Maury was born in Crescent City, California, in 1958. Shortly after his birth, his family relocated to Anderson. Allegations suggest that he experienced abuse from his father during his childhood. Following his high school graduation, Maury enlisted in the Army. However, in 1985, he received a dishonorable discharge due to marijuana possession. After his military service, he moved to Cottonwood, where he worked intermittently as a landscaper and dried-flower arranger.

In late May 1985, Maury's landlord, Averill Deanna Weeden, 48, vanished unexpectedly. During the initial investigation, police questioned Maury, who denied any involvement in her disappearance. On June 19, an anonymous caller contacted Shasta County’s Secret Witness Program, claiming to have information on Weeden's location and asking about potential reward money. The same individual called again on August 8, stating he had found Weeden's body but would only reveal its location in exchange for the reward. After negotiations, Shirley Landreth, handling most Secret Witness calls, agreed, and the caller provided specific directions to a wooded area near Bechelli Lane and South Bonnyview Road in Redding.

That day, investigators found Weeden's partially buried body wrapped in cardboard. An autopsy on August 23 revealed multiple skull fractures and a broken bone in her throat, indicating she had been strangled. The anonymous caller continued to contact the Secret Witness Program, at one point identifying the killer as Robert or Bob and describing how Weeden was killed with a rock on May 23. Maury was re-interviewed on September 4 but denied involvement again. Over a year later, on September 11, 1986, the anonymous caller reported a burglary and requested immunity in Weeden’s murder investigation.

On June 29, 1987, Belinda Jo Stark, 30, missed a court hearing for a traffic violation in Nevada City. Her boyfriend, Gary Evans, last saw her on June 25 but did not initially report her missing due to her unpredictable habits. On August 8, an anonymous man contacted the Secret Witness Program, claiming to have found a body and demanding a reward for its location. On August 17, the caller stated the body belonged to a woman named Gretchen Olston, murdered over a month earlier. Investigators followed the caller’s directions to a remote area near Palm Avenue and Monte Vista Road, where they found a woman’s body. The body was later identified as Stark’s through her tattoos.

On September 22, 1987, the body of 20-year-old Dawn Marie Berryhill was found about 250 yards from where Stark was discovered. Berryhill had last been seen on June 22 after leaving her six-month-old son with a friend. Due to the body’s decomposition, identification was made through dental records. An autopsy revealed she had been strangled with a bootlace. Police speculated a connection between Stark’s and Berryhill’s murders due to their proximity and similar circumstances.

In earlier incidents, the nude body of 44-year-old Lora Stewart was found in Battle Creek near Cottonwood on August 4, 1983, having been strangled. Stewart was a waitress at Jerry’s Restaurant on Cypress Avenue in Redding. Maury was a suspect but was not charged. On October 5, 1983, 63-year-old businesswoman Helen Faye Generes was found strangled in her Market Street real estate office in Redding.

Maury later requested the return of his property to his family for sale, but officials denied the request, suspecting the property might contain evidence of other crimes. Although not definitively linked to additional crimes, Maury remained under scrutiny.

In September 1987, Maury became a prime suspect after it was suspected he was the anonymous caller in the three murder cases, having received $2,000 in reward money. Investigations revealed that Maury used the money to buy a motorcycle and pay off family debts. Fire Marshall Roy Del Carlo, posing as the Secret Witness board chairman, met with Maury while wired. Voice analysis matched Maury’s voice to the caller, and fingerprints linked him to reward money envelopes and Stark’s purse.

Maury was arrested at his home on November 7, 1987, and held on $750,000 bail, later changed to no bail, as he was charged with three counts of first-degree murder and additional abuse charges. Maury pleaded innocent, claiming he witnessed one of the murders and arguing that revealing his identity violated his rights.

During his trial, Maury’s defense claimed he found and reported the bodies as a good Samaritan. However, the jury found him guilty of all three murders and sentenced him to death. In 2003, Maury attempted to appeal, citing trial errors and violation of his Fourth Amendment rights due to the Secret Witness Program’s disclosure of his identity. The court ruled that the program’s cooperation with law enforcement was permissible, rejecting the appeal and leaving Maury on death row.

As of 2023, Maury remains on death row at San Quentin State Prison in California, as capital punishment in the state is in a state of uncertainty due to legal and political challenges, with no executions since 2006.