Alfred J. Gaynor was born on December 10, 1966, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was one of several children in his family. Details about his early years are scarce. After completing school, he did not pursue further education and instead took on low-skill jobs to support himself.

In the late 1980s, he found work at an automobile repair shop. During this time, he also participated in day labor jobs when needed. It was during these years that Gaynor developed a serious addiction to drugs and alcohol.

In early April 1995, Alfred J. Gaynor began his series of murders in Springfield, Massachusetts. His first victim was 45-year-old Vera E. Hallums. He convinced her to let him spend the night at her apartment. In the middle of the night, Gaynor attacked her, tied her up, and beat her. Hallums died from a brain injury. After her death, he raped her corpse and robbed her apartment. Her body was discovered on April 20.

On June 15, 1997, Gaynor encountered 34-year-old Jill Ann Ermellini. He lured her to a parking lot with the promise of selling her drugs. He then attacked her, strangled her, and robbed her before hiding her body in a truck. Later that year, on October 24, he met 29-year-old Robin M. Atkins. After they used cocaine together, Gaynor attacked her, beat her, and raped her before strangling her to death. He took money and valuables from her wallet.

On October 31, Gaynor met 38-year-old JoAnn C. Thomas. He entered her apartment, where he sodomized her and then strangled her, leaving his fingerprints and semen at the scene. Two weeks later, on November 14, he went to the home of his girlfriend, 33-year-old Yvette Torres. While using alcohol and drugs together, Gaynor attacked her and ultimately strangled her. He stole a videocassette recorder and other items from her house afterward.

In 1998, he continued his crimes. On February 1, he went to a crack house and met 38-year-old Loretta Daniels. She agreed to have sex with him for drugs, but Gaynor strangled her in an alley after that and sexually assaulted her corpse. Her body was discovered the next day. On February 10, he returned to the same crack house and met 42-year-old Rosemary Downs. They used crack cocaine together before Gaynor attacked and raped her, leaving her tied up and gagged. Downs later died from suffocation.

On February 18, he murdered 37-year-old Joyce Dickerson-Peay. After she went missing, her daughter reported her absence to the police. Witnesses linked Dickerson-Peay to Gaynor, who was later questioned but released due to a lack of evidence. Her body was found on March 11, with Gaynor’s biological traces present. He was arrested again on April 10, 1998.

Gaynor faced trial for his crimes. Despite never admitting to his actions, he was found guilty of multiple murders in May 2000. He received four life sentences without the possibility of parole. In 2008, Gaynor confessed to several other murders, including those of Hallums, Ermellini, Atkins, and Torres. His nephew had been convicted of the murder of Amy Smith in 1996, but Gaynor claimed responsibility for that as well, leading to a retrial for his nephew.

Currently, Gaynor is serving his time at Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center. During his imprisonment, he gained attention for creating artworks and selling them, which upset many families of his victims.