John Frank Hickey was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, to parents Michael J. Hickey and Mary Ann Magrath, who were Irish immigrants. He was baptized as a Roman Catholic at St. Patrick's Church, which was located just a couple of blocks from his family's home.

As a child, Hickey's life was far from easy. After his arrest in 1912, he revealed that his father had been physically abusive towards him. This abuse had a significant impact on his upbringing and character.

During his early teenage years, Hickey became involved with Lowell's First Congregational Church on Kirk Street. He was active in the church community and even took on a leadership role at the Lowell YMCA. Additionally, he was involved with the Christian Endeavor, a group focused on fostering young people's Christian faith.

On September 1, 1883, an 18-year-old named J. Frank Hickey called the police and reported finding his co-worker, 34-year-old pharmacist Edwin W. Morey, dead on the floor of McGibbon's Drugstore. They both worked there, and Hickey said that Morey had been very sad and struggling with drinking. Hickey claimed he had been trying to help Morey quit drinking. A doctor thought Morey might have taken poison, so they used a stomach pump. Morey showed some signs of life around midnight but sadly died just after 3:00 AM.

Years later, Hickey admitted that he had actually killed Morey by giving him laudanum. He was worried that if their boss found Morey drunk, both of them would lose their jobs.

In 1887, Hickey said he was the "Secretary of the YMCA" and joined the William North Masonic Lodge in Lowell. By 1889, he became a Master Mason. Although he later claimed otherwise, Hickey never achieved the rank of 32nd degree Freemason. In March 1895, Hickey was arrested for stealing 20 gallons of alcohol from his job. Because of this, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts expelled him in June 1895, calling him "a liar and profane."

In 1896, Hickey left Lowell for good. From then until 1902, he wandered around Canada and the Northeastern United States, doing various industrial jobs.

On December 10, 1902, Hickey met an eleven-year-old newspaper boy named Michael R. Kruck. Hickey told Michael he would buy all his newspapers if the boy followed him into Central Park. When Michael did, Hickey strangled him and left his body with the newspapers under his head. The coroner found no signs of sexual assault, and the cause of death was listed as strangulation by an unknown person. Michael was buried on December 12, 1902, at Washington Jewish Cemetery in Brooklyn.

On October 12, 1911, Hickey was working as a steel plant supervisor in Lackawanna, New York. He noticed seven-year-old Joey Joseph playing near his father's store. Hickey gave Joey some pennies for candy and led him to an outhouse behind a saloon. There, Hickey strangled Joey until he passed out, molested him, and then killed him by strangling him again. He then threw Joey's body into the outhouse pit.

The police had no clues about Joey's disappearance until October 30, 1911, when a postcard arrived at the police station. The postcard said where Joey's body could be found and hinted that the person responsible was feeling guilty because of drinking.

Hickey was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. However, he was found guilty of second-degree murder because two jurors believed he was insane and shouldn't be executed. He was sentenced to life in prison, where he died on May 8, 1922.