OLATHE, Kansas — Jury selection inched closer to the third and final phase of questioning Thursday in the first capital murder trial of John Edward Robinson, 58, a father of four who is accused of killing a total of six women, some of whom he lured through Internet chat rooms.

Court officials had originally predicted that jury selection, which began Sept. 16, would take about a week. Within the first few days, however, Johnson County District Judge John Anderson III delayed the start of testimony to Monday, Sept. 30, noting that the court would need more time for the thorough questioning crucial to selecting jurors in a capital murder case. "We have never been through a case of this magnitude," he said.

Though the judge hasn't commented further on the subject, it seems clear from the sluggish pace that a jury will not be seated before next week and that testimony will have to be delayed again. By midday Thursday, the court had interviewed more than 150 second-phase jurors about pre-trial publicity and their attitudes toward the death penalty, approving 53 of them-two more than the minimum of 51 required-to move on to the third and final round.

However, the prosecution and defense are continuing to subject an undetermined number of extra potential jurors to second-phase questioning and the court hasn't indicated how many more are needed before it will proceed to the final round. In that phase, both sides will ask more questions and ultimately be allowed 17 strikes each in deciding which 12 jurors and five alternates will be seated to hear the evidence against Robinson.

The defendant is charged with killing the three women in Kansas in a case that became the focus of widespread media attention in June 2000 when the bodies of two of the victims were found stuffed headfirst into 55-gallon barrels on Robinson's 16.5-acre rural property.

Authorities say Robinson killed a total of six women and sexually assaulted two others in Kansas and Missouri over a period of 15 years. (One of the sexual assault charges was dismissed after the 2001 preliminary hearing.) Using the online name of "Slavemaster," he allegedly lured at least a few of them through Internet chat rooms with promises of money and jobs and requests for sadomasochistic sex.

In Johnson County, Kansas, Robinson faces capital murder charges in the bludgeoning deaths of the two women found on his property-Izabela Lewicka, 21, of West Lafayette, Indiana, and Suzette Trouten, 27, of Newport, Michigan.

He also faces first degree murder charges in connection with Lisa Stasi, 19, who disappeared with her four-month-old daughter, Tiffany, in 1985. (He avoided a capital murder charge in that case because Kansas did not have the death penalty at the time.)

In a strange twist, Robinson is charged with killing Lisa and arranging for his brother and sister-in-law, Don and Helen Robinson, to adopt Tiffany, pocketing $5,500 for his services. Tiffany, now almost the age her mother was when she disappeared, is believed to still be living with her adoptive parents in suburban Chicago. Her mother's body has never been found. Authorities said that Tiffany's new parents had no idea her adoption was not legitimate and haven't been charged. Lisa Stasi's body has never been found.

Once the Kansas case is completed, Robinson will face trial on three counts of capital murder in Cass County, Missouri, in the bludgeoning deaths of three women found in a storage locker-Beverly Bonner, 49, of Cameron, Missouri, Sheila Faith, 45, and her 15-year-old daughter, Debbie, of Pueblo, Colorado.

Because the crimes have generated so much publicity, the prosecution and defense have spent a lot of time asking potential jurors what they've heard and read about the case and whether the media coverage has caused them to form an opinion about Robinson's guilt or innocence.

"You'd almost have to be living under a rock to not have heard of this case, if you live in these parts," said Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison, who asked potential jurors if they could check any feelings or opinions they might have at the door. Many said they could.

However, Pat Berrigan, one of the lead defense attorneys, queried a number of potential jurors who said that, based on what they'd read or heard, they believe Robinson is guilty and did not think they could be fair and impartial. Those jurors were excused. "There are no right or wrong answers here," Berrigan emphasized. "It's kind of like the Billy Joel song. We're just want honesty."

If Robinson is convicted of capital murder, the jury being impaneled will be asked to consider aggravating and mitigating factors before deciding whether to impose the death penalty or a sentence of life in prison without parole for 25 or 50 years. Kansas only reinstated the death penalty in 1994; the last time anyone was executed in the state was 1965.

Many prospective jurors with strong opinions about the death penalty issue were excused. In particular, a number of them have said that if Robinson were to be convicted, they would vote to execute him and could not even consider mitigating factors that would make life in prison the more appropriate sentence. The comment from potential Juror No. 129, released from duty, was typical: "The punishment should fit the crime."

A smaller number have noted their opposition to the death penalty and said they could not forsee a situation where they might be able to find that aggravating circumstances outweighed mitigating circumstances and impose the death penalty for Robinson. "I can't imagine a situation where I could vote for death," said potential Juror No. 108, who was also excused.

Berrigan has taken to using a chart he devised to explain the two phases of a capital murder case. The state, he said, is alleging that Robinson committed two counts of capital murder and one count of first-degree murder, as well as other charges. Capital murder must be intentional, premeditated and meet one of seven special circumstances outlined by Kansas law. In this case, he said, the state alleges that the special circumstance is that the murders "were part of a common scheme or plan" involving the six murders in Kansas and Missouri.

Berrigan stressed that if and only if Robinson is convicted of unanimous capital murder does the jury enter the penalty phase to consider aggravating and mitigating factors. Under Kansas law, there is a list of eight aggravating factors and nine mitigating factors that are to be considered. In addition, there is a broader category of mitigating factors that the defense could also choose to present. "That could include, for example, any evidence about a person's background and how they were raised or if they were subjected to a horrific abusive childhood," said Berrigan, in an apparent hint at the defense strategy. "The Supreme Court has also recognized mercy as a mitigating circumstance."

Mitigating factors do not have to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, Berrigan said, and the jury does not assess them as a group. They may also assign them different values. "It's much like Lady Justice and her scales: the jurors individually conduct their own weighing process and determine what weight to give aggravating and mitigating circumstances. The determination is up to each juror."

If any of the jurors decide that mitigating factors outweigh aggravating factors, or that they are tied, the sentence is life without parole for 25 or 50 years. Even if all but one juror decides that aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors, the sentence is still life without parole for 25 or 50 years. "It's only if each juror, in conducting this weighing process, is convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that aggravating factors outweigh mitigating factors that the death penalty would be the punishment," said Berrigan.

A former correspondent for Newsweek and People Weekly, Sue Miller Wiltz is currently writing a book about Robinson for Pinnacle Books. She is covering the trial for Courttv.com.