David Burgess was born in the 1930s in Beenham, Berkshire, England, into a family with deep roots in the village. He was the second of five children. At the age of eight, he lost his left eye in an accident and subsequently wore a glass eye, which gave him a distinctive "staring" expression. Burgess attended the local primary school and later the Willink School in Burghfield Common, where he was described as "normal and average." After leaving school at fifteen, he worked as a farm laborer and was known for his poaching activities, particularly rabbit catching. Despite his unremarkable early life, Burgess harbored a dark side that would later manifest in a series of brutal crimes.

The village of Beenham was shaken by a series of heinous crimes between 1966 and 1967, all traced back to David Burgess.​

October 28, 1966: Seventeen-year-old nanny Yolande Waddington, who had recently begun working for a local family, was reported missing after failing to return home from posting a letter. Her body was discovered two days later in a waterlogged ditch; she had been strangled with baling twine and stabbed twice. Despite extensive investigations, her killer remained unidentified at the time. 

April 17, 1967: Nine-year-old friends Jeanette Wigmore and Jacqueline Williams went missing while playing together after school. Their bodies were found later that evening in a disused gravel pit known as Blake's Pit. Jeanette had been stabbed five times, with three wounds to her throat causing her death, while Jacqueline had been manually strangled and then drowned. 

The brutal nature of these murders sent shockwaves through the small community. Investigations revealed that on the day of the girls' disappearance, Burgess had been near the crime scene checking rabbit snares. Blood matching Jeanette's rare blood group was found on Burgess's right boot, leading to his arrest on May 7, 1967. He was subsequently charged with both murders and, despite attempting to fabricate an alibi involving a fictitious individual named "MacNab," was found guilty on July 21, 1967, receiving two life sentences. 

For decades, the murder of Yolande Waddington remained unsolved. However, advancements in forensic science led to the reopening of the case in 2010. DNA evidence from Waddington's belongings matched Burgess's profile, resulting in his re-arrest on November 15, 2011. During the 2012 trial, testimonies revealed that Burgess had previously confessed to fellow inmates about the murder. He was found guilty on July 20, 2012, and sentenced to an additional 27 years in prison. ​