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Woman Finds Out 'Adoptive Uncle' Is Actually Serial Killer Who Murdered Her Mum

Woman Finds Out 'Adoptive Uncle' Is Actually Serial Killer Who Murdered Her Mum

The killer took her while she was a baby and sold her to his brother

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

A woman in the United States discovered that the man she always knew as her adoptive 'Uncle John' was actually a serial killer who was accused of killing her biological mother.

Heather Robinson, from Illinois, grew up with two loving parents but says her world was turned upside down in 2000 when, aged 15, she learned that her dad's brother had been arrested on suspicion of murder - and that one of the alleged victims was her biological mum.

Lisa Stasi and Tiffany Stasi (who had her name changed to Heather Robinson) were reported missing in 1985.
National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children

Speaking to 20/20, Heather said: "When I heard that John had been arrested... I remember [my adoptive mother] running up and down the stairs panicking. [She was saying] 'How could he do this to us? We're going to go to jail. This is horrible. Our lives are over.'"

After he was arrested, the shocking true story of Heather's early years was revealed, and she discovered that she had been born Tiffany Stasi.

Tiffany and her biological mother Lisa Stasi had been reported as missing from Kansas City, Missouri in 1985, and by the year 2000 their family had presumed they were dead.

However, it transpired that while Lisa had been brutally murdered by John Edward Robinson - who Heather would grow up to believe was her uncle - he had spared the life of the baby.

Robinson, who killed at least eight women, then sold the tiny baby to his brother in Florida, after forging adoption papers, and she was renamed Heather Tiffany Robinson.

Heartbreakingly, Lisa's body has never been found, but now Heather has vowed to find out the truth surrounding what happened to her biological mother, who was just 19 when she vanished.

John Edward Robinson is currently on death row in Kansas.
Johnson County Sheriff's Dept

"I want to find out where she is," Heather told the news outlet.

"I want to know who she was. She was a scared, abused, 19-year-old girl with a newborn. Desperate to keep her child and be a mother. That was the whole reason John got her... I know I will. I'll find her."

Robinson was able to live a double life - outwardly he was a beloved dad and grandfather, but eventually another vile side emerged as he was arrested on charges of theft and sexual battery.

In 2003 he was found guilty of three murders and was handed the death penalty. At a second trial in 2005, he admitted to five more murders and received multiple life sentences without the possibility of parole.

He was also given a five-to-20-year sentence for 'interfering with the parental custody' of Heather.

He is currently on death row in Kansas.

Featured Image Credit: 20/20

Topics: US News, crime