Vaughan Greenwood left his Pennsylvania foster home for California after the seventh grade. Far from a success story, Greenwood earned a living as a migrant worker and learned how to live the rough city street life. He would eventually earn notoriety as the feared "Skid Row Slasher", preying on helpless male derelicts.

Greenwood's killings begun with the killings of David Russell and Benjamin Hornberg, both found in Los Angeles on consecutive days in 1964, slashed and stabbed numerous times. His slayings were interrupted in 1966 when he was imprisoned in Illinois for the attempted murder of a man in Chicago, a crime for which he would serve over five years. Greenwood returned to the West Coast upon his release and soon resumed his murders.

On December 1, 1974, Greenwood returned to L.A. witha vengeance, murdering Charles Jackson on the same spot he had killed Russell ten years before, on the steps of a library. He proceeded to claim the lives of eight more men over the next fourteen months, all except the last two killed outdoors. The victims all had their throats cut and multiple stab wounds. In some cases salt was inexplicable sprinkled around the body and the men's shoes removed and placed on the ground pointing toward their owner's corpse.

On February 2, 1975, Greenwood attempted to kill a man in Hollywood, assaulting him with a hatchet after breaking into the potential victim's home. A houseguest intervened and Greenwood fled, dropping a letter addressed to himself nearby. He was soon arrested and charged with burglary and assault. While he was being held on those charges (for which he earned 32 years in prison), he was also indicted in nine counts of murder. Greenwood eventually was sentenced to life in prison for the "Skid Row Slasher" killings.