Earl Richmond Jr. was born on November 6, 1961, in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Not much is known about his early life or teenage years. When he became an adult, he joined the military. He worked hard and eventually became a drill sergeant at Fort Dix in Trenton, New Jersey. However, in the fall of 1990, he was dishonorably discharged from the military for misconduct.

During his time in the army, several women were sexually assaulted nearby. The first incident happened on April 15, 1989, when a female Air Force trainee was assaulted at gunpoint at a bus stop. A few days later, a 17-year-old girl was raped in her motel room near Fort Dix. Richard Stevens was arrested and convicted for the first assault by a federal court, but his conviction was overturned three years later when it was shown he was likely innocent. In 1990, Richmond got in trouble for misconduct and was discharged from the army.

On April 5, 1991, Richmond broke into the home of Lisa Ann Nadeau, a 24-year-old Army Specialist from Fort Dix. He tied her up, strangled, stabbed, and beat her to death with a hammer. Richmond wasn't suspected at first and then traveled to North Carolina.

Richmond stayed with 27-year-old Helisa Hayes and her two children, 8-year-old Philip and 7-year-old Darien. Richmond knew Hayes because he had dated her sister and was friends with her ex-husband, Wayne. On November 2, after an argument, Richmond dragged Hayes into a bedroom and raped her. He then stabbed Philip 40 times with scissors and strangled him with an electrical cord. Richmond strangled Darien with a wire from a curling iron. Hayes' father found the bodies on November 4. Police initially suspected Wayne Hayes, Helisa's ex-husband.

Richmond became a suspect in April 1992. He was interviewed by police on April 3 and denied involvement, but a DNA test confirmed his guilt. Richmond then confessed to the murders. After his arrest became public, a woman came forward saying Richmond had sexually assaulted her at a motel in 1989 when she was 17. DNA testing linked him to this assault and the murder of Nadeau. Richmond confessed to all the murders and said he left evidence because he wanted to get caught. He was tried in federal court for Nadeau's murder, convicted in May 1993, and sentenced to life in prison. In May 1995, he was convicted of the Hayes' murders and sentenced to death.

Richmond was executed by lethal injection on May 6, 2005, at Central Prison in Raleigh, North Carolina. He declined a last meal. His last words were: "I'd like to extend my deepest apologies to all the victims' families and their loved ones. I'd like to say that I'm not a man that shies away from his responsibilities. I'd like to say that I hope that now, through my death, that y'all can move forward with your lives. Thank you and God bless you."