A well-known drug abuser, born in 1941, Estrada launched his criminal career at age eighteen, logging a total of twenty arrests on no less than thirty-two separate felony charges. His seven convictions included counts of burglary, larceny, damage to property, and possession of dangerous drugs. In October and November 1976, Los Angeles authorities sought Estrada in connection with two residential burglaries, resulting in the deaths of elderly female victims . In each case, the women were robbed at knifepoint in their homes, then bound by their assailant and brutally beaten to death. Indicted for robbery and murder in Los Angeles, Estrada was declared a federal fugitive on charges of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. His name was added to the FBI's "Most Wanted" list on December 5, 1977, and the resultant publicity paid off at once. In Bakersfield, north of Los Angeles, narcotics officers were following a suspect known as "Hank" Estrada when the federal wanted flyers rang a bell. They trailed him to a local filling station on December 8 and took him into custody, returning him to Los Angeles for trial and ultimate conviction on the more serious charges awaiting him there.