00:00:00
♪♪ [ Water trickling ] -This is a once
in a lifetime case. All I did was
I pieced things together.
00:00:20
I got the call
from my inspector. He didn't have a lot
of information, so it was more or less like,
00:00:27
go down there and figure out
what we have. You don't often see
body parts being discovered.
00:00:38
-So this is odd?
-Yes, absolutely. Absolutely odd. -Do you have any idea what
you're getting yourself into?
00:00:46
-Not at that point. Like, it could be
a boating accident. I don't know. You know, I --
at that point, I did not know.
00:00:55
When I get there, I make my way down to the beach
and I stopped cold. It was probably
about 30 feet up the bluff.
00:01:05
There was just no way for
that to get there by accident. And that's when I knew
we had a homicide.
00:01:13
-You don't know who
this victim is? -She was definitely
an African-American female.
00:01:17
Don't know who she is. I don't know, obviously,
who any suspect is. I know nothing.
00:01:24
I -- I had nothing. I needed to know
what happened to her. [ Keys jingle ] -What brought you here?
00:01:39
-We came just to do
a welfare check. My name is Nora Donegan,
and I was a patrol officer.
00:01:47
-Who lives here?
-Sade Robinson. Her friends
hadn't heard from her. We'll knock first.
00:01:55
♪♪ ♪♪ Sade was very excited
about a date that she was going to be having. ♪♪ Right away, alarm bells
were going off for me.
00:02:24
We needed to figure
out who this date was. -You can't stop
thinking about this. -No.
00:02:34
There was just something
odd about everything. Maybe the timing of them. -Missing person,
body part found.
00:02:43
-I had a weird feeling. I reached out to
the sheriff's department. Detective Donner from the
Milwaukee Sheriff's Department.
00:02:53
I just said,
you know, I've got this girl who's missing, and I'm curious. Do you think that
this could be related?
00:03:02
She said she thinks that
that's going to be her girl. I got chills. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪
00:03:52
♪♪ [ Waves crashing ] -Along the Wisconsin shoreline
of Lake Michigan sits a rocky wooded area
called Warnimont Park.
00:04:08
-It's not somewhere
that you find a lot of people. -On April 2nd, 2024...
-What's up, man?
00:04:16
-...a young man out for a walk
with a friend... made that gruesome find. -Lead Detective Jo Donner
00:04:29
of the Milwaukee County
Sheriff's Office says she knew
she had a homicide, but nothing else.
00:04:35
You have a leg,
where's the rest of her? -At that point, I didn't know. -So you have human remains,
00:04:46
no weapon, no suspect. Where do we go from here? -That -- that was a question I asked myself
most of that night.
00:04:55
-But with the help of Milwaukee
police detective Nora Donegan, Donner had a suspicion
who her victim might be --
00:05:03
Sade Robinson,
a 19-year-old college student. On the evening
of April 1st, 2024,
00:05:10
she had plans to go on a date, but had not been seen since. Donner soon learned
that Sade's car
00:05:19
had been found behind
an abandoned building three miles from
Sade's apartment, set on fire.
00:05:26
-This is Sade's vehicle. -This is pretty much
completely destroyed. -It is. It definitely negated
any type of DNA, fingerprints,
00:05:34
anything like that. -Though the car
was heavily damaged, it still revealed a great deal
to the fire investigator.
00:05:42
-The passenger side
smelled heavily of a petroleum distillate. -So what did that tell them?
00:05:47
-That it was more than
likely an arson. -And though the car's
interior was destroyed,
00:05:53
investigators were able
to recover something crucial. -So underneath
the driver's seat,
00:06:00
Sade's purse
was tucked under there. To me, it definitely
eliminates a robbery, right?
00:06:06
-And when investigators
opened the trunk of Sade's car, they made
a distressing discovery.
00:06:13
-We found her pants,
her underwear, her jacket, and her shoes. -This is the clothes
she was wearing that night.
00:06:22
-And the jeans,
it was apparent that somebody else had
taken them off. They were turned inside out
00:06:28
and the underwear
were still attached to them. So yeah,
it was definitely a red flag.
