Robert Charles Ladd was born on March 19, 1957, in Dallas, Texas.

In October 1978, Robert Charles Ladd broke into the apartment of 18-year-old Vivian Geanett Thompson. He stabbed her ten times in her back, neck, chest, and abdomen. After the attack, he hid her body in a closet and set the apartment on fire. The fire spread quickly, leading to the deaths of Thompson's two young children, Maurice and Latoya, due to smoke inhalation. When firefighters extinguished the blaze, they found Vivian and Maurice's remains fused together from the intense heat. Ladd was soon charged with capital murder and arson. He pleaded guilty and received a 40-year sentence for murder and 20 years for arson. Due to mandatory parole laws, he was released after serving only 12 years.

About six years after his release, on September 24, 1996, Ladd entered the home of 38-year-old Vicki Ann Garner. He tied her hands above her head and raped her. He then searched for valuables and ultimately killed her with a hammer. Afterward, he returned to her apartment multiple times to steal items. Eventually, he set the apartment on fire to conceal his actions. The next day, police arrested Ladd based on evidence found at the scene.

During his trial, a psychiatric evaluation determined that Ladd had antisocial personality disorder and lacked remorse for his actions. The jury took only 18 minutes to find him guilty of all charges, a record for Smith County. Following the verdict, he received a death sentence.

An execution date was initially set for April 24, 2003. However, Ladd's attorneys filed an appeal just hours before the execution, claiming his low IQ made him ineligible for the death penalty. Despite a temporary reprieve, further evaluations showed that his IQ was not as low as initially claimed. Over a decade later, on January 29, 2015, Ladd was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit. Before his execution, he apologized to Garner’s family and shared his final words with his sister.

Ladd was buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery.