Lam Kor-wan was born on May 22, 1955, in British Hong Kong. His birth name was Lam Kwok-yue. From 1957 to 1962, his father worked for a petroleum company in Brunei. During this time, Lam and his sister lived with their mother in the company’s dormitory, along with his father's concubine and half-siblings. In December 1962, the family returned to Hong Kong and settled in Kwun Tong, where Lam attended a government elementary school. He usually ranked in the top ten of his class.

In 1970, Lam's father opened a motorcycle store. He asked Lam to help in the shop after school. This responsibility caused a drop in Lam's grades. It also led to a strained relationship between Lam and his father, who frequently scolded him and pushed him away. After finishing secondary school, Lam worked at his father’s motorcycle store and later took a job as an air-conditioning apprentice for a relative.

In early 1973, an argument with his father led to Lam being expelled from home. He was later arrested after threatening a woman with a knife in Hung Hom. Lam spent 102 days in treatment at Castle Peak Hospital and was temporarily given the name Lam Yau-keung after his release. At about 19 years old, Lam's family became concerned about his odd behavior and interest in women. He was caught peeping at his sister outside their home.

In 1978, Lam obtained a taxi cab license and changed his name to Lam Kor-wan. Around 1980, he began working as a night-time cab driver. In 1981, he developed an interest in photography and joined a photography club. Soon after he started driving at night, his mother noticed a drastic change in his behavior, including his refusal to change clothes or shower and signs of depression.

Lam Kor-wan, a taxi driver, committed a series of murders in Hong Kong during 1982. His first known victim was Chan Fung-lan, a 22-year-old nightclub dancer. On February 3, 1982, he picked her up after she had been drinking with friends. He strangled her in his car with an electrical cord and took her body to his family home. He hid her body under a sofa and then dismembered it, placing the pieces in bags. The rain later washed her remains down the Shing Mun River.

The second victim was 31-year-old Chan Wan-kit. On May 29, 1982, Lam picked her up after work. He handcuffed and strangled her, then cut her body apart using a surgical scalpel. He disposed of the body parts in a sack at Tai Hang Road.

His third victim, 29-year-old Leung Sau-wan, was killed on June 17, 1982, after getting into Lam's taxi. He strangled her shortly after they started driving. Lam took her body home, where he recorded the dismemberment process on video. He abandoned her limbs on Tai Hang Road.

On July 2, 1982, Lam targeted his fourth victim, 17-year-old Leung Wai-sum. After a school party, she entered his cab to return home. Lam claimed he talked to her before he killed her in the same way as the others. He also took her body home to dismember it and filmed the act.

Lam was arrested on August 17, 1982, after trying to develop photographs of one of his victims at a photo shop. The police found more evidence in his apartment, including Tupperware containers with preserved sexual organs and videos of his crimes. He was convicted of four murders and initially sentenced to death in April 1983, but his sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.