00:06:33
-Another red flag was
something Detective Donner and her team noticed
about the driver's seat.
00:06:39
Something that suggested someone
else had driven Sade's car. -We take note
of the seat positioning
00:06:46
because that will give
height indicators. I was able to determine about
how far back that seat was.
00:06:52
I then went to a dealership
and found an identical model. -With the driver's seat
in the same position
00:06:59
as the one in Sade's vehicle, Detective Donner
grabbed a deputy who was about Sade's height.
00:07:05
-And when she sat in the car, she couldn't touch the pedals
and her arms were straight out.
00:07:11
And she's like, "There's no way,
I can't drive like this without perching on
the very edge of the seat."
00:07:16
-Donner also had a taller
detective sit in the vehicle and based on her experiment,
00:07:22
Donner says the last person
to drive Sade's car had to be at least
six feet tall.
00:07:29
There was no way Sade was the last person
in that driver's seat. -No. No. -The day after finding
the remains on the beach,
00:07:37
investigators contacted Sade's
mother, Sheena Scarbrough. -I'll never forget that day.
00:07:44
Like, what's going on? -Sheena immediately sent
for Sade's 16-year-old sister, Adrianna, to come home
early from school.
00:07:54
-We drove over to my mom's house and they were all
very obviously upset. -But Sade's family hoped
that this was a mistake
00:08:05
and Sade would be found
alive and well. The officer asked Adrianna to share Sade's cell phone
location from her Life360 app.
00:08:14
-What is Life360? -Unlike Find My iPhone, that gives you where
your phone is right now,
00:08:21
Life360 gives you
historical data. And it uses GPS, so it tends to be far more
precise than the cell records.
00:08:31
-And I pulled up the location. I saw that her phone had died at 4:35 a.m.
at Warnimont Park.
00:08:41
And when I saw that,
it was like... ...that was a very unusual place
for her to be.
00:08:49
And when I said that,
the detective, his face, like, dropped
and he was like -- he just like...
00:08:58
...yeah, he shut down kinda. -I knew... -[ Sade laughs ] -...something wasn't right.
00:09:08
Somebody had hurt my baby. It's your video, Sade. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -DNA tests hadn't yet determined
00:09:35
if Sade Robinson
matched the remains found along Lake Michigan. In the meantime,
investigators began tracing
00:09:43
the last known hours
of her life. Younger sister, Adrianna,
saw Sade on Easter Sunday,
00:09:50
the day before her date. -We had worked together
that morning. She picked me up.
00:09:56
-Sade and Adrianna worked
as servers at a country club. -She was one of the best
workers they had.
00:10:02
-It was one of Sade's two jobs, on top of being
a full-time student at a local technical college.
00:10:10
-She wanted better
for herself. She wanted better for me. -The hard work was paying off,
00:10:15
with the 19-year-old
able to rent an apartment and buy a car all on her own. Sade was set to graduate
with an associate's degree
00:10:23
in criminal justice
the following month. Adrianna says Sade hoped
to then enlist in the military.
00:10:31
-And she was looking
to join the Air Force, so she had been meeting
with recruiters.
00:10:35
That's how much
she wanted to do everything that she dreamed of doing. -After working at
the country club
00:10:44
on Sunday,
March 31st, 2024, Adrianna and Sade headed
to their grandparent's house
00:10:51
for Easter dinner. -It was a really,
really good night. And then she took me home.
00:10:57
Whenever she dropped me off,
it was always like a hesitation. We'd always be like, "love you."
00:11:04
And that night,
I still remember it. It was like
a different kind of hesitation.
00:11:09
-The next morning,
Sade FaceTimed her mom, Sheena. -She was just glowing
through the FaceTime.
00:11:16
She just looked so beautiful. She was in a bubbly mood. She didn't mention
anything to me
00:11:21
about going on a date
that evening. -Security cameras
in Sade's building captured her
leaving her apartment
00:11:28
at 9 a.m. that morning. 15 minutes later, Sade arrived
for her shift at the restaurant,
00:11:33
Pizza Shuttle,
former owner, Mark Gold -- -Everybody loved her
immediately. And that's --
that's kind of rare, I think,
00:11:41
in a restaurant or any business. And she's a great worker. She comes in on time.
