Edward Surratt was born on August 8, 1941, in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. His father, Arthur Surratt, was a successful entrepreneur, but Edward's childhood was marred by abuse.

Edward attended Aliquippa High School and performed well until eighth grade, earning honors and maintaining a good reputation. However, by ninth grade, he lost interest in his studies and began spending more time on the streets, leading to criminal activities by the late 1950s. In 1959, he was arrested for disturbing the peace but only received a fine. Chronic absenteeism and poor academic performance led to his expulsion, but he returned the following year after his parents intervened and eventually graduated. Shortly after, he was arrested again for disturbing the peace and assaulting an officer, resulting in a 14-month sentence at SCI Camp Hill Range in Cumberland County.

Upon his release, Edward enrolled at Youngstown University in Ohio with financial help from his parents. However, he soon lost interest and was expelled in 1963, returning home. For the next year, he did various odd jobs before being drafted into the Army in March 1964. Stationed at Fort Dix, New Jersey, he faced disciplinary actions for injuring a colleague in a fight and abandoning his post, which led to his arrest for dangerous driving and illegal weapons possession. He was discharged from the Army in August 1965 and returned to Aliquippa to take over his late father's business, which eventually went bankrupt. To escape financial difficulties, he enlisted in the Marine Corps in October 1966.

In 1967, after training, Edward was deployed to Vietnam, where he served in a tank battalion during the Tet Offensive. In 1969, he was injured by an explosion, suffering chest wounds and a severe concussion, which led to a prolonged hospital stay. He was discharged in 1970, having participated in 11 military operations and earning the Gallantry Cross and the Purple Heart.

After returning from the war, Edward married and moved to North Carolina, where he worked as a truck driver. During this time, he began showing signs of antisocial behavior and PTSD. In 1973, he was arrested in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for attempting to rape a 13-year-old boy. He was convicted in March 1974 and sentenced to prison. After serving less than four years, he was paroled in January 1977 and returned to Aliquippa.

In April 1978, Edward Surratt became a suspect for the police. He was employed as a truck driver for a company based in Charlotte, North Carolina. From 1977 to 1978, Surratt traveled to various cities in Ohio and Pennsylvania, where a series of at least 27 unsolved murders occurred, causing widespread fear. Although he was arrested and questioned, Surratt denied any involvement in the crimes. Due to the lack of evidence linking him to the murders, he was released.

On June 6, 1978, Surratt was seen in Aliquippa, his hometown, driving a car belonging to 66-year-old Luther Langford, who had been killed on June 1 in Columbia, South Carolina, after being struck multiple times with a baseball bat. Langford's wife survived a beating from the same attack. When the police attempted to arrest Surratt, he resisted and escaped, hiding in a metallurgical plant near the Ohio River. 

Despite a search operation, Surratt evaded capture and was placed on a wanted list. Inside Langford's car, police found a bat with Surratt's fingerprints and items belonging to Joseph Weinman, a 30-year-old disabled Vietnam War veteran, and his wife, 29-year-old Catherine, who were beaten to death on September 30, 1977, in Marshall Township, Pennsylvania.

Surratt was also suspected in several other murders, including the September 27 killing of Frank Ziegler, the December 4 killings of Richard Hyde and his wife Donna, and the November 20 murders of William Adams and his wife Nancy in Fallston, Pennsylvania. On New Year's Eve 1977, Surratt was in Breezewood, where 64-year-old Guy Mills, his wife Laura, and 36-year-old Joel Krueger were killed with a shotgun. Evidence placed Surratt in Boardman, Ohio, near another similar murder, making him a prime suspect.

In late June 1978, Surratt traveled to Florida, stopping in Vilano Beach. On July 1, he broke into a house, assaulted the family living there, and sexually assaulted their 15-year-old daughter. Instead of fleeing, he became intoxicated and fell asleep. The father escaped and contacted the police, leading to Surratt's arrest.

During the investigation, Surratt was linked to at least 18 murders with a similar modus operandi. His trial in Florida began in the fall of 1978, and he was found guilty of burglary, assault, and threats of murder on September 20, receiving two life terms plus 200 years. He was then extradited to South Carolina for the murder of Langford and the attempted murder of his wife, receiving two additional life sentences in 1979. Surratt also confessed to the January 7, 1978, murder of John Shelkons and the assault on his wife Catherine in Baden, Pennsylvania, but prosecutors decided not to charge him further.

Throughout his life, Surratt has been moved between various Florida institutions. In 1993, he attempted an escape during a prison transfer but was thwarted and received an additional sentence. In 2007, Surratt confessed to six more murders, including those of David and Linda Hamilton and John and Mary Davis in Ohio, and John Feeny and his fiancée Ranee Gregor in Pennsylvania. Despite offering to reveal burial sites in exchange for a transfer to a more lenient penitentiary, his offer was rejected. In 2021, while imprisoned at Florida State Prison, Surratt confessed to several Pennsylvania murders, including those of William and Nancy Adams, Guy and Laura Mills, Joel Krueger, and John Shelkons. Pennsylvania authorities chose not to prosecute him further due to his existing life sentences.