Trial begins for man accused of dismembering 19-year-old woman after their first date
MILWAUKEE (CNN) - The trial for a man accused of killing a woman after their first date began Wednesday with opening statements detailing the brutal 2024 slaying.
Authorities allege a Wisconsin man murdered and dismembered the victim to try and conceal the killing.
Maxwell Anderson is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, arson of property other than a building and hiding a corpse.
Opening statements detailed the brutal killing of 19-year-old Sade Robinson, who went missing after a first date with Anderson in April 2024.
“After leaving Duke’s and going to the defendant’s house, Sade would never be seen alive again,” Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan said. “That night she was murdered by Maxwell Anderson. Her body was dismembered by Maxwell Anderson in a vicious and gruesome manner.”
Community in Milwaukee have created a memorial to honor Robinson.
Prosecutors allege Anderson killed Robinson and then tried to make her disappear.
“By discarding her body parts into Lake Michigan and then taking her car and burning it,” Vance-Curzan described.
A hiker found Robinson’s severed leg on a beach. Police later found her car torched in Milwaukee.
Other body parts were eventually discovered in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Anderson’s defense attorney says his client is innocent.
“They didn’t find a murder weapon. What weapon was used to kill Sade?” Anthony Cotton asked. “They didn’t find any of Sade’s blood with all the samples they took throughout that entire house. Every comforter, bed sheet, tabletop, wall.”
The original criminal complaint detailed evidence, such as surveillance video, phone records and gasoline containers, which authorities say tie Anderson to the crime.
Prosecutors have a list of 250 potential witnesses; nearly half of them are of law enforcement.
The trial is expected to last two weeks and the jury will not be sequestered during that time.
Anderson would face life in prison if convicted on the homicide charge.
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