She smiles.
00:11:46
Every time she would work with
me, I'd say, "What's up, Sade?" And she'd go, "The sky, Mark."
00:11:52
She always said it
and now I miss it. -Sade left Pizza Shuttle
at 5 p.m. and texted a man
she'd recently met,
00:12:01
Maxwell Anderson. -They are discussing where they're going to
meet up for their date.
00:12:07
-Sade's text messages
show they chose the Twisted Fisherman. [ Phone chimes ] Armed with that information,
00:12:16
investigators then headed
to the restaurant and obtained
security camera footage
00:12:21
of Sade and her date together. Detective Jo Donner
examined the footage for clues.
00:12:28
What sort of standing out
to you as you watch this video? Why is it important? -You know, it's the demeanor.
00:12:34
He does a lot of talking
to the bartender, doesn't do a whole lot
of talking to her, um,
00:12:39
or even, like,
turning and looking at her. It's just -- it seems
a little unusual for a date.
00:12:46
There's not a lot
of interaction. -Around 6:30 p.m.,
Sade and Maxwell Anderson left the restaurant together.
00:12:55
with the help
of Sades Life360 app, the detectives knew just
where the pair were headed.
00:13:01
-I'm so glad that --
that she had that app. -So when you found out Sade
had it on her phone,
00:13:07
you must have thought --
goldmine. -Yeah. Score, big time. -According to her Life360 app,
00:13:15
Sade then went to a nearby bar
called Duke's On Water. When investigators headed there,
00:13:22
they found this security
camera footage of Sade and her date arriving
together at the bar.
00:13:28
Again, Detective Donner took
note of the pair's dynamic. -So they are playing
beer pong with this couple.
00:13:36
And honestly,
this is the only time that it looks
like she's having fun. I noticed that she seemed to
be smiling and enjoying herself.
00:13:46
-Sade and Maxwell Anderson left the bar together
around 9 p.m. -She's walking fine.
00:13:53
Um, doesn't seem to be impaired. -I think it's interesting
that they're walking together,
00:13:59
but not until the very end
he kind of reaches over. -Right. That's the only, like,
00:14:05
real physical contact
other than briefly while they were
playing beer pong that I see them have.
00:14:12
-From there, Sade's date
got in the car with her. The Life360 app
shows Sade arrived
00:14:18
at Maxwell Anderson's house
around 9:30. Three hours later, the app shows Sade's phone
left his house.
00:14:26
Sade's car began traveling
toward her apartment, but instead of going home,
the car drove past the building.
00:14:35
Multiple surveillance
cameras would go on to capture Sade's car, with fogged up windows
driving around for hours.
00:14:45
Did there seem to be any
kind of, like, rhyme or reason to where this vehicle
was going that night?
00:14:52
-No. It seemed to be going
all over the place. -Then, at 2:53 a.m., the Life360 app shows
Sade's phone arriving
00:15:03
at Warnimont Park, where the battery on her phone
would later die. When the investigators checked
for security camera footage
00:15:10
from a nearby building, they made a chilling discovery. The grainy footage
shows someone, possibly a man,
00:15:19
dragging something to the lake. -This is the path
that he took. And then he would go down.
00:15:28
-Right around here?
-Yeah. And this is where
he disappears off of camera. It drops off right there.
00:15:33
That's where we
lose sight of him. -Roughly 90 minutes
after first going out of view,
00:15:42
the shadowy figure
walks away from the lake, but now carrying something. -The final time
that it comes up,
00:15:51
you do see a large backpack
on their back. -Who do you believe
that figure is? -Maxwell Anderson.
00:16:02
-Who was the last person Sade
Robinson was seen with? -Maxwell Anderson. -Who is this person?
00:16:09
How do you know my daughter? ♪♪ ♪♪ -Had you ever heard
the name Maxwell Anderson?
