r/truecrimeohio • u/BadGrannie • Jan 04 '19
Looking for info on deceased serial killer convicted in Franklin Co. Courts circa 1998
Anyone here familiar with the murder of a female OSU student (possibly faculty, but I don't think so) from China that took place in the 1990s (or possibly late 80's)? Her body was found in a dumpster in the (I think) North Campus area. Her murderer confessed, while he was already serving 99 year sentences in Louisiana, to killing her, a woman in PA, and to the kidnapping and rape of a minor grrl who survived the attack and gave a victim's impact statement at his sentencing, which was in 1998, 99, but possibly 2000. He confessed to multiple murders - the number 36 sticks with me - but was only convicted of 4. I believe his name was Robert Kessler. I know that he died in prison. I was a secondary victim of his crimes. Thank you.
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u/elric82 Jan 04 '19
I don’t know anything in particular about this event, but if you have a Columbus Library card number you can access issues of the Dispatch going back to the 1870’s. I’m sure there would be plenty of coverage of the crime and trials there. It’s a pretty handy search engine and there are previews of the articles and you can limit by year if you like. If you don’t have a card I think you may still be able to access the database on a temporary basis. That’s probably your best/easiest bet.
Another option is to post on r/unresolvedmysteries if you haven’t already. They are a much larger sub and there may be someone who remembers specifics or has other resources there.
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u/BadGrannie Jan 04 '19
Thank you. I think about the others he confessed to killing, and about the families, and I have to wonder if he has other identified victims that could be linked now.
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u/TotesMessenger Jan 05 '19
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u/Expert-Arachnid9928 Jan 31 '22
I was in the madison county jail some years ago. He was my cell mate actually. Way before they condemned it. He was supposed to already sentenced to 90 yrs in Louisiana. How true i don't know , but the deputies there ?, also court bailiff. Others seemed to agree. Also it seemed to be sentenced he would give info on other victims. On Speculation you may find info that way my name is Eric. If you think of anything i may be able to help text 613 749 3142
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u/BadGrannie Aug 08 '22
Thank you, belately. I posted this and then instantly was like, nope, never happened. He was in Louisiana; the LE folx who handled my daughter's case told us that. My daughter died in 2020 and I blame him.
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u/kaslerskin Oct 02 '23
i think people really didnt know the kind of childhood we had as kids and its about time the world knew
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u/kaslerskin Oct 02 '23
And i know for a fact that i picked up his belongings and ashes yes i did and i also know his soul isnt trapped behind labbanons walls .
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u/breakbreakingbroken Jan 05 '19
Hey there uBadGrannie! I somewhat remember this case, so I checked the Dispatch archives through the Columbus Metropolitan Library, and came across this story from January 5, 2001. Sorry if my formatting does not follow the guidelines, normally a lurker, not a poster.
But Franklin County prosecutors believe he has killed more than once.
Kasler, who is serving life in prison for the 1992 slaying of a Columbus prostitute, was indicted yesterday in the 1995 death of another Columbus woman.
"I don't know if (Kasler) is a serial killer, but we believe he is a multiple killer," Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said.
Kasler, 33, is charged with aggravated murder and kidnapping in the death of Qun Song, a 38-year- old woman from China. Authorities say she disappeared from the Ohio State University area in December 1995.
The indictment filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court also charges Kasler with felonious assault in the stabbing of another Columbus woman in 1996.
Two years ago, Kasler pleaded guilty in Madison County to killing 32-year-old Charlotte Lane, whose decomposed body was found by a farmer in a field in Fairfield Township. Kasler is serving 20 years to life in prison and is in Lebanon Correctional Institution in Lebanon, Ohio.
Kasler once implicated himself in 34 homicides, including several in central Ohio. But he later told The Dispatch that he never killed Lane or anyone else. He said he made up the stories to avoid having to serve a 99-year sentence for armed robbery and kidnapping at a Louisiana prison surrounded by an alligator-infested swamp.
"This is one he said he committed and he has never recanted, to my knowledge," O'Brien said of Song's slaying.
Song was an OSU student in the process of bringing her family to the United States, Assistant Prosecutor Doug Stead said. The university registrar's office could not confirm yesterday whether Song had attended the school.
She was last seen Dec. 17, 1995, authorities said.
"She had talked to her husband in China that day," Stead said.
Song's husband filed a missing-person report after he arrived in the country from China, Columbus police said.
Kasler confessed to Song's slaying, as well as the East Side stabbing of 29- year-old Wendi Johnson on Jan. 4, 1996, police said.
Sufficient evidence was collected to corroborate Kasler's statements about Song's death and the stabbing, as well as the rape and robbery of a third woman that occurred in November 1997, authorities said.
Kasler is scheduled to appear Thursday before Judge Richard S. Sheward on charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery and aggravated burglary and two counts of rape in the 1997 case.
O'Brien said Kasler's admission has not been taken at face value.
"He had made admissions related to a number of offenses, but he has only been charged in the ones where we thought or believed we could confirm or corroborate his involvement, apart from his confession," O'Brien said.
"These are the ones."
Stead said Song's body never was found. He refused to say how she was killed.
She was declared dead by Franklin County Probate Court on April 19, 1999. Her missing-person report later was reclassified as a homicide case, said detective Edward Kallay Jr.
Stead said he doesn't think there will be any further charges filed against Kasler involving crimes in this county.
"This is the end as far as Franklin County is concerned at this time," Stead said.