Darrell Rich, the Hilltop Rapist, murdered four young women and girls in a summer 1978 killing spree in Shasta County, California, and became one of a handful of people the Golden State has executed in the modern era of capital punishment. One fourth Cherokee Indian, he was born in California on February 14, 1955 but exactly where is not known. He was given up for adoption to a foster family shortly after his birth. His foster mother was something of an imperious, dominating woman and Darrell resented her as she cared for other people's children professionally, although Darrell was at times helpful with the other children and rescued one of them from drowning once. A poor student in school, he was held back a grade and the school psychologist worried that he had possible sociopathic tendencies. When Darrell was 15, his parents got divorced and he considered suicide. He lived in SoCal with his mother for a time and then in NorCal with his father.

After getting in an argument with his girlfriend when he was 17, he attempted suicide by shooting himself in the chest. Rich also shot a gun at a police car in the hope that the officer would fire back and kill him. A psychiatrist ruled that he was a suicide risk and needed treatment ASAP but he didn't want any help. When Rich was 18, he got drunk and rammed his mother's car into another vehicle. He was sentenced to a county jail camp and his probation officer found him comparatively normal and level-headed when sober but drinking brought out the worst in him.