A Severed Leg Washes Up on Shore – a Possible Serial Killer’s Trail | Murder of Sade Robinson

Love and Murder focuses on relationships that turn to homicide

Now part of the Darkcast Network. Welcome to Indie Podcasts with a Dark side. She was a bright, driven 19 year old with a promising future and plans for a first date the next day. Part of her body washed up on Lake Michigan. This started a disturbing investigation that would uncover fire, dismemberment, and a man with a violent past. Today, we’re talking the murder of Sade Robinson. Right now, now on Love and Murder. Welcome, LaMs. Welcome to Love and Heartbreak, to Homicide, your weekly true crime podcast where I Kai discuss relationships that turn to homicide. Why don’t you take a seat, take a listen all the way to the end, and if you like it, don’t forget to subscribe. You can also subscribe on our patreon for free patreon.com loveandmurder where you do get some benefits for being a free subscriber. But if you’re looking to get deeper into the case, to get case files, to get pictures, to get court videos, and help me keep Love and Murder going, to keep the victim’s stories heard, then go ahead and choose any one of our bonus tiers and you can be one of the reasons that the victim’s stories keeps getting heard. Patreon.com loveandmurder now, without further ado, grab your butts, grab your delicious glass of apple juice, and let’s get into some Love and murder.

A severed human leg was found in Milwaukee park on April 2, 2024

On April 2, 2024, around 5:29pm, a 911 call came into the Milwaukee Police Department. Someone walking through the park stumbled upon something that didn’t belong there. A severed human leg had been found near the shoreline. The leg was, quote, severed just below the hip socket and appeared to have been sawn off. And it had pink toenail polish. I can’t imagine walking through the park on a bright, beautiful day and I come upon a severed leg.

Ah.

Ah. Kadahi police got the first call about a severed human leg found, quote, in or near the water along the Lake Michigan shoreline. The remains lay near a 100 foot bluff at the water’s edge, east of the golf course by the pump house. Since the discovery happened on county property, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office took control of the investigation. Very shocking. This is such a quiet area. It just amazes me. In a quiet area like this, something so heinous can happen. Well, I mean, heinous stuff happens everywhere. I, uh, hate when people act like, oh, you know, we pay such good taxes in this area. I can’t believe murder happens here. Murder happens anywhere. It shouldn’t. Don’t get me Wrong. But it happens everywhere. Like murder only happens in poor areas or something like that’s just crazy. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. But anyways. At first, police called it a, quote, death investigation, albeit suspicious, rather than immediately labeling it a homicide. But that changed quickly as more evidence came forward. Medical examiners studied the leg and determined that it belonged to a Black woman approximately 5ft tall. DNA testing soon confirmed the remains were of 19 year old Sade Robinson. Sade was, uh, a bright and driven young woman. She was a criminal justice student at Milwaukee Area Technical College and worked at Pizza Shuttle. Basically she wanted to go out and catch criminals. So she was passionate about this kind of work. Her manager, Justin Romano, described her as, quote, very outgoing. She would talk to everyone here. She was always there to lighten the mood. Co workers became worried when she missed her April 2nd shift and stopped answering her phone. This was not like Sade at all. She was always reliable and always on time to work. Not showing up for work the next day wasn’t like her at all. We kind of knew something was up. We had been calling her all day. One of the last people she spoke to before she vanished was a neighbor in her apartment building. Sade had told her that she was excited about a first date that night. One of Sade’s friends checked her location on the Life360 app and found that her phone had been in warning Mount park at around 4:33am on April 2, about 13 hours before someone found her remains. By the time night came on that same day, after almost 24 hours of silence, one of Sade’s friends called the Milwaukee Police Department. She reported Sade had missed work and wasn’t returning any calls. One employee later said, quote, she the friend texts me that she was worried about Sade a day after she missed her ship. Police immediately followed up on the missing person report and went and checked Sade’s apartment. At her apartment, there was literally no trace of her. Earlier that same day, uh, just after 7:30am Milwaukee police had responded to a car fire near 29th street and Libson Avenue. There they found a, uh, 2020 Honda Civic registered to Sade with quote, extreme fire damage completely damaging the interior. Despite the destruction, officers recovered pieces of Sade’s clothing from that night and parts of an iPhone that matched hers. By April 3, Milwaukee police officially listed Sade as critically missing, which brought more resources to the search. Investigators began mapping out where Sade went after her April 1 date. Phone records mapped Sade’s movement that Night from dinner at Twisted Fisherman to a sports bar, then to a man named Maxwell Anderson’s house near 39th Avenue and Oklahoma. Her phone stayed there until about 12:45am and finally to the park where someone found her leg. Her phone stayed there from roughly 3:30am until the battery died around 4:30am M the man Sade went on a date with was the same Ah, 33 year old Maxwell Anderson. According to investigators, Sade had text him at 4:15pm saying that she was quote, feeling seafood. So the two met at uh, the Twisted Fisherman. They met there at 5:20pm Surveillance footage showed them sitting together at the bar drinking and quote, having casual conversation. The bartender said Maxwell referred to it as a first date. They were there for about an hour before leaving in Sade’s 2020 Honda Civic. From there they went to Duke’s on Water, which is a sports bar in downtown. The video clearly shows Sade getting out of her own car while Maxwell gets out of the passenger side. Then Sade snapchatted with her friend while she was at the bar. That snap would be the last time anyone heard from her. They then left a bar around 9:06pm cameras recorded them leaving together. And a uh, witness reported that Sade showed that she was kind of drunk. By 9:24pm her phone was pinging near Maxwell’s house. Surveillance footage showed quote, two human figures arriving at the house in the night. Around 12:48am Sade’s phone left Maxwell’s house and began moving around Milwaukee, through downtown, near her apartment, to Pleasant Valley park by 1:33am and eventually to Wearmount park by 2:45am at 3:02am a figure was caught on camera descending a bluff to the beach. So if you notice this is all through tracking her phone and then on camera after the 9:24pm it literally only shows one person. Then at 4:31am, uh, Sade’s phone went dark. That final ping happened in the same area where her leg would later be found. Then at 7:29am on April 2, a uh, man matching Maxwell’s description was caught on surveillance walking away from a burning car on North 29th Street. A witness saw him toss a lighter inside. Firefighters responded at 7:32am and that’s when they found out it was Sade’s car. Surveillance shows Maxwell taking a bus later that day. He was seen wearing a gray hoodie and tan backpack. The same look as the man who torched Sade’s car. So far all roads are leading back to Maxwell. Also that morning Maxwell had text her, quote, morning. How’s work going? Now, police believe he sent this message knowing that she couldn’t answer and trying to make an alibi for himself. I don’t know what you’re talking, officer. Clearly, I thought she was still alive. If you look at the text that I sent her phone, phone records showed his phone quote, stayed off the network until about 9:30 that morning. So basically, his phone was off. So he thought people couldn’t track it all the way up until he turned it on to text her. Correction. To text her phone. On April 4, police pulled Maxwell over during a traffic stop in his car. They found the same hoodie worn by the suspect in the surveillance footage. The brains on this guy keep all evidence on or or around your person. As much evidence as possible.

