A native of McHenry, Illinois, Macek was 26 years old when he launched a two-state murder spree in 1974. On August 15 of that year, in Fontana, Wisconsin, he cornered Paula Cupit, a 24-year-old hotel maid, in one of the rooms she was assigned to clean, beating her and stabbing her in the heart before he began to gnaw and mutilate her body. Two months later, in Wauwatosa, the "Mad Biter" struck again, raping another maid, but his second victim survived to offer police a description of her assailant. Macek shifted back to Illinois, murdering 26-year-old Nancy Lossman and her three-year-old daughter, Lisa, at Crystal Lake, before the end of the year. In July 1975, he invaded a Woodstock laundromat, battering a 20-year-old woman and leaving her for dead. Traced to San Bernadino, California, Macek was arrested on December 5, charged with the Wauwatosa rape and held in lieu of $175,000 bond. In custody, he signed confessions to the Fontana and Wauwatosa attacks. In April 1976, Macek was committed to Wisconsin's Central State Hospital for an indefinite term, under provisions of the state's sex deviate statutes. Six months later, in Illinois, he drew a term of 50 to 70 years for attempted murder at Woodstock. On February 22, 1977, Macek pled guilty to Paula Cupit's murder in Wisconsin, receiving a life term from Judge Robert Gollmar (who also handled the case of Ed Gein). In September 1980, Macek was sentenced to 30 years for the Wauwatosa rape, and conviction of double homicide in Illinois earned him another sentence of 200 to 400 years in prison. Depressed by the prospect of perpetual confinement, Macek opted for a shortcut. On March 2, 1987, he was found dead in his prison cell, hanging from an air vent with a pair of shoestrings looped around his neck. The death was ruled a suicide.