Rudy Bladel was born on December 8, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois, into a family with a railroad background. His father, Holgar, worked for the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad company. Bladel grew up on 67th Street and Ashland Avenue, and he attended Vocational High School on the South Side, where he studied automotive shop courses. After graduating in 1951, he started working at Rock Island as a fireman. Shortly after, he enlisted in the army as a military engineer to serve in the Korean War. During his military service, he worked with locomotives, sometimes under enemy fire, and claimed to have an IQ of 145.

After returning from Korea, Bladel was involved in a motorcycle accident, which resulted in injuries that affected his posture. Despite this, he returned to work at Rock Island and steadily rose through the ranks. In 1959, the New York Central Railroad moved its operations from Niles, Michigan, to a new yard in Elkhart, Indiana. This shift led to many Michigan employees, including Bladel, being demoted or laid off. Feeling betrayed by the union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen, Bladel grew increasingly angry and sought revenge.

Rudy Bladel's crime spree began in 1963 in Hammond, Indiana. He first killed Roy Bottorf and Paul Overstreet, both railroad workers, by shooting them in the back of the head. Their bodies were found in the locomotive cab, with .22 caliber shell casings nearby. Bladel, who lived alone in Illinois and rode a motorcycle, was not initially a suspect.

Bladel struck again on August 6, 1968, killing John Marshall at the Elkhart rail yard with a 12-gauge shotgun. Witnesses saw the murder but could only describe the killer's build and walk. Then, on March 30, 1971, he shot engineer Louis John Sayne, who survived and identified Bladel as his attacker.

Bladel was sentenced to prison for attempted murder but was released after 18 months. In 1976, he killed James McCrory in the Elkhart yard. Bladel was arrested in 1978 for possessing a firearm as a felon and served time in a federal penitentiary, only to be released later that year.

On December 31, 1978, Bladel committed a triple murder in Jackson, Michigan, killing Robert Lee Blake, William Gulak, and Charles Lee Burton at the depot. The shotgun used was later found and linked to Bladel. He was arrested and confessed but later recanted, claiming coercion. Despite this, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Bladel's case was retried in 1986, and he was again convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. On November 15, 2006, Rudy Bladel died from thyroid cancer while still in prison.