William Earl Lynd was born on January 25, 1955. He grew up in Georgia.

On December 23, 1988, William Earl Lynd and his girlfriend, Ginger Moore, had a serious argument about a vacation they were supposed to go on. In anger, Lynd shot Moore in the face with a small pistol while they were at home in Berrien County, Georgia. After the first shot, he went outside and smoked a cigarette. Ginger regained consciousness and came back outside. Lynd then shot her again, causing her to fall on the porch. He then placed her body in the trunk of her car and drove away.

While driving, Lynd heard noise from the trunk. He opened it and shot Moore a third time, which was the fatal shot. After committing the murder, he returned home to dispose of evidence and then buried Moore's body at a farmhouse. He then left Georgia and traveled toward Ohio.

On his way, he encountered Leslie Joan Sharkey. He tricked her into pulling over by pretending her car was damaged and shot her three times beside the road. Sharkey managed to survive long enough to report what had happened, but she died in the hospital a few days later.

Lynd sold the gun he used in these murders in Ohio, where police later recovered it as evidence. He abandoned the car he used in Florida, and it was found by authorities with more evidence in it. Lynd eventually turned himself in to the police in Berrien County.

On February 7, 1989, a grand jury charged him with malice murder and kidnapping. He was convicted on February 27, 1990, and sentenced to death for the murder of Moore.

Lynd was executed by lethal injection on May 6, 2008, in Jackson, Georgia. He was the first person executed in the U.S. after a significant court ruling on lethal injection procedures. His last meal consisted of two pepper jack barbecue burgers, baked potatoes with toppings, and a large strawberry milkshake. He was pronounced dead at 7:51 p.m.