Andrew Armandoz Benavidez, known as Andrew Pixley, was born on January 29, 1943, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. He grew up in a challenging environment and faced many difficulties during his early life. His father, Columbus Pixley, reported that Andrew had dropped out of high school and had not held a job. This lack of stability affected his upbringing and future choices.

Pixley's life took a turning point when he joined the U.S. Army. He enlisted after being charged with passing bad checks. His military service lasted two years, with most of that time spent overseas. During this period, he developed a reputation as a "slightly built" and "nervous" person. After leaving the army, he faced a series of troubles and was considered a transient. He worked as a dishwasher, which did not provide him with long-term stability.

In his hometown, Andrew had a warrant out for his arrest due to a charge of larceny. Two weeks before a series of serious crimes, he was accused of being in possession of a stolen car in Davenport, Washington, but he was cleared of those charges. He lived in a trailer with two employees from a hotel, David Starling and Orval Edwards. There was information suggesting that Starling knew about Pixley's violent tendencies.

On the night of August 7, 1964, Andrew Pixley broke into the Wort Motor Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming. He entered a room occupied by the family of Illinois Circuit Court Judge Robert McAuliffe. The McAuliffe family was on vacation, and Judge McAuliffe and his wife were attending a show at the hotel. When they returned to their room, they found Pixley lying on the floor. He appeared to be drunk, but some believed he was pretending.

Judge McAuliffe restrained Pixley while his wife screamed for help. Police officer James Jensen responded to the noise and rushed to the scene, hearing Judge McAuliffe shout that Pixley had killed his daughters. Inside the room, their older daughters, Debbie, age 12, and Cindy, age 8, were found dead in their beds. Their youngest daughter, Susan, age 6, was unharmed.

Pixley had climbed a stack of wood to get inside the hotel through a window. As police took him away, a crowd outside yelled for him to be lynched. To ensure his safety, he was moved to a jail in another town and then to the Wyoming State Penitentiary.

Initially, Pixley denied the crime to the police, saying, "I didn't do it." He later claimed he could not remember the events of that night. He admitted to the murders but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. A psychiatrist examined him and declared him sane, labeling him an "incurable sociopath." The psychiatrist noted that Pixley seemed to derive satisfaction from killing the girls while they were awake.

Pixley was charged with first-degree murder for killing Debbie and was sentenced to death. Despite an appeal for a life sentence, he chose not to appeal his death sentence. He was executed by lethal gas at the Wyoming State Penitentiary on December 10, 1965. His execution took longer than any other in the history of the Wyoming gas chamber. After his execution, the McAuliffe family faced significant challenges, with Robert and Betty McAuliffe eventually divorcing.