Sins & Survivors: A Las Vegas True Crime Podcast - Stay on the Phone - The Murder of Robin Jenkins

Episode Date: May 28, 2024

Robin Jenkins and David Frostick had a troubled relationship even before they were in Las Vegas, where they moved in 2009 for a fresh start and to help Robin continue and expand her music career. It didn't end up helping, and shortly after moving here, Robin took out a restraining order against Frostick. The judge and her family were both shocked and confused when just a month later, she went back to court to have the order lifted. It would turn out to be a fatal mistake. Just 6 days later, Frostick murdered her... On Mother’s Day.http:/sinspod.co/episode29sourcesDomestic Violence Resourceshttp://sinspod.co/resourcesClick here to become a member of our Patreon!https://sinspod.co/patreonVisit and join our Patreon now and access our ad-free episodes and exclusive bonus contentApple Podcast Subscriptionshttps://sinspod.co/appleWe're now offering premium membership benefits on Apple Podcast Subscriptions. Sign up on your mobile deviceLet us know what you think about the episodehttps://www.buzzsprout.com/twilio/text_messages/2248640/open_sms Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/sins-survivors-a-las-vegas-true-crime-podcast--6173686/support.

To listen ad-free, visit Zinspod.co slash subscribe. Starting at $2.99 a month, you'll also get access to our exclusive bonus content episodes when you join through Patreon or Apple subscriptions. Thanks for supporting the show. Robin Jenkins and David Frostick had a troubled relationship even before they were in Las Vegas, where they moved in 2009 for a fresh start and to help Robin continue and expand her music career. It didn't end up helping, and shortly after moving here, Robin took out a restraining order against Frostick.

The judge and her family were both shocked and confused when just a month later, she went back to court to have the order lifted. Just six days later, Frostick murdered her on Mother's Day. Hi, and welcome to Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast where we focus on cases that deal with domestic violence and missing persons. I'm your host, Sean, and with me, as always, is the one and only John. I am the only John in the room. One of the things we know about being in an abusive relationship is that it can be hard to leave for a variety of reasons. Abusers can exert control over their victims in a lot of ways, some more obvious than others. They might control the couple's finances, putting the victim in a position where they

feel trapped and unable to make it on their own. It's common knowledge that the most dangerous time for a domestic violence victim is after they leave the relationship, so that can be daunting as well. Do you want to get us started talking about Robin Jenkins? Of course. Robin Leslie Jenkins was born on December 7, 1963, in San Antonio, Texas. Her family moved to Santa Rosa, California, and that's where Robin called home. She lived there for most of her young life and graduated in 1982 from Montgomery High School. She has a half-brother, Jay Smith, and another brother, Renee Jenkins. Her dad, Victor Jenkins, was remarried to a woman named Carolyn Ranch.

Her mom, Glory Jenkins, unfortunately died in 2008. She has a large extended family too, including a lot of aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, and nephews. Robin loved to sing, and her friends often called her Rockin' Robin. She had a great voice, and according to an, and her friends often called her Rockin' Robin. She had a great voice, and according to an interview with her friends, she loved belting out 80s tunes from artists like Pat Benatar. Here's a quote from her family.

Robin loved to sing, and her spirit and voice were an inspiration to many people. If there was ever a dull moment at any gathering, Robin could be counted on to liven it up. Although physically small, her presence, her love, and her laughter would fill any room. Her memorial page is filled with a long list of memories from her friends and former classmates that have been added. She was very, very well loved. David Frostick also grew up in Santa Rosa and worked in construction there. A search of the California court record system turned up several arrests dating back to 2004, including two DUI charges in March of 2004, just 10 days apart. And then three months later in June, he was arrested for driving with a suspended license.

A year later in August of 2005, he was arrested for false identification to a peace officer, and then again in November for the same thing. And then finally in 2008, he was arrested for obstructing or resisting a peace officer. He definitely had his share of run-ins with the law. Although they both graduated from Montgomery High School at the same year. It's unclear if the two knew each other back then. Eventually, they met and started dating sometime in 2007. As you have probably come to expect on this podcast, David was arrested for domestic battery. We couldn't find the specific court records for that charge, but we're not aware of him having spent any time in jail for that at that time. So it was likely a misdemeanor. Robin and David moved to Las Vegas in 2009, ostensibly as a way to start over in a new place. But it seems clear that he must have

been pretty well known to Santa Rosa police at that time. We're guessing he was likely very happy to put Santa Rosa in his rear view. Robin was hoping to jumpstart her music career here, and what better place for that is there than Las Vegas? He was working construction here, and she was working at a P.F. Chang's as her day job, but she was really hoping for her music career to happen. Shortly after they moved here, she applied for and was granted a one-year temporary restraining order against David, mandating that he was not to contact her or come by her home without a police officer present. As we mentioned at the beginning of the episode, though, just a month after the restraining order was issued, she went back to the court to have it dissolved.