00:16:29
-No.
There were so many questions. Like, how they knew each other?
What his motives were?
00:16:35
-The night Sade Robinson
disappeared was not the first time
she had met Maxwell Anderson.
00:16:41
Three days earlier, Sade, seen here on
security camera footage, walked into a bar.
00:16:48
The owner told "48 Hours" that
Sade was looking for a job. While there,
she met the bartender --
00:16:56
six-foot-one,
33-year-old Maxwell Anderson. They exchanged numbers and Maxwell walked
Sade to her car.
00:17:05
-It seemed like he
was trying to be a gentleman to this girl he was
trying to impress.
00:17:10
-What did you learn
about Maxwell Anderson, his background? -I learned that he had been
00:17:16
in the service industry
for a while. He owned a home down
on the south side of Milwaukee.
00:17:22
He was in the Navy
for a brief amount of time. -Why did he leave
the military? -I believe it was
a general discharge.
00:17:30
-But the man Sade would
go on a date with also had a criminal record that
included operating a vehicle
00:17:36
while intoxicated,
disorderly conduct, and more. -It was a little disturbing, like, a history of violence
towards his own family.
00:17:45
-And in 2019, he'd also
been accused of violence towards a total stranger. According to this police report,
00:17:53
Maxwell, seen in this video
filmed by a bystander, beat a man who tried to
intervene during an argument
00:18:01
Maxwell was having
with a girlfriend. He was arrested for battery but pleaded guilty
to a lesser charge.
00:18:08
-This guy has got a temper and he doesn't really
seem to care who he takes
that temper out on.
00:18:13
-You're thinking about what
could have happened with Sade? -Yes. -But could he be responsible
for Sade's disappearance?
00:18:20
Detective Donner needed proof. -Just spending the evening
with her is not enough.
00:18:27
-Right. -With the help
of Sade's Life360 app, Donner knew Sade had driven
to Maxwell's house on April 1st.
00:18:36
-I wanted to --
I wanted to get into his house and we definitely had
enough to do that.
00:18:42
-On April 4th, Donner got a search warrant
to enter Maxwell's home and she sent another team
to watch him.
00:18:49
-So, they begin to follow him. We prefer to not have
the resident in the house. It's just safer.
00:18:57
-Within minutes,
the team realized Maxwell was heading home
and they had to act fast.
00:19:03
-All right,
let's take him into custody. The deputy
and the detective said that,
00:19:08
yeah, they definitely
felt him shaking. -Maxwell Anderson
later asked for a lawyer
00:19:13
and was never interrogated. But when investigators
finally entered the house, they were surprised.
00:19:21
-There was no big
bloody crime scene. -And no sign
of a cleanup either. -It was very apparent
00:19:28
that the dismemberment
didn't happen there. -Investigators did find
something of interest.
00:19:35
-A lot of knives,
a lot of knives. There were, I believe, like
51 found in the kitchen alone.
00:19:42
-Anything that could have
been used to dismember a body? -I suppose. None of those knives
were -- were used.
00:19:49
-After searching the house, Detective Donner was
still missing key elements, like a weapon, crime scene,
00:19:57
or even a single piece
of direct evidence in Maxwell Anderson's home tying
him to Sade's disappearance.
00:20:05
-It seemed like
every hopeful, you know, lead, I got disappointed each time. -Detective Donner
started looking into
00:20:15
other possible suspects. -While Maxwell Anderson seemed
like a really good suspect.
00:20:21
I wasn't going to focus on him. -And she even considered
the possibility that the remains on the beach
belonged to someone else.
00:20:29
-What if this isn't her? So, I still checked
missing databases. -But Sade's loved ones
were certain
00:20:36
Donner was on the right track. They sent a message covering Maxwell Anderson's yard
with balloons and signs,
00:20:44
all in Sade's favorite color,
pink. Increasing the pressure
on the investigation
00:20:51
was the shocking discovery
of more body parts across the county. -More human remains believed
to be those of the young woman.
