The Dating App Killer: The Monica White Story - The real case that inspired the film, explained

Lifetime's original true crime movie The Dating App Killer: The Monica White Story, which relaunched yesterday on Netflix, revisits the shocking case of a survivor named Monica White, who narrowly escaped a relationship with Anthony Robinson. Later, the movie reveals Anthony as the "Shopping Cart Killer."

In 2020, Monica met Anthony through a dating app and began a relationship with him. As time passed, Anthony's behaviour grew increasingly strange and threatening which led her to end the relationship in early 2021. Later that same year, Anthony was arrested after investigators found that he was connected to several murders of women in Washington and Virginia.

The true story reveals that Anthony used shopping carts to move the bodies of his female victims and that's why he was popularly known as the "Shopping Cart Killer."

Continue reading more about The Dating App Killer: The Monica White Story.

The true story of Monica White in The Dating App Killer

Monica White is the central character of the film's true story. She first connects with Anthony Robinson in 2000 through a dating app and then they start a relationship that lasts only a few months. White revealed that Robinson first texted her on her phone and said,

"Hi beautiful, I'd like to get to know you better."

Police officials stated that Robinson reportedly told White that he valued her past experience as a preschool teacher and admired her passion for art. He further told her that he liked dating older women because of their maturity.

In January 2021, Robinson traveled from Harrisonburg to Mechanicsburg to meet White. After their first face-to-face interaction, White quickly noticed red flags when Robinson remarked that he doesn't like when women reject him.

Monica decided to end their relationship in early 2021 because Robinson tried to tie her up, hold her arms back, grab her neck and almost choke her. Robinson also urinated in White's bed on her birthday and after that incident she told him that she no longer wanted to see him.

Later, Robinson was taken into custody on suspicion of carrying out several killings in Virginia and Washington. According to police reports, Robinson used online dating sites to meet women, invited them to hotels and then killed some of them. After murdering, he moved their bodies in shopping carts and later abandoned them in empty lots.

Why did Netflix relaunch the real case of Monica White?

Lela Rochon as Monica and Jarod Joseph as Anthony (Image via Instagram/@lifetimetv)

Netflix re-released The Dating App Killer because the story of Anthony Robinson or the "Shopping Cart Killer" has both global relevance and strong audience appeal. When the movie was originally released on February 14, 2026, it was limited to U.S. cable viewers through Lifetime's network.

Now, Netflix acquired the streaming rights to broaden its reach. The global platform is aiming to draw the interest of international audiences who are deeply engaged with true-crime dramas.

The platform also has a consistent success rate with crime-based series and films and so the decision to relaunch The Dating App Killer perfectly aligns with its strategy of building a library of real-case adaptations that emphasise both criminal investigations and survival perspectives.