Police searching Maxwell’s home found evidence that he may have been a serial killer

Don’t I always say that? So police arrested him. On April 5, they obtained a search warrant to search his home. And what they found inside was just shocking. There was blood on the bedding and on the walls leading to the basement. Several gas cans were found in the living room. A, uh, large black axe hung on the wall in the kitchen sink. There were knives hidden in the basement wall and between support beams. Wow. Police found women’s underwear. Women’s clothing were hidden throughout the space. Some pieces were stashed under a tool bench. Others were tucked away between support beams in the foundation wall. The items included bras and underwear. He sounds creepy and disgusting. More women’s clothing turned up in garbage containers elsewhere in the house. They also recovered USB drives, notebooks listing women’s names, and a woman’s Wisconsin id. Is, uh, this a serial killer? Did we just come upon a serial killer? Blood was found, quote, in plain sight on the front passenger door speaker in Maxwell’s car. Lab tests revealed something unexpected. The blood wasn’t Sade’s. An amended complaint stated, the preliminary DNA analysis supports the conclusion that there is no support for inconclusion of Robinson’s DNA in any of the blood or swabs that has been tested. However, despite not matching Sade, prosecutors call the significant amount of blood troubling. Police still don’t know whose blood it is. On April 6, police found more human remains near 31st and Galena, just blocks from where the burned car was found. A foot and what appeared to be flesh. The foot had pink nail polish matching the leg that had been found days earlier. On April 18, more remains washed up near Shore Milwaukee. A torso and an arm. Wisconsin State Crime Lab confirmed through DNA testing that the remains belonged to Sade. Then a human arm washed up at Waukegan Municipal beach in Illinois, about 53 miles from Milwaukee along the Lake Michigan shoreline. DNA testing was still pending on the arm as of this recording. On April 12th, Maxwell was formally charged with first degree intentional homicide, mutilated a corpse, arson of property other than a building. He pled. What did he plead? Lams not guilty. And the judge said, yeah, I hear that, but your bond is still set at $5 million. And also, I didn’t say this at the beginning, but the case is still ongoing. So everything I’m saying in here from this point forward and from this point before is all alleged because the case is still ongoing and I ain’t trying to be sued. His lawyer, Anthony Cotton, said, quote, he is presumed innocent and we will fight this matter vigorously in court. Police looking into Maxwell’s background found a history of violence. He had run ins with the law going back almost 10 years. His record started in July of 2014. In that month, I don’t know the exact day, he screamed and threw stuff in his mother’s house. When family members called 91 1, he, I mean, did the only logical thing, I guess he could think of, which was steal his mother’s car and then crashing it into a deck. During this outburst, he threw a, uh, relative to the ground, allegedly breaking several ribs. I guess that case is still ongoing too, because it’s alleged, and this was in 2014. How is that case still going? The next year, while staying with family in Egg harbor In June of 2015, Maxwell exploded when relatives suggested he get mental health help. He literally lost his damn mind exactly what they were saying you need help with. He just showed them you still need help with it. He threw a glass, punched a hole in the wall, and destroyed two cell phones so that they couldn’t call police. This rampage caused over $1300 in damages. So somebody says, I think you need mental health help, instead of saying, no, I don’t think so, I’m good, or yes, I think I’ll go. Like, really? Was that your way of showing people you didn’t need mental health help by doing stuff that looks like you need mental health help? Like the hell for this? He pled guilty to criminal damage, witness intimidation, and disorderly conduct with domestic abuse modifiers. So that’s his backstory. And as you can see, he has violent outburst tendencies where he does crazy shit.

