In Olathe, Kansas, a balding, pudgy father of four sits in prison convicted on three counts of homicide -- two
of capital murder -- and suspected in at least five other disappearances. During the last half of the 1990s, John
Robinson exploited the Internet's active world of sadomasochism with horrific results. By haunting chat rooms,
he pinpointed vulnerable women who were looking for romance and stalked them on-line, nefariously convincing them
of his maturity, sensitivity, and financial stability. He seemed like the perfect man. He enticed these women with
offers of a solid relationship and a lucrative job, persuading them to move to his hometown. Once they arrived
in Kansas, the women invariably disappeared. After a dramatic trial and days of intense jury deliberation, Robinson
now faces the death penalty. Disturbing as his crimes may be, what's most alarming is how he selected and lured
his victims and how willingly they responded. John Robinson expanded the hunting ground, the techniques, and the
technology of the sexual predator. He is the world's first-known Internet serial killer.
Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and the coauthors of Anyone You Want Me to Be have struggled to unravel
the enigma that is John Robinson. They reveal what can go wrong in a world where relationships are devoid of physical
contact, showing how easily mainstream Americans can be drawn into the dark underground of cybercrime. The Internet
has drastically expanded the realm of fantasy -- from the limited confines of physical reality to the worldwide
stage of virtual reality -- and anyone can become involved in an on-line seduction. Erotic fantasies, which were
once socially off-limits and extremely private, are now instantly accessible. This rapidly growing community masks
a sinister truth: With only a computer, an Internet connection, and a knack for creativity, criminals have the
power to reach millions of unsuspecting victims while remaining in complete control of their own -- often false
-- image. John Robinson was a true innovator in this variety of crime. Through interviews with law enforcement
specialists, Web experts, and others, John Douglas and Stephen Singular illustrate, with this case, a much larger
-- and more frightening -- pattern of Internet sex and violence. As technology proliferates in the twenty-first
century, so do opportunities for enterprising criminals like John Robinson. No one is better equipped than John
Douglas and Stephen Singular to expose the underworld of the Internet and to warn people about the dangers of cyberspace.
A cautionary and educational tale about being wary of strangers and false intimacy, Anyone You Want Me to Be is
also a terrifying, high-tech story of crime and punishment.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Preface
Hard Choices & Missed Opportunities
One Man's Struggle
A Most Seductive Web
The Killing Fields
Fighting Back
Waiting Him Out
Barrels of Evidence
Epilogue
Appendix A
Appendix B
Acknowledgments
Index