00:20:59
-The remains seem
to be from the same victim. As law enforcement searched
for more remains,
00:21:05
so did volunteers --
including Keke and Arlinda -- family friends of Sade's. -They were already searching.
00:21:13
Why even get involved? -I didn't see
enough police out here. We came by and the area,
it was empty,
00:21:20
but we were like, "Okay,
let's go back and double check and see if we
can find anything else."
00:21:23
-While searching
a wooded area, Keke found a blanket
that belonged to Sade. The next day,
Arlinda discovered a human bone
00:21:32
next to train tracks. Both were found in areas investigators
had already searched.
00:21:38
-Could you understand
why people might feel a little frustrated
when they hear that?
00:21:42
-Absolutely. Absolutely. -Detective Donner
was also frustrated. That's when this woman,
Chloe Wright, stepped forward.
00:21:52
-It was like heart stopping. I mean, it's just like,
this can't be real. -Chloe had dated Maxwell
for more than a year,
00:22:01
and she was stunned to hear
her ex-boyfriend was a suspect. -This type of gruesome,
graphic murder
00:22:10
I just didn't see from him. -Chloe and Maxwell
broke up a year earlier. She told us he was
never physically abusive,
00:22:20
but he could be
verbally abusive. -He made comments about,
like, my body weight often.
00:22:27
Um, me not being attractive.
He wasn't a great boyfriend. -This sounds toxic. -It was very toxic.
00:22:34
-Chloe describes Maxwell
as a secretive person, but he did share
one secret with her
00:22:39
investigators were
very interested to learn. -I remember it was like winter when he had brought it up
and he was like,
00:22:47
"If we're still
together come spring, I'm going to take you
to this secret beach."
00:22:52
And then eventually
he took me there. -But Maxwell was so protective
of his "secret beach,"
00:23:00
that when Chloe
drove them there, he would only give her
step-by-step directions.
00:23:05
-He didn't want me to know
the name in case we broke up. He didn't want me bringing
other people to his secret spot.
00:23:11
-But she remembered
where it was. -The police were like,
"Okay, you direct us." -Repeating the directions
Maxwell had always given her,
00:23:20
Chloe led investigators straight
to his secret beach... Warnimont Park. -Just having that proof
that he knew about it
00:23:30
and was familiar
with it to a level that he referred to it
as his "secret beach,"
00:23:35
that -- that was pretty big. -What do we think
happened here? -This is where
he dismembered her.
00:23:43
-When you think of
that special place, special to him. what comes to mind? -Sade.
00:23:52
Yeah.
Think about Sade. -On April 12th, 2024, Milwaukee County Sheriff
Denita Ball
00:24:02
made an announcement. -The severed leg has been
preliminarily identified as belonging to Miss Robinson.
00:24:13
-That same day,
Maxwell Anderson was charged with first-degree
intentional homicide,
00:24:19
mutilation of a corpse,
and arson. He would plead not guilty
to all charges. DNA testing would later confirm
00:24:29
the other remains
were also Sade. [ Family chatters ] On what should have been
Sade's 20th birthday,
00:24:39
her family held
a memorial for her. It would take a year
before they would see the man accused of killing Sade
brought to trial.
00:24:49
♪♪ ♪♪ -In May 2025, Maxwell Anderson's
murder trial began. Detective Donner knew
it would be a tough fight
00:25:17
with a circumstantial case. -They really wanted that
gotcha piece of direct evidence,
00:25:23
you know, and it never came. -Use your common sense
and search for the truth. -Prosecutor Ian Vance-Curzan
00:25:32
took the jury through
the last minutes of Sade's life. -She was murdered
by Maxwell Anderson.
00:25:38
Her body was dismembered
by Maxwell Anderson in a vicious
and gruesome manner, and then Maxwell Anderson
attempted
00:25:47
to make her disappear
from this world. -The prosecutor showed
the jury this grainy footage
00:25:53
of Anderson's home captured on
his neighbor's security camera. It's hard to see,
but investigators say it shows
00:26:01
Maxwell and Sade, in silhouette, arriving at his house and turning on the light
of his second floor living room.
