Gerald Walter McFadden was born in Haskell County, Texas, on March 21, 1948.

On May 4, 1986, McFadden kidnapped 20-year-old Gena Turner, 19-year-old Bryan Boone, and 18-year-old Suzanne Harrison while they were on a trip to Lake Hawkins, north of Tyler, Texas. McFadden raped and strangled Harrison, leaving her body in a park about 25 miles (40 km) from Lake Hawkins, where it was discovered the following day. He was apprehended on May 6, following a police report from a couple he had attacked by the lake on the day of the murder. Three days later, Boone and Turner's bodies were found with gunshot wounds.

McFadden had a history of convictions for rape, with three between 1972 and 1978, but he never served his full sentences and was paroled in July 1985. Witnesses placed McFadden near the crime scene on the day of the murders, and ammunition in his possession matched that used in the killings of Boone and Turner. DNA evidence was also collected from the victims' bodies.

On July 9, 1986, McFadden escaped from prison in Upshur County by overpowering jailer Kenneth Mayfield and taking guard Rosalie Williams hostage. He was recaptured two days later after the largest fugitive hunt in Texas history. In August 1986, he received a life sentence for the escape.

In July 1987, McFadden was sentenced to death for the murders of Suzanne Harrison, Gena Turner, and Bryan Boone. The Texas Appeals Court upheld the conviction and sentence in November 1993. He was executed by lethal injection in October 1999 at the Huntsville Unit.

In January 2019, DNA evidence linked McFadden to the July 24, 1979, murder of Anna Marie Hlavka in Portland, Oregon, who had been sexually assaulted and strangled with an electric cord. McFadden's criminal history included a 1973 sentence of 15 years for two counts of rape, from which he was paroled in December 1978. He committed the murder of Anna Marie Hlavka in July 1979, although he was not identified as the killer until 2019 using genetic genealogy. 

He was convicted in 1979 of aggravated sexual assault for kidnapping and raping an 18-year-old woman at knifepoint, and was paroled in July 1985, having served less than five years of a 15-year sentence. He was arrested again in May 1986 for the rape and murder of Suzanne Harrison and the murders of Gena Turner and Bryan Boone.