On July, 27th 2009 police officers in Melissa, Texas found the decomposing body of Richard Glenn Robinson Sr, 4 days after he was reported missing from Dallas by family and friends, he was last seen by them on July 19th. His body was found in the trunk of a 2001 Hyundai Sonata that was in a vacant lot off of US 75 and Telephone Rd in Melissa, Texas. The sonata was registered to his live-in girlfriend, Stacy Maloney, but it was, however, “his to use” according police Sgt Kyle Babcock.
Richard Robinson via Dallas Morning News
Though police did find Richard in the trunk of his car they didn’t immediately investigate his death as a homicide. His body showed no obvious signs of trauma and there weren’t any signs of of binds on his hands or feet. At the time, the Collin County Medical Examiner's Office couldn't determine a cause of death. Babcock mentioned that though foul play was a possibility, they couldn’t rule out that Robinson could have died from suicide or natural causes and someone abandoned the body to rid themselves of responsibility. “Until we’ve got a cause from death… we’ll go from there” Babcock said.
An autopsy later stated that Robinson died of homicidal violence.
Richard Glenn Robinson Sr was a father of three children and had a job helping grocery stores track inventory.
Police did find in phone records that Robinson and girlfriend, Stacey Maloney (he was found in a car registered to her, remember?) had met a bar (the 777 Club) in Dallas. Maloney told police that the two had drank together and then went their separate ways. Police followed some leads after this, but after about a year the case went cold.
In 2018 Melissa police department decided to reopen the case, and with the help of the Texas Rangers and the Collin County DA’s Office they’d found that they didn’t interview someone- Stacy Maloney’s boyfriend at the time, Mitchell Jones. They tracked down Jones who was living in Louisiana at the time, and formally interviewed him.
According to Mitchell Jones the motive for Robinson’s death was simply to rob him for drugs and money, because according to Maloney she was “going out with a guy who is always throwing out drugs and money.”
According to Jones, when Robinson arrived to the home that he and Maloney had shared and began to walk inside, Jones pulled him into the garage, “I grabbed him and pulled him into the garage, and we struggled,” Jones told police. He then stated that he used a cord to strangle Richard Glenn Robinson to death. Robinson was then stripped down to his underwear and placed in the trunk of his own car, which Mitchell Jones then drove to an abandoned store front “out in the country.” Maloney and her friend Jasmine Saliz followed behind in Jone’s car and purchased bleach.
Once the trio arrived at the spot where they had decided to dump the car, they opened the trunk and doused Richard’s body in bleach and then left.
Jones’s confession was enough to land the trio in jail, and Stacy Maloney (who now goes by Stacy Johnson) and Jasmine Saliz were held in Collin County Detention Center and bail was set at $1 million, while Jones was extradited from Louisiana.
Jones, Johnson, and Salaz via Dallas News
On April 10, 2019 Mitchell Johnson was found guilty of capital murder by a jury of his peers sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole
Johnson (Maloney) and Saliz are still awaiting trial.
"Police and prosecutors never forget a victim, even from a cold case," stated Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis. "Their relentless efforts brought a murderer to justice and brings some solace to the family."
When the arrests were made, Ronald Robinson, Richards brother, said that what he remembered most was that his brother was always there for his family. Now that arrests have been made, the family’s attention has turned to focusing on getting Richard justice.
Sources: Dallas Morning News, Herald Democrat, Star Local Media, DFW CBS, My Texas Daily