Born on November 12, 1934, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the boy’s early years were marked by instability and hardship. His father, a con artist, disappeared before he was born, and by the age of four his mother, Kathleen, had been arrested for assault and robbery. He was sent to live with relatives in McMechen, West Virginia, while his mother served time in prison. Although their reunion briefly brought him happiness, her struggle with alcoholism soon created more instability, with frequent absences and inconsistent care.

As his home life unraveled, his behavior became increasingly troubled. He was often left with babysitters and eventually sent to reform school, but discipline failed to curb his actions. He frequently got into trouble for truancy and petty theft, and later claimed that by the age of nine he had already set fire to one of his schools. The chaos and neglect that defined his childhood would foreshadow a far darker path in adulthood.