Maxwell Anderson is charged with murder and mutilation of a corpse after he allegedly killed Sade Robinson, inset, following their first date and chopped up her body in Milwaukee. (Robinson: Milwaukee Police Department; Screenshot: WISN/YouTube)
A first date turned deadly when a man allegedly killed a woman and proceeded to dismember her body and dump the parts in Lake Michigan.
Prosecutors in Milwaukee County on Friday charged 33-year-old Maxwell Anderson with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse, and arson of property other than building. He’s accused of killing 19-year-old Sade C. Robinson, dismembering her body and later torching her car to hide evidence, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office said.
Robinson’s mother Sheena Scarbrough told reporters after Anderson’s first appearance in court on Friday that he is a “sick son of a b—-.”
“Who the f— would do something like this to my beautiful baby?” she said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “She hurt nobody. She harmed nobody.”
The investigation began April 2 when someone found a human leg in the water at Warnimont Park in Cudahy, Wisconsin. A joint investigation between the sheriff’s office and Milwaukee police had determined that Robinson’s family reported her missing the day before when she failed to show up for work.
According to a criminal complaint, Anderson and Robinson met for the first time on April 1 to go on a date. Detectives also obtained text messages of the two planning their date earlier on April 1. Surveillance video also shows them at a downtown Milwaukee restaurant and bar before leaving and driving in Robinson’s Honda Civic to Anderson’s home around 9:30 p.m., the complaint said.
An app on Robinson’s phone shows it left Anderson’s home shortly after midnight on April 2 and later travels to Warnimont Park where her leg was found, the affidavit said. Surveillance video from the park shows a Honda Civic ramming through a gate around 3 a.m. and someone go down to the water several times before leaving around 4:30 a.m.
Around 7:30 a.m. the Milwaukee Fire Department responded to the 1800 block of 29th Street for a vehicle fire. Investigators later determined it was Robinson’s Honda. Cops recovered surveillance video from a bus that shows Anderson get on the bus near where the vehicle was torched and ride to a stop near his home, according to the affidavit.
On April 6, Milwaukee police found a foot and human flesh not far from the burned-out Honda, investigators said. The foot and the leg were confirmed to belong to Robinson.
A search of Anderson’s home found blood on a bedroom and on the walls leading to the basement, authorities said. In the basement, investigators found a “sex dungeon,” reported local ABC affiliate WISN, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.
Detectives are still trying to track down all of the body parts, authorities said.
“Our hearts are with the family and loved ones of Sade Robinson,” Milwaukee police Chief Jeffrey Norman said in a statement. “This is a horrendous tragedy and above all else, I cannot imagine the pain you must be going through. I would like to express my deepest and most sincere sympathy.”
Robinson was close to earning an associates degree in criminal justice at Milwaukee Area Technical College and also considered joining the U.S. Air Force.
“Her whole life was so ahead of her,” Scarbrough told the Journal Sentinel. “She was so, so amazing. So beautiful, such a beautiful angel. Everywhere she went, people just admired my baby.”
Anderson is at the Milwaukee County Jail on a $5 million bond. His next court date is scheduled for April 22.
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