Daniel Lee Corwin was born in Orange County, California. During his early years, he lived in a troubled home. His parents often fought, creating a tense atmosphere. This made Daniel's childhood difficult and unstable. 

As a young boy, Daniel had trouble in school. He struggled to make friends and often got into trouble. His behavior worried his teachers and family. They noticed that he had a tendency to be aggressive and had a hard time following rules.

Daniel's teenage years were not much better. He continued to have problems with authority and got involved in various petty crimes. His family struggled to control him, and he spent more time away from home, sometimes disappearing for days. This pattern of behavior set the stage for his troubled future.

In 1975, Daniel Lee Corwin kidnapped a classmate at knifepoint in their high school parking lot while she was getting into her car. He drove her to a remote spot in her own car and raped her. After that, he dragged her out of the car, knocked her down, slit her throat, and stabbed her in the stomach and heart. He left her in a dirt pit, covering her head with a board, dirt, and leaves. Amazingly, she survived and managed to reach the road where she was found and saved. Corwin was sentenced to forty years in prison for kidnapping, rape, and attempted murder. However, because of a law aimed at reducing the number of prisoners in Texas, he was released early after only serving nine years.

In February 1987, Corwin abducted 72-year-old Alice Martin as she walked to her home in Normangee, Texas. He drove her to a field in Robertson County where he raped her, then bound, gagged, and stabbed her to death. A few months later, in July, he met 26-year-old Debra Lynn Ewing at her workplace in Conroe. Corwin, working as a door repairman, returned to her workplace at night and kidnapped her as she was leaving. He drove her to a remote wooded area in north Montgomery County, where he raped and killed her.

On October 31, 1987, Corwin attacked 36-year-old Mary Carrell Risinger and her 3-year-old daughter at a car wash in Huntsville, Texas. He tried to drag her to his truck, but Risinger fought back, scratching him and screaming for help. Corwin slit her throat in front of her daughter before escaping. Despite the quick response from officers, Corwin got away, and the case went cold. Then, in October 1988, he abducted college student Wendy Gant from a parking lot at Texas A&M University. He used her car to drive them to a rural area, where he bound, raped, beat, and stabbed her. Corwin tied her to a tree and slit her throat, but Gant pretended to be dead. Once Corwin left, she managed to untie herself and crawl to safety.

Corwin was eventually tracked down using an artist's sketch that Gant helped create. Though her throat was cut so deeply that she couldn't speak, she wrote down descriptions and nodded to questions. A corrections officer who knew Corwin recognized the sketch and reported his name to the police. They found Corwin’s fingerprint on Gant’s car, leading to his arrest. During his trial, Corwin admitted to raping a 13-year-old girl in 1972, but she couldn't identify him back then.

In 1990, Corwin was convicted of capital murder under a new law that allowed capital convictions for murders committed in a similar pattern. He was sentenced to death and was executed by lethal injection.

Daniel Lee Corwin was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit on December 7, 1998. In his final statement, Corwin apologized to the families of his victims, expressing deep regret for his actions. He thanked two special people, Sara and Sabrina, for their support, which he said had made a significant difference in his life. He acknowledged that he hadn't had the chance to speak to the victims' families before and asked for their forgiveness, emphasizing that holding onto hatred and anger would only lead to emptiness. Corwin also reflected on the pain caused by the death penalty, noting that it affects people on both sides. He hoped that everyone would understand his remorse and find it in their hearts to forgive him.