Milwaukee killer Maxwell Anderson played Netflix series with mutilation the night he killed Sade Robinson, juror says
The jury that convicted 34-year-old Maxwell Anderson June 6 in the killing and dismemberment of 19-year-old Sade Robinson took less than an hour to render a decision and were informed of new evidence once the trial concluded.
"Everyone agreed pretty early on in the morning that he was guilty," juror Melissa Blascoe said.
Most of the short time in the jury room was spent looking meticulously at the law to decide whether to convict him of first-degree intentional homicide or first-degree reckless homicide, she said. Anderson was found guilty on all counts: intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse and arson.
Blascoe, a 33-year-old social worker, said it was revealed in post-trial meeting with the prosecution that on the night of Robinson's murder, Anderson turned on the Netflix series "Love, Death & Robots" while Robinson was inside the home. During the final episode of volume two of the animated series, a corpse is dismembered on a beach. The prosecution believes Anderson dismembered Robinson on a small beach at Warnimont Park in Cudahy.
"I was like, oh, ... that's disgusting because that could have been where he got some of his ideas or fantasies," Blascoe said.
A "turning point" in the case for Blascoe was the last day of testimony, June 5, when jurors were shown disturbing and graphic images of Robinson inside Anderson's home that were deleted from the phone.
"That was pretty damning evidence that shook everyone," she said. "I physically felt like I was gonna throw up at that point. I know a lot of people were shaking and crying."
Blascoe said it was the turning point for her because "that was really the first time they put Sade at his house and we could physically see that. It put the nail in his coffin, so to say."
Blascoe described how before that moment the prosecution team, led by Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan, were showing jurors grainy or darkened footage in the early morning hours that didn't clearly show Anderson driving Robinson's car before torching it outside an abandoned home on the city's north side.
"There was just a lot of video footage and a lot of it didn't make sense because he was just making circles around the city and probably just kind of panicking," Blascoe said.
Blascoe felt the prosecution did their job of proving intent to kill Robinson, noting a graphic photo of Anderson holding Robinson's right breast as she lay incapacitated. Robinson's right breast is among her body parts that haven't been recovered.
"This is his trophy in a way," Blascoe said of Anderson. "Those pictures will be in my mind for quite some time."
As Blascoe sat in the courtroom for two weeks after being called for jury duty, which was the case for 14 other people, she was vaguely familiar with the case after seeing it in the news in April 2024, but hadn't followed it closely since then. She didn't think she was going to be picked after revealing during jury selection that she previously worked for Child Protective Services and dealt with Children's Court often.
Blascoe said jurors grew anxious after hearing the extreme nature of the crime.
"I don't think anyone was ready to see the defendant at the table," she said.
There was way more agreement than dissent amongst the jury for the 45 minutes they discussed the case, she said. It was mainly following the jury instructions and the law, Blascoe said, adding that everyone got a chance to speak and ask questions.
"I feel I can walk away with a clean conscience," she added. "If anything, I'm walking away from this experience just knowing that there's good humans out there."
In addition to meeting with Judge Laura Crivello after the trial, the jurors also met the prosecution and defense teams where evidence was discussed that wasn't presented at trial. As the jurors departed the post-trial meetings, they didn't receive a definite answer on why Anderson killed Robinson. "It was like speculative," Blascoe said. "Obviously, there was some planning that went into this."
Anderson will be sentenced Aug. 15. He faces a mandatory life sentence, but part of that could be extended supervision. Crivello will make the final decision.
The Journal Sentinel also reached out to several other jurors and have not yet heard back.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Maxwell Anderson played Netflix show the night he killed Sade Robinson
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