Timothy Wayne Krajcir was born on November 28, 1944, in West Mahanoy Township, Pennsylvania. His parents were Charles McBride and Fern Yost. When Timothy was about one year old, his father left the family. This left his mother, Fern Yost, to raise him alone. When Timothy was around 5 or 6 years old, his mother met and married a man named Bernie Krajcir.

As a child, Krajcir started to show signs of troubling behavior. When he was only six years old, he was charged with petty theft for stealing a bicycle in Harrisburg. By age 13, he had begun to engage in voyeurism and exhibitionism. He faced another charge for petty theft when he was 15 years old in New Milford, Pennsylvania.

In 1953, Timothy was legally adopted by his stepfather, Bernie Krajcir. This led to a change in his last name from McBride to Krajcir. By the time he was 10 years old, Timothy developed an unhealthy obsession with his mother, which affected him deeply.

Krajcir later attended Southern Illinois University Carbondale. There, he earned a Bachelor’s degree in administration of justice, with a minor in psychology.

At the age of 17, in 1962, Timothy Krajcir enlisted in the U.S. Navy. He participated in basic training in Great Lakes, Illinois. His time in the Navy ended early when he was dishonorably discharged for sexual assault after serving for fourteen months.

Timothy Wayne Krajcir committed a series of violent crimes during the late 1970s and early 1980s. During this time, he killed at least nine women while being released from prison on probation. He traveled to towns where he had no connections, stalking his victims. Krajcir broke into their homes and waited for them to return.

Some of the victims were found tied up in their beds. In other cases, he kidnapped them and transported them across state lines before killing them. His victims included women of various ages. Many were assaulted before they were killed. Some were shot in the head, while others were stabbed or asphyxiated. Investigators struggled to link the murders due to the lack of forensic technology at that time and the different methods he used.

Krajcir was eventually arrested in 2007 after DNA evidence linked him to one of the murders. He was charged with several murders and rapes that took place in Cape Girardeau and surrounding areas. In 2007 and 2008, he pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including the murder of Deborah Sheppard, a student, and Virginia Lee Witte. He was sentenced to 40 years for Sheppard's murder and another 40 years for Witte's murder. Later, he received 13 consecutive life terms for the other counts.

He is currently held at the Pontiac Correctional Center in Illinois, serving his sentences without the possibility of parole.