Manuel Pina Babbitt was born on May 3, 1949, in Wareham, Massachusetts. Growing up in a working-class family, he experienced a turbulent youth that later shaped much of his adult life. As a young man, Babbitt enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps and served during the Vietnam War. He fought in the infamous 1968 Battle of Khe Sanh in Quảng Trị Province, South Vietnam, where he was severely wounded. Like many returning veterans of the era, Babbitt struggled with mental health issues following his service.

After returning home, he experienced symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), though it went undiagnosed at the time. His life spiraled downward as he grappled with trauma, difficulty reintegrating into civilian life, and homelessness. 

In 1980, Manuel Babbitt was involved in a series of robberies and burglaries in Sacramento, California. During one of these break-ins, he entered the home of 78-year-old Leah Schendel. In the course of the burglary, Babbitt brutally beat and attempted to sexually assault Schendel. The attack caused her to suffer a fatal heart attack. Babbitt fled the scene, and the next day, he committed at least one more sexual assault as part of his crime spree.

Law enforcement swiftly linked him to the crimes and arrested him shortly thereafter. During his trial in 1982, Babbitt’s defense argued that his actions were the result of severe PTSD stemming from his combat experiences in Vietnam. He claimed that he had no memory of the attack or the surrounding events. Despite this defense, the jury convicted him of murder and sentenced him to death.

Over the years, Babbitt’s case drew attention from human rights activists, mental health advocates, and veterans' groups, many of whom argued that his wartime trauma had been overlooked and mishandled by the legal system. In 1998, while awaiting execution on San Quentin’s death row, Babbitt was awarded the Purple Heart for the injuries he sustained at Khe Sanh decades earlier.

On May 4, 1999, just one day after his 50th birthday, Manuel Babbitt was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison. He declined a last meal and requested that the $50 allowance be donated to homeless Vietnam veterans. His final words were, “I forgive all of you.” Babbitt’s remains were transported to his hometown of Wareham, Massachusetts, where he was buried with full military honors on May 10, 1999. His life and tragic end were later recounted in the Oscar-nominated documentary Last Day of Freedom (2016), narrated by his brother.