Maxwell’s trial in Sade Robinson’s death is set for December 2024

So back to the current case. In pre trial, Maxwell’s defense filed motions to separate the arson charge from the homicide and mutilation counts, arguing that it would be prejudicial they also asked the court to move the trial out of Milwaukee county due to media coverage. Another motion requested more time on the jail computer so Maxwell could review the massive case files. His trial was set for December 9, 2024. Workers at Pizza Shuttle set up Elastin Memorial at, uh, the east side restaurant. Quote, she was the first employee I met. Always a compliment, a hug and a dance. We saw the news yesterday and thought we could offer a safe space, one that wouldn’t get taken down and where people could remember her at the place that she loved. Her co workers remembered Sade’s kindness. Quincy Alexander, who struggles with walking due to disabilities, said Sade would help him climb the stairs at Pizza Shuttle’s entrance. Winston Millhans, another colleague, described her as that burst of energy that co workers always give each other to help motivate them. Sade’s mother also spoke out. Quote, at this point, as a mother, I know somebody harmed my baby, and I’m going to need that person held fully accountable. And this was said by Sheena Scarborough, which is her mother’s name. Sade was described as, quote, a loving daughter, a, uh, cherished sister and a dear friend to many. Aiming to provide, quote, the dignified farewell she deserves, the Milwaukee County District’s Attorney’s office built a team of experts for the case. Assistant DA Ian Van Cruzan planned to call several scientific witnesses, a medical examiner, anthropologist, fingerprint expert and DNA expert. Prosecutors fought to keep all three charges together, saying they formed a connected series of acts. Quote, all of the evidence related to the arson is relative to establish in murder. This was a quote by Judge Laura Crivello, who actually agreed with the state. So the prosecution brought forth what they thought happened on the night of April 1st. According to the criminal complaint, this is where prosecutors believe everything started, which was at Maxwell’s house. Quote, the facts mentioned in this complaint cause compliant to conclude that the defendant intentionally killed and then dismembered Robinson with the intent to conceal the homicide. That puts the time of death somewhere between the time they arrived at his house and when Maxwell was seen at Wearmount Park. The text messages, location data and social media posts made a detailed map of Sade’s final evening. And apparently, initially, Maxwell lied to the police, but I couldn’t actually find what he said. But once they put together all the digital evidence, this contradicted his story. And this was actually what led police to name him as their prime suspect. Suspect. And the restaurant where Sade met Maxwell wasn’t randomly selected. Text messages showed Maxwell writing, quote, I need to stop at Twisted Fisherman to pick up my W2 from last year, and we could eat there first. And police were able to confirm that he had worked at the restaurant. So it’s like he’s setting. Allegedly, he’s setting everything up bit by bit. Now, I’m assuming when the trial does start, that the prosecution will highlight Maxwell’s previous history, his domestic violence, his intimidation of a witness, property damage, stuff like that. And then they’ll also point to a, uh, premeditation, something alleged by an informant. So somebody came forward and started singing like a bird. And this person said that he overheard Maxwell talking about, quote, cutting up a body back in early March. So if that was the case, then this is way premeditated. Defense attorney Anthony Cotton planned to argue that, quote, someone other than their client killed Robinson. I mean, do you have proof of that, or are you just saying that? Attorney Cotton’s team asked for more time so forensic experts from Garrett Discovery could examine Maxwell’s phone, claiming that it held potential alibi information. I mean, how he had his phone off. On December 2, the judge did grant the delay, which is why his trial hasn’t started yet. While the judge was granting the delay, they said that this discovery process was a, quote, mess and decided to move the trial to May 27, 2025. The defense later sent prosecutors a, uh, confidential report. And that confidential report was not shared with us, I guess, because it’s confidential, and it’s actually going to stay sealed during the hearing. So we won’t