00:26:09
Then through
the upstairs window, moving shadows can be seen. Investigators had pored
over the footage,
00:26:17
hoping to find proof
of Anderson murdering Sade. -Do we have any idea
what's happening now?
00:26:24
-I don't. -But Detective Donner
did notice something that happened hours later. -I'm only seeing
one person leaving,
00:26:32
and I note that that
one person that is leaving is the same
as the fence and the gate.
00:26:40
-Which is pretty tall.
-It is six foot. -Six foot. -Investigators suspect Maxwell
00:26:45
had already killed
Sade by that time. -Max had nothing
to do with these crimes. -Maxwell Anderson's defense
attorney, Anthony Cotton,
00:26:54
told the jury that Anderson, being the last known person
with Sade, proved nothing.
00:27:00
-We don't dispute any
of that timeline, that they went out together
and went back to Max's house,
00:27:04
but that doesn't mean
he killed her. -And he dismissed the footage
collected by the prosecution.
00:27:10
-All of this video, all
the hundreds of hours of video, you can see the car, but you can't ever conclude
00:27:17
that he is the one who
is driving this vehicle. It's a pure speculation. -Cotton highlighted
what he called
00:27:23
the "serious holes"
in the state's case, mainly the lack of motive
and the unknown cause of death.
00:27:30
-There is absolutely no reason for Max to commit
a crime like this. Why would he ever
do something like that?
00:27:37
-Cotton pointed out that
authorities can't even say how Sade died
because some of her remains
00:27:43
have not been recovered. CBS 58 reporter
Adam Rife says the defense's case
seemed to be effective
00:27:51
with courtroom watchers. There was talk
as this trial wore on that not all the evidence is there.
00:27:58
If it was Maxwell Anderson,
how did he do it? And where is that murder weapon? -But what would the jury think?
00:28:06
Did any of you think,
"Oh, this is a slam dunk"? We spoke to
four of the jurors --
00:28:12
Becca, Marilynn,
Nickie, and Mel, who says she was unimpressed
with the footage of Sade's car
00:28:20
that the prosecution presented. -I was like,
where the hell is this going? Why are they showing us this?
00:28:27
Who's driving? We don't know. Like,
there's no definitive proof. -But there was one video
that did make an impression.
00:28:34
This footage of a man leaving
the scene of a burning vehicle. You can hear
a bystander calling out.
00:28:44
♪♪ Marilynn, the jury forewoman, says the footage reminded her of
the mystery person on the beach.
00:28:56
-You know,
that is the same silhouette that we saw walking
the streets of Milwaukee.
00:29:02
-The man then
gets on a city bus and you can see
his face crystal clear. It was Maxwell Anderson.
00:29:11
What does he have with him? -He has
large backpack still. -The backpack, pants, and shoes
Anderson is wearing on the bus
00:29:19
were never recovered. His gray jacket
was eventually found in his neighbor's garbage can.
00:29:26
When the jacket was tested, it had Sade's DNA
inside the hood and on the zipper pull.
00:29:34
-Now, could it be
maybe explained away? Sure.
I mean, she did go to his house. -Why would you throw it
in a trash can
00:29:42
two houses away from your home? -Exactly. -State calls Chloe Wright. -Chloe Wright,
who chose to testify off-camera,
00:29:51
spoke about her ex-boyfriend
and his "secret beach." -He looked at her like, "I'm going to
kill you right now.
00:29:59
Don't you say a word." -You all noticed that?
-We all noticed it. -She played a very vital role,
I think.
00:30:06
-But jurors would soon
learn about a safe found in Sade's apartment. Inside? Marijuana and what appeared
to be methamphetamine pills.
00:30:17
Although the pills were never
sent to the state crime lab for conclusive testing,
00:30:22
the defense seemed to suggest
more should have been done to see if Sade's murder was
really connected to those drugs.
00:30:30
-I felt that it was
irrelevant to the case because there was never,
ever any evidence
00:30:36
that pointed to her
as being a substance abuser. -They're just trying
to distract us.
