Faryion Edward Wardrip was born on March 6, 1959, in Salem, Indiana, to George and Diana Wardrip. He was their first child and had two younger brothers. There are no records indicating that Wardrip faced any mental or physical abuse during his childhood. He left high school during his senior year.

In 1978, at 19 years old, Wardrip enlisted in the United States National Guard. After serving for six years, he was discharged with less-than-honorable conditions due to marijuana use, disorderly conduct, and multiple instances of being absent without leave (AWOL). During his time in the National Guard, he did not participate in any combat missions.

At 24, Wardrip married Johnna D. Jackson, who was 20 at the time, in March 1983. They had two children together, but their marriage was plagued by Wardrip's substance abuse issues. That same year, he began working as a janitor at Wichita Falls General Hospital and was promoted to orderly within a year.

Wardrip struggled to keep jobs due to his addictions, leading to financial instability. Johnna's parents supported the family by covering their rent and groceries. By December 1985, Johnna had enough of Wardrip's irresponsible behavior and substance abuse. She separated from him and took their children. She filed for divorce, which was finalized in October 1986.

Terry Lee Sims, a part-time EKG specialist at Bethania Hospital in Wichita Falls, Texas, and a student at Midwestern State University, finished her evening shift with co-worker Leza Boone on December 20, 1984. After work, they visited a friend's house to exchange Christmas gifts. Sims planned to spend the night at Boone's apartment on Bell Street for study assistance before her final exam. Boone was unexpectedly called back to work the midnight shift, so she dropped Sims at her apartment around 12:30 am on December 21, 1984, and gave her the key.

Boone returned home at 7:30 am after her double shift. Finding no response to her knocks, she sought the landlord's help to enter. Inside, they discovered the ransacked living room and found Sims' lifeless body on the bathroom floor, lying in a pool of blood. Sims had been sexually assaulted and fatally stabbed. Police collected a semen sample and a fingerprint from the crime scene. Many years later, these matched Faryion Wardrip, revealing he had targeted Sims without reason, broke into the apartment, and attacked her. Sims' resistance led Wardrip to bind her hands with an electrical cord, and she survived several minutes post-attack. Sims was buried at Crestview Memorial Park in Wichita Falls.

Toni Jean Gibbs, 23, disappeared on January 19, 1985, while working as a nurse at Wichita General Hospital. Standing at 5 ft 1 in and weighing 94 pounds, Gibbs encountered Wardrip early that morning. He forced her to drive to a secluded area, where he assaulted and fatally stabbed her. Her car was found nearby, and utility workers discovered her body on February 15 in a field in Archer County. Gibbs had suffered eight stab wounds, including defensive injuries. Near her body, police found an abandoned school bus with her clothes inside, suggesting she had crawled some distance before dying. Wardrip abandoned her car close to his residence and quit his hospital job shortly after her body was found. Initially, Danny Laughlin was suspected and tried for Gibbs' murder but was acquitted due to lack of evidence. Gibbs was buried at Clayton Cemetery in New Mexico.

Two months after Gibbs' murder, Wardrip met 25-year-old Debra Sue Taylor in Fort Worth, Texas, on March 24, 1985. After spending time at a bar, Wardrip offered Taylor a ride home, which she accepted. When she rejected his advances, Wardrip killed her and left her body at a construction site. Her husband reported her missing the next morning, and her body was found five days later. Initially, her husband was suspected, but Wardrip's 1999 confession linked him to her murder. Taylor was buried at Shannon Rose Hill Memorial Park in Fort Worth.
 

On September 20, 1985, Wardrip abducted 21-year-old Ellen Blau as she walked to her car after work in Wichita Falls. Forcing her to drive to a secluded area, he strangled her, leaving her body in a field. Blau's decomposed remains were found on October 10, 1985, and she was identified through dental records. Her burial was at Bnai Jacob Memorial Park in New Haven, Connecticut.

On May 6, 1986, Wardrip murdered 21-year-old Tina Elizabeth Kimbrew, whom he had recently befriended. After suffocating her with a pillow in her apartment, Wardrip fled. Days later, he confessed to the murder and was sentenced to 35 years in prison, paroled in 1997. Kimbrew was buried at Wilbarger Memorial Park in Vernon.

In 1999, Detective John Little reopened the unsolved cases of Sims, Gibbs, and Blau. DNA analysis linked Wardrip to these murders, and further investigation connected him to Taylor's death. Wardrip's DNA was obtained through a ruse involving a coffee cup. He confessed to the murders and received a death sentence for Sims and life sentences for the other killings. Despite appeals, his death sentence was reinstated in 2020. Wardrip remains on death row at Polunsky Unit near Livingston as of 2023.