know about what’s in this report until even after the hearing. Now, I think that the defense is going to argue that the entire case is circumstantial and that, while disturbing the evidence, doesn’t definitely prove guilt. They’ll point to the blood found at Maxwell’s house and the car and said, well, it doesn’t match Sade. If it doesn’t fit, we must acquit. Then there’s the phone trail. But they could say, well, Maxwell’s phone didn’t ping there because it was off. So, again, that’s circumstantial. Then they might even actually attack the credibility of the informant and try to frame Maxwell’s behavior as suspicious and not criminal. And they might even say, well, this informant is the one who says this, and how do you know they didn’t kill Sade? But those are just my speculations. I’m not saying any of, uh, this is true or anything happened. This is all my opinion. And everything about the case is alleged because the case is currently still ongoing. Maxwell still is behind bars on his $5 million bail. While both sides prepare for the May trial, a pretrial actually happened on April 18th. And this pretrial was to handle the picking of the jury. Prosecutors chose first degree intentional homicide charges, which is the most serious charge under Wisconsin law, suggesting that they’re going to seek the maximal penalty if Maxwell is convicted. Judge Crivello said that keeping all the charges in one trial would protect Sade’s family from additional trauma. Quote, it would be difficult, devastating, I would say, to have to be at two different trials. So we had the prosecution, now the defense. Remember they said that they probably have some more evidence coming forward. Well, they said, uh, during this April 18 hearing that a forensic review that was conducted by an expert in Florida possibly proved that Maxwell had an alibi during Sade’s disappearance. Quote, our experts believe that there’s evidence on Mr. Anderson’s phone that suggests he was using the Internet, presumably at his home during the time frame that another person would have been driving Ms. Anderson’s car around. So this was the evidence they said was proof of Maxwell’s alibi. But how do you know it was him on the Internet? That’s what I want to know. How do you know it was him on the Internet? But I guess that’ll come out probably in trial. Community activist April Bentley said it caused so much emotion to rise to the surface for all the girls that are missing and how. He was a troller. He trolled the bars, he trolled the Internet, he trolled the neighborhoods. And he was looking for girls like Sade, and he found one, if not many. So as of now, Maxwell’s trial is still on track to begin May 27, 2025. And I will put that in my update pile to make sure that I keep an eye on it. What do you think about that case? Do you think all the evidence is just circumstantial? Do you think that Maxwell is guilty? Or do you think with the evidence that the defense is bringing forward, that it’s all a mix up and he’s innocent? And I’m going to put out a poll asking that, so you have those three options. Do you think it’s circumstantial evidence? Do you think he’s guilty? Do you think with what the defense brought forward, he’s innocent? So just go ahead and answer that. That poll will be in both the Patreon and the Spotify. So as usual, I definitely want to hear from you. And before I go, I want to remind you to go ahead and check out our Patreon. You can sign up for free patreon.com loveandmurder where you do get some benefits of signing up for free. But if you want to get bonus episodes like this week’s bonus episode that I put out and past bonus episodes because you get everything that I have ever put out, then go ahead and uh, join the Patreon and join one of our bonus tiers.

The bonus episode that just went out well last week was the case of a

The bonus episode that just went out well last week was the case of a 10 year old boy who watched his grandparents and his mother be executed right in front of him and the person who did this was his mother’s ex boyfriend. If you want to catch that bonus and more, then go ahead and choose one of the bonus tiers from $5 and up and you can get bonus episodes such as this one patreon.com loveandmurder and that is all I have for you today. And like I end every full episode, I want to remind you that it’s say it with me now. All love and no murder, y’all. Thanks for listening. Thanks for being a lamb. Thanks for your support and stay tuned for my commercial guest. Bye.

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