Joseph Donald Ture Jr. was born on February 7, 1951, in St. Paul, Minnesota. His parents divorced when he was 10, and his father won custody of him, though he was primarily raised in an orphanage. In his late teens, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, but only stayed for about six months before returning to the St. Paul area, where he held many low-skilled jobs. He was barely able to afford proper living conditions, and reportedly he spent some time living in his car.

On the morning of December 15, 1978, Ture entered the home of Alice Huling, 36, in Clearwater. He fatally shot Alice before ascending to her children's bedrooms, tying them up, and shooting them. Sixteen-year-old Susan, twelve-year-old Patti, and thirteen-year-old Wayne were killed, while a fourth child, eleven-year-old William "Billy," survived. Four days after the incident, Ture was arrested at a pizzeria for auto theft.

On May 8, 1979, Marlys Ann Wohlenhaus, 19, returned home from school. Ture, who had broken in and waited for her, attacked and sexually assaulted her before beating her to death with a blunt instrument. Later that day, Marlys' mother found her body. That same year and in 1980, three teenage girls were lured into a man's car during separate incidents, where they were raped.

On September 26, 1980, Ture abducted 19-year-old Diane Edwards, a University of Minnesota student, while she was walking home from her job as a waitress at a nearby Perkins Restaurant in West St. Paul. He took her to nearby woods, where he sexually assaulted and killed her. 

On October 30, 1980, Ture was arrested for the rapes of a 13-year-old Minneapolis girl and two other women. While in custody, local police began investigating him for the murder of Diane Edwards, whose nude and battered body was discovered near Elk River on October 3. She had been reported missing on September 26 after being seen getting into a man's car. Witnesses described the man's vehicle as an older, rusted station wagon, similar to Ture's vehicle, a 1974 Ford Galaxie. Four teenage girls witnessed her abduction and identified Ture as the man they saw forcing her into his van.

In April 1981, Ture was convicted of rape and kidnapping related to the rape cases and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was later indicted in Edwards' murder. Based on eyewitnesses identifying him at the scene, Ture was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. After his conviction, he confessed to the 1978 murders of Alice Huling and her three children, but quickly recanted his confessions. In 1982, Ture was attacked by several of his cellmates while imprisoned in Stillwater, sustaining a broken nose as a result.

Ture would have been eligible for parole in 2008; however, in 1996, a grand jury indicted him for the murder of Marlys Wohlenhaus. A new investigation revealed that Ture had been investigated shortly after her death but provided a fabricated alibi. Following the indictment, Ture was interviewed on 48 Hours, during which he professed his innocence. After the interview aired, numerous women contacted the program claiming to recognize Ture as a man who had assaulted them in the 1970s. Many of these victims had worked as waitresses, and police believe Ture had stalked them.

In 1997, Ture was convicted of Wohlenhaus' murder and given an additional life sentence. During his imprisonment, Ture allegedly bragged to his cellmate about committing the 1979 killing of Joan Bierschbach, 20. In 1999, Ture was indicted in the Huling family murders and, in 2000, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Ture claims he is innocent in all the murder cases and asserts that investigators used him to solve cold cases.