Leroy Snyder was born on February 13, 1931, in Camden, New Jersey. He was the fifth of seven children in his family. In the late 1930s, the family fell apart, so Leroy and his siblings had to live in different places, which made life hard for them. In the mid-1940s, Leroy and some of his siblings came back to Camden. This is where Leroy began his early life of crime.

In December 1949, when he was 18, Snyder tried to strangle a local woman with a clothesline. He was arrested soon after and convicted, but was released after a short time in prison. He returned to Camden but got in trouble again for making rude threats to two young women. He was convicted but released after a short time. After his release, Snyder found work doing low-skilled jobs.

In July 1955, Snyder was arrested for robbing and assaulting a cab driver in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was sentenced to five years in prison. He was arrested again in 1959 for armed robbery and was sentenced to ten years in prison, which he served fully, getting out in early 1969.

On September 11, 1969, Snyder was arrested and charged with the murder of 58-year-old Gertrude Friedman, whose throat was slashed the day before in her apartment in Camden, New Jersey. He was caught because he was wearing her wristwatch. While in jail waiting for trial, in July 1970, he was linked to a series of violent murders that happened the previous year and was charged with six murders.

Lula Crawley, 45, was killed on February 14, 1969. She was stabbed to death in her South Camden used furniture store. She was found face down in a pool of blood, gagged, and her hands tied behind her back with heavy twine. She was stabbed 13 times in the chest, neck, and back.

Mary Freeman, 56, was killed on April 12, 1969. She was found floating face down in a foot-and-a-half of water in a vacant house. She was stabbed to death. When asked by the judge why he killed Freeman, Snyder said, "She was a prostitute. I caught her with her hand in my pocket." An autopsy showed Freeman had been raped.

Shirley Brittingham, 32, was killed on April 25, 1969. She was six months pregnant when she was found brutally beaten, shot seven times, and stabbed to death. Lovie Williams, 52, was killed on May 19, 1969. She was found with her face badly beaten and her stomach cut open. Snyder admitted to killing Williams, saying he had gone to her home "with the intent to rob her." 

Warren Wells, 27, was killed in June 1969. He was Snyder's former roommate. He was found beaten, his throat slashed, and shot in the back six times. Snyder told the judge, "I killed him for his paycheck." Vera Stevens, 45, was killed on August 9, 1969. She was found beaten to death. Snyder said, "I beat her on the head with a rock." An autopsy showed that Stevens had been raped. Sentence and Death Authorities also investigated Snyder's possible involvement in three other murders in the Camden area, but he was eventually ruled out as a suspect.

The victims were six women and one man, all friends or acquaintances of Snyder. At least two of the women had been raped, and one victim was killed for money. Snyder admitted to all the murders. Under New Jersey law, he couldn't be sentenced to death after a confession, so on July 17, Snyder was sentenced to three life terms in prison.

On October 1, 2001, Snyder, who had served 31 years of his sentence, died in New Jersey State Prison at age 70. His sentence required him to serve 43½ years before being considered for parole, which would have been in 2014, when he would have been 84 years old.