00:30:41
-So it never crossed
your mind once that maybe this was
a drug deal gone wrong or --
00:30:46
-Never. Never.
-No. -Investigators had tested
Sade's remains. Did they find any drugs
in her system?
00:30:54
-No. Caffeine was
the only thing found. -Jurors say it was actually one of the last pieces
of evidence that they saw
00:31:02
that made the biggest impact. Photos found on
Maxwell Anderson's phone that he had taken and deleted.
00:31:11
The photos are of
Sade at his home. -She is face down. Her arm is over her face.
00:31:21
You see the hand
of a white male grasping what would be her right breast. -Do you believe Sade
was deceased
00:31:30
or alive in those pictures? Do you know? -I do not know. My -- my assumption is
that she was deceased.
00:31:38
-To see the way
he treated her, like... ...like an object. It was really disturbing.
00:31:50
-I mean, I personally felt
like I had lived the last few hours
of Sade's life with her.
00:31:55
And you were walking kind of her
footsteps throughout the night, and to see her end up
like that was disgusting.
00:32:04
Humiliating. Just horrible. -We went all back
into the jury room and there was a lot of quiet,
a lot of hugs,
00:32:14
and just everybody was
just kind of sick. -That did it. That did it. -The state has
no more witnesses.
00:32:21
The state rests. -Okay. -And then Maxwell Anderson's
defense rested without calling
a single witness.
00:32:29
-Is it still your decision
not to testify? -That is my decision. -The jurors headed
to deliberate,
00:32:36
but they didn't deliberate
for long. After breaking for the night, the jury had a verdict
in less than an hour.
00:32:44
-We want to come in here
and we want to make a statement with how fast
we make this decision.
00:32:50
-We, the jury,
find the defendant, Maxwell Anderson, guilty of first degree
intentional homicide,
00:32:56
guilty of mutilating a corpse, guilty of arson
of property other than... -Guilty of
Sade Robinson's murder.
00:33:06
But two months later, Maxwell Anderson decided
to tell his story. -Mr. Anderson,
what would you like to say?
00:33:14
♪♪ -Look at the birthday girl
cooking on her birthday. -Look at her. [ Laughs ]
-Come on, Sade.
00:33:35
-Oh, yeah, baby girl. [ Speaking indistinctly ] -This is the most heinous
crime this court will see.
00:33:44
It doesn't get
more serious than this. -Sade Robinson's family
was determined to see
00:33:51
that Maxwell Anderson
would never be free again. They spoke directly to the judge
at his sentencing.
00:33:59
17-year-old Adrianna -- -When Maxwell Anderson
murdered my sister, he redefined my definition
of misfortune.
00:34:06
He made it to where I cannot
meet any person without the fear that they're going to
harm or kill me.
00:34:10
[ Breathing shakily ] Because all my sister did
was meet someone, and as a result,
he ended her life.
00:34:18
He tried to erase her
existence and her value. Now I no longer have
the opportunity to try
00:34:24
and give her everything
she gave me. -Sade's father,
Carlos Robinson told the court what
justice would be for him.
00:34:33
-To lose your child
in this manner is unthinkable. What he has done is
inconceivable.
00:34:43
He deserves the punishment
that he gave to my daughter. Everything that he did
should be done to him.
00:34:56
To me, that's justice. -Sheena wearing
Sade's favorite color, pink, on her eyelids,
00:35:05
wanted answers from
her daughter's killer. -You disrespectfully spread
my daughter across Milwaukee
00:35:13
like a piece of trash. How dare you? -And she made
a heartbreaking plea. -I'm going to
respectfully request
00:35:22
that you confess where
my daughter's crown is. Sade's crown, her head, which
has still never been found.
00:35:33
-You've already done
the worst. You can at least
give us that much. -But if Sade's family
was hoping for answers,
00:35:41
they were disappointed. -Mr. Anderson,
what would you like to say? -Maxwell Anderson
finally chose to speak.
