The Charley Project Lisa Stasi and Heather Robinson as a baby
Carl Stasi is the biological father of Heather Tiffany Robinson. Heather’s biological mother and Carl’s wife, Lisa Stasi, was murdered by serial killer John Edward Robinson. John was convicted of murdering Lisa Stasi, Suzette Trouten, and Isabella Lewicka in 2002 and sentenced to death. John then pleaded guilty to five additional murders in a Kansas trial. Lisa Stasi and two other victims were never found. Years after she was adopted, the truth about Heather’s past was revealed. Until then, Carl Stasi had always believed his biological daughter was dead.
Heather Tiffany Robinson is featured on ABC’s 20/20, airing October 4, 2019.
Carl & Lisa Stasi Began Dating in 1983 & Were Married in 1984
According to a Supreme Court case in Kansas, Carl and Lisa Stasi met when Lisa (then Lisa Elledge) was 18. Carl told ABC that she was beautiful, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
They started dating in June 1983 and were married in August 1984, when Lisa was pregnant with Heather Tiffany Robinson.
On September 3, 1984, Lisa gave birth to her daughter, whom they named Tiffany Lynn. She was born at the Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri. (Heather Tiffany Robinson goes by her adopted name, not her birth name Tiffany Lynn.)
According to court documents, Carl and Lisa’s marriage fell apart sometime after Heather was born. Lisa’s aunt Karen Moore told ABC News that Lisa and Carl got into a big fight around Christmas 1984, and Lisa left to go to the Hope House.
Carl re-enlisted in the Navy and reported for duty in early January 1985 just outside of Chicago.
Carl’s Wife, Lisa Stasi, Was Last Seen After Saying that a ‘John Osborne’ Was Going to Help Her Find a Job & Get a GED
Lisa Stasi was last seen with her daughter in early January 1985. Carl’s sister, Kathy Klingensmith, often babysat for Lisa. Lisa dropped her daughter off with Kathy on January 8 and told her she met a man named John Osborne who would help her find a job, get a GED, and was putting her up at a hotel. John Osborne was later revealed to be serial killer John Edward Robinson.
When Lisa went back to Kathy’s home to get her daughter on January 9, she told her that John was paying for her stay at Roadway Inn in Overland Park, court records note. John called Kathy to get directions to her house and left with Lisa and her baby, leaving Lisa’s car at Kathy’s home. Lisa later called and told Kathy that they had arrived safely at the Roadway Inn. This was the last time she was seen.
A few hours later, Lisa called Carl’s mother, Betty Stasi. She told Betty that someone claimed Betty wanted to take the baby and have Lisa declared an unfit mother. She was hysterical and upset, court documents said, and Betty tried to assure her it wasn’t true. She told her not to sign anything. Lisa said “here they come” and hung up the phone. It was the last time anyone heard from Lisa. Betty got a letter claiming to be from Lisa, but she didn’t believe Lisa wrote it.
A few days later, John told his younger brother Donald Robinson that he had a baby for Donald and his wife to adopt, and the baby’s mother had committed suicide.
One of the counts against John Robinson in the Kansas court case reads:
Count VI—That on or about the 10th day of January, 1985, in the County of Johnson, State of Kansas, JOHN EDWARD ROBINSON, SR., did then and there unlawfully, feloniously and intentionally take or carry away a child under sixteen (16) years of age, to-wit: Tiffany Stasi, who was then in the custody of a parent, to-wit: Lisa Stasi, with the intent to deprive the parents, Lisa and/or Carl Stasi of the custody of the child, and said child was taken outside the State of Kansas without the consent of said parents or the court, and the fact of such crime was actively concealed by JOHN EDWARD ROBINSON, SR., until July, 2000, in violation of K.S.A. 21–3422a and K.S.A. 21–4501(e).”
Carl Wanted a Relationship with His Daughter When He Learned She Was Alive, But She Did Not Want the Same
Carl wanted a relationship with Heather when he learned that his daughter was still alive. She was a teenager by then, and he asked to meet her.
He told ABC News: “(In) the 15 years I didn’t know (if she was alive)… I held that in. Now, she’s alive and I’m not seeing her… I want to meet my daughter. My daughter’s alive. I have a right to see her, and I want to see her.”
Heather’s dad, Don Robinson, was devastated by what his brother had done and terrified that he would lose his daughter.
Heather developed a relationship with her grandmother and Lisa’s mother, Pat Sylvester. But she decided she didn’t want a relationship with her biological dad, Carl Stasi. “Inside my heart, I have a dad,” she told ABC News. “I don’t need another one.”
Don Robinson and his wife legally adopted her when she was 18.
In 2018, Cars 4 Heroes Helped Give Carl Stasi a New Car
In 2018, the group Cars 4 Heroes worked together to give Carl Stasi a new vehicle. They wrote: The post noted that Carl had suffered for many years and was homeless and struggling to find his way back. Now he has a home and a car.
You can see the video about their donation below. Note that the information about his wife’s body being found is not accurate. Lisa’s body was never found.
In 2000, the LA Times reported that Carl was remarried and living in Missouri.
In 2010, Carl Stasi sued Truman Medical Center and Karen Gaddis, who worked there, for negligence in giving away confidential information about Lisa Stasi to John Robinson. A motion for summary judgment was granted, dismissing the suit.
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