Stanley Everett Rice was born on August 7, 1942, in Concord, Massachusetts. He was the younger of two children in his family. Rice grew up in a dysfunctional home with parents who were abusive. Despite this, he had a close relationship with his older sister. From a young age, Rice was known to be a nervous and quiet boy. He was polite but often stuttered when he felt excited or under pressure.

At five years old, Rice began showing signs of problematic behavior. He started by burning newspapers in the family cellar. Just a month later, he lit a fire under an oil tank in that same cellar. He would also steal from his family members. To deal with his fear of loud noises, Rice's father fired guns near him. This seemed to help Rice get over his phobia. Soon, he developed a fascination with firearms and began stealing ammunition from shops.

Rice continued to get into trouble at a young age. When he was 11, he received his first court date for stealing ammunition and was put on probation. In February 1955, he was expelled from a private school for vandalism. He was convicted of stealing a car in 1959 and sent to a juvenile correctional facility for six months.

His early years also included troubling experiences. At nine years old, Rice was molested by an older man. While at the Lyman School for Boys in the summer of 1955, he wrote in his diary about being forced to engage in sexual acts with other boys. Over the years, he developed disturbing interests and wrote about his fantasies in a diary he kept since childhood.

In March 1957, Rice and his family moved to Nichol Township, Ontario, Canada. There, he attended the Kitchener-Waterloo Collegiate and Vocational School. During this time, his interests turned to rockets and bombs, and he continued to have trouble with the law. Once, while in prison, he wrote about convincing another inmate to hang himself.

After being released from a detention center on November 28, 1961, Rice mostly avoided trouble for a while. However, he soon began to sexually abuse young boys.

On July 12, 1963, nine-year-old Keith Henry went missing from his home in Waterloo, Ontario. A large search was conducted by authorities and volunteers, but no trace of him was found. His mother even sought help from clairvoyants, yet Keith's body was never discovered. Stanley Rice later wrote in his diary about encountering Henry while fishing. He claimed he stabbed the boy with a hunting knife and then buried his body near the Grand River, although he could not recall the exact location.

In September of that year, Rice was arrested for abducting a young boy and driving him to Swansea, Illinois. The Canadian authorities agreed to drop the case if Rice and his family left the country. They moved to Sandusky, Ohio, where Rice found work at an amusement park.

Rice later traveled across the country and returned to Massachusetts. Eleven days after returning, he was arrested for having an unlicensed weapon in his car. He was detained at the Metropolitan State Hospital and diagnosed with schizophrenia and a sociopathic personality. After serving six months at Billerica House of Corrections, Rice was released and continued traveling.

On June 10, 1966, eight-year-old Tim Trask left home in Findlay, Ohio, to go fishing. He met Rice, who offered to join him. When they were alone, Rice assaulted Tim and then stabbed and shot him. Tim's body was discovered the next day, shocking the local community.

Later, Rice was questioned about Trask’s murder but no evidence connected him to the crime. He left Ohio and returned to Concord. In January 1968, he was arrested for forcing two young boys to undress at gunpoint and sexually abusing them. Authorities sent him for a psychological evaluation, but he managed to escape shortly after.

After moving to Florida, Rice befriended Leslie Dean, who hired him as a night watchman at an auto salvage yard. On May 12, 1968, Rice encountered two boys, 11-year-old Lowell “Nelson” Williams and 10-year-old Kevin Polittle, who were fishing. After the boys refused to go with him, Rice shot them both and then killed Williams with a knife.

Rice was arrested on May 25 for speeding. Officers recognized him from descriptions related to Williams' murder. They found a shotgun and photographs of young boys in his car. During questioning, Rice confessed to killing Williams and claimed responsibility for the murders of Keith Henry and Tim Trask, among others.

Rice was charged with multiple murders, but Florida prosecutors were the first to try him. After a few days of trial, his attorney argued he was not competent to stand trial, but this was denied. Rice pleaded guilty and was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He was never tried for the murders of Henry or Trask.

Rice spent the rest of his life in prison and died on November 3, 2007, at the Florida State Prison.