Born in Germany following World War II to Americans stationed in a refugee camp, O'Connor began his career as a journalist in the 1980s.

His father was stationed there after the conclusion of World War II and was in charge of supervising the camps of people who were displaced in the conflict.

[2][3] It was much later in his life that O'Connor found out that his mother was affiliated with the Independent Labour Party and was blacklisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

[2] In his first major report for CPJ in 2009, he published an article about the drug-related violence and censorship of journalists in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, one of the most-dangerous cities in the country that year.

[13] CPJ research conducted by O'Connor and his colleagues showed that attacks against the press in the country were often ignored and even facilitated by corrupt law enforcement officials, especially those at the state and local levels.

[16][17] The United States Department of State extended their condolences;[18] Reporters Without Borders (RWB) and Mexico City's Human Rights Commission (Spanish: Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal [es]) lamented the death and recognized O'Connor's work to uncover and combat all manner of threats to the safety of Mexican journalists.