Gov. Laura Kelly denied clemency for a Kansas inmate sentenced to death, rejecting John Robinson’s request to commute his death sentence. The Kansas Press Association reports that Kelly said the request did not meet clemency criteria, specifically noting the absence of a credible claim of innocence or evidence of manifest injustice.
Robinson is 82 and is described as having been convicted for killing eight women from the mid-1980s until his arrest in 2000. Investigators found the bodies of two victims inside metal barrels at his Linn County property south of the Kansas City metro area. Robinson’s case is also described as pending on appeal, and his attorney, Madeline Cohen, said setting an execution date could take many years and that his age and medical condition make it likely he would die before execution.
Kelly’s decision comes in a Kansas context where the death penalty was reinstated in 1994, with no execution reported since 1965 and no one sentenced to death in the past decade. The governor’s office did not provide additional information on the criteria used. Earlier this month, Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach urged Kelly to deny clemency requests from eight Kansas inmates on death row.