[6] Criminologists and psychologists have analyzed the Starkweather case in an attempt to understand spree killers' motivations and precipitating factors.

[7][8][9] It also became notorious as one of the earlier crime scandals that reached national prominence, much like the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's son with the media outlets covering the case at the time openly condemning Starkweather.

[13] Guy Starkweather admitted at Charles's trial to having pushed his son into a window; later his wife would divorce him on the grounds of extreme cruelty.

[15] He was born with genu varum, a mild birth defect that caused his legs to be misshapen, and claimed he was teased by classmates because he had a speech impediment.

[16] As he grew older and stronger, the only subject in which Starkweather excelled was physical education,[12] where he found an outlet for his rage against those who bullied him.

Author Ginger Strand argues that his writings from prison suggest a strong element of class envy and bitterness.

[12] Starkweather began developing a nihilistic worldview, believing that his current situation was the final determinant of how he would live the rest of his life while striving only to satisfy his biological needs and acquire power over others.

[further explanation needed][22][23] He began plotting bank robberies, and settled on a personal philosophy: "Dead people are all on the same level".

[24] Late on November 30, 1957, Starkweather became angry at Robert Colvert, a service station attendant in Lincoln, for refusing to sell him a stuffed animal on credit.

He returned several times during the night to purchase small items until finally, brandishing a shotgun, he forced Colvert to give him $100 from the till.

[26] The pair remained in the house until shortly before the police, alerted by Fugate's suspicious grandmother, arrived on January 27.

A few days later, Charles's brother Rodney and his friend Bob Von Busch searched the house and premises, finding the stashed bodies.

[27] Starkweather and Fugate drove to the farmhouse of seventy-year-old August Meyer, one of his family's friends who lived in Bennet, Nebraska.

When Robert Jensen and Carol King, two local teenagers, stopped to give them a ride, Starkweather forced them to drive back to an abandoned storm cellar in Bennet.

[21] Starkweather and Fugate drove to a wealthy section of Lincoln, where they entered the home of industrialist Chester Lauer Ward and his wife Clara.

[15] Starkweather stabbed their maid Ludmila "Lilyan" Fencl to death, then waited for Lauer and Clara to return home.

Governor Victor Emanuel Anderson contacted the Nebraska National Guard, and the Lincoln chief of police called for a block-by-block search of that city.

After several sightings of Starkweather and Fugate were reported, the Lincoln Police Department was accused of incompetence for being unable to capture the pair.

[32] Needing a new car because of Ward's Packard having been identified, the couple came upon traveling salesman Merle Collison sleeping in his Buick along the highway outside Douglas, Wyoming.

"[21] Starkweather drove off and was involved in a car chase with three officers—Romer, Douglas Police Chief Robert Ainslie, and Converse County Sheriff Earl Heflin—exceeding speeds of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h).

A bullet fired by Heflin shattered the windshield and flying glass cut Starkweather deep enough to cause bleeding.

Judge Harry A. Spencer did not believe Fugate was held hostage by Starkweather, as he determined she had had numerous opportunities to escape.

[39] Starkweather gave no last words but in a letter from prison to his parents, wrote: "but dad I'm not real sorry for what I did cause for the first time me and Caril have (sic) more fun.