00:35:49
-I would like
to start by saying that from the bottom
of my heart, my deepest and most
sincere condolences
00:35:58
go out to Sade's family as well as everyone else
affected by this tragedy. That being said, Your Honor,
I did not commit these crimes.
00:36:10
I hope and pray that
further investigations not only prove my innocence, but find and deliver
true justice.
00:36:20
-You would think
that he would tell us the things we wanted to know,
and finally feel some remorse
00:36:25
after sitting in jail
for these months, and then he didn't. -Anything else you wish to say?
00:36:30
-No, ma'am. -Judge Laura Crivello
read a statement Anderson made to an investigator
after his conviction.
00:36:38
-He regretted he did not walk
Miss Robinson to her vehicle when she left his apartment,
00:36:44
and he believed
it was at that point she was abducted by
an unknown assailant, quote,
00:36:49
"Either from the alley
or from my backyard," unquote. When asked how he accounted
for his presence in the area
00:36:56
where Miss Robinson's
vehicle was set on fire, Mr. Anderson said
that he was set up.
00:37:01
-You're hearing this stuff
and you're like... -No. -Nope. -What do you think
happened that night?
00:37:09
-I believe that
they went back to his house. I think he may have wanted
to take things further
00:37:17
than she was comfortable with, and that maybe she rejected him, and his rather well-documented
temper came out.
00:37:26
-And Donner suspects Anderson
would have killed again. -I think this was
his first time killing.
00:37:34
I could be wrong,
but that's my opinion. I do firmly believe, though, that it probably wouldn't be his
last if he hadn't been caught.
00:37:44
Given what he did to her body. -Chloe wonders if she could
have been one of his targets.
00:37:51
A year after they broke up, she says Maxwell sent
her a message on Instagram. -And it was
"Ignore time is over."
00:38:02
-Five hours later, Maxwell Anderson
met Sade Robinson when she applied for that job.
00:38:10
That's got to
give you the chills. -It's eerie. -Before sentencing Anderson, Judge Crivello took a moment
to share her own thoughts
00:38:19
about the loss of Sade Robinson. -She was a girl that I would hope
all young ladies strive to be.
00:38:27
-Hey guys. -She was loved in the community by almost everyone
that touched her. -All: Sade!
-We love you, Sade, forever.
00:38:36
-You stole a truly shining
light, is what it sounds like. -And then she gave the man who
stole that light the maximum.
00:38:47
-You shall be sentenced
to imprisonment for life. I am ordering that
you will not be eligible
00:38:53
for extended supervision. -Life without
the possibility of parole. -Thank you guys
for supporting us.
00:39:02
-Outside the courthouse, Sade's loved ones thanked
the city of Milwaukee for keeping her memory alive.
00:39:08
-I do appreciate
the city of Milwaukee because they have shown
my daughter a lot of love.
00:39:13
-A mural of Sade sits beneath
her beloved Pizza Shuttle. Sheena has launched a program in
his honor to help crime victims,
00:39:22
and she has partnered with
a Wisconsin State representative to create a task force
to examine
00:39:28
and prevent the
disproportionately high levels of violence against
black women and girls.
00:39:35
In May of 2024, Adrianna,
dressed in a pink cap and gown, accepted Sade's degree
at what should have been
00:39:44
her big sister's graduation. -Seeing her live her life
as such a hard worker who never let anything stop her.
00:39:52
I knew that she would want me
to do that after I lost her, that she would want me
to keep living.
00:39:59
And so I'm going to remember her
by following in her footsteps and fill the hole that she left.
00:40:05
Although I know I can never live
up to anywhere near her shoes. -Mm, I don't know about that.
00:40:10
-I do. -In Warnimont Park, the site where this tragic
investigation began, Sade's family and friends
unveiled a memorial bench.
00:40:22
It's in the area
Detective Donner has searched dozens of times in the hopes of fulfilling
Sade's loved ones deepest wish,
00:40:31
of laying all of Sade to rest. Do you think we'll
ever find Sade's crown? -I think so.
00:40:39
When the lake is ready
to give her back. ♪♪ ♪♪