Robert Andrew Berdella Jr. (January 31, 1949 – October 8, 1992) was an American serial killer , known as The Kansas City Butcher and The Collector , who kidnapped, raped , tortured , and murdered at least six men between 1984 and 1987 in Kansas City, Missouri after having forced his victims to endure periods of up to six weeks of captivity. Describing his murders as being "some of my darkest fantasies becoming my reality",Berdella pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for the first degree murder of one of his victims, Larry Pearson, in August 1988, and would later plead guilty to one further charge of first degree murder, and four charges of second degree murder in December 1988.He died of a heart attack while incarcerated at the Missouri State Penitentiary in October 1992. Berdella became known as "The Kansas City Butcher" due to his practice of extensively dissecting his victims' bodies,