Defense attorneys in a closely watched Wisconsin murder trial are pushing to introduce new evidence they argue could point to other potential suspects in the brutal slaying of a young Black woman who vanished after going on a first date with a white man last spring.
The judge has ruled that drugs and cash found inside the victim’s apartment can be introduced at trial as part of a defense strategy that could shift attention away from Maxwell Anderson, the defendant accused of killing and dismembering 19-year-old Sade Robinson.
The 33-year-old man is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, and arson in connection with Robinson’s death in April 2024. The two had gone on a first date the night before she vanished. Her remains were later found scattered along the shore of Lake Michigan in both Wisconsin and Illinois.
At the center of the latest courtroom dispute is a pink safe recovered from Robinson’s apartment, which reportedly contained 47 suspected methamphetamine pills, marijuana, and $888 in cash. Anderson’s attorney, Alex Cotton, told the court that the items suggested Robinson may have been connected to “bad elements in the community,” and could support a theory that someone else had a motive to kill her, according to WTMJ in Milwaukee.
As testimony begins, the defense’s effort to introduce the drugs and cash may prove pivotal to the case — a bid not necessarily to prove who did it, but to raise just enough reasonable doubt about who might have, legal experts say, by pointing to possible links between Robinson and local drug activity.
“We don’t have enough information right now to fully understand what the defense theory is going to be,” Milwaukee defense attorney Pat Cafferty told WTMJ recently. “But this interaction with the judge and the prosecutor would suggest that what attorney Cotton is attempting to do is present an alternative theory to the jury as to who may have killed Sade Robinson.”
Prosecutors have criticized the defense theory as deeply speculative, as Robinson had never been accused or ever faced drug charges. Still, the judge ruled the jury can hear about the safe and its contents, though it remains to be seen how central that angle will become as the trial proceeds.
Cafferty noted that the defense strategy appeared aimed at painting the victim as a low-level drug pusher under the radar of authorities.
“The suggestion here — may be — by the defense that not only was she involved in the purchasing of methamphetamine, but perhaps the sale of methamphetamine,” he said.
By doing so, the defense appears to be laying the groundwork for reasonable doubt — a necessary wedge for acquittal.
“If they can reconcile the evidence upon any reasonable hypothesis consistent with the defendant’s innocence, they must do so and return a verdict of not guilty,” Cafferty explained, noting that this aligns with how jurors will be instructed.
Jury selection began May 27, with the trial expected to last at least two weeks. Prosecutors are expected to present surveillance footage, forensic evidence, and testimony from more than 250 potential witnesses.
Still, the new evidence introduced by the defense does not erase the fact that Robinson vanished after the date with Anderson, implicating him as the last person to see her alive.
When Robinson failed to show up for work the next day, concerned coworkers contacted authorities. Her burned-out car was discovered in an alley, and soon after, her severed leg washed up on the shores of Lake Michigan — a tragic ending that began with a romantic interest.
Robinson’s body was never fully recovered, but police say cellphone data and witness interviews helped piece together her final hours after she went missing April 2.
Anderson was arrested three days later. He pleaded not guilty and remains jailed on a $5 million bond. His defense contends there’s no physical evidence linking him to the killing, and forensic tests showed blood found in his home did not belong to Robinson.
The trial follows more than a year of intense public interest, community trauma, and emotional devastation for the victim’s family.
Robinson’s death has sparked calls for broader accountability, including scrutiny of the places she visited that night and the local official who shared graphic crime scene photos online.
Her family continues to push for justice while also highlighting the broader issue of missing and murdered Black women in Wisconsin. Her death renewed focus on unsolved disappearances of other young Black girls in Milwaukee, including 16-year-olds Ayanna Krzyzanowski and Joniah Walker, both of whom have been missing since 2020.
Anderson, a Navy veteran and bartender, has a past marked by disorderly conduct arrests and a recent DUI.
Police say they pieced together the case using surveillance footage, text messages, phone tracking, and witness accounts. Robinson’s phone was traced from a seafood restaurant and a bar to Anderson’s residence — and ultimately to the lakefront park where her remains were later found. Cameras also recorded someone repeatedly walking from her car to the beach in the early morning hours of April 2.
Inside Anderson’s home, investigators found gasoline canisters and blood on bedding and on the walls leading to the basement. However, DNA tests showed the blood did not match Robinson’s.
“It indicates that the preliminary DNA supports the conclusion that there is no support for inclusion of Robinson’s DNA in the blood, or swabs that have been tested,” Assistant District Attorney Ian Vance-Curzan said.
The most damning revelation came from a confidential informant, who claimed Anderson had described, in detail, a premeditated plan to kill Robinson, dismember her body, and scatter her remains. According to court documents, Anderson allegedly intended to lure her to his home, pull a gun on her, and kill her in a basement room covered floor-to-ceiling in plastic painter’s tarp.
“The (informant) states that Anderson told them he intended on bringing Robinson to his residence, pulling a handgun on her, and bringing her down to the basement of the residence,” the documents read. “He then planned on shooting Robinson and then dismembering her body in the room that they were in.”
Since then, her family has been searching for closure, both legal and emotional.
“We still don’t have my baby’s crown in her head. This is so f—ed up,” her mother, Sheena Scarbrough, told FOX6 Milwaukee.
“I was in denial. I’m still probably in denial to some point. I just can’t accept this. Mentally, I can’t accept it. I feel like I might lose the last piece of my sanity if I do,” her father, Carlos Robinson, added.
In their pursuit of justice, the family has filed two lawsuits — one against Anderson and another against two Milwaukee bars that served Robinson alcohol on the night of her death. The lawsuits argue the establishments made the underage customer “physically and mentally vulnerable” by serving her multiple drinks, which “rendered [her] defenseless.”
Scarbrough is also demanding accountability from a Waukegan, Illinois, city official who shared a photo of Robinson’s severed arm on social media. “Anyone, any entity, that was a part of harming or hurting my baby throughout this process, all individuals are gonna be held accountable,” she said.
In the wake of her daughter’s death, Scarbrough launched the Sade Voice Foundation, which provides scholarships for self-defense classes for young women. She also led a community effort to build a memorial at the Milwaukee park where her daughter’s remains were first discovered. Although a county proposal to fund the memorial was dropped after committee members received racist backlash, local residents stepped up and raised thousands of dollars to make it a reality.
As both sides prepare for a high-stakes trial, the prosecution is focused on the brutality and premeditation behind Robinson’s killing, while the defense attempts to plant seeds of doubt through the contents of a pink safe — a move that could shape the outcome of one of Wisconsin’s most closely watched murder trials in recent memory.
