William Dale Archerd was born on May 5, 1912, in the United States and displayed an early interest in medicine. However, he lacked both the discipline and financial means to pursue formal medical training. In the early 1940s, Archerd briefly worked as a medical assistant at Camarillo State Mental Hospital, where he observed the use of insulin shock therapy—a treatment that likely inspired his later criminal methodology.

His early adult life was marked by instability and criminal behavior. In 1950, Archerd was convicted in San Francisco for possession of morphine and sentenced to probation. Following another offense and a parole violation, he escaped from a minimum-security facility in Chino but was eventually recaptured and incarcerated at San Quentin. By 1953, he was released again on probation.

Despite these legal troubles, Archerd maintained the outward appearance of a relatively ordinary man. He resided in Alhambra, in the San Gabriel Valley of Los Angeles County, and managed to move through multiple marriages—at least seven in total.

William Dale Archerd was arrested on July 27, 1967, in Los Angeles for committing three murders. He was convicted of killing his fourth wife, Zella Archerd, just two months after their wedding on July 25, 1956. He also killed his nephew, Burney Archerd, on September 2, 1961, in Long Beach, and his seventh wife, Mary Brinker Arden, on November 3, 1966.

In addition to these confirmed murders, there are suspicions that Archerd may have been involved in the deaths of other individuals. These include William Jones Jr., who died on October 12, 1947, in Fontana; Juanita Plum Archerd, his fifth wife, who died on March 13, 1958, in Las Vegas; and Frank Stewart, who died on March 17, 1960. All of these suspected victims showed symptoms of hypoglycemia before their deaths.

Archerd received a death sentence on March 6, 1968, for the three murders. However, during the trial, the prosecution presented evidence that was later deemed unreliable. This involved the lack of awareness about an accurate test for blood insulin levels that had been developed earlier. The outcome of the trial was affected by this oversight.

In December 1970, the California Supreme Court upheld the death sentence. In 1972, the United States Supreme Court ruled to change his sentence from death to life imprisonment. William Dale Archerd died of pneumonia in 1977 at the age of 65.