Did Monica White Really Help Catch Anthony Robinson? The Dating App Killer True Story Explained

Lifetime’s The Dating App Killer: The Monica White Story places Monica White surprisingly close to the investigation that finally brings Anthony Robinson down. That makes one question almost unavoidable after watching the movie: did Monica actually help police catch the man later known as the “Shopping Cart Killer”?

Not in the way the movie suggests. White did eventually speak with investigators about Robinson, but available reporting shows that Robinson had already been arrested before she even learned that the man she had dated was suspected of killing women. Police identified him through evidence connected to Allene “Beth” Redmon and Tonita Smith, particularly hotel surveillance footage and cellphone records.

The movie gives Monica a bigger role before Anthony’s arrest

Near the end of The Dating App Killer, detectives arrive at Monica’s home and tell her they found her name among information connected to Robinson. Monica then recounts what she knows about him, including disturbing things he had said and done.

The movie places that conversation immediately before a large police operation in which Robinson is located and arrested on a bus. It creates the impression that Monica has become an important piece of the investigation while Robinson is still at large.

That sequence works dramatically because it ties the movie’s central character directly to Robinson’s capture. The documented chronology was different.

Anthony Robinson was already arrested when Monica learned the truth

Robinson was arrested on November 23, 2021, after investigators connected him to Redmon, 54, and Smith, 39. Their bodies had been found near the Howard Johnson where Robinson had been staying in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Surveillance footage showed Redmon entering a motel room with Robinson and later showed him moving a large object wrapped in bedding with a shopping cart. Investigators found similar footage involving Smith. Police also had cellphone evidence connecting Robinson to the women.

White, meanwhile, had ended her relationship with Robinson months earlier.

According to White’s account, it was only after Robinson’s arrest that a relative sent her a news story showing his photograph and describing him as a suspected serial killer. The Washington Post reported that Fairfax County police later interviewed White as part of their investigation.

So White did cooperate with police, but there is no evidence that her information led investigators to identify Robinson or caused his initial arrest.

Monica’s real story was still important

White’s role in the real case should not be reduced simply because she did not catch Robinson.

She had dated him from late 2020 into early 2021 and later described several behaviors that became disturbing in retrospect. White said Robinson called her constantly, tried to move their relationship forward unusually quickly and talked about moving in with her. She also alleged that he tried to restrain her during an intimate encounter.

The relationship finally collapsed around White’s birthday. After she told Robinson she no longer wanted the relationship, he remained in the Harrisburg area for a time and later tried to persuade her to meet him at a motel. White refused.

Months later, Robinson was connected to the Harrisonburg killings.

White has wondered publicly whether her rejection somehow contributed to the change she later perceived in Robinson. There is, however, no established evidence that their breakup caused his killings, and that remains White’s personal interpretation rather than a finding by investigators.

Related: The Dating App Killer: The Monica White Story Filming Locations and Cast Details

The real investigation did not need Monica to identify Robinson

The crucial distinction is therefore simple. Monica White survived a troubling relationship with Anthony Robinson and later provided investigators with information about him. But police had already identified and arrested Robinson through the evidence surrounding Redmon and Smith.

The Lifetime movie moves Monica closer to that arrest because she is the protagonist of the story. The real Monica’s importance lies elsewhere: she was able to describe what Robinson was like in a relationship before his crimes became publicly known.

Robinson was ultimately found guilty by a jury in January 2025 in connection with the murders of Redmon and Smith. In May 2026, a judge sentenced him to two life terms for aggravated murder plus 10 additional years for concealing their bodies.