Billy Lee Chadd was born in San Diego in 1954. His childhood was difficult because his mother and stepfather were both alcoholics. From a young age, he was influenced by his friends to steal, and he successfully stole several cars. When he was 15 years old, he met the girl who would become his future wife.

In July 1970, Chadd was arrested for rape. He was found guilty based on the victim's testimony and a partial footprint found at the crime scene. He was sentenced to two years in juvenile detention. During his time there, he escaped twice from the California Youth Authority (CYA). After his second escape, he knocked on the door of a house and told the woman who answered that his car had broken down and he needed to use her phone. She refused to let him in because she was home alone, and this led Chadd to break into her home. He used a brick to force his way in and then attacked the woman inside her home.

Later, Chadd was transferred to the CYA's Youth Training School, where he attempted suicide by hanging. Because of this, he was sent to Atascadero State Hospital. It was there that he claimed to have had his first homosexual experience and also began using drugs.

On the evening of July 27, 1974, Billy Lee Chadd broke into a house in Linda Vista. He planned to steal things but saw a woman named Patricia Franklin in the bathtub. He tied her up and took her to her bedroom, where he raped her several times. Afterward, he strangled and stabbed her, then left the house. Her roommate found her body later, and the police found a fingerprint but couldn't link it to Chadd.

On August 7, 1975, Chadd met Delmar Bright, a busboy in Las Vegas. Bright offered Chadd $20 and beer if he would pose nude. They went to Bright's apartment, where Bright asked Chadd to tie him up. Chadd did so and then killed Bright by cutting his throat and strangling him. Chadd tried to clean up the apartment and then left.

On February 15, 1978, Chadd raped and murdered Linda Hewitt while she was babysitting. He tied her up and raped her, even threatening her baby to make her cooperate. He then stabbed her to death. Her body was discovered by the children she was babysitting and a neighbor who called the police.

Chadd, who was a Marine, worked at Balboa Hospital in San Diego. On March 31, 1978, he broke into a home in Chula Vista and raped a woman while her family slept upstairs. He later brought the family into one room and raped the woman's daughter as well. He eventually let them go after failing to drive them to a secluded area due to muddy roads.

Chadd was arrested in Louisiana the same week as the Chula Vista rapes. The rape victims identified him from the hospital, and his fingerprints linked him to the murders of Patricia Franklin and Linda Hewitt. He confessed to these murders and also admitted to killing Delmar Bright and a male hitchhiker in Kansas. However, the hitchhiker's body was never found.

While in prison, Chadd wrote an autobiography called "Dark Secrets" about his life and crimes. In 1979, he changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced to death for Linda Hewitt's murder and life in prison for Patricia Franklin's murder. However, after appealing, he received three life sentences for the murders and an additional 13 years for the Chula Vista rapes and kidnappings. He is now imprisoned at Mule Creek State Prison.