Patrick Wayne Kearney was born on September 24, 1939, as the oldest of three sons and was raised in a reasonably stable family of middle-class background.

As a thin and sickly child, he was often a target for bullies at school, who beat him up frequently and berated him as a "queer" despite his supposed interest in girls.

In his teens, he became withdrawn and harboured fantasies about killing personal enemies, often ending in Kearney skinning them alive.

He claimed several more victims, mostly transients, before moving to Redondo Beach, near Los Angeles, in 1967 with a man named David Hill, who became his lover.

While Kearney did later confess to having mutilated his victims' bodies out of curiosity, such as cutting open one of their stomachs, he did so post-mortem and did not inflict any physical suffering.

The first murder that Kearney confessed to and was convicted of occurred "sometime around Christmas" of 1968, while he was living in Culver City, approximately one year after he and David Hill had taken residence together.

[5][6] According to Kearney, this victim (whose name is known as "George") was lured into his vehicle in San Diego and taken to his home, then shot in the head moments after entering the house.

As time passed, Kearney greatly refined his modus operandi, which enabled him to carry out his crimes much more efficiently and frequently.

After picking up his victims along the freeway or at gay bars in his Volkswagen or in his truck, Kearney would typically shoot his victims in the temple above the ear with a Derringer .22 pistol in his right hand, while steering his car with his left hand and simultaneously monitoring the car's speed to avoid exhibiting any unusual behavior to potential witnesses.

After murdering his victims, Kearney would leave the bodies slumped upright in the passenger seat and drive to a secluded area to sexually violate them.

[7] After copulating with his victims' corpses, Kearney would usually mutilate and dismember the remains with a hacksaw before disposing of them in various locations such as canyons, landfills, and along the freeways, usually in industrial trash bags.

[10] Merle "Hondo" Chance, 8, of Venice, vanished on April 6, 1977, while supposedly riding his bicycle in the vicinity of Kearney's place of work.

According to the police, Kearney had befriended the boy and invited him to attend a camping trip to Lake Elsinore over the course of a weekend.

At approximately 5:30 pm on that same day, LaMay had told a neighbor he was going to Redondo Beach to meet a man named Dave, whom he had met at a local gym.

A local grocery store owner named Jerry Stevens did, however, note that Kearney frequently purchased butcher knives after examining them and inquiring about the quality of the steel.