Gwendolyn Graham was born on August 6, 1963, in California. In 1986, she relocated to Michigan and secured employment as a nurse's aide at Alpine Manor nursing home in Walker. There, she met Catherine Wood, her supervisor, and the two developed a romantic relationship.

Between January and February 1987, Graham and Wood conspired to murder elderly female patients at Alpine Manor. Their initial plan was to select victims whose initials would spell out the word "MURDER," but this idea was soon abandoned. Graham would smother the victims with washcloths while Wood acted as a lookout. The victims, aged between 60 and 98, were often incapacitated and suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

The murders went undetected until October 1988, when Wood confessed to her ex-husband, who then alerted authorities. Graham was arrested in December 1988 and stood trial in 1989. Based largely on Wood's testimony, Graham was convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and one count of conspiracy to commit murder. She received five life sentences and remains incarcerated at the Women's Huron Valley Correctional Facility in Michigan.