Umesh Reddy was born in 1969 in a village called Basappa Malige in Karnataka, India. He joined the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and was stationed in Jammu and Kashmir. While serving there, he allegedly attempted to assault a senior officer's daughter, leading him to flee back to Karnataka. In 1996, he joined the District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police in Chitradurga.

Between 1996 and 2002, Umesh Reddy committed a series of heinous crimes across Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Gujarat. He predominantly targeted women during midday hours, gaining access to their homes under the guise of seeking water or directions. Once inside, he would threaten them with a knife, bind them, and commit sexual assault. Often, he strangled or bludgeoned his victims to death, subsequently stealing their jewelry to simulate robbery motives. A peculiar aspect of his crimes was his obsession with women's undergarments; he frequently took them as trophies and was discovered wearing them beneath his attire upon arrest.

In December 6, 1996, he allegedly raped and murdered a 16-year-old girl in Chitradurga.  Despite being arrested, he managed to escape custody multiple times. A notable incident occurred on February 28, 1998, when Reddy raped and murdered 37-year-old widow Jayashree Maradi Subbaiah in Peenya. He allegedly engaged in necrophilic acts before being interrupted by the victim's 8-year-old son, whom he deceived before fleeing. Reddy's repeated escapes from custody highlighted significant lapses in the policing system. His final arrest on May 17, 2002, was facilitated by an alert auto-rickshaw driver in Bangalore, leading to Reddy's capture at a salon in Yeshwanthpur.

In 2006, he was sentenced to death by a fast-track court in Bengaluru for the rape and murder of a 37-year-old woman in Peenya. This sentence was upheld by the Karnataka High Court in 2009 and the Supreme Court in 2011. However, in 2022, his death sentence was commuted to a 30-year prison term after a mercy petition.