Ronald Turney Williams was born on April 4, 1943, in Keystone, West Virginia. He grew up in a working-class family.  Williams lived in a small town where opportunities were limited. As a young man, he struggled to find a steady job. He worked in various occupations including as a laborer, painter, and welder. These jobs provided him with basic skills but did not lead to a stable career. In his late teen years, Williams began to have trouble with the law. He got involved in minor crimes.

In 1975, Ronald Turney Williams murdered a police officer named Beckley Police Sargent David Lilly in West Virginia. For this crime, Williams was sentenced to life in prison. In 1979, he escaped from the West Virginia State Penitentiary along with fourteen other inmates. During this escape, he killed another police officer, West Virginia State Trooper Philip Kesner.

Following his escape, Williams fled to Arizona. There, on March 21, 1981, he committed another murder, taking the life of John Bunchek in Scottsdale. Williams was eventually tracked down by the FBI. They located him at a motel in Manhattan, New York, in June 1981. When the agents confronted him, a gunfight broke out. Williams was seriously injured during the confrontation and was captured.

After his capture, Williams received a second life sentence in West Virginia for his crimes. In 1984, he was also sentenced to death in Arizona for the murder he committed there. Ronald Turney Williams remains incarcerated at Mount Olive Correctional Complex in West Virginia.