Robert Nixon was born on July 19, 1919, in Tallulah, Louisiana.

On April 4, 1937, Edna A. Worden and her 12-year-old daughter, Marguerite Estelle, were murdered in their apartment in Bunker Hill, Los Angeles. Their bodies were found on April 5 by the building manager. Both were attacked with a brick, which had mortar on it. Detectives connected this crime to the murder of Rose Valdez, who had been killed on March 2, 1937. The police began searching for a man linked to several similar attacks.

In May 1938, Robert Nixon, using the alias Thomas Crosby, was arrested in Chicago after the murder of Florence Johnson. She had been struck multiple times with a brick. He was caught with blood on his clothes and scratches on his hands. During the investigation, Nixon blamed his accomplice, Earl Hicks, for Johnson’s death.

Nixon confessed to the murder of Florence Castle, a nightclub hostess, in 1936. He initially denied his involvement in the Los Angeles murders but later admitted to killing the Wordens when fingerprint evidence linked him to the crime scene. He also confessed to raping and murdering nursing student Anna Kuchta and assaulting three other women.

Nixon was held in custody for two weeks. He confessed to four murders, including two from Los Angeles and two from Chicago. He maintained that Hicks was responsible for the murder of Johnson during his trial. However, fingerprint evidence and his prior confessions were used against him.

The press quickly labeled Nixon as "The Brick Moron," and his case was highly sensationalized. Racial stereotypes were prevalent in the media coverage, portraying Nixon as dim-witted and dangerous. As Nixon’s trial progressed, evidence against him continued to mount.

Nixon was convicted of the murder of Florence Castle and sentenced to death. He was executed in the electric chair at Cook County Jail on June 16, 1939.