A food service worker, Shawcross trawled the streets of Rochester in his girlfriend's 1984 Dodge Omni (later using her 1987 Chevrolet Celebrity), looking for prostitutes to kill.

Dr. Michael H. Stone, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and an authority on violent behavior, identified Shawcross as "one of the most egregious examples of the unwarranted release of a prisoner" in his book The Anatomy of Evil.

He later claimed his mother performed oral sex on him for several years starting when he was aged 7, and that during junior high school he had sexual relations with his sister.

After serving 22 months, he was granted an early release in October 1971, in part due to his role in the rescue of a correctional officer during a prison riot.

[3] On September 2, just prior to the body's discovery, Shawcross raped and killed eight-year-old Karen Ann Hill, who had been visiting Watertown with her mother for the Labor Day weekend.

On October 17, 1972, he was allowed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of first degree manslaughter for both deaths and was sentenced to an indeterminate term with a maximum of 25 years at Attica Correctional Facility.

[6] Jefferson County District Attorney William McClusky explained the plea bargain by stating that other than Shawcross's confession to police, there was no direct evidence linking him to the Blake killing.

McClusky also suggested Shawcross could have argued at trial that he was under "extreme emotional disturbance," and a jury would have been likely to arrive at a verdict of manslaughter.

[2] In late June 1987, Shawcross' parole officer moved him and Walley into a transient hotel in Rochester, but failed to notify local authorities of this action.

He had been spotted by an eyewitness and a police surveillance team standing near his car, apparently masturbating on a bridge over Salmon Creek near where Cicero's body had been dumped.

[8] Lewis also claimed that Shawcross moved into a separate internal personality named "Bessie" when he killed, arguing for him to be institutionalized rather than being returned to the prisons system.