Judge arrested in attack:
Tempe Municipal Court Judge Thomas Robinson was arrested Friday at the Tempe courthouse on suspicion of domestic violence and tampering with evidence, according to a police report. Robinson admitted to police that he stabbed his wife 10 times.
Tempe Municipal Court Judge Thomas Robinson was arrested Friday at the Tempe courthouse on suspicion of domestic violence and tampering with evidence, according to a police report.
Robinson admitted to Chandler police detectives that he stabbed his wife 10 times on Aug. 25 at their home in Chandler and later threw bloody bedsheets and a knife in a dumpster, the report said.
Initially, Robinson and his wife told police that an intruder had stabbed her. However, Robinson’s wife called police on Friday and said Robinson was the one who stabbed her, according to the report.
The judge has been with Tempe courts since 1995, working first as a civil traffic hearing officer, then a court commissioner before becoming a municipal court judge in 2009, according to the city.
City officials placed Robinson on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation. Robinson has filed for retirement, which will go
into effect Sept. 28.
The arrest was reported to the Commission on Judicial Conduct on Saturday.
Robinson was being held on a $50,000 bond.
Chandler police were called to the Chandler Regional Medical Center for a woman with multiple stab wounds on Aug. 25, according to a police report.
When police interviewed Robinson and his wife, they told detectives Robinson had gone on a walk, left the door unlocked and returned to find his wife with multiple stab wounds.
Although the stabbing occurred in the morning, Robinson and his wife did not go to the hospital until the afternoon. Robinson and his wife initially told investigators they did not want an investigation or any prosecution.
Then on Sept. 21, Robinson’s wife called police and told investigators he had stabbed her. She told police they did not want to report that it was Robinson because they did not want to get him in trouble. The couple had agreed to the story before they went to the hospital, she told police.
On Sept. 21, Robinson’s wife told police that on the morning of the stabbing, she was looking at his phone and saw a number she didn’t recognize. She called the number and a woman answered, according to the report.
The two argued over the issue before Robinson left the house. While he was gone, his wife said she damaged items in the house and dumped several of Robinson’s “prized possessions” in the toilet, according to the police report.
Robinson returned and found his wife lying on the bed. She told police he came in with a knife and stabbed her in the face, chest, back and arms as he said he was “going to kill her,” according to the report.
Robinson’s wife filed an order of protection against him the day after the arrest. He was released under electronic monitoring and supervision. Robinson’s next court hearing was set for Oct. 3.