incapacitated at that point and could not have resisted.
She said the photos were a turning point in the trials as they physically put Robinson inside the home of her soon-to-be killer.
After the brutal killing, Anderson drove Robinson’s 2020 Honda Civic around Milwaukee for some time before parking it in North Milwaukee and lighting it on fire.
“He was just making circles around the city and probably just kind of panicking,” Blascoe said.
It took the jury 45 minutes to reach a guilty verdict, with the majority of the discussion focusing on the technicalities of the law.
“Everyone agreed pretty early on in the morning that he was guilty,” juror Melissa Blascoe told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
The pack of 15 jurors debated on the type of homicide Anderson committed – intentional or reckless.
He was ultimately found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse and arson.
Robinson was remembered by her family, who attended the hearing Friday.
“She will forever be remembered as an angel,” said Sheena Scarbrough, Robinson’s mother said outside the courthouse. “My baby solved her own case. That’s how I raised my kids. We don’t give up. We are fighters. I demanded justice. I stand tall, I stand affirmative. Sade will continue to walk with me daily and right beside me.”
Anderson is believed to have planned Robinson’s killing for months, creating a space covered in a plastic tarp.
“He intended to kill Sade Robinson,” a police source recalled Anderson telling him, according to Fox 6 Milwaukee.
No motive for the killing was revealed during the trial.
Anderson is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 15.
He faces a mandatory life sentence, but Judge Laura Crivello could sentence him to additional extended supervision.
With Post wires