No one knows why, and her family talked at length in an interview about how they were all against the reversal. And even the judge was surprised to see her back in court. In the transcripts, you can see that the judge asks her if she is dissolving the TPO of her own free will, and she answers yes. It seems a lot like everyone who knew Robin and David knew what was going on in the relationship and that there was some domestic abuse happening. During the trial, a neighbor named Michael Garland told a wild story about an interaction he had with David. He recounted that he walked up to David and told him that he knew what was happening and about the abuse. And he told David that if it continues, we're going to have a problem. From what Garland said, Frostick's reaction was very strange. He said that David screamed like a little kid and then took off running down the street.

Garland, when asked what he thought about that, said that it was comical for a man to act that way. But in reality, Frostick's irrational behavior went back at least 10 years. Robin's family members have said that Robin had recently broken off her engagement with David, which immediately makes this all seem all too familiar. We've said many times that the most dangerous time for a woman in a DV situation is when she's planning to leave or is in the process of leaving. Women are much more likely to be harmed or murdered in this time. On Mother's Day, Sunday, May 10, 2009, Robin was on the phone with her dad, Victor, having a glass of wine. According to Victor, she was letting him know that things weren't going well with David, and she told her dad, well, things have been better. Is he there with you right now? To which

she answered yes. He said in court he could tell she was frightened of David because she asked Vic to stay on the phone with her and he could tell something was wrong by the way she answered, just her tone of voice. Vic testified that he heard Robin say, put that down, and then he heard signs of a struggle and a scream which he described as a shriek. When pressed, he said that it was a horrible sound that he will never forget. Panicked, Vic immediately called out to his son Jay, Robin's half-brother, and told him, something happened to Robin. Jay called Las Vegas Metro and explained the situation and asked them to go to the house that Robin and David shared at 9506 Swan Bay Drive and do a wellness check. David P. Coyne was the officer that responded to the call. When he got to the home, it was obvious something was very wrong. He testified he saw a large

amount of blood in front of the house just outside the door. In the court proceedings, it came out that there was strong evidence that Robin fought back until the end and was actually able to make it outside, likely crawling, only to be grabbed by the ankles and dragged back inside the house by Frostick. Coyne kicked in the locked door and found Robin on the floor in a pool of blood and then called out for whoever was in there to come out. Officer Coyne said that Frostick peeked around the corner and then came out holding the seven-inch bloody kitchen knife, the murder weapon, and let go of it so it hit the floor where it was recovered and taken into evidence. From Coyne's testimony, two things stood out. First is that there was somewhat of a struggle for Coyne to get Frostick under control. Frostick

had a history of defying the police and it continued here. The other thing was that after he was handcuffed, Frostick kept repeating, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. As Officer Coyne brought the now-handcuffed Frostick outside, the two slipped on the blood and fell down, which had the effect in the trial of allowing the defense to make wild accusations about how the blood covering Frostick might have actually transferred onto him from Coyne or from this fall. It's pretty absurd when you see the small amount of blood Coyne had on his uniform versus how Frostick was covered. Once Frostick was secured, Coyne went back and attempted to administer first aid and CPR on

Robin until the paramedics arrived, but it was too late. Weirdly, when the defense attorney was cross-examining Coyne, they asked about an interview he had with the police after the incident. The attorney asked, isn't it true that you told investigators that Frostick did not appear to have any blood on him when you first saw him? It's incredibly unclear to me why, but Coyne answered yes without any other context. And that is really strange given the sheer volume of blood that Frostick had on him based on the photos taken at the scene. But I guess it could have just appeared that way because the house was dark. Frostick was charged with first degree murder with use of a deadly weapon

after being taken into custody and booked into CCDC. The police called Jay back at 2 a.m. and told him that Robin was dead and that David was in custody. Unbelievably, David was able to delay the trial for a shocking seven years. And during that time, he was in jail, of course. But Robin's family had absolutely no closure or comfort during that time because of the possibility of him somehow being acquitted in the eventual trial. They all were interviewed about that and agreed that it was just agonizing for them. Prostek delayed the trial using a variety of means, anything really, to delay, delay, delay. A couple of examples of some filings he or his lawyer made to the trial include attempting to have his counsel removed due to irreconcilable differences,

