Morris Odell Mason was born on March 28, 1954, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but was raised in Northampton County, Virginia, by his mother. From an early age, Mason displayed signs of profound psychological instability. As a child, he reported hearing voices commanding him to destroy things, and his behavior attracted concern from neighbors who noted his obsession with setting fires. He struggled in school and eventually dropped out before completing high school. Although sources suggest he served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, this detail remains unverified.

By his late teens, Mason had already been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia on three separate occasions and had tested as developmentally disabled, with IQ scores of 66 and 62. He was first committed involuntarily to psychiatric care at age 17. Despite his mental health history, Mason entered adulthood without structured long-term supervision or appropriate psychiatric placement.

In 1975, Mason committed a burglary and arson offense in Virginia’s Eastern Shore region. Psychiatric evaluations at the time described him as mentally ill and unstable, and he was recommended for psychiatric care during his prison term. He served 10 years for these crimes, but authorities later refused to confirm whether Mason actually received psychiatric treatment while incarcerated.

Released on parole in April 1978, Mason expressed to his parole officer that he feared he would "do something terrible" and requested placement in a psychiatric facility or halfway house. However, no halfway houses were available, and no institutional support was provided, leaving Mason in a vulnerable and unsupervised state. His fears were realized just days later, when he began a spree of extreme violence.

Mason’s killing spree began on May 2, 1978, when he burglarized, raped, and murdered 86-year-old Ursula Stevenson in Birdsnest, Virginia. After sexually assaulting her, he set her home on fire, leaving no question about his escalating intentions.

On May 13, 1978, Mason entered the home of 71-year-old Margaret Keen Hand, where he again committed rape and sodomy, then proceeded to savagely beat her with an axe. After forcing her to sit in a chair, Mason nailed her wrist to the armrest, tied her up, and set the room ablaze, killing her in what prosecutors later described as ritualistic and sadistic. Mason would later claim that this act was part of an “alcoholic rampage”, but the brutality spoke to a deeper pathology.

The violence escalated the next day, May 14, when Mason broke into another home where two young girls aged 12 and 13 were alone. The older girl tried to defend herself with her father’s pistol, but Mason overpowered her, shot her in the abdomen—leaving her paralyzed—and kidnapped the 12-year-old, dragging her into the woods. There, he raped and sodomized her, then covered her in leaves and set the pile on fire, causing burns to her body and head. Miraculously, both girls survived. Later that same day, Mason set fire to an abandoned house before he was finally arrested on May 15, 1978.

In court, Mason pleaded guilty to murder, rape, and arson for the killing of Margaret Hand. His courtroom statements were chilling. Declaring himself “the killer for the Eastern Shore,” he added, “I’m the only killer they ever had around here. I made the Eastern Shore popular.” For his crimes, Mason received one death sentence (for the Hand murder), seven life sentences, and an additional 100 years for related crimes.