Malcolm Robbins

Malcolm Joseph Robbins Jr. (July 7, 1960 – January 27, 2023) was an American serial killer and sex offender who was convicted of raping and murdering at least three young boys and one teenager in four different states from 1979 to 1980.

Convicted and sentenced to death in California, he remained on the state's death row until his death in 2023.

Malcolm Joseph Robbins Jr. was born on July 7, 1960, in Rockland, Maine.

Growing up in a large family with several other siblings, it was alleged that his mother had given birth to him after having sex with her older brother Donald, who was imprisoned at the time of his birth.

The Robbinses lived in poverty for most of Malcolm's childhood and youth, all the while his mother worked as a waitress and occasionally prostituted herself, surviving mostly on welfare benefits.

Robbins exhibited signs of mental impairment at an early age, which manifested itself in his inability to walk until the age of three and being expelled from kindergarten for being a troublemaker.

According to relatives, he was sexually abused by his mother's housemates during this period, which greatly affected his mental state.

He would later be bullied at school and labeled a social outcast, and teachers would frequently complain about his refusal to communicate with others and unkempt appearance.

In 1970, a school psychologist visited the Robbins home to notify his mother about her son's worsening academic performance, but she showed little to no interest.

In his report, the psychologist noted that the family members lived in squalid conditions unsuited for the development of any child.

Only a year later, Robbins was expelled from school and sent to an institution for delinquent youths.

After a few daysat the institution, he was placed in the Pineland Hospital and Training Center in New Gloucester for observation, where he would remain for nine months.

In 1973, Robbins was released from the institution, but was returned the following year by court order after he was caught sexually abusing two boys.

In the fall of 1974, his behavior and mental state deteriorated significantly, due to which he was repeatedly disciplined and imprisoned in solitary confinement, attempting to take his life on at least one occasion.

After undergoing psychiatric treatment for some time, he was released to his mother's custody in April 1975, but was arrested in September for another sexual assault.

After a court-appointed evaluation, Robbins was deemed insane, but was again interned at the institution for delinquent youths.

He remained there until August 1976, when his aunt obtained custody of him.

After moving in with her and her husband (one of his mother's former roommates), Robbins took great interest in his stepfather's profession as an automechanic.

He eventually learned the models of various cars, as well as how to use the respective tools to fix them.

In October 1976, Robbins was charged with child molestation, but the charges were eventually dropped after the victim's parents made amends with Robbins on behalf of his aunt.

He remained in his aunt's house, but was ordered to undergo regular psychiatric treatment, much to his displeasure.

From these sessions, psychiatrists concluded that he was overtly aggressive and obsessed with firearms.

In June 1977, Robbins was arrested on yet another charge of sexually abusing minors, but was not prosecuted and ordered to pay only a small fine.

In early 1978, Robbins ran away from home and began several relationships with gay men.

In the middle of that year, he left Maine with one of these men and moved to California, living in Palm Springs with a 40-year-old lover.

In late 1979, he had another short-term relationship before moving to Los Angeles, where he soon befriended another young man at a gay club - the man soon moved in with him and became his new partner.

In June, Robbins and his boyfriend moved to Santa Barbara, where they broke up three days later after Robbins began a new relationship with an older gay man.

Around this time, he began drifting around the country, temporarily leaving California and visiting multiple states across the country in the span of a few months.

Most of his friends and acquaintances described him as an infantile, pathological liar and manipulator with poor impulse control and overt hyperactivity.

When he eventually returned to Los Angeles, Robbins took great interest in the activities of law enforcement, frequently claiming that he and his partner worked as undercover officers trying to catch the elusive Freeway Killer.

Due to his history of lies, however, nobody took his claims seriously.

According to his confessions, his first victim was 7-year-old Steven Craig Little, who was killed on December 27, 1979, in Dallas, Texas.

On that date, Robbins had just left California and arrived in Dallas, whereupon he lured Little - who was playing on a playground - into his van.

He then raped and strangled him, before dumping the body in a garbage can and setting it on fire.

The victim's charred remains were found on the following morning.

His testimony was considered truthful, as he had shared details known only to investigators at the time - despite this, he later recanted it and claimed he had still been in Palm Springs at the time.

However, he was unable to provide an alibi for the date of Little's murder, and several witnesses placed him in Dallas at the time of the crime.

On November 26, 1980, Robbins was arrested in Millville, New Jersey, for the murder of 9-year-old Evan Bailey, who had been abducted, raped and murdered in Vineland just nine days prior.

He indicated the dumping site to local authorities, and a coroner concluded that Bailey had been raped, beaten and stabbed multiple times in the neck.

Robbins immediately admitted to the crime, and to the shock of the investigators, he claimed to have committed similar murders in other states.