opposing the jury questionnaire, opposing bringing Frostick's other wrongs or acts into the case, and on and on. The prosecution was led by Frank Comu from the Las Vegas DA's office, who put on a strong case, which was made much easier by the evidence collected at the scene. Comu was very dramatic and passionate in describing the scene and what it takes for someone to stab someone they're close to. Of course, he pointed out that when Frostick walked out, he was holding the murder weapon in his hands, covered in Robin's blood,

and he himself was also covered in blood. There was no evidence of anyone else having been in the home, no evidence of any forced entry, and no assertion that the crime might have been committed by someone else. He also argued the fact that Frostick kept apologizing over and over, indicated that he had a guilty conscience. As for the defense, there wasn't really a meaningful defense because there is no defense given the facts. They argued that he couldn't have premeditated the murder because he was drunk, which didn't given the facts. They argued that he couldn't have premeditated the murder because

he was drunk, which didn't sway the jury. And they argued that the scene was contaminated by the crime scene investigators tracking Robin's blood into the house as they secured the scene. Frostick did not exercise his right to testify in his own defense. The fact alone cannot be used to assume guilty for the jury, but standing outside of the case, it certainly seems weird that if he were innocent, he wouldn't want to plead his case. The jury came back in only three hours and delivered a verdict of guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon. After the conviction, Robbins' family was allowed to read victim impact statements. Victim impact statements are an important part of the criminal justice system. When the family of a victim are called to testify, they don't have the freedom

to express anything about the case other than just answering the questions presented to them directly. After sentencing, victim impact statements address this in a few ways. They allow the victims or the friends or the family to feel empowered again and regain a sense of control over their own narrative. It allows them to express their feelings, concerns, and the impact of the crime on their lives. Judges use impact statements to understand the emotional, physical, and financial impact of the crime on the victim and their families. That information can influence sentencing decisions, including the type and severity of punishment imposed on the offender. They also humanize the victim, moving beyond legalities to convey real-life consequences of the crime. That helps judges, juries, and other participants in the legal process to see the person behind the crime statistics. So often in these cases, it just becomes a litany of facts without

any real connection to the humanity of the victim. It also allows victims to express their needs for restitution, apology, and closure. It provides the opportunity for offenders to understand the harm they've caused and take responsibility for their actions. Jay's victim impact statement was interrupted by the defense, who argued he wasn't responding to the specific question put before him, which was, how has the loss of your sister affected you? After all of the victim impact statements, Frostick was given the opportunity to give an allocution statement. An allocution statement is a statement made by a defendant in a criminal case during the sentencing phase, typically after being found guilty or entering a plea deal. It's an opportunity for that defendant to address the court directly, expressing remorse,

taking responsibility for their actions, and sometimes providing context or other mitigating factors. In this case, David never got to address the court, so this was his one opportunity to address them and possibly get a lighter sentence. The main purpose of allocution statements is to allow defendants to speak for themselves and offer insight into their character, motivations, and possible remorse. It's a fundamental aspect of the process. It ensures that defendants have a voice in their sentencing and can potentially influence the outcome. Judges look for several things in an allocution statement. Number one, remorse. Judges assess whether the

defendant shows genuine remorse for their actions. Expressing regret, acknowledging the harm caused, can weigh positively in the sentencing phase. Acceptance of responsibility. Taking responsibility for your actions is very important. Defendants who admit guilt and show a willingness to face consequences can receive a more lenient sentence. Defendants who admit guilt and show a willingness to face consequences can receive a more lenient sentence. Insight and reflection. Judges appreciate when defendants offer insights into their actions, motivations, and any contributing or mitigating factors. This can help judges understand the context of the crime and make a more informed sentencing decision. Apology. A sincere apology to

the victim's families can be a powerful aspect of an allocution statement. It demonstrates empathy and recognition of harm inflicted, which can influence the judge's perception of the defendant's character. And lastly, mitigating factors. Defendants may use allocution to present mitigating factors such as mental health issues, addiction, or extenuating circumstances that contributed to their actions. A judge will consider these factors when determining an appropriate sentence. When David was offered his chance to speak, he said he was going to take the jury on a little journey in which he essentially made excuses and portrayed himself

as a victim for 20 minutes. He told Robin's family that he'd had a religious conversion just two convenient weeks after he murdered Robin. He laid it on thick in an effort to portray himself as having seen the light and being deserving of a light sentence. Given what you've heard about David so far, you might guess that this is not the end of the story. After the conviction, but before the sentencing, and after his allocution statement, Given what you've heard about David so far, you might guess that this is not the end of the story. After the conviction, but before the sentencing, and after his allocution statement, just five days after, David attacked a corrections officer pretty brutally. The thing that incited the attack was the officer telling him to take a toothbrush out of his mouth. Even worse for David, there was surveillance video showing everything that happened with sound. David can be seen choking the guard with his legs

and hitting him with various items in the room. This earned Frostick a brand new case where he was accused of attempted murder with a deadly weapon and battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm. When it came to sentencing, the judge pointed out that it was pretty obvious that the claims of being reformed and finding religion seemed to be complete fabrications. The judge sentenced David to life with the possibility of parole after 20 years served, with 8 to 20 years for the deadly weapon enhancement, and was able to add 8 more years because of the other pending trials and charges, but he got credit for 2,734 days served. Interestingly, after delaying the second case of attempted murder on the corrections officer using similar tactics, but not for nearly as long, Frostig pleaded guilty, but was only sentenced to time served,

so no additional time came out of that case. In his appeal, David, of course, made several claims aimed at getting his conviction overturned, as you might expect. He pointed to three items in particular, including, number one, the admission of hearsay evidence. David and his legal team claimed that during her father's testimony, when Vic told the jury that he asked, is he there with you now? And she answered, yes, this wasn't established properly as an exception to the hearsay rule. And of course, that put him at the scene of the crime, so it was very incriminating. The court rejected this because her answer was a direct response to her immediate surroundings. Secondly, the admission of a gruesome photo the jury was shown. The court ruled that it was

relevant in that it showed her a cause of death. And the last one was an assertion that the jury should have been told that voluntary intoxication might have negated his intent, meaning he was so drunk he couldn't have planned the murder or have any agency. So a first-degree murder conviction should be overturned. The court rejected this with no evidence that the intoxication affected his mental state. Overall, in the end, his appeal was rejected and David is where he needs to be, serving at least 28 years in the High Desert State Prison in Nevada. He is currently 61 years old, so it's not likely he's going to get out in his lifetime. We also learned that her dad, Victor, died in 2021 at age 83. The only bright side is that he lived to see his daughter's murderer put in jail for the rest of his life, and he got some degree

of closure. He said on several occasions he was working toward forgiving David and the system that took so long to get Robin the justice she deserved. Robin's family had a celebration of life for her just after she died, long before the trial, and requested that donations be sent in her name to the Santa Rosa YWCA domestic violence program, and an employee of the YWCA wrote on Robyn's memorial page and said they received quite a few donations from those who cared about her. We encourage people in a similar situation to say something, speak out, and keep trying because the alternative can be unthinkable. If you're enjoying the podcast, please visit your platform of choice, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music, and leave

us a review. It helps get the word out about these important stories. And we'll continue the conversation on this week's Swing Shift. If you want to hear that and also get ad-free episodes, you can either join our Patreon at sinspod.co slash Patreon, or you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts at sinspod.co slash Apple. And as we remind you every week, what happens here happens everywhere. Thank you. Thanks for listening. Visit sinspod.co slash subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to listen ad-free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Threads

at Sins and Survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. You can contact us at questions at sinsandsurvivors.com. If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence or needs support, please reach out to local resources or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources is available on our website, sinsandsurvivors.com. Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is research written and produced by your hosts, Sean and John. The information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please email us. Links to source material for this episode can be found on our website,

sinsandsurvivors.com. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the podcast creators, hosts, and their guests. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal professionals for guidance. Thanks for listening. Visit sinspod.co slash subscribe for exclusive bonus content and to listen ad-free. Remember to like and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Threads at Sins and Survivors. If you're enjoying the podcast, please leave us a review on your podcast platform of choice. You can contact us at

questions at sinsandsurvivors.com. If you or someone you know is affected by domestic violence or needs support, please reach out to local resources or the National Domestic Violence Hotline. A list of resources is available on our website, sinsandsurvivors.com. Sins and Survivors, a Las Vegas true crime podcast, is research written and produced by your hosts, Sean and John. The information shared in this podcast is accurate at the time of recording. If you have questions, concerns, or corrections, please email us. Links to source material for this episode can be found on our website, sinsandsurvivors.com. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of

the podcast creators, hosts, and their guests. All individuals are innocent until proven guilty. This content does not constitute legal advice. Listeners are encouraged to consult with legal professionals for guidance.