John Brennan Crutchley was born on October 1, 1946, in Clarksburg, West Virginia. He was the youngest of three children in a wealthy family. His parents were William "Bill" Crutchley Sr. and Mildred Burnside. Crutchley's early life was marked by tragedy. His mother was deeply saddened by the death of her first child, Donna, who passed away during surgery in 1945. When John was born, his mother wished for another daughter and dressed him as a girl for the first six years of his life.

Crutchley reported that he faced severe abuse from his parents, including beatings that left him unconscious. He was a lonely child with few friends. Instead of playing with other kids, he preferred to stay in the basement of his home, fixing electronic gadgets. His talent for electronics helped him earn money by repairing radios and stereo systems.

He attended Upper St. Clair High School in Pennsylvania and graduated in 1964. After high school, he went on to college. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics from Defiance College in Ohio in 1970 and later a Master of Engineering degree in Engineering Administration from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. In 1969, he got married for the first time.

Crutchley's marriage faced difficulties by the time he completed his college education. He moved to Kokomo, Indiana, to work at Delco Electronics. Before that, he worked at General Motors in Defiance, Ohio, where he helped install a new security system. He later transferred to Delco, where he worked as an electrical systems engineer.

His time in Kokomo ended when an investigation took place regarding missing materials at the plant. After this, he moved to Fairfax County, Virginia, and remarried in the mid-1970s. Over the years, he held positions at various high-tech companies in the Washington, D.C. area.

In 1983, Crutchley relocated to Florida and began working at Harris Corporation in Palm Bay. At this company, he had access to classified information about naval technologies. At the time of his arrest, he was thought to possess a significant amount of sensitive information, leading to suspicions from the FBI and CIA regarding possible espionage activities.

On November 22, 1985, in Malabar, Florida, police received a call about a nude young woman crawling along the road. This woman was later identified as 19-year-old Laura Murphy. She was handcuffed at both her feet and ankles and had been passed by several trucks before a motorist stopped to help her. She was terrified and begged the man not to take her back to "that house." After he took her home, he called for help.

At the hospital, doctors determined that Laura was missing approximately 40 to 45 percent of her blood. She had ligature marks around her neck. The day before, she had been hitchhiking when John Crutchley offered her a ride. He drove her to his home under the pretense of picking up a notebook for work. Once there, he attacked her, tying her up and restraining her. He then filmed parts of the assault using a video camera and claimed to be a vampire, drinking her blood during the attack.

After several assaults throughout the night, Crutchley left Laura locked in the bathroom. He warned her that if she tried to escape, he would send his brother to kill her. When he left, she managed to escape through a bathroom window and crawl to the road where she was found.

The police obtained a search warrant for Crutchley's home while his family was away. During the search, they found evidence of his crimes, including a partially erased videotape. Photographs and other items related to sexual acts were also discovered. They later discovered a collection of index cards with names of women and descriptions of sexual acts that were consensual but sometimes crossed into assault.

In June 1986, Crutchley pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping and rape. The judge sentenced him to 25 years to life. Despite this, a profiler believed that Crutchley had been involved in more crimes. This profiler noted that several missing women and bodies had been found in the areas where Crutchley had lived.

Authorities monitored Crutchley for his possible involvement in other disappearances. For instance, he was investigated for the disappearance of Deborah Rita Fitzjohn in 1978, who was last seen near his home. In 1985, he was also linked to the cases of other missing women, as personal items belonging to them were found in his office.

After serving eleven years, Crutchley was released in 1996 for good behavior. However, he was arrested again the next day for violating parole by using marijuana. This led to a life sentence because it was his third conviction. He remained in prison until his death on March 30, 2002. He was found unresponsive in his cell, and the cause of death was asphyxiation. Later reports suggested it might have been a case of autoerotic asphyxiation.