David Carpenter was born in San Francisco and had a tough childhood. His father was an alcoholic who often hurt him physically, and his mother was very controlling and strict. This made home life very difficult for young David.

As a child, David had a severe stutter, which made speaking hard for him. He also had a problem with bed-wetting that continued for a long time. Besides these issues, he was known to be cruel to animals, which was a sign of more serious problems to come.

When David was 13 years old, he got into serious trouble. He was sent to a juvenile detention center because he had assaulted two of his cousins.

David Carpenter's victims were primarily young women enjoying the outdoors when he attacked them. Richard Stowers, Cynthia Moreland, Shauna May, and Diane O'Connell were all murdered in Point Reyes National Seashore park. Anne Alderson was killed near Mount Tamalpais, while Ellen Marie Hansen and Heather Scaggs were murdered in different parks in Santa Cruz County. His first attempted murder was in 1960 against Lois Rinna, which led to a seven-year prison sentence. Later, in 1970, he was arrested for kidnapping and spent another seven years behind bars. Despite being a suspect in the Zodiac murders, he was eventually cleared.
David Carpenter, known as the "Trailside Killer," faced trial for his horrifying crimes. He was arrested for raping and killing several women between 1979 and 1981 in Santa Cruz and Marin Counties. The trial revealed shocking details of his brutal attacks. In 1988, a San Diego jury found him guilty of five counts of first-degree murder, specifically in the deaths of Richard Stowers, Cynthia Moreland, Shauna May, Diane O'Connell, and Anne Alderson. He was also convicted of raping two of these women and attempting to rape a third. Carpenter received the death sentence and was sent to San Quentin State Prison, where he remains on death row.

In 2009, the San Francisco Police Department reexamined evidence from the 1979 murder of Mary Frances Bennett, who was attacked while jogging at Lands End. A DNA sample matched Carpenter, and this was confirmed with another sample from him in 2010. He is also suspected in the murders of Edda Kane and Barbara Schwartz, both killed near Mount Tamalpais.
Following his conviction for the Marin County murders, Carpenter faced another trial in Santa Cruz. This time, he was convicted for the murder and attempted rape of Ellen Hansen, the rape and murder of Heather Scaggs, and the attempted murder of Steven Haertle, Hansen's hiking companion. Ellen Hansen, a student at the University of California-Davis, has a memorial scholarship in her name, honoring her bravery during the attack, which allowed Haertle to escape. However, in 1995, Carpenter's Santa Cruz convictions were overturned due to juror misconduct, but the California Supreme Court later reinstated them.

David Carpenter's reign of terror finally ended with his capture and trials. The conviction brought some relief to the families of his victims, who had endured immense grief and loss. Despite his appeals, Carpenter remains on death row, a stark reminder of the brutality he inflicted on innocent lives. His death sentence serves as a measure of justice, ensuring that he will never harm anyone again.