Paul Dennis Reid Jr. was born on November 12, 1957, in Richland Hills, Texas, a suburb of Fort Worth. His early life was relatively unremarkable, but his adulthood became defined by repeated encounters with the law. In 1983, Reid was convicted in Houston, Texas, for aggravated armed robbery of a steakhouse and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He served only seven years before being paroled in 1990.

Following his release, Reid sought a fresh start and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, hoping to pursue a career as a country music singer. He shared a boarding house with roommate Brian Fozzard, and although he was musically inclined, Reid failed to break into the industry.

In private, Reid had a reputation for volatile and erratic behavior. After his arrest, his family would later raise concerns about his mental competence, citing paranoid delusions and unusual outbursts, including claims that he was part of a government “mind control” project. His sister and others argued that he lacked the mental capacity to stand trial or participate rationally in his own defense.

Reid’s behavior following his arrests would oscillate between cooperation and obstruction. He frequently contradicted himself, at times choosing to waive appeals while later requesting them again, confounding both his defense team and prosecutors.

On February 16, 1997, Paul Dennis Reid Jr. entered a Captain D's restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee. He pretended to apply for a job before taking two employees, Sarah Jackson and manager Steve Hampton, into the restaurant's cooler. Once inside, he forced them to lie on the ground and shot them. Money was reported missing from the cash register. Reid used some of the money from this robbery to make a down payment on a car two days later.

On March 23, 1997, Reid went to a McDonald's on Lebanon Road in Hermitage, Tennessee. He confronted four employees as they left the restaurant after closing. He forced them back inside at gunpoint. In the storeroom, he shot three employees, Andrea Brown, Ronald Santiago, and Robert A. Sewell, execution-style. He attempted to shoot another employee, José Antonio Ramirez Gonzalez, but the gun malfunctioned. Reid then stabbed Gonzalez multiple times but left him alive. Gonzalez managed to call 911 after the attack.

On April 23, 1997, Reid went to a Baskin-Robbins after closing in Clarksville, Tennessee. He convinced the employees to let him in, then kidnapped two of them, Angela Holmes and Michelle Mace. He took them to Dunbar Cave State Park, where their bodies were found the next day. The victims had been killed by having their throats slashed.

Reid's capture took place on June 25, 1997. He was eventually convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder across three trials. His trials were held with jurors from other areas due to the heavy media coverage in Nashville. For the Captain D's murders, Reid's fingerprints were found on items related to the crimes. In the Baskin-Robbins case, forensic evidence linked him to the victims and their bodies.

Reid received seven death sentences, the most ever given to a single person in Tennessee. His execution was delayed several times due to various legal issues. He had family members and activists who claimed he was mentally handicapped and unable to make sound decisions. Despite these claims, the Tennessee Supreme Court upheld his sentences.

Reid was held at the Morgan County Correctional Complex while awaiting execution. He died on November 1, 2013, at Nashville General Hospital, due to complications including pneumonia and heart failure.