Robert White (serial killer)
Robert White | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Jimmy White Jr. August 9, 1960 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Conviction(s) | Manslaughter (1980) Murder (2014) Murder (2 counts) (2018) |
| Criminal penalty | 10-years to 20-years (1980) 50-years (2014) 50-years (2018) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 4 |
Span of crimes | 1980–2013 |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Connecticut |
Date apprehended | March 18, 2013 |
Robert Jimmy White Jr. (born August 9, 1960) is an American serial killer. While on parole for a murder he committed as a teenager, White raped and beat three women to death in Hartford, Connecticut, between 1997 and 2013. He pleaded guilty to these crimes and received two 50-year sentences.[1]
Initial crimes and convictions[edit]
Betty Robertson[edit]
On the afternoon of April 23, 1980, White, then 19 years old, walked into a bar on Albany Avenue looking for a woman to rape.[2] That was when he noticed 46-year-old Betty Jo Robertson sitting alone and he began talking to her. He persuaded Robertson to let him walk her home, to which she obliged. After they both left, and once in a secluded location, Robertson resisted White's attempt to assault her, leading to White biting, scratching, and grabbing Robertson and smashing her head into the concrete sidewalk.[3] White fled and witnesses who saw the attack phoned authorities, who rushed Robertson to the hospital. She died from her injures the next day.[3]
Investigators, who were aided by witnesses and a cap that was found at the crime scene, detained White on suspicion of murder in late June.[3] He confessed to the crime, stating he was only trying to rape Robertson and did not mean to kill her. His defense was able to persuade a judge to lower White's indictment of felony murder to first-degree manslaughter due to him being under the influence of alcohol at the time of the murder.[2] On November 24, White pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. At his sentencing, he said, "I have no explanation for my actions".[2] After serving 8½ years of his sentence, White was paroled in July 1989.[4]
Sawarie Krichindath[edit]
White's activities between 1989 and 1997 are unknown, but in 1998 he returned to prison after being found guilty of first-degree sexual assault and was sentenced to fourteen years in prison, being released in 2011.[4] After his release, ge befriended and began dating 60-year-old Sawarie Krichindath, and the two eventually moved in together since White could not afford a home for himself. In February 2013, the two had an argument which escalated when White began choking Krichindath and stabbing her in the neck, killing her.[4]
After killing her, White stole her apartment key card and used it to access secure areas of the building.[4] White was arrested on March 18 and confessed to killing Krichindath. The following year, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison, the maximum sentence the judge could give, who argued that White was a danger to society.[5]
Exposure[edit]
After his sentence, White was required to submit his DNA into the state database.[1] In April 2016, his DNA was matched to forensic evidence left at the murder of Shiraleen Crawford, a 30-year-old prostitute who was killed in 1997. Afterwards, detectives interviewed White, who initially denied knowing Crawford, but when pressed about the evidence, he confessed to killing her.[6] He stated that, on August 10, 1997, he met Crawford on Martin Street and the two arranged to have sex in her apartment. After about two hours drinking, White said he "snapped" and produced a knife, which he used to slit Crawford's throat and stab her numerous times before the blade broke. Afterwards, he grabbed a nearby hammer and beat her unconscious, proceeding to remove her clothes and have sex with her body before leaving.[6] Her decomposing body was found five days later by a visiting friend.[7]
After confessing to Crawford's murder, police questioned White about any other crimes he committed, and he subsequently confessed to killing Sonia Rivera.[6] Rivera, a 48-year-old mother of five, was raped and beat unconscious in an alley way on September 27, 2012, dying in the hospital several days later.[8] Her murder was initially attributed to another man, Denzil Nurse, who was arrested in 2014 and was awaiting trial until DNA ruled him out as a suspect.[9] In 2018, White entered an alford plea for these crimes and was sentenced to another 50 years in prison.[1]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Rondinone, Nicholas (August 3, 2018). 50-Year Sentence For Four-Time Convicted Hartford Killer Ends 'Lifetime of Terror'. Hartford Courant.
- ^ a b c City Man Sentenced To Prison In Fatal Beating of Woman. Hartford Courant. November 25, 1980.
- ^ a b c Grand Jury Indicts City Man on Charge Of Felony Murder. Hartford Courant. July 3, 1980.
- ^ a b c d Munoz, Hilda (March 19, 2013). Arrest Made After Body Found. Hartford Courant.
- ^ Owens, David (February 28, 2014). Man Sentenced To 50 Years For Murder. Hartford Courant.
- ^ a b c Serial Sex Offender Indicted For Two Murders. Hartford Courant. September 20, 2016.
- ^ Bernstein, Maxine (August 15, 1997). City woman found dead in apartment. Hartford Courant.
- ^ Activists to Rally For Woman Beaten To Death. Hartford Courant. October 11, 2012.
- ^ Owens, David (May 7, 2016). Murder Suspect Cleared By DNA. Hartford Courant.
External links[edit]
- 1960 births
- 20th-century American criminals
- 21st-century American criminals
- American male criminals
- American people convicted of manslaughter
- American people convicted of murder
- American rapists
- American serial killers
- People convicted of murder by Connecticut
- People from Hartford, Connecticut
- Serial killers from Connecticut
- Violence against women in the United States
- Living people