Robert Eugene Brashers was born on March 13, 1958, in Newport News, Virginia. He was the younger of two children in his family. His parents were Doulis and Nancy Brashers. When he was young, the family moved to Huntsville, Alabama. This is where Brashers spent most of his childhood and youth. During his teenage years, he did not have any problems with the law. He also did not use drugs or alcohol. After he graduated from high school, he enlisted in the Army and served in the Navy for several years.

In the early 1980s, Brashers decided to leave the Army. He then moved to Louisiana and settled in New Orleans. By the mid-1980s, he made another move to Fort Myers, Florida. In the early 1990s, Brashers got married and had a daughter with his wife in 1992. At some point, he also adopted two little girls.

In the fall of 1985, Robert Eugene Brashers assaulted a 24-year-old woman named Michelle Wilkerson in Port St. Lucie, Florida. On November 22, he met Wilkerson in Fort Pierce and took her to a bar. After drinking together, he drove her to a dark alleyway near a citrus grove. There, he attempted to make sexual advances towards her. When she refused and tried to leave his vehicle, a violent struggle occurred. Brashers shot Wilkerson twice in the neck and head. Despite her injuries, Wilkerson managed to escape and hid in a culvert. Brashers later lost track of her and fled, dumping his gun in the sea. He was arrested shortly after while wandering on the beach.

Brashers was convicted in 1986 of attempted first-degree murder and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was paroled in May 1989. After his release, he moved between South Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. On February 18, 1992, he was arrested in Cobb County, Georgia, for grand theft auto and other charges. After reaching a plea deal, he served an additional five years in prison.

On April 12, 1998, Brashers was arrested for attempting to break into a woman's home in Arkansas. Soon after, on January 13, 1999, police found a stolen vehicle linked to him at a Super 8 Motel in Kennett, Missouri. When they attempted to arrest him, he opened fire and took his family hostage. After four hours, he released them but then shot himself. He died six days later from his injuries.

Brashers' crimes remained unknown until 2018, when new DNA techniques identified him as the suspect in three murders dating back to 1990. Investigators exhumed his remains and matched his DNA to the murder of Genevieve "Jenny" Zitricki, who had been killed in Greenville, South Carolina, in April 1990. They also linked him to the double murder of Sherri Scherer and her 12-year-old daughter Megan in Missouri in March 1998. In addition, he was connected to other violent crimes, including attempted assault and rape.

Robert Brashers was a serial killer and rapist, confirmed to have committed at least three murders and several rapes, as identified through